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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by 
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Two Great Retreats of History
+
+Author: George Grote
+        Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
+Editor: David Henry Montgomery
+
+Release Date: August 22, 2008 [EBook #26390]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Barbara Kosker, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY.
+
+
+   I. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.
+
+  II. NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+
+
+
+  _WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES_
+
+  By
+
+  D. H. M.
+
+
+
+
+  BOSTON, U.S.A.: PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY. 1889.
+
+
+
+
+  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by
+
+  GINN & COMPANY,
+
+  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
+
+
+
+
+  TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+The two following selections contain, first, Grote's account of the
+Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, taken from his "History of Greece,"
+and, secondly, an abridgment of Count Ségur's narrative of Napoleon's
+retreat from Russia.
+
+Grote's History, based on Xenophon's, is given entire, with the
+exception that, in a very few instances, some slight verbal change has
+been made in order to better adapt the work to school use.
+
+Two maps are furnished, an introduction is prefixed to each selection,
+and all needed notes subjoined.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+
+
+  TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+
+  I. Retreat of the Ten Thousand.
+                                                                       PAGE
+  Sketch of Cyrus the Younger (Introductory to the Retreat of the
+  Ten Thousand)                                                           v
+
+  §  1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+        retreat                                                           1
+
+  §  2. Commencement of the retreat                                       6
+
+  §  3. Negotiations with Tissaphernês                                   10
+
+  §  4. Treachery of Tissaphernês                                        19
+
+  §  5. Xenophon's dream and its results                                 29
+
+  §  6. The Greeks cross the Zab                                         42
+
+  §  7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian Mountains       50
+
+  §  8. March through Armenia; great suffering from cold and
+        hunger                                                           60
+
+  §  9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea                        70
+
+  § 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward
+        the Ten Thousand                                                 75
+
+  § 11. Plans of the army for the future                                 79
+
+  § 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward                      82
+
+  § 13. Plan of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea            88
+
+  § 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations               95
+
+  § 15. The army passes by sea to Sinôpê                                104
+
+  § 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises
+        of Anaxibius and their results                                  116
+
+  § 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium                         120
+
+  § 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers                               123
+
+  § 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthês offers to hire
+        them                                                            128
+
+  § 20. The army enters the service of Seuthês                          135
+
+  § 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia                     138
+
+  § 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion                    143
+
+
+  II. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow.
+
+  Sketch of Napoleon (Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow)          152
+
+  §  1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar                      157
+
+  §  2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army;
+        preparations for the destruction of the city                    162
+
+  §  3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow                   168
+
+  §  4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city      175
+
+  §  5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city
+        discovered to be on fire                                        182
+
+  §  6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city                     190
+
+  §  7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city            195
+
+  §  8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon
+        at not hearing from the Czar                                    201
+
+  §  9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow                             215
+
+  § 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle                         224
+
+  § 11. Napoleon holds a council of war, and decides to retreat
+        northward                                                       233
+
+  § 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin; view of the
+        battle-field of Borodino                                        238
+
+  § 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma; battle near that place                 243
+
+  § 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effect
+        upon the troops                                                 247
+
+  § 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at
+        the passage of the Wop                                          253
+
+  § 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk                                 257
+
+  § 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoë                     263
+
+  § 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a
+        council                                                         267
+
+  § 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney                                          272
+
+  § 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians                                277
+
+  § 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina      280
+
+  § 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army, and sets out for Paris        291
+
+  § 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure;
+        arrival at Wilna                                                298
+
+  § 24. Conclusion                                                      308
+
+  Index to notes and list of proper names with their pronunciation      316
+
+
+
+
+MAPS.
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+  1. The advance and the retreat of the Ten Thousand, facing        1
+
+  2. The advance and the retreat of Napoleon in his Russian
+     campaign, facing                                               1
+
+
+
+
+SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER.
+
+(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.)
+
+
+In the year 423 B.C. Darius Nothus ascended the throne of Persia. That
+country was then the greatest empire in the world, and had an area
+nearly equal to that of the United States. The capital of this seemingly
+powerful realm was the ancient city of Babylon on the lower Euphrates.
+Here the Great King, as he was styled, had his principal palace, from
+which he issued orders to his twenty or more satraps or governors whose
+provinces extended in name at least from the shores of the Mediterranean
+to the banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.
+
+Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but
+unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be known in
+history. The eldest was Artaxerxês, a youth of but little character; and
+the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided qualities of his mother. In
+order to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, the founder of the
+Persian Empire, who died more than a hundred years earlier, he is
+commonly called Cyrus the Younger.
+
+He was his mother's favorite, and as he was born after Darius assumed
+the crown, while Artaxerxês was born before that date, Parysatis seems
+to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the true heir to the
+throne, since he was in fact the _king's_ eldest son. Through her
+influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia and the adjacent provinces of
+western Asia Minor when he was but sixteen. This position, since it made
+him the military ruler of that populous and wealthy section of country,
+was one of great importance, and doubtless had no small influence in
+shaping the young man's future career.
+
+In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, to Babylon,
+and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to Artaxerxês,
+who, from his remarkable memory which appears to have been his chief
+characteristic, got the title of Artaxerxês Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly
+was not deficient in this mental quality, for he seems to have
+remembered his mother's suggestions about his being the rightful heir to
+the throne so well, that at the coronation of Artaxerxês he plotted his
+assassination; or at least, Tissaphernês, a neighboring satrap,[1]
+accused him of it. Cyrus, who appears to have had no adequate defence to
+make, was forthwith arrested and would probably have been summarily put
+to death--for in Persia the law's delays were unknown--had not Parysatis
+interfered. Realizing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward and,
+clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about him, and
+pressed his neck to hers in such a way that the executioner must have
+beheaded her with the same stroke with which he decapitated Cyrus.
+
+The prayers and entreaties of Parysatis saved the young man's life, and
+he was even permitted to return to Sardis and resume his power. He went;
+but with no intention of remaining in that subordinate position. Not
+only was he resolved to be revenged on Tissaphernês, but he was equally
+determined to overthrow the mild Artaxerxês and convince him of the
+mistake of yielding to a woman's tears.
+
+Cyrus had learned from his residence on the Mediterranean coast, how far
+superior Greek soldiers were to the troops of Persia. The former would
+not only fight from patriotic motives, but what was more, they would
+readily fight outside of Greece, if they were paid well for it; the
+latter would only fight when they were flogged to it, and officers had
+to carry whips to drive them into battle by the sting of the lash.
+
+Under the pretext that he was about to engage in a local and private
+war with his enemy Tissaphernês, Cyrus managed to gradually collect an
+army of about ten thousand Greeks whom Klearchus, an ex-governor of
+Byzantium, hired for him. These ten thousand were the real core of the
+expedition, though in addition a hundred thousand Asiatics were to form
+the bulk of it. With this force the young satrap believed that he could
+take Babylon and with it that title of Great King which he coveted. It
+was true that Artaxerxês would meet him with an army of ten men to his
+one; but, as Cyrus said, mere "numbers and noise" did not tell on the
+battle-field, and "numbers and noise" were all that the Persian
+sovereign had to rely on.
+
+When all was ready, Cyrus set out from Sardis on his memorable march in
+the spring of 401. Among the Greeks was a volunteer named Xenophon, who
+had been persuaded to go by his friend Proxenus, a general in the army
+of Cyrus. Xenophon, as we shall see, eventually saved his countrymen
+from destruction, and became not only the leader, but the historian of
+the expedition.
+
+With the exception of Klearchus, none of the army seem to have known the
+real object of the campaign, but supposed that Cyrus was going to attack
+the Pisidians, robber tribes that inhabited the mountainous country
+southeast of Sardis. Artaxerxês appears to have been equally in the
+dark, and though he knew Cyrus was advancing in the direction of
+Babylon, he thought that his ultimate purpose was to make war on
+Tissaphernês, and so gave himself no more trouble about the matter.
+
+All went well with Cyrus and his Greek mercenaries until they reached
+that city of Tarsus in Cilicia, which was later to become famous as the
+birthplace of the apostle Paul. When they reached that place, Xenophon's
+countrymen saw that they had been deceived, and that Cyrus evidently had
+some greater foe in view than the rough banditti of the Pisidian
+highlands. At first they were on the point of mutinying, and of stoning
+Klearchus to give proper emphasis to their feelings; but sober second
+thought showed them that it was doubtful whether they would gain
+anything by such a course. Klearchus, who was quite equal to the
+emergency, bade them reflect that they were now a long distance from
+home, and that Cyrus had it in his power to make it difficult for them
+to get back without his permission. Next, they were promised a decided
+increase of pay if they would keep on. These considerations so
+influenced the Greeks that they finally resolved to continue their march
+and take the chances of war. Cyrus still refused to divulge his real
+purpose; and though there cannot be much doubt that the Ten Thousand
+felt pretty reasonably certain what it was, yet they probably believed
+he had chances enough of success to make it worth their while to run the
+risk with him.
+
+Accordingly the army resumed their forward movement, following the trend
+of the coast round the Gulf of Issus, and then striking southeasterly
+again, until some time in the summer they reached and crossed the
+Euphrates at Thapsacus. From that point they marched down the left bank
+of the river, through the hilly desert of Arabia, toward the great city
+of Babylon. Early in September they reached a point on the Tigris,
+nearly opposite Bagdad, and about two days' march from Kunaxa, a place
+not very far northwest of the Persian capital.
+
+Up to this time Cyrus had met with no opposition, though he was daily
+expecting to see the advance-guard of his brother's army. Before going
+further he thought it prudent to hold a grand review of his troops,
+which he did at midnight, as it was now reported that Artaxerxês, with
+an army of over a million, was coming to give him battle.
+
+But the million did not make their appearance, and so Cyrus decided to
+keep on until he should encounter them. The next day the invading army
+reached a trench which had evidently been recently dug to obstruct their
+advance. It stretched across the plain between the Euphrates and the
+Tigris, in connection with the ruins of the old Median Wall, built
+probably in the days of Nebuchadnezzar as one of the defences of
+Babylon. This trench was eighteen feet deep, thirty feet wide, and
+upwards of forty miles in length; it stopped short of the Euphrates by
+only twenty feet. Over that narrow strip of ground, which the Persian
+king might easily have held with a small number of resolute men, the
+Cyreian forces passed, with no one to hinder them. The great trench, on
+which so much labor had been expended, was, therefore, not only useless
+as a defence to Artaxerxês, but it was a positive encouragement to Cyrus
+and his men, for it revealed the inefficiency and the cowardice of the
+Persians. The whole army now moved rapidly forward, confident of an easy
+victory, many even supposing that Artaxerxês would make no stand at all,
+but abandon his capital to them. The Great King, however, was not so
+hopelessly pusillanimous as that; for, when Cyrus reached Kunaxa, scouts
+brought word that the enemy's hosts were not far behind. This time the
+intelligence was correct. That very afternoon a great cloud of white
+dust rolled up from the plain, and as it kept advancing the invaders
+caught sight of the flash of brazen armor and a forest of spears.
+
+When all was ready for the battle to begin, the Greeks, not waiting to
+be attacked, charged on the run against the Persian left wing. The
+Persians, who seem to have thought that on such an occasion absence of
+body was a good deal better than presence of mind, waited just long
+enough to hear the Greeks give a fierce shout to Mars, accompanied by a
+significant clatter of spears and shields. That satisfied them, and,
+turning like a flock of frightened sheep, they ran for their lives.
+
+Cyrus, who had refused to put on a helmet, now dashed into the fight
+with uncovered head, making straight for King Artaxerxês, who occupied
+the centre of his army. "I see the man!" he cried, and, hurling his
+lance, he struck and slightly wounded the Great King; but that
+fratricidal blow was the last, for just then a javelin pierced Cyrus
+under the eye, and he fell from his horse and was slain. His head and
+right hand were then cut off to serve as a warning to traitors. The
+native or Asiatic troops, seeing the disaster, fled, and did not stop
+till they had reached a former camp eight miles away.
+
+Meanwhile the victorious Ten Thousand, knowing nothing of what had
+happened to Cyrus, pursued the Persians as long as light lasted; then
+when the sun had set they returned to find that their camp had been
+plundered by the enemy, and that they must go to bed supperless. It was
+not until sunrise of the next day that they learned that Cyrus was dead;
+that their companions in arms had fled; and that they were left a mere
+handful of men without a leader, and without provisions, in the heart of
+the enemy's country.
+
+How to retreat from such a position was the supreme question. They could
+not return the way they came, for that road led them through the desert,
+where it would be impossible to get food. If they were to get back alive
+they must take the northern route to the shores of the Black Sea. This
+would lead them through a fertile but rough country, in which they would
+have to find their way as best they could across rivers and over
+mountains, harassed by the Persians in the rear, and encountering savage
+tribes who would dispute their progress. At the shortest such a march
+would be about six hundred miles even in an air line, with prospect of
+something like six hundred more before they reached the Mediterranean.
+
+After many delays, this latter course was the one they finally resolved
+to take, and owing to Xenophon's courage and resolution it turned out
+successfully.
+
+After eight months of wandering, hardships, and peril, they all came in
+sight of the Euxine, and perhaps no shipwrecked sailors clinging to a
+raft ever cried "Land!" "Land!" with more joy than those Greeks who had
+climbed a hill-top shouted "The Sea!" "The Sea!"
+
+Thanks to their own bravery, to their able leader, and finally to
+Persian vacillation and cowardice, this little army had now reached a
+place of safety. It was long, however, before they got back to their
+native country, and when they did, they were not to arrive at its shores
+asleep, on shipboard, as the much wandering and storm-tossed Ulysses
+came to his beloved Ithaca.
+
+It is doubtful, indeed, how many of them ever got back to their Spartan
+or Athenian homes, for we know that most of them could not make up their
+minds to live quiet lives of peace again; but preferred fighting in
+behalf of the independence of the Ionian cities which Greece had planted
+on the coast of Asia Minor.
+
+Such was the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. If we may accept the judgment
+of Rollin, a once noted historian, it has never had a parallel in
+history. If we consider its results, it certainly merits all that Rollin
+claims for it, for it convinced the Greek people that the apparent power
+of the Persian empire was utterly unreal. They saw that, as Cyrus had
+said, its only strength was in "numbers and noise." This conviction
+grew, and two generations after Xenophon's return, it led to that grand
+invasion of Persia by Alexander the Great which was to revolutionize the
+ancient world.
+
+What, then, had the retreat of the Greeks accomplished? First, it proved
+that ten thousand men not afraid to die are worth more than a million
+who lack that courage; and next, though it was a retreat, yet it
+suggested that advance which eventually spread the Greek language, Greek
+culture and Greek civilization in countries where they were before
+unknown.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Tissaphernês was a satrap of Caria, a province of Asia Minor south
+of Lydia.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. FOR XENOPHON'S
+ANABASIS.]
+
+[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF EUROPE SHOWING PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF
+NAPOLEON.]
+
+
+
+
+RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.
+
+
+§ 1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+retreat.
+
+The first triumphant feeling of the Greek troops at Kunaxa[2] was
+exchanged, as soon as they learnt the death of Cyrus, for dismay and
+sorrow; accompanied by unavailing repentance for the venture into which
+he and Klearchus had seduced them. Probably Klearchus himself too
+repented, and with good reason, of having displayed, in his manner of
+fighting the battle, so little foresight, and so little regard either to
+the injunctions or to the safety of Cyrus. Nevertheless he still
+maintained the tone of a victor in the field, and after expressions of
+grief for the fate of the young prince, desired Proklês and Glûs to
+return to Ariæus, with the reply, that the Greeks on their side were
+conquerors without any enemy remaining; that they were about to march
+onward against Artaxerxês; and that if Ariæus would join them, they
+would place him on the throne which had been intended for Cyrus. While
+this reply was conveyed to Ariæus by his particular friend Menon along
+with the messengers, the Greeks procured a meal as well as they could,
+having no bread, by killing some of the baggage animals; and by kindling
+fire to cook their meat, from the arrows, the wooden Egyptian shields
+which had been thrown away on the field, and the baggage carts.
+
+Before any answer could be received from Ariæus, heralds[3] appeared
+coming from Artaxerxês; among them being Phalînus, a Greek from
+Zakynthus, and the Greek surgeon Ktesias of Knidus, who was in the
+service of the Persian king. Phalînus, an officer of some military
+experience and in the confidence of Tissaphernês, addressed himself to
+the Greek commanders; requiring them on the part of the King, since he
+was now victor and had slain Cyrus, to surrender their arms and appeal
+to his mercy. To this summons, painful in the extreme to a Grecian ear,
+Klearchus replied that it was not the practice for victorious men to lay
+down their arms. Being then called away to examine the sacrifice[4]
+which was going on, he left the interview to the other officers, who met
+the summons of Phalînus by an emphatic negative. "If the King thinks
+himself strong enough to ask for our arms unconditionally, let him come
+and try to seize them."--"The King (rejoined Phalînus) thinks that you
+are in his power, being in the midst of his territory, hemmed in by
+impassable rivers, and encompassed by his innumerable subjects."--"Our
+arms and our valor are all that remain to us (replied a young Athenian);
+we shall not be fools enough to hand over to you our only remaining
+treasures, but shall employ them still to have a fight for _your_
+treasure." But though several spoke in this resolute tone, there were
+not wanting others disposed to encourage a negotiation; saying that
+they had been faithful to Cyrus as long as he lived, and would now be
+faithful to Artaxerxês, if he wanted their services in Egypt or anywhere
+else. In the midst of this parley Klearchus returned, and was requested
+by Phalînus to return a final answer on behalf of all. He at first asked
+the advice of Phalînus himself; appealing to the common feeling of
+Hellenic[5] patriotism, and anticipating, with very little judgment,
+that the latter would encourage the Greeks in holding out. "If (replied
+Phalînus) I saw one chance out of ten thousand in your favor, in the
+event of a contest with the King, I should advise you to refuse the
+surrender of your arms. But as there is no chance of safety for you
+against the King's consent, I recommend you to look out for safety in
+the only quarter where it presents itself." Sensible of the mistake
+which he had made in asking the question, Klearchus rejoined--"That is
+_your_ opinion: now report our answer. We think we shall be better
+friends to the King, if we are to be his friends,--or more effective
+enemies, if we are to be his enemies,--with our arms, than without
+them." Phalînus, in retiring, said that the King proclaimed a truce so
+long as they remained in their present position--but war, if they moved,
+either onward or backward. And to this Klearchus acceded, without
+declaring which he intended to do.
+
+Shortly after the departure of Phalînus, the envoys despatched to Ariæus
+returned; communicating his reply that the Persian grandees would never
+tolerate any pretensions on his part to the crown, and that he intended
+to depart early the next morning on his return; if the Greeks wished to
+accompany him, they must join him during the night. In the evening,
+Klearchus, convening the generals and the captains, acquainted them that
+the morning sacrifice had been of a nature to forbid their marching
+against the King--a prohibition, of which he now understood the reason,
+from having since learnt that the King was on the other side of the
+Tigris, and therefore out of their reach--but that it was favorable for
+rejoining Ariæus. He gave directions accordingly for a night-march back
+along the Euphratês, to the station where they had passed the last night
+but one prior to the battle. The other Grecian generals, without any
+formal choice of Klearchus as chief, tacitly acquiesced in his orders,
+from a sense of his superior decision and experience, in an emergency
+when no one knew what to propose. The night-march was successfully
+accomplished, so that they joined Ariæus at the preceding station about
+midnight; not without the alarming symptom, however, that Miltokythês
+the Thracian deserted to the King at the head of 340 of his countrymen,
+partly horse, partly foot.
+
+The first proceeding of the Grecian generals was to exchange solemn
+oaths of reciprocal fidelity and fraternity with Ariæus. According to an
+ancient and impressive practice, a bull, a wolf, a boar, and a ram, were
+all slain, and their blood allowed to run into the hollow of a shield;
+in which the Greek generals dipped a sword, and Ariæus, with his chief
+companions, a spear. The latter, besides the promise of alliance,
+engaged also to guide the Greeks in good faith down to the Asiatic
+coast. Klearchus immediately began to ask what route he proposed to
+take; whether to return by that along which they had come up, or by any
+other. To this Ariæus replied, that the road along which they had
+marched was impracticable for retreat, from the utter want of
+provisions through seventeen days of desert; but that he intended to
+choose another road, which, though longer, would be sufficiently
+productive to furnish them with provisions. There was, however, a
+necessity (he added), that the first two or three days' marches should
+be of extreme length, in order that they might get out of the reach of
+the king's forces, who would hardly be able to overtake them afterwards
+with any considerable numbers.
+
+They had now come 93 days' march from Ephesus, or 90 from Sardis. The
+distance from Sardis to Kunaxa is 1464 miles. There had been at least 96
+days of rest, enjoyed at various places, so that the total of time
+elapsed must have at least been 189 days, or a little more than half a
+year: but it was probably greater, since some intervals of rest are not
+specified in number of days.
+
+How to retrace their steps was now the problem, apparently insoluble. As
+to the military force of Persia in the field, indeed, not merely the
+easy victory at Kunaxa, but still more the undisputed march throughout
+so long a space, left them no serious apprehension. In spite of this
+great extent, population, and riches, they had been allowed to pass
+through the most difficult and defensible country, and to ford the broad
+Euphratês, without a blow: nay, the King had shrunk from defending the
+long trench which he had specially caused to be dug for the protection
+of Babylonia. But the difficulties which stood between them and their
+homes were of a very different character. How were they to find their
+way back, or obtain provisions, in defiance of a numerous hostile
+cavalry, which, not without efficiency even in a pitched battle, would
+be most formidable in opposing their retreat? The line of their upward
+march had all been planned, with supplies furnished, by Cyrus:--yet
+even under such advantages, supplies had been on the point of failing,
+in one part of the march. They were now, for the first time, called upon
+to think and provide for themselves; without knowledge of either roads
+or distances--without trustworthy guides--without any one to furnish or
+even to indicate supplies--and with a territory all hostile, traversed
+by rivers which they had no means of crossing. Klearchus himself knew
+nothing of the country, nor of any other river except the Euphratês; nor
+does he indeed in his heart seem to have conceived retreat as
+practicable without the consent of the King. The reader who casts his
+eye on a map of Asia, and imagines the situation of this Greek division
+on the left bank of the Euphratês, near the parallel of latitude 33°
+30'--will hardly be surprised at any measure of despair, on the part
+either of general or soldiers. And we may add that Klearchus had not
+even the advantage of such a map, or probably of any map at all, to
+enable him to shape his course.
+
+In this dilemma, the first and most natural impulse was to consult
+Ariæus; who (as has been already stated) pronounced, with good reason,
+that return by the same road was impracticable; and promised to conduct
+them home by another road--longer indeed, yet better supplied.
+
+
+§ 2. Commencement of the Retreat.
+
+At daybreak on the ensuing morning, they began their march in an
+easterly direction, anticipating that before night they should reach
+some villages of the Babylonian territory, as in fact they did; yet not
+before they had been alarmed in the afternoon by the supposed approach
+of some of the enemy's horse, and by evidences that the enemy were not
+far off, which induced them to slacken their march for the purpose of
+more cautious array.[6] Hence they did not reach the first villages
+before dark; these too had been pillaged by the enemy while retreating
+before them, so that only the first-comers under Klearchus could obtain
+accommodation, while the succeeding troops, coming up in the dark,
+pitched as they could without any order. The whole camp was a scene of
+clamor, dispute, and even alarm, throughout the night. No provisions
+could be obtained. Early the next morning Klearchus ordered them under
+arms; and desiring to expose the groundless nature of the alarm, caused
+the herald[7] to proclaim, that whoever would denounce the person who
+had let the ass[8] into the camp on the preceding night, should be
+rewarded with a talent[9] of silver.
+
+What was the project of route entertained by Ariæus, we cannot
+ascertain; since it was not farther pursued. For the effect of the
+unexpected arrival of the Greeks as if to attack the enemy--and even the
+clamor and shouting of the camp during the night--so intimidated the
+Persian commanders, that they sent heralds the next morning to treat
+about a truce. The contrast between this message, and the haughty
+summons of the preceding day to lay down their arms, was sensibly felt
+by the Grecian officers, and taught them that the proper way of dealing
+with the Persians was by a bold and aggressive demeanor. When Klearchus
+was apprised of the arrival of the heralds, he desired them at first to
+wait at the outposts until he was at leisure: then, having put his
+troops into the best possible order, with a phalanx[10] compact on every
+side to the eye, and the unarmed persons out of sight, he desired the
+heralds to be admitted. He marched out to meet them with the most showy
+and best-armed soldiers immediately around him, and when they informed
+him that they had come from the King with instructions to propose a
+truce, and to report on what conditions the Greeks would agree to it,
+Klearchus replied abruptly--"Well then--go and tell the King, that our
+first business must be to fight; for we have nothing to eat, nor will
+any man presume to talk to Greeks about a truce, without first providing
+dinner for them." With this reply the heralds rode off, but returned
+very speedily; thus making it plain that the King, or the commanding
+officer, was near at hand. They brought word that the King thought their
+answer reasonable, and had sent guides to conduct them to a place where
+they would obtain provisions, if the truce should be concluded.
+
+After an affected delay and hesitation, in order to impose upon the
+Persians, Klearchus concluded the truce, and desired that the guides
+should conduct the army to those quarters where provisions could be had.
+He was most circumspect in maintaining exact order during the march,
+himself taking charge of the rear guard. The guides led them over many
+ditches and channels, full of water, and cut for the purpose of
+irrigation[11]; some so broad and deep that they could not be crossed
+without bridges. The army had to put together bridges for the occasion,
+from palm-trees either already fallen, or expressly cut down. This was a
+troublesome business, which Klearchus himself superintended with
+peculiar strictness. He carried his spear in the left hand, his stick in
+the right; employing the latter to chastise any soldier who seemed
+remiss--and even plunging into the mud and lending his own hands in aid
+wherever it was necessary. As it was not the usual season of irrigation
+for crops he suspected that the canals had been filled on this occasion
+expressly to intimidate the Greeks, by impressing them with the
+difficulties of their prospective march; and he was anxious to
+demonstrate to the Persians that these difficulties were no more than
+Grecian energy could easily surmount.
+
+At length they reached certain villages indicated by their guides for
+quarters and provisions; and here for the first time they had a sample
+of that unparalleled abundance of the Babylonian territory, which
+Herodotus is afraid to describe with numerical precision. Large
+quantities of corn,[12]--dates not only in great numbers, but of such
+beauty, freshness, size, and flavor, as no Greek had ever seen or
+tasted, insomuch that fruit like what was imported into Greece, was
+disregarded and left for the slaves--wine and vinegar, both also made
+from the date-palm; these are the luxuries which Xenophon is eloquent in
+describing, after his recent period of scanty fare and anxious
+apprehension; not without also noticing the headaches which such new and
+luscious food, in unlimited quantity, brought upon himself and others.
+
+
+§ 3. Negotiations with Tissaphernês.
+
+After three days passed in these restorative quarters, they were visited
+by Tissaphernês, accompanied by four Persian grandees and a suite of
+slaves. The satrap[13] began to open a negotiation with Klearchus and
+the other generals. Speaking through an interpreter, he stated to them
+that the vicinity of his province to Greece impressed him with a strong
+interest in favor of the Cyreian Greeks,[14] and made him anxious to
+rescue them out of their present desperate situation; that he had
+solicited the King's permission to save them, as a personal recompense
+to himself for having been the first to forewarn him of the schemes of
+Cyrus, and for having been the only Persian who had not fled before the
+Greeks at Kunaxa; that the King had promised to consider this point, and
+had sent him in the mean time to ask the Greeks what their purpose was
+in coming up to attack him; and that he trusted the Greeks would give
+him a conciliatory answer to carry back, in order that he might have
+less difficulty in realizing what he desired for their benefit. To this
+Klearchus, after first deliberating apart with the other officers,
+replied, that the army had come together, and had even commenced their
+march, without any purpose of hostility to the King; that Cyrus had
+brought them up the country under false pretences, but that they had
+been ashamed to desert him in the midst of danger, since he had always
+treated them generously; that since Cyrus was now dead, they had no
+purpose of hostility against the King, but were only anxious to return
+home; that they were prepared to repel hostility from all quarters, but
+would be not less prompt in requiting favor or assistance. With this
+answer Tissaphernês departed, and returned on the next day but one,
+informing them that he had obtained the King's permission to save the
+Grecian army--though not without great opposition, since many Persian
+counsellors contended that it was unworthy of the King's dignity to
+suffer those who had assailed him to escape. "I am now ready (said he)
+to conclude a covenant[15] and exchange oaths with you; engaging to
+conduct you safely back into Greece, with the country friendly, and with
+a regular market for you to purchase provisions. You must stipulate on
+your part always to pay for your provisions, and to do no damage to the
+country: if I do not furnish you with provisions to buy, you are then at
+liberty to take them where you can find them." Well were the Greeks
+content to enter into such a covenant, which was sworn, with hands given
+upon it, by Klearchus, the other generals, and the captains on their
+side--and by Tissaphernês with the King's brother-in-law on the other.
+Tissaphernês then left them, saying that he would go back to the King,
+make preparations, and return to reconduct the Greeks home; going
+himself to his own province.
+
+The statements of Ktesias, though known to us only indirectly, and not
+to be received without caution, afford ground for believing that Queen
+Parysatis decidedly wished success to her son Cyrus in his contest for
+the throne--that the first report conveyed to her of the battle of
+Kunaxa, announcing the victory of Cyrus, filled her with joy, which was
+exchanged for bitter sorrow when she was informed of his death,--that
+she caused to be slain with horrible tortures all those, who, though
+acting in the Persian army and for the defence of Artaxerxês, had any
+participation in the death of Cyrus--and that she showed favorable
+dispositions towards the Cyreian Greeks. It may seem probable, farther,
+that her influence may have been exerted to procure for them an
+unimpeded retreat, without anticipating the use afterwards made by
+Tissaphernês (as will soon appear) of the present convention.[16] And in
+one point of view the Persian king had an interest in facilitating their
+retreat. For the very circumstance which rendered retreat difficult,
+also rendered the Greeks dangerous to him in their actual position. They
+were in the heart of the Persian Empire, within seventy miles of
+Babylon; in a country not only teeming with fertility, but also
+extremely defensible; especially against cavalry, from the multiplicity
+of canals, as Herodotus observed respecting Lower Egypt. And Klearchus
+might say to his Grecian soldiers--what Xenophon was afterwards
+preparing to say to them at Kalpê on the Euxine Sea, and what Nikias
+also affirmed to the unhappy Athenian army whom he afterwards conducted
+away from Syracuse[17]--that wherever they sat down, they were
+sufficiently numerous and well-organized to become at once a city. A
+body of such troops might effectually assist, and would perhaps
+encourage, the Babylonian population to throw off the Persian yoke, and
+to relieve themselves from the prodigious tribute[18] which they now
+paid to the satrap. For these reasons, the advisers of Artaxerxês
+thought it advantageous to convey the Greeks across the Tigris out of
+Babylonia, beyond all possibility of returning thither. This was at any
+rate the primary object of the convention. And it was the more necessary
+to conciliate the goodwill of the Greeks, because there seems to have
+been but one bridge over the Tigris; which bridge could only be reached
+by inviting them to advance considerably farther into the interior of
+Babylonia.
+
+Such was the state of fears and hopes on both sides, at the time when
+Tissaphernês left the Greeks, after concluding his convention. For
+twenty days did they await his return, without receiving from him any
+communication; the Cyreian Persians[19] under Ariæus being encamped near
+them. Such prolonged and unexplained delay became, after a few days, the
+source of much uneasiness to the Greeks; the more so, as Ariæus received
+during this interval several visits from his Persian kinsmen, and
+friendly messages from the King, promising amnesty[20] for his recent
+services under Cyrus. Of these messages the effects were painfully felt,
+in manifest coldness of demeanor on the part of his Persian troops
+towards the Greeks. Impatient and suspicious, the Greek soldiers
+impressed upon Klearchus their fears, that the King had concluded the
+recent convention only to arrest their movements, until he should have
+assembled a larger army and blocked up more effectually the roads
+against their return. To this Klearchus replied--"I am aware of all that
+you say. Yet if we now strike our tents,[21] it will be a breach of the
+convention, and a declaration of war. No one will furnish us with
+provisions: we shall have no guides: Ariæus will desert us forthwith, so
+that we shall have his troops as enemies instead of friends. Whether
+there be any other river for us to cross, I know not; but we know that
+the Euphratês itself can never be crossed, if there be an enemy to
+resist us. Nor have we any cavalry,--while cavalry is the best and most
+numerous force of our enemies. If the King, having all these advantages,
+really wishes to destroy us, I do not know why he should falsely
+exchange all these oaths and solemnities, and thus make his own word
+worthless in the eyes both of Greeks and barbarians."[22]
+
+Such words from Klearchus are remarkable, as they testify his own
+complete despair of the situation--certainly a very natural
+despair--except by amicable dealing with the Persians; and also his
+ignorance of geography and the country to be traversed. This feeling
+helps to explain his imprudent confidence afterwards in Tissaphernês.
+
+That satrap, however, after twenty days, at last came back, with his
+army prepared to return to Ionia[23]--with the King's daughter, whom he
+had just received in marriage--and with another grandee named Orontas.
+Tissaphernês took the conduct of the march, providing supplies for the
+Greek troops to purchase; while Ariæus and his division now separated
+themselves altogether from the Greeks, and became intermingled with the
+other Persians. Klearchus and the Greeks followed them, at the distance
+of about three miles in the rear, with a separate guide for themselves;
+not without jealousy and mistrust, sometimes shown in individual
+conflicts, while collecting wood or forage, between them and the
+Persians of Ariæus. After three days' march (that is, apparently, three
+days, calculated from the moment when they began their retreat with
+Ariæus) they came to the Wall of Media,[24] and passed through it,
+prosecuting their march onward through the country on its other or
+interior side. It was of bricks cemented with bitumen,[25] 100 feet
+high, and 20 feet broad; it was said to extend a length of about 70
+miles, and to be not far distant from Babylon. Two days of farther
+march, computed at 28 miles, brought them to the Tigris. During these
+two days they crossed two great ship-canals, one of them over a
+permanent bridge, the other over a temporary bridge laid on seven boats.
+Canals of such magnitude must probably have been two among the four
+stated by Xenophon to be drawn from the river Tigris, each of them about
+three miles and a half distant from the other. They were 100 feet broad,
+and deep enough even for heavy vessels; they were distributed by means
+of numerous smaller channels and ditches for the irrigation of the soil;
+and they were said to fall into the Euphratês; or rather perhaps they
+terminated in one main larger canal cut directly from the Euphratês to
+the Tigris, each of them joining this larger canal at a different point
+of its course. Within less than two miles of the Tigris was a large and
+populous city named Sittakê, near which the Greeks pitched their camp,
+on the verge of a beautiful park or thick grove full of all kinds of
+trees; while the Persians all crossed the Tigris, at the neighboring
+bridge.
+
+As Proxenus and Xenophon were here walking in front of the camp after
+supper, a man was brought up who had asked for the former at the
+advanced posts. This man said that he came with instructions from
+Ariæus. He advised the Greeks to be on their guard, as there were troops
+concealed in the adjoining grove, for the purpose of attacking them
+during the night--and also to send and occupy the bridge over the
+Tigris, since Tissaphernês intended to break it down, in order that the
+Greeks might be caught without possibility of escape between the river
+and the canal. On discussing this information with Klearchus, who was
+much alarmed by it, a young Greek present remarked that the two matters
+stated by the informant contradicted each other; for that if
+Tissaphernês intended to attack the Greeks during the night, he would
+not break down the bridge, so as both to prevent his own troops on the
+other side from crossing to aid, and to deprive those on this side of
+all retreat if they were beaten,--while, if the Greeks were beaten,
+there was no escape open to them, whether the bridge continued or not.
+This remark induced Klearchus to ask the messenger, what was the extent
+of ground between the Tigris and the canal. The messenger replied that
+it was a great extent of country, comprising many large cities and
+villages. Reflecting on this communication, the Greek officers came to
+the conclusion that the message was a stratagem on the part of
+Tissaphernês to frighten them and hasten their passage across the
+Tigris; under the apprehension that they might conceive the plan of
+seizing or breaking the bridge and occupying a permanent position in the
+spot where they were; which was an island, fortified on one side by the
+Tigris,--on the other sides, by intersecting canals between the
+Euphratês and the Tigris. Such an island was a defensible position,
+having a most productive territory with numerous cultivators, so as to
+furnish shelter and means of hostility for all the King's enemies:
+Tissaphernês calculated that the message now delivered would induce the
+Greeks to become alarmed with their actual position, and to cross the
+Tigris with as little delay as possible. At least this was the
+interpretation which the Greek officers put upon his proceeding; an
+interpretation highly plausible, since, in order to reach the bridge
+over the Tigris, he had been obliged to conduct the Greek troops into a
+position sufficiently tempting for them to hold--and since he knew that
+his own purposes were purely treacherous. But the Greeks, officers as
+well as soldiers, were animated only by the wish of reaching home. They
+trusted, though not without misgivings, in the promise of Tissaphernês
+to conduct them; and never for a moment thought of taking permanent post
+in this fertile island. They did not however neglect the precaution of
+sending a guard during the night to the bridge over the Tigris, which no
+enemy came to assail. On the next morning they passed over it in a body,
+in cautious and mistrustful array, and found themselves on the eastern
+bank of the Tigris,--not only without attack, but even without sight of
+a single Persian, except Glûs the interpreter and a few others watching
+their motions.
+
+After having crossed by a bridge laid upon thirty-seven pontoons,[26]
+the Greeks continued their march to the northward upon the eastern side
+of the Tigris, for four days to the river Physkus; said to be seventy
+miles. The Physkus was 100 feet wide, with a bridge, and the large city
+of Opis near it. Here, at the frontier of Assyria and Media, the road
+from the eastern regions to Babylon joined the road northerly on which
+the Greeks were marching. An illegitimate brother of Artaxerxês was seen
+at the head of a numerous force, which he was conducting from Susa and
+Ekbatana as a reinforcement to the royal army. This great host halted to
+see the Greeks pass by; and Klearchus ordered the march in column of two
+abreast, employing himself actively to maintain an excellent array, and
+halting more than once. The army thus occupied so long a time in passing
+by the Persian host that their numbers appeared greater than the
+reality, even to themselves; while the effect upon the Persian
+spectators was very imposing. Here Assyria ended and Media began. They
+marched, still in a northerly direction, for six days through a portion
+of Media almost unpeopled, until they came to some flourishing villages
+which formed a portion of the domain of Queen Parysatis; probably these
+villages, forming so marked an exception to the desert character of the
+remaining march, were situated on the Lesser Zab, which flows into the
+Tigris, and which Xenophon must have crossed, though he makes no mention
+of it. According to the order of march stipulated between the Greeks and
+Tissaphernês, the latter only provided a supply of provisions for the
+former to purchase; but on the present halt, he allowed the Greeks to
+plunder the villages, which were rich and full of all sorts of
+subsistence--yet without carrying off the slaves. The wish of the satrap
+to put an insult on Cyrus, as his personal enemy, through Parysatis,
+thus proved a sentence of ruin to these unhappy villagers. Five more
+days' march, called seventy miles, brought them to the banks of the
+river Zabatus, or the Greater Zab, which flows into the Tigris near a
+town now called Senn. During the first of these five days, they saw on
+the opposite side of the Tigris a large town called Kænæ, from whence
+they received supplies of provisions, brought across by the inhabitants
+upon rafts supported by inflated skins.[27]
+
+
+§ 4. Treachery of Tissaphernês.
+
+On the banks of the Great Zab they halted three days--days of serious
+and tragical moment. Having been under feelings of mistrust, ever since
+the convention with Tissaphernês, they had followed throughout the whole
+march, with separate guides of their own, in the rear of his army,
+always maintaining their encampment apart. During their halt on the Zab,
+so many various manifestations occurred to aggravate the mistrust, that
+hostilities seemed on the point of breaking out between the two camps.
+To obviate this danger Klearchus demanded an interview with
+Tissaphernês, represented to him the threatening attitude of affairs,
+and insisted on the necessity of coming to a clear understanding. He
+impressed upon the satrap that, over and above the solemn oaths which
+had been interchanged, the Greeks on their side could have no
+conceivable motive to quarrel with him; that they had everything to hope
+from his friendship, and everything to fear, even to the loss of all
+chance of safe return, from his hostility; that Tissaphernês also could
+gain nothing by destroying them, but would find them, if he chose, the
+best and most faithful instruments for his own aggrandizement and for
+conquering the Mysians and Pisidians[28]--as Cyrus had experienced while
+he was alive. Klearchus concluded his protest by requesting to be
+informed, what malicious reporter had been filling the mind of
+Tissaphernês with causeless suspicions against the Greeks.
+
+"Klearchus (replied the satrap), I rejoice to hear such excellent sense
+from your lips. You remark truly, that if you were to meditate evil
+against me, it would recoil upon yourselves. I shall prove to you, in my
+turn, that you have no cause to mistrust either the King or me. If we
+had wished to destroy you, nothing would be easier. We have
+superabundant forces for the purpose: there are wide plains in which you
+would be starved--besides mountains and rivers which you would be unable
+to pass, without our help. Having thus the means of destroying you in
+our hands, and having nevertheless bound ourselves by solemn oaths to
+save you, we shall not be fools and knaves enough to attempt it now,
+when we should draw upon ourselves the just indignation of the gods. It
+is my peculiar affection for my neighbors the Greeks--and my wish to
+attach to my own person, by ties of gratitude, the Greek soldiers of
+Cyrus--which have made me eager to conduct you to Ionia[29] in safety.
+For I know that when you are in my service, though the King is the only
+man who can wear his tiara[30] erect _upon his head_, I shall be able to
+wear mine erect upon _my heart_, in full pride and confidence."
+
+So powerful was the impression made upon Klearchus by these assurances,
+that he exclaimed--"Surely those informers deserve the severest
+punishment, who try to put us at enmity, when we are such good friends
+to each other, and have so much reason to be so." "Yes (replied
+Tissaphernês), they deserve nothing less: and if you, with the other
+generals and captains, will come into my tent tomorrow, I will tell you
+who the calumniators are." "To-be-sure I will (rejoined Klearchus), and
+bring the other generals with me. I shall tell you at the same time who
+are the parties that seek to prejudice us against you." The conversation
+then ended, the satrap detaining Klearchus to dinner, and treating him
+in the most hospitable and confidential manner.
+
+On the next morning, Klearchus communicated what had passed to the
+Greeks, insisting on the necessity that all the generals should go to
+Tissaphernês pursuant to his invitation; in order to re-establish that
+confidence which unworthy calumniators had shaken, and to punish such of
+the calumniators as might be Greeks. So emphatically did he pledge
+himself for the good faith and philhellenic[31] dispositions of the
+satrap, that he overruled the opposition of many among the soldiers;
+who, still continuing to entertain their former suspicions, remonstrated
+especially against the extreme imprudence of putting all the generals at
+once into the power of Tissaphernês. The urgency of Klearchus prevailed.
+Himself with four other generals--Proxenus, Menon, Agias, and
+Sokratês--and twenty captains--went to visit the satrap in his tent;
+about 200 of the soldiers going along with them, to make purchases for
+their own account in the Persian camp-market.
+
+On reaching the quarters of Tissaphernês--distant nearly three miles
+from the Persian camp according to habit--the five generals were
+admitted into the interior, while the captains remained at the entrance.
+A purple flag, hoisted from the top of the tent, betrayed too late the
+purpose for which they had been invited to come. The captains, with the
+Grecian soldiers who had accompanied them, were surprised and cut down,
+while the generals in the interior were detained, put in chains, and
+carried up as prisoners to the Persian court. Here Klearchus, Proxenus,
+Agias, and Sokratês, were beheaded, after a short imprisonment. Queen
+Parysatis, indeed, from affection to Cyrus, not only furnished many
+comforts to Klearchus in the prison (by the hands of her surgeon
+Ktesias), but used all her influence with her son Artaxerxês to save
+his life; though her efforts were counteracted, on this occasion, by the
+superior influence of Queen Stateira, his wife. The rivalry between
+these two royal women, doubtless arising out of many other circumstances
+besides the death of Klearchus, became soon afterwards so furious, that
+Parysatis caused Stateira to be poisoned.
+
+Menon was not put to death along with the other generals. He appears to
+have taken credit at the Persian court for the treason of entrapping his
+colleagues into the hands of Tissaphernês. But his life was only
+prolonged to perish a year afterwards in disgrace and torture--probably
+by the requisition of Parysatis, who thus avenged the death of
+Klearchus. The queen-mother had always power enough to perpetrate
+cruelties, though not always to avert them. She had already brought to a
+miserable end every one, even faithful defenders of Artaxerxês,
+concerned in the death of her son Cyrus.
+
+Though Menon thought it convenient, when brought up to Babylon, to boast
+of having been the instrument through whom the generals were entrapped
+into the fatal tent, this boast is not to be treated as matter of fact.
+For not only does Xenophon explain the catastrophe differently, but in
+the delineation which he gives of Menon, dark and odious as it is in the
+extreme, he does not advance any such imputation; indirectly, indeed, he
+sets it aside.
+
+Unfortunately for the reputation of Klearchus, no such reasonable excuse
+can be offered for his credulity, which brought himself as well as his
+colleagues to so melancholy an end, and his whole army to the brink of
+ruin. It appears that the general sentiment of the Grecian army, taking
+just measure of the character of Tissaphernês, was disposed to greater
+circumspection in dealing with him. Upon that system Klearchus himself
+had hitherto acted; and the necessity of it might have been especially
+present to _his_ mind, since he had served with the Lacedæmonian fleet
+at Miletus[32] in 411 B.C., and had therefore had fuller experience than
+other men in the army, of the satrap's real character. On a sudden he
+now turns round, and on the faith of a few verbal declarations, puts all
+the military chiefs into the most defenceless posture and the most
+obvious peril, such as hardly the strongest grounds for confidence could
+have justified. Though the remark of Machiavel is justified by large
+experience--that from the short-sightedness of men and their obedience
+to present impulse, the most notorious deceiver will always find new
+persons to trust him--still such misjudgment on the part of an officer
+of age and experience is difficult to explain. Polyænus intimates that
+beautiful women, exhibited by the satrap at his first banquet to
+Klearchus alone, served as a lure to attract him with all his colleagues
+to the second; while Xenophon imputes the error to continuance of a
+jealous rivalry with Menon. The latter, it appears, having always been
+intimate with Ariæus; had been thus brought into previous communication
+with Tissaphernês, by whom he had been well received, and by whom he was
+also encouraged to lay plans for detaching the whole Grecian army from
+Klearchus so as to bring it all under his (Menon's) command into the
+services of the satrap. Such at least was the suspicion of Klearchus;
+who, jealous in the extreme of his own military authority, tried to
+defeat the scheme by bidding still higher himself for the favor of
+Tissaphernês. Imagining that Menon was the unknown calumniator who
+prejudiced the satrap against him, he hoped to prevail on the satrap to
+disclose his name and dismiss him. Such jealousy seems to have robbed
+Klearchus of his customary prudence. We must also allow for another
+impression deeply fixed in his mind; that the salvation of the army was
+hopeless without the consent of Tissaphernês, and therefore, since the
+latter had conducted them thus far in safety, when he might have
+destroyed them before, that his designs at the bottom could not be
+hostile.
+
+Notwithstanding these two great mistakes--one on the present occasion,
+one previously, at the battle of Kunaxa, in keeping the Greeks on the
+right contrary to the order of Cyrus--both committed by Klearchus, the
+loss of that officer was doubtless a great misfortune to the army;
+while, on the contrary, the removal of Menon was a signal
+benefit--perhaps a condition of ultimate safety. A man so treacherous
+and unprincipled as Xenophon depicts Menon, would probably have ended by
+really committing towards the army that treason, for which he falsely
+took credit at the Persian court in reference to the seizure of the
+generals.
+
+The impression entertained by Klearchus, respecting the hopeless
+position of the Greeks in the heart of the Persian territory after the
+death of Cyrus was perfectly natural in a military man who could
+appreciate all the means of attack and obstruction which the enemy had
+it in their power to employ. Nothing is so unaccountable in this
+expedition as the manner in which such means were thrown away--the
+spectacle of Persian impotence. First, the whole line of upward march,
+including the passage of the Euphratês, left undefended; next, the long
+trench dug across the frontier of Babylonia, with only a passage of
+twenty feet wide left near the Euphratês, abandoned without a guard;
+lastly, the line of the Wall of Media and the canals which offered such
+favorable positions for keeping the Greeks out of the cultivated
+territory of Babylonia, neglected in like manner, and a convention
+concluded whereby the Persians engaged to escort the invaders safe to
+the Ionian coast, beginning by conducting them through the heart of
+Babylonia, amidst canals affording inexpugnable defences if the Greeks
+had chosen to take up a position among them. The plan of Tissaphernês,
+as far as we can understand it, seems to have been, to draw the Greeks
+to some considerable distance from the heart of the Persian empire, and
+then to open his schemes of treasonable hostility, which the imprudence
+of Klearchus enabled him to do, on the banks of the Great Zab, with
+chances of success such as he could hardly have contemplated. We have
+here a fresh example of the wonderful impotence of the Persians. We
+should have expected that, after having committed so flagrant an act of
+perfidy, Tissaphernês would at least have tried to turn it to account;
+that he would have poured with all his forces and all his vigor on the
+Grecian camp, at the moment when it was unprepared, disorganized, and
+without commanders. Instead of which, when the generals (with those who
+accompanied them to the Persian camp) had been seized or slain, no
+attack whatever was made except by small detachments of Persian cavalry
+upon individual Greek stragglers in the plain. One of the companions of
+the generals, an Arcadian,[33] named Nikarchus, ran wounded into the
+Grecian camp, where the soldiers were looking from afar at the horsemen
+scouring the plain without knowing what they were about,--exclaiming
+that the Persians were massacring all the Greeks, officers as well as
+soldiers. Immediately the Greek soldiers hastened to put themselves in
+defence, expecting a general attack to be made upon their camp; but no
+more Persians came near than a body of about 300 horse, under Ariæus and
+Mithridatês (the confidential companions of the deceased Cyrus),
+accompanied by the brother of Tissaphernês. These men, approaching the
+Greek lines as friends, called for the Greek officers to come forth, as
+they had a message to deliver from the King. Accordingly, Kleanor and
+Sophænetus with an adequate guard, came to the front, accompanied by
+Xenophon, who was anxious to hear news about Proxenus. Ariæus then
+acquainted them that Klearchus, having been detected in a breach of the
+convention to which he had sworn, had been put to death; that Proxenus
+and Menon, who had divulged his treason, were in high honor at the
+Persian quarters. He concluded by saying--"The King calls upon you to
+surrender your arms, which now (he says) belong to him, since they
+formerly belonged to his slave Cyrus."
+
+The step here taken seems to testify a belief on the part of these
+Persians, that the generals being now in their power the Grecian
+soldiers had become defenceless, and might be required to surrender
+their arms, even to men who had just been guilty of the most deadly
+fraud and injury towards them. If Ariæus entertained such an
+expectation, he was at once undeceived by the language of Kleanor and
+Xenophon, which breathed nothing but indignant reproach; so that he soon
+retired and left the Greeks to their own reflections.
+
+While their camp yet remained unmolested, every man within it was a prey
+to the most agonizing apprehensions. Ruin appeared impending and
+inevitable, though no one could tell in what precise form it would come.
+The Greeks were in the midst of a hostile country, nearly 1200 miles
+from home, surrounded by enemies, blocked up by impassable mountains and
+rivers, without guides, without provisions, without cavalry to aid their
+retreat, without generals to give orders. A stupor of sorrow and
+conscious helplessness seized upon all. Few came to the evening muster;
+few lighted fires to cook their suppers; every man lay down to rest
+where he was; yet no man could sleep, for fear, anguish, and yearning
+after relatives whom he was never again to behold.
+
+Amidst the many causes of despondency which weighed down this forlorn
+army, there was none more serious than the fact, that not a single man
+among them had now either authority to command, or obligation to take
+the initiative. Nor was any ambitious candidate likely to volunteer his
+pretensions, at a moment when the post promised nothing but the maximum
+of difficulty as well as of hazard. A new, self-kindled light--and
+self-originated stimulus--was required, to vivify the embers of
+suspended hope and action, in a mass paralyzed for the moment, but every
+way capable of effort. And the inspiration now fell, happily for the
+army, upon one in whom a full measure of soldierly strength and courage
+was combined with the education of an Athenian, a democrat, and a
+philosopher.[34]
+
+
+§ 5. Xenophon's Dream and its Results.
+
+It is in true Homeric vein, and in something like Homeric language, that
+Xenophon (to whom we owe the whole narrative of the expedition)
+describes his dream, or the intervention of Oneirus,[35] sent by
+Zeus,[36] from which this renovating impulse took its rise. Lying
+mournful and restless like his comrades, he caught a short repose; when
+he dreamt that he heard thunder, and saw the burning thunderbolt fall
+upon his paternal house, which became forthwith encircled by flames.
+Awaking, full of terror, he instantly sprang up; upon which the dream
+began to fit on and blend itself with his waking thoughts, and with the
+cruel realities of his position. His pious and excited fancy generated a
+series of shadowy analogies. The dream was sent by Zeus the King, since
+it was from him that thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect,
+the sign was auspicious--that a great light had appeared to him from
+Zeus in the midst of peril and suffering. But on the other hand, it was
+alarming, that the house had appeared to be completely encircled by
+flames, preventing all egress, because this seemed to indicate that he
+would remain confined where he was in the Persian dominions, without
+being able to overcome the difficulties which hedged him in. Yet
+doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message of Zeus addressed
+to himself, serving as a stimulus to him to break through the common
+stupor and take the initiative movement. "Why am I lying here? Night is
+advancing; at daybreak the enemy will be on us, and we shall be put to
+death with tortures. Not a man is stirring to take measures of defence.
+Why do I wait for any man older than myself, or for any man of a
+different city, to begin?"
+
+With these reflections, interesting in themselves, and given with
+Homeric vivacity, he instantly went to convene the captains who had
+served under his late friend Proxenus. He impressed upon them
+emphatically the necessity of standing forward to put the army in a
+posture of defence. "I cannot sleep, fellow-soldiers; neither, I
+presume, can you, under our present perils. The enemy will be upon us at
+daybreak--prepared to kill us all with tortures, as his worst enemies.
+For my part, I rejoice that his villanous perjury has put an end to a
+truce by which we were the great losers; a truce, under which we,
+mindful of our oaths, have passed through all the rich possessions of
+the King, without touching anything except what we could purchase with
+our own scanty means. Now, we have our hands free: all these rich spoils
+stand between us and him, as prizes for the better man. The gods, who
+preside over the match, will assuredly be on the side of us, who have
+kept our oaths in spite of strong temptations, against these perjurers.
+Moreover, our bodies are more enduring, and our spirit more gallant,
+than theirs. They are easier to wound, and easier to kill, than we are,
+under the same favor of the gods as we experienced at Kunaxa.
+
+"Probably others also are feeling just as we feel. But let us not wait
+for any one else to come as monitors to us: let us take the lead, and
+communicate the stimulus of honor to others. Do you show yourselves now
+the best among the captains--more worthy of being generals than the
+generals themselves. Begin at once, and I desire only to follow you. But
+if you order me into the front rank, I shall obey without pleading my
+youth as an excuse--accounting myself to be of complete maturity, when
+the purpose is to save myself from ruin."
+
+All the captains who heard Xenophon cordially concurred in his
+suggestion, and desired him to take the lead in executing it. One captain
+alone--Apollonidês, speaking in the Boeotian dialect[37]--protested
+against it as insane; enlarging upon their desperate position, and
+insisting upon submission to the King as the only chance of safety. "How?
+(replied Xenophon). Have you forgotten the courteous treatment which we
+received from the Persians in Babylonia when we replied to their demand
+for the surrender of our arms by showing a bold front? Do not you see the
+miserable fate which has befallen Klearchus, when he trusted himself
+unarmed in their hands, in reliance on their oaths? And yet you scout our
+exhortations to resistance, again advising us to go and plead for
+indulgence! My friends, such a Greek as this man, disgraces not only his
+own city, but all Greece besides. Let us banish him from our councils,
+cashier[38] him, and make a slave of him to carry baggage." "Nay
+(observed Agasias of Stymphalus), the man has nothing to do with Greece:
+I myself have seen his ears bored, like a true Lydian."[39] Apollonidês
+was degraded accordingly.
+
+Xenophon with the rest then distributed themselves in order to bring
+together the chief remaining officers in the army, who were presently
+convened, to the number of about one hundred. The senior captain of the
+earlier body next desired Xenophon to repeat to this larger body the
+topics upon which he had just before been insisting. Xenophon obeyed,
+enlarging yet more emphatically on the situation, perilous, yet not
+without hope--on the proper measures to be taken--and especially on the
+necessity that they, the chief officers remaining, should put themselves
+forward prominently, first fix upon effective commanders, then
+afterwards submit the names to be confirmed by the army, accompanied
+with suitable exhortations and encouragement. His speech was applauded
+and welcomed, especially by the Lacedæmonian general Cheirisophus, who
+had joined Cyrus with a body of 700 heavy-armed foot-soldiers at Issus
+in Kilikia.[40] Cheirisophus urged the captains to retire forthwith, and
+agree upon their commanders instead of the five who had been seized;
+after which the herald must be summoned, and the entire body of soldiers
+convened without delay. Accordingly Timasion of Dardanus was chosen
+instead of Klearchus; Xanthiklês in place of Sokratês; Kleanor in place
+of Agias; Philesius in place of Menon; and Xenophon instead of
+Proxenus. The captains, who had served under each of the departed
+generals, separately chose a successor to the captain thus promoted. It
+is to be recollected that the five now chosen were not the only generals
+in the camp; thus for example, Cheirisophus had the command of his own
+separate division, and there may have been one or two others similarly
+placed. But it was now necessary for all the generals to form a Board
+and act in concert.
+
+At daybreak the newly-constituted Board of generals placed proper
+outposts in advance, and then convened the army in general assembly, in
+order that the new appointments might be submitted and confirmed. As
+soon as this had been done, probably on the proposition of Cheirisophus
+(who had been in command before), that general addressed a few words of
+exhortation and encouragement to the soldiers. He was followed by
+Kleanor, who delivered, with the like brevity, an earnest protest
+against the perfidy of Tissaphernês and Ariæus. Both of them left to
+Xenophon the task, alike important and arduous at this moment of
+despondency, of setting forth the case at length,--working up the
+feelings of the soldiers to that pitch of resolution which the emergency
+required,--and above all extinguishing all those inclinations to
+acquiesce in new treacherous proposals from the enemy, which the perils
+of the situation would be likely to suggest.
+
+Xenophon had equipped himself in his finest military costume at this his
+first official appearance before the army, when the scales seemed to
+tremble between life and death. Taking up the protest of Kleanor against
+the treachery of the Persians, he insisted that any attempt to enter
+into convention or trust with such liars, would be utter ruin--but that
+if energetic resolution were taken to deal with them only at the point
+of the sword, and punish their misdeeds, there was good hope of the
+favor of the gods and of ultimate preservation. As he pronounced this
+last word, one of the soldiers near him happened to sneeze.[41]
+Immediately the whole army around shouted with one accord the accustomed
+invocation to Zeus the Preserver; and Xenophon, taking up the accident,
+continued--"Since, fellow-soldiers, this omen from Zeus the Preserver
+has appeared at the instant when we were talking about preservation, let
+us here vow to offer the preserving sacrifice to that god, and at the
+same time to sacrifice to the remaining gods as well as we can, in the
+first friendly country which we may reach. Let every man who agrees with
+me hold up his hand." All held up their hands: all then joined in the
+vow, and shouted the pæan.[42]
+
+This accident, so dexterously turned to profit by the rhetorical skill
+of Xenophon, was eminently beneficial in raising the army out of the
+depression which weighed them down, and in disposing them to listen to
+his animating appeal. Repeating his assurances that the gods were on
+their side, and hostile to their perjured enemy, he recalled to their
+memory the great invasions of Greece by Darius and Xerxes,--how the vast
+hosts of Persia had been disgracefully repelled. The army had shown
+themselves on the field of Kunaxa worthy of such forefathers; and they
+would for the future be yet bolder, knowing by that battle of what
+stuff the Persians were made. As for Ariæus and his troops, alike
+traitors and cowards, their desertion was rather a gain than a loss. The
+enemy were superior in horsemen: but men on horseback were after all
+only men, half occupied in the fear of losing their seats--incapable of
+prevailing against infantry firm on the ground,--and only better able to
+run away. Now that the satrap refused to furnish them with provisions to
+buy, they on their side were released from their covenant, and would
+take provisions without buying. Then as to the rivers; those were indeed
+difficult to be crossed, in the middle of their course; but the army
+would march up to their sources, and could then pass them without
+wetting the knee. Or indeed, the Greeks might renounce the idea of
+retreat, and establish themselves permanently in the King's own country,
+defying all his force, like the Mysians and Pisidians.[43] "If (said
+Xenophon) we plant ourselves here at our ease in a rich country, with
+these tall, stately and beautiful Median and Persian women for our
+companions--we shall be only too ready, like the Lotos-eaters,[44] to
+forget our way home. We ought first to go back to Greece, and tell our
+countrymen that if they remain poor, it is their own fault, when there
+are rich settlements in this country awaiting all who choose to come,
+and who have courage to seize them. Let us burn our baggage wagons and
+tents, and carry with us nothing but what is of the strictest necessity.
+Above all things, let us maintain order, discipline, and obedience to
+the commanders, upon which our entire hope of safety depends. Let every
+man promise to lend his hand to the commanders in punishing any
+disobedient individuals; and let us thus show the enemy that we have ten
+thousand persons like Klearchus, instead of that one whom they have so
+perfidiously seized. Now is the time for action. If any man, however
+obscure, has anything better to suggest, let him come forward and state
+it; for we have all but one object--the common safety."
+
+It appears that no one else desired to say a word, and that the speech
+of Xenophon gave unqualified satisfaction; for when Cheirisophus put the
+question, that the meeting should sanction his recommendations, and
+finally elect the new generals proposed--every man held up his hand.
+Xenophon then moved that the army should break up immediately, and march
+to some well-stored villages, rather more than two miles distant; that
+the march should be in a hollow square, with the baggage in the centre;
+that Cheirisophus, as a Lacedæmonian, should lead the van; while
+Kleanor, and the other senior officers, would command on each
+flank,--and himself with Timasion, as the two youngest of the generals,
+would lead the rear guard.
+
+This proposition was at once adopted, and the assembly broke up;
+proceeding forthwith to destroy, or distribute among one another, every
+man's superfluous baggage--and then to take their morning meal previous
+to the march.
+
+The scene just described is interesting and illustrative in more than
+one point of view. It exhibits that susceptibility to the influence of
+persuasive discourse which formed so marked a feature in the Grecian
+character--a resurrection of the collective body out of the depth of
+despair, under the exhortation of one who had no established ascendency,
+nor anything to recommend him, except his intelligence, his oratorical
+power, and his community of interest with themselves. Next, it
+manifests, still more strikingly, the superiority of Athenian training
+as compared with that of other parts of Greece. Cheirisophus had not
+only been before in office as one of the generals, but was also a native
+of Sparta, whose supremacy and name was at that moment all-powerful;
+Kleanor had been before, not indeed a general, but a captain, or one in
+the second rank of officers:--he was an elderly man--and he was an
+Arcadian, while more than the numerical half of the army consisted of
+Arcadians and Achæans.[45] Either of these two therefore, and various
+others besides, enjoyed a sort of prerogative, or established
+starting-point, for taking the initiative in reference to the dispirited
+army. But Xenophon was comparatively a young man, with little military
+experience:--he was not an officer at all, either in the first or second
+grade, but simply a volunteer, companion of Proxenus:--he was moreover a
+native of Athens, a city at that time unpopular among the great body of
+Greeks, and especially of Peloponnesians,[46] with whom her recent long
+war had been carried on. Not only therefore he had no advantages
+compared with others, but he was under positive disadvantages. He had
+nothing to start with except his personal qualities and previous
+training; in spite of which we find him not merely the prime mover, but
+also the superior person for whom the others make way. In him are
+exemplified those peculiarities of Athens, attested not less by the
+denunciation of her enemies than by the panegyric of her own
+citizens,--spontaneous and forward impulse, as well in conception as in
+execution--confidence under circumstances which made others
+despair--persuasive discourse and publicity of discussion, made
+subservient to practical business, so as at once to appeal to the
+intelligence, and stimulate the active zeal, of the multitude. Such
+peculiarities stood out more remarkably from being contrasted with the
+opposite qualities in Spartans--mistrust in conception, slackness in
+execution, secrecy in counsel, silent and passive obedience. Though
+Spartans and Athenians formed the two extremities of the scale, other
+Greeks stood nearer on this point to the former than to the latter.
+
+If, even in that encouraging autumn which followed immediately upon the
+great Athenian catastrophe[47] before Syracuse, the inertia of Sparta
+could not be stirred into vigorous action without the vehemence of the
+Athenian Alkibiadês--much more was it necessary, under the depressing
+circumstances which now overclouded the unofficered Grecian army, that
+an Athenian bosom should be found as the source of new life and
+impulse. Nor would any one, probably, except an Athenian, either have
+felt or obeyed the promptings to stand forward as a volunteer at that
+moment, when there was every motive to decline responsibility, and no
+special duty to impel him. But if by chance a Spartan or an Arcadian had
+been found thus forward, he would have been destitute of such talents as
+would enable him to work on the minds of others--of that flexibility,
+resource, familiarity with the temper and movements of an assembled
+crowd, power of enforcing the essential views and touching the opportune
+chords, which Athenian democratical training imparted. Even Brasidas and
+Gylippus, individual Spartans of splendid merit, and equal or superior
+to Xenophon in military resource, would not have combined with it that
+political and rhetorical accomplishment which the position of the latter
+demanded. Obvious as the wisdom of his propositions appears, each of
+them is left to him not only to initiate, but to enforce: Cheirisophus
+and Kleanor, after a few words of introduction, consign to him the duty
+of working up the minds of the army to the proper pitch.
+
+How well he performed this, may be seen by his speech to the army, which
+bears in its general tenor a remarkable resemblance to that of
+Periklês[48] addressed to the Athenian public in the second year of the
+war,[49] at the moment when the miseries of the epidemic, combined with
+those of invasion, had driven them almost to despair. It breathes a
+strain of exaggerated confidence, and an undervaluing of real dangers,
+highly suitable for the occasion, but which neither Periklês nor
+Xenophon would have employed at any other moment. Throughout the whole
+of his speech, and especially in regard to the accidental sneeze near at
+hand which interrupted the beginning of it, Xenophon displayed that
+skill and practice in dealing with a numerous audience, and a given
+situation, which characterized more or less every educated Athenian.
+Other Greeks, Lacedæmonians or Arcadians, could act, with bravery and in
+concert; but the Athenian Xenophon was among the few who could think,
+speak, and act, with equal efficiency. It was this threefold
+accomplishment which an aspiring youth was compelled to set before
+himself as an aim, in the democracy of Athens; and which the
+Sophists[50] as well as the democratical institutions--both of them so
+hardly depreciated by most critics--helped and encouraged him to
+acquire. It was this threefold accomplishment, the exclusive possession
+of which, in spite of constant jealousy on the part of Boeotian officers
+and comrades of Proxenus, elevated Xenophon into the most ascendent
+person of the Cyreian army, from the present moment until the time when
+it broke up,--as will be seen in the subsequent history.
+
+I think it the more necessary to notice this fact,--that the
+accomplishments whereby Xenophon leaped on a sudden into such
+extraordinary ascendency, and rendered such eminent service to his army,
+were accomplishments belonging in an especial manner to the Athenian
+democracy and education--because Xenophon himself has throughout his
+writings treated Athens not merely without the attachment of a citizen,
+but with feelings more like the positive antipathy of an exile. His
+sympathies are all in favor of the perpetual drill, the mechanical
+obedience, the secret government proceedings, the narrow and prescribed
+range of ideas, the silent and deferential demeanor, the methodical,
+though tardy, action--of Sparta. Whatever may be the justice of his
+preference, certain it is, that the qualities whereby he was himself
+enabled to contribute so much both to the rescue of the Cyreian army,
+and to his own reputation--were Athenian far more than Spartan.
+
+While the Grecian army, after sanctioning the propositions of Xenophon,
+were taking their morning meal before they commenced their march,
+Mithridatês, one of the Persians previously attached to Cyrus, appeared
+with a few horsemen on a mission of pretended friendship. But it was
+soon found out that his purposes were treacherous, and that he came
+merely to seduce individual soldiers to desertion--with a few of whom he
+succeeded. Accordingly, the resolution was taken to admit no more
+heralds or envoys.
+
+
+§ 6. The Greeks cross the Zab.
+
+Disembarrassed of superfluous baggage, and refreshed, the army now
+crossed the Great Zab River, and pursued their march on the other side,
+having their baggage and attendants in the centre, and Cheirisophus
+leading the van, with a select body of 300 heavy-armed foot-soldiers. As
+no mention is made of a bridge, we are to presume that they forded the
+river,--which furnishes a ford still commonly used, at a place between
+thirty and forty miles from its junction with the Tigris. When they had
+got a little way forward, Mithridatês again appeared with a few hundred
+cavalry and bowmen. He approached them like a friend; but as soon as he
+was near enough, suddenly began to harass the rear with a shower of
+missiles. What surprises us most, is, that the Persians, with their very
+numerous force, made no attempt to hinder them from crossing so very
+considerable a river; for Xenophon estimates the Zab at 400 feet
+broad,--and this seems below the statement of modern travellers, who
+inform us that it contains not much less water than the Tigris; and
+though usually deeper and narrower, cannot be much narrower at any
+fordable place. It is to be recollected that the Persians, habitually
+marching in advance of the Greeks, must have reached the river first,
+and were therefore in possession of the crossing, whether bridge or
+ford. Though on the watch for every opportunity of perfidy, Tissaphernês
+did not dare to resist the Greeks, even in the most advantageous
+position, and ventured only upon sending Mithridatês to harass the rear;
+which he executed with considerable effect. The bowmen and darters of
+the Greeks, few in number, were at the same time inferior to those of
+the Persians; and when Xenophon employed his rear-guard, heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers and light-armed foot-soldiers, to charge and repel them,
+he not only could never overtake any one, but suffered much in getting
+back to rejoin his own main body. Even when retiring, the Persian
+horseman could discharge his arrow or cast his javelin[51] behind him
+with effect; a dexterity which the Parthians exhibited afterwards still
+more signally, and which the Persian horsemen of the present day
+parallel with their carbines.[52] This was the first experience which
+the Greeks had of marching under the harassing attack of cavalry. Even
+the small detachment of Mithridatês greatly delayed their progress; so
+that they accomplished little more than two miles, reaching the villages
+in the evening, with many wounded, and much discouragement.
+
+"Thank Heaven" (said Xenophon in the evening, when Cheirisophus
+reproached him for imprudence in quitting the main body to charge
+cavalry, whom yet he could not reach), "Thank Heaven, that our enemies
+attacked us with a small detachment only, and not with their great
+numbers. They have given us a valuable lesson, without doing us any
+serious harm." Profiting by the lesson, the Greek leaders organized
+during the night and during the halt of the next day, a small body of
+fifty cavalry; with 200 Rhodian[53] slingers, whose slings, furnished
+with leaden bullets, both carried farther and struck harder than those
+of the Persians hurling large stones. On the ensuing morning, they
+started before daybreak, since there lay in their way a ravine
+difficult to pass. They found the ravine undefended (according to the
+usual stupidity of Persian proceedings), but when they had got nearly a
+mile beyond it, Mithridatês reappeared in pursuit with a body of 4000
+horsemen and darters. Confident from his achievement of the preceding
+day, he had promised, with a body of that force, to deliver the Greeks
+into the hands of the satrap. But the latter were now better prepared.
+As soon as he began to attack them, the trumpet sounded,--and forthwith
+the horsemen, slingers, and darters, issued forth to charge the
+Persians, sustained by the heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the rear. So
+effective was the charge, that the Persians fled in dismay,
+notwithstanding their superiority in number; while the ravine so impeded
+their flight that many of them were slain, and eighteen prisoners made.
+The Greek soldiers of their own accord mutilated the dead bodies, in
+order to strike terror into the enemy. At the end of the day's march,
+they reached the Tigris, near the deserted city of Larissa, the vast,
+massive, and lofty brick walls of which (25 feet in thickness, 100 feet
+high, seven miles in circumference) attested its former grandeur. Near
+this place was a stone pyramid, 100 feet in breadth, and 200 feet high;
+the summit of which was crowded with fugitives out of the neighboring
+villages. Another day's march up the course of the Tigris brought the
+army to a second deserted city called Mespila, nearly opposite to the
+modern city of Mosul. Although these two cities, which seem to have
+formed the continuation of (or the substitute for) the once colossal
+Nineveh[54] or Ninus, were completely deserted,--yet the country around
+them was so well furnished with villages and population, that the Greeks
+not only obtained provisions, but also strings for the making of new
+bows, and lead for bullets to be used by the slingers.
+
+During the next day's march, in a course generally parallel with the
+Tigris, and ascending the stream, Tissaphernês, coming up along with
+some other grandees, and with a numerous army, enveloped the Greeks both
+in flanks and rear. In spite of his advantage of numbers, he did not
+venture upon any actual charge, but kept up a fire of arrows, darts, and
+stones. He was however so well answered by the newly-trained archers and
+slingers of the Greeks, that on the whole they had the advantage, in
+spite of the superior size of the Persian bows, many of which were taken
+and effectively employed on the Grecian side. Having passed the night in
+a well-stocked village, they halted there the next day in order to stock
+themselves with provisions, and then pursued their march for four
+successive days along a level country, until on the fifth day they
+reached hilly ground with the prospect of still higher hills beyond. All
+this march was made under unremitting annoyance from the enemy, insomuch
+that though the order of the Greeks was never broken, a considerable
+number of their men were wounded. Experience taught them, that it was
+inconvenient for the whole army to march in one inflexible, undivided,
+hollow square; and they accordingly constituted six regiments of 100 men
+each, subdivided into companies of 50, and smaller companies of 25, each
+with a special officer (conformably to the Spartan practice) to move
+separately on each flank, and either to fall back, or fall in, as might
+suit the fluctuations of the central mass, arising from impediments in
+the road or menaces of the enemy. On reaching the hills, in sight of an
+elevated citadel or palace, with several villages around it, the Greeks
+anticipated some remission of the Persian attack. But after having
+passed over one hill, they were proceeding to ascend the second, when
+they found themselves assailed with unwonted vigor by the Persian
+cavalry from the summit of it, whose leaders were seen flogging on the
+men to the attack. This charge was so efficacious, that the Greek light
+troops were driven in with loss, and forced to take shelter within the
+ranks of the heavy-armed foot-soldiers. After a march both slow and full
+of suffering, they could only reach their night-quarters by sending a
+detachment to get possession of some ground above the Persians, who thus
+became afraid of a double attack.
+
+The villages which they now reached were unusually rich in provisions;
+magazines of flour, barley, and wine, having been collected there for
+the Persian satrap. They reposed here three days, chiefly in order to
+tend the numerous wounded, for whose necessities, eight of the most
+competent persons were singled out to act as surgeons. On the fourth day
+they resumed their march, descending into the plain. But experience had
+now satisfied them that it was imprudent to continue in march under the
+attack of cavalry, so that when Tissaphernês appeared and began to
+harass them, they halted at the first village, and when thus in station,
+easily repelled him. As the afternoon advanced, the Persian assailants
+began to retire; for they were always in the habit of taking up their
+night-post at a distance of near seven miles from the Grecian position;
+being very apprehensive of nocturnal attack in their camp, when their
+horses were tied by the leg and without either saddle or bridle. As
+soon as they had departed, the Greeks resumed their march, and made so
+much advance during the night, that the Persians did not overtake them
+either on the next day or the day after.
+
+On the ensuing day, however, the Persians, having made a forced march by
+night, were seen not only in advance of the Greeks, but in occupation of
+a spur of high and precipitous ground overhanging immediately the road
+whereby the Greeks were to descend into the plain. When Cheirisophus
+approached, he at once saw that descent was impracticable in the face of
+an enemy thus posted. He therefore halted, sent for Xenophon from the
+rear, and desired him to bring forward the light-armed foot-soldiers to
+the van. But Xenophon, though he obeyed the summons in person and
+galloped his horse to the front, did not think it prudent to move the
+light-armed foot-soldiers from the rear, because he saw Tissaphernês,
+with another portion of the army, just coming up; so that the Grecian
+army was at once impeded in front, and threatened by the enemy closing
+upon them behind. The Persians on the high ground in front could not be
+directly assailed. But Xenophon observed, that on the right of the
+Grecian army, there was an accessible mountain summit yet higher, from
+whence a descent might be made for a flank attack upon the Persian
+position. Pointing out this summit to Cheirisophus, as affording the
+only means of dislodging the troops in front, he urged that one of them
+should immediately hasten with a detachment to take possession of it and
+offered to Cheirisophus the choice either of going, or staying with the
+army. "Choose for yourself," said Cheirisophus. "Well then (said
+Xenophon), I will go; since I am the younger of the two." Accordingly,
+at the head of a select detachment from the van and centre of the army,
+he immediately commenced his flank march up the steep ascent to this
+highest summit. So soon as the enemy saw their purpose, they also
+detached troops on their side, hoping to get to the summit first; and
+the two detachments were seen mounting at the same time, each struggling
+with the utmost efforts to get before the other,--each being encouraged
+by shouts and clamor from the two armies respectively.
+
+As Xenophon was riding by the side of his soldiers, cheering them on and
+reminding them that their chance of seeing their country and their
+families all depended upon success in the effort before them, a
+Sikyonian heavy-armed foot-soldier in the ranks, named Sotêridas, said
+to him--"You and I are not on an equal footing, Xenophon. You are on
+horseback:--I am painfully struggling upon foot, with my shield to
+carry." Stung with this taunt, Xenophon sprang from his horse, pushed
+Sotêridas out of his place in the ranks, took his shield as well as his
+place, and began to march forward afoot along with the rest. Though thus
+weighed down at once by the shield belonging to a heavy-armed
+foot-soldier, and by the heavy cuirass[55] of a horseman (who carried no
+shield), he nevertheless put forth all his strength to advance under
+such double incumbrance, and to continue his incitement to the rest. But
+the soldiers around him were so indignant at the proceeding of
+Sotêridas, that they reproached and even struck him, until they
+compelled him to resume his shield as well as his place in the ranks.
+Xenophon then remounted and ascended the hill on horseback as far as the
+ground permitted; but was obliged again to dismount presently, in
+consequence of the steepness of the uppermost portion. Such energetic
+efforts enabled him and his detachment to reach the summit first. As
+soon as the enemy saw this, they desisted from their ascent, and
+dispersed in all directions; leaving the forward march open to the main
+Grecian army, which Cheirisophus accordingly conducted safely down into
+the plain. Here he was rejoined by Xenophon on descending from the
+summit. All found themselves in comfortable quarters, amidst several
+well-stocked villages on the banks of the Tigris. They acquired moreover
+an additional booty of large droves of cattle, intercepted when on the
+point of being transported across the river; where a considerable body
+of horse was seen assembled on the opposite bank.
+
+Though here disturbed only by some desultory attacks on the part of the
+Persians, who burnt several of the villages which lay in their forward
+line of march, the Greeks became seriously embarrassed whither to direct
+their steps; for on their left flank was the Tigris, so deep that their
+spears found no bottom,--and on their right, mountains of exceeding
+height. As the generals and the captains were taking counsel, a Rhodian
+soldier came to them with a proposition for transporting the whole army
+across to the other bank of the river by means of inflated skins, which
+could be furnished in abundance by the animals in their possession. But
+this ingenious scheme, in itself feasible, was put out of the question
+by the view of the Persian cavalry on the opposite bank; and as the
+villages in their front had been burnt, the army had no choice except to
+return back one day's march to those in which they had before halted.
+Here the generals again deliberated, questioning all their prisoners as
+to the different bearings of the country. The road from the south was
+that in which they had already marched from Babylon and Media; that to
+the westward, going to Lydia and Ionia, was barred to them by the
+interposing Tigris; eastward (they were informed) was the way to
+Ekbatana and Susa; northward, lay the rugged and inhospitable mountains
+of the Karduchians,--fierce freemen who despised the Great King, and
+defied all his efforts to conquer them; having once destroyed a Persian
+invading army of 120,000 men. On the other side of Karduchia, however,
+lay the rich Persian satrapy of Armenia, wherein both the Euphratês and
+the Tigris could be crossed near their sources, and from whence they
+could choose their farther course easily towards Greece. Like Mysia,
+Pisidia, and other mountainous regions, Karduchia was a free territory
+surrounded on all sides by the dominions of the Great King, who reigned
+only in the cities and on the plains.
+
+
+§ 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian mountains.
+
+Determining to fight their way across these difficult mountains into
+Armenia, but refraining from any public announcement, for fear that the
+passes should be occupied beforehand--the generals sacrificed[56]
+forthwith, in order that they might be ready for breaking up at a
+moment's notice. They then began their march a little after midnight, so
+that soon after daybreak they reached the first of the Karduchian
+mountain-passes, which they found undefended. Cheirisophus, with his
+front division and all the light troops, made haste to ascend the pass,
+and having got over the first mountain, descended on the other side to
+some villages in the valley or nooks beneath; while Xenophon, with the
+heavy-armed and the baggage, followed at a slower pace,--not reaching
+the villages until dark, as the road was both steep and narrow. The
+Karduchians, taken completely by surprise, abandoned the villages as the
+Greeks approached, and took refuge on the mountains; leaving to the
+intruders plenty of provisions, comfortable houses, and especially,
+abundance of copper vessels. At first the Greeks were careful to do no
+damage, trying to invite the natives to amicable colloquy. But none of
+the latter would come near, and at length necessity drove the Greeks to
+take what was necessary for refreshment. It was just when Xenophon and
+the rear-guard were coming in at night, that some few Karduchians first
+set upon them; by surprise and with considerable success--so that if
+their numbers had been greater, serious mischief might have ensued.
+
+Many fires were discovered burning on the mountains, an indication of
+resistance during the next day; which satisfied the Greek generals that
+they must lighten the army, in order to ensure greater expedition as
+well as a fuller complement of available hands during the coming march.
+They therefore gave orders to burn all the baggage except what was
+indispensable, and to dismiss all the prisoners; planting themselves in
+a narrow strait, through which the army had to pass, in order to see
+that their directions were executed. The women, however, of whom there
+were many with the army, could not be abandoned; and it seems farther
+that a considerable stock of baggage was still retained: nor could the
+army make more than slow advance, from the narrowness of the road and
+the harassing attack of the Karduchians, who were now assembled in
+considerable numbers. Their attack was renewed with double vigor on the
+ensuing day, when the Greeks were forced, from want of provisions, to
+hasten forward their march, though in the midst of a terrible
+snow-storm. Both Cheirisophus in the front and Xenophon in the rear,
+were hard pressed by the Karduchian slingers and bowmen; the latter, men
+of consummate skill, having bows three cubits[57] in length, and arrows
+of more than two cubits, so strong that the Greeks when they took them
+could dart them as javelins. These archers, amidst the rugged ground and
+narrow paths, approached so near and drew the bow with such surprising
+force, resting one extremity of it on the ground, that several Greek
+warriors were mortally wounded even through both shield and corselet[58]
+into the reins,[59] and through the brazen helmet into their heads;
+among them especially, two distinguished men, a Lacedæmonian named
+Kleonymus and an Arcadian named Basias. The rear division, more roughly
+handled than the rest, was obliged continually to halt to repel the
+enemy, under all the difficulties of the ground, which made it scarcely
+possible to act against nimble mountaineers. On one occasion, however, a
+body of these latter were entrapped into an ambush, driven back with
+loss, and (what was still more fortunate) two of their number were made
+prisoners.
+
+Thus impeded, Xenophon sent frequent messages entreating Cheirisophus to
+slacken the march of the van division; but instead of obeying,
+Cheirisophus only hastened the faster, urging Xenophon to follow him.
+The march of the army became little better than a rout, so that the rear
+division reached the halting place in extreme confusion; upon which
+Xenophon proceeded to remonstrate with Cheirisophus for prematurely
+hurrying forward and neglecting his comrades behind. But the
+other--pointing out to his attention the hill before them, and the steep
+path ascending it, forming their future line of march, which was beset
+with numerous Karduchians--defended himself by saying that he had
+hastened forward in hopes of being able to reach this pass before the
+enemy, in which attempt however he had not succeeded.
+
+To advance farther on this road appeared hopeless; yet the guides
+declared that no other could be taken. Xenophon then bethought him of
+the two prisoners whom he had just captured, and proposed that these two
+should be questioned also. They were accordingly interrogated apart; and
+the first of them--having persisted in denying, notwithstanding all
+menaces, that there was any road except that before them--was put to
+death under the eyes of the second prisoner. This latter, on being then
+questioned, gave more comfortable intelligence; saying that he knew of a
+different road, more circuitous, but easier and practicable even for
+beasts of burden, whereby the pass before them and the occupying enemy
+might be turned; but that there was one particular high position
+commanding the road, which it was necessary to master beforehand by
+surprise, as the Karduchians were already on guard there. Two thousand
+Greeks, having the guide bound along with them, were accordingly
+despatched late in the afternoon, to surprise this post by a
+night-march; while Xenophon, in order to distract the attention of the
+Karduchians in front, made a feint of advancing as if about to force the
+direct pass. As soon as he was seen crossing the ravine which led to
+this mountain, the Karduchians on the top immediately began to roll down
+vast masses of rock, which bounded and dashed down the roadway in such a
+manner as to render it unapproachable. They continued to do this all
+night, and the Greeks heard the noise of the descending masses long
+after they had returned to their camp for supper and rest.
+
+Meanwhile the detachment of 2000, marching by the circuitous road, and
+reaching in the night the elevated position (though there was another
+above yet more commanding) held by the Karduchians, surprised and
+dispersed them, passing the night by their fires. At daybreak, and under
+favor of a mist, they stole silently towards the position occupied by
+the other Karduchians in front of the main Grecian army. On coming near
+they suddenly sounded their trumpets, shouted aloud, and commenced the
+attack, which proved completely successful. The defenders, taken
+unprepared, fled with little resistance, and scarcely any loss, from
+their activity and knowledge of the country; while Cheirisophus and the
+main Grecian force, on hearing the trumpet which had been previously
+concerted as the signal, rushed forward and stormed the height in front;
+some along the regular path; others climbing up as they could and
+pulling each other up by means of their spears. The two bodies of Greeks
+thus joined each other on the summit, so that the road became open for
+farther advance.
+
+Xenophon, however, with the rear-guard marched on the circuitous road
+taken by the 2000, as the most practicable for the baggage animals, whom
+he placed in the centre of his division--the whole array covering a
+great length of ground, since the road was very narrow. During this
+interval the dispersed Karduchians had rallied, and reoccupied two or
+three high peaks, commanding the road--from whence it was necessary to
+drive them. Xenophon's troops stormed successively these three
+positions, the Karduchians not daring to come to close combat, yet
+making destructive use of their missiles. A Grecian guard was left on
+the hindermost of the three peaks, until all the baggage train should
+have passed by. But the Karduchians, by a sudden and well-timed
+movement, contrived to surprise this guard, slew two out of the three
+leaders with several soldiers, and forced the rest to jump down the
+crags as they could, in order to join their comrades in the road.
+Encouraged by such success the assailants pressed nearer to the marching
+army, occupying a crag over against that lofty summit on which Xenophon
+was posted. As it was within speaking distance, he endeavored to open a
+negotiation with them in order to get back the bodies of the slain. To
+this demand the Karduchians at first acceded, on condition that their
+villages should not be burnt; but finding their numbers every moment
+increasing, they resumed the offensive. When Xenophon with the army had
+begun his descent from the last summit, they hurried onward in crowds to
+occupy it; beginning again to roll down masses of rock, and renew their
+fire of missiles, upon the Greeks. Xenophon himself was here in some
+danger, having been deserted by his shield-bearer; but he was rescued by
+an Arcadian heavy-armed foot-soldier named Eurylochus, who ran to give
+him the benefit of his own shield as a protection for both in the
+retreat.
+
+After a march thus painful and perilous, the rear division at length
+found themselves in safety among their comrades, in villages with
+well-stocked houses and abundance of corn and wine. So eager however
+were Xenophon and Cheirisophus to obtain the bodies of the slain for
+burial, that they consented to purchase them by surrendering the guide,
+and to march onward without any guide: a heavy sacrifice in this unknown
+country, attesting their great anxiety about the burial.[60]
+
+For three more days did they struggle and fight their way through the
+narrow and rugged paths of the Karduchian mountains, beset throughout by
+these formidable bowmen and slingers; whom they had to dislodge at every
+difficult turn, and against whom their own Kretan[61] bowmen were found
+inferior indeed, but still highly useful. Their seven days' march
+through this country, with its free and warlike inhabitants, were days
+of the utmost fatigue, suffering, and peril; far more intolerable than
+any thing which they had experienced from Tissaphernês and the Persians.
+Right glad were they once more to see a plain, and to find themselves
+near the banks of the river Kentritês, which divided these mountains
+from the hillocks and plains of Armenia--enjoying comfortable quarters
+in villages, with the satisfaction of talking over past miseries.
+
+Such were the apprehensions of Karduchian invasion, that the Armenian
+side of the Kentritês for a breadth of 15 miles was unpeopled and
+destitute of villages. But the approach of the Greeks having become
+known to Tiribazus, satrap of Armenia, the banks of the river were lined
+with his cavalry and infantry to oppose their passage; a precaution,
+which if Tissaphernês had taken at the Great Zab at the moment when he
+perfidiously seized Klearchus and his colleagues, the Greeks would
+hardly have reached the northern bank of that river. In the face of such
+obstacles, the Greeks nevertheless attempted the passage of the
+Kentritês, seeing a regular road on the other side. But the river was
+200 feet in breadth (only half the breadth of the Zab), above their
+breasts in depth, extremely rapid, and with a bottom full of slippery
+stones; insomuch that they could not hold their shields in the proper
+position, from the force of the stream; while if they lifted the shields
+above their heads, they were exposed defenceless to the arrows of the
+satrap's troops. After various trials, the passage was found
+impracticable, and they were obliged to resume their encampment on the
+left bank. To their great alarm, they saw the Karduchians assembling on
+the hills in their rear, so that their situation, during this day and
+night, appeared nearly desperate. In the night Xenophon had a dream--the
+first which he has told us since his dream on the terrific night after
+the seizure of the generals--but on this occasion, of augury[62] more
+unequivocally good. He dreamt that he was bound in chains, but that his
+chains on a sudden dropt off spontaneously; on the faith of which, he
+told Cheirisophus at daybreak that he had good hopes of preservation;
+and when the generals offered sacrifice, the victims were at once
+favorable. As the army were taking their morning meal, two young Greeks
+ran to Xenophon with the auspicious news that they had accidentally
+found another ford near half a mile up the river, where the water was
+not even up to their middle, and where the rocks came so close on the
+right bank that the enemy's horse could offer no opposition. Xenophon,
+starting from his meal in delight, immediately offered libations[63] to
+those gods who had revealed both the dream to himself in the night, and
+the unexpected ford afterwards to these youths; two revelations which he
+ascribed to the same gods.
+
+Presently they marched in their usual order, Cheirisophus commanding the
+van and Xenophon the rear, along the river to the newly-discovered ford;
+the enemy marching parallel with them on the opposite bank. Having
+reached the ford, halted, and grounded arms, Cheirisophus placed a
+wreath on his head, took off his clothes, and then resumed his arms,
+ordering all the rest to resume their arms also. Each company of 100 men
+was then arranged in column or single file, with Cheirisophus himself in
+the centre. Meanwhile the prophets were offering sacrifice to the river.
+So soon as the signs were pronounced to be favorable, all the soldiers
+shouted the pæan, and all the women joined in chorus with their feminine
+yell. Cheirisophus then, at the head of the army, entered the river and
+began to ford it; while Xenophon, with a large portion of the rear
+division, made a feint of hastening back to the original ford, as if he
+were about to attempt the passage there. This distracted the attention
+of the enemy's horse; who became afraid of being attacked on both sides,
+galloped off to guard the passage at the other point, and opposed no
+serious resistance to Cheirisophus. As soon as the latter had reached
+the other side, and put his division into order, he marched up to
+attack the Armenian infantry, who were on the high banks a little way
+above; but this infantry, deserted by its cavalry, dispersed without
+awaiting his approach. The handful of Grecian cavalry, attached to the
+division of Cheirisophus, pursued and took some valuable spoils.
+
+As soon as Xenophon saw his colleague successfully established on the
+opposite bank, he brought back his detachment to the ford over which the
+baggage and attendants were still passing, and proceeded to take
+precautions against the Karduchians on his own side who were assembling
+in the rear. He found some difficulty in keeping his rear division
+together, for many of them, in spite of orders, quitted their ranks and
+went to look after the women or their baggage in the crossing of the
+water. The light-armed foot-soldiers and bowmen, who had gone over with
+Cheirisophus, but whom that general now no longer needed, were directed
+to hold themselves prepared on both flanks of the army crossing, and to
+advance a little way in the water in the attitude of men just about to
+recross. When Xenophon was left with only the diminished rear-guard, the
+rest having got over,--the Karduchians rushed upon him, and began to
+shoot and sling. But on a sudden, the Grecian heavy-armed foot-soldiers
+charged with their accustomed pæan, upon which the Karduchians took to
+flight--having no arms for close combat on the plain. The trumpet now
+being heard to sound, they ran away so much the faster; while this was
+the signal, according to orders before given by Xenophon, for the Greeks
+to suspend their charge, to turn back, and to cross the river as
+speedily as possible. By favor of this able manoeuvre, the passage was
+accomplished by the whole army with little or no loss, about midday.
+
+
+§ 8. March through Armenia. Great suffering from cold and hunger.
+
+They now found themselves in Armenia; a country of even, undulating
+surface, but very high above the level of the sea, and extremely cold at
+the season when they entered it--December. Though the strip of land
+bordering on Karduchia furnished no supplies, one long march brought
+them to a village, containing abundance of provisions, together with a
+residence of the satrap Tiribazus; after which, in two farther marches
+they reached the river Teleboas, with many villages on its banks. Here
+Tiribazus himself, appearing with a division of cavalry, sent forward
+his interpreter to request a conference with the leaders; which being
+held, it was agreed that the Greeks should proceed unmolested through
+his territory, taking such supplies as they required,--but should
+neither burn nor damage the villages. They accordingly advanced onward
+for three days, computed at about 52 miles, or three pretty full days'
+march; without any hostility from the satrap, though he was hovering
+within less than two miles of them. They then found themselves amidst
+several villages, wherein were regal or satrapical residences with a
+plentiful stock of bread, meat, wine, and all sorts of vegetables. Here,
+during their nightly bivouac,[64] they were overtaken by so heavy a fall
+of snow that the generals on the next day distributed the troops into
+separate quarters among the villages. No enemy appeared near, while the
+snow seemed to forbid any rapid surprise. Yet at night, the scouts
+reported that many fires were discernible, together with traces of
+military movements around; insomuch that the generals thought it prudent
+to put themselves on their guard, and again collected the army into one
+bivouac. Here in the night they were overwhelmed by a second fall of
+snow still heavier than the preceding; sufficient to cover over the
+sleeping men and their arms, and to benumb the cattle. The men however
+lay warm under the snow and were unwilling to rise, until Xenophon
+himself set the example of rising and employing himself without his arms
+in cutting wood and kindling a fire. Others followed his example, and
+great comfort was found in rubbing themselves with pork-fat, oil of
+almonds or of sesame,[65] or turpentine. Having sent out a clever scout
+named Demokratês, who captured a native prisoner, they learned that
+Tiribazus was laying plans to intercept them in a lofty mountain pass
+lying farther on in their route; upon which they immediately set forth,
+and by two days of forced march, surprising in their way the camp of
+Tiribazus, got over the difficult pass in safety. Three days of
+additional march brought them to the Euphratês river--that is, to its
+eastern branch, now called Murad. They found a ford and crossed it,
+without having the water higher than the waist; and they were informed
+that its sources were not far off.
+
+Their four days of march, next on the other side of the Euphratês, were
+toilsome and distressing in the extreme; through a plain covered with
+deep snow (in some places six feet deep), and at times in the face of a
+north wind so intolerably chilling and piercing, that at length one of
+the prophets urged the necessity of offering sacrifices to Boreas[66];
+upon which (says Xenophon), the severity of the wind abated
+conspicuously, to the evident consciousness of all. Many of the slaves
+and beasts of burthen, and a few even of the soldiers, perished: some
+had their feet frost-bitten, others became blinded by the snow, others
+again were exhausted by hunger. Several of these unhappy men were
+unavoidably left behind; others lay down to perish, near a warm spring
+which had melted the snow around, from extremity of fatigue and sheer
+wretchedness, though the enemy were close upon the rear. It was in vain
+that Xenophon, who commanded the rear-guard, employed his earnest
+exhortations, prayers, and threats, to induce them to move forward. The
+sufferers, miserable and motionless, answered only by entreating him to
+kill them at once. So greatly was the army disorganized by wretchedness,
+that we hear of one case in which a soldier, ordered to carry a disabled
+comrade, disobeyed the order, and was about to bury him alive. Xenophon
+made a sally, with loud shouts and clatter of spear with shield, in
+which even the exhausted men joined,--against the pursuing enemy. He was
+fortunate enough to frighten them away, and drive them to take shelter
+in a neighboring wood. He then left the sufferers lying down, with
+assurance that relief should be sent to them on the next day,--and went
+forward; seeing all along the line of march the exhausted soldiers lying
+on the snow, without even the protection of a watch. He and his
+rear-guard as well as the rest were obliged thus to pass the night
+without either food or fire, distributing scouts in the best way that
+the case admitted. Meanwhile Cheirisophus with the van division had got
+into a village, which they reached so unexpectedly, that they found the
+women fetching water from a fountain outside the wall, and the head-man
+of the village in his house within. This division here obtained rest and
+refreshment, and at daybreak some of their soldiers were sent to look
+after the rear. It was with delight that Xenophon saw them approach, and
+sent them back to bring up in their arms, into the neighboring village,
+those exhausted soldiers who had been left behind.
+
+Repose was now indispensable after the recent sufferings. There were
+several villages near at hand, and the generals, thinking it no longer
+dangerous to divide the army, quartered the different divisions among
+them according to lot. Polykratês an Athenian, one of the captains in
+the division of Xenophon, requested his permission to go at once and
+take possession of the village assigned to him, before any of the
+inhabitants could escape. Accordingly, running at speed with a few of
+the swiftest soldiers, he came upon the village so suddenly as to seize
+the head-man with his newly-married daughter, and several young horses
+intended as a tribute for the king. This village, as well as the rest,
+was found to consist of houses excavated in the ground (as the Armenian
+villages are at the present day), spacious within, but with a narrow
+mouth like a well, entered by a descending ladder. A separate entrance
+was dug for conveniently admitting the cattle. All of them were found
+amply stocked with live cattle of every kind, wintered upon hay; as well
+as with wheat, barley, vegetables, and a sort of barley-wine or beer in
+tubs, with the grains of barley on the surface. Reeds or straws without
+any joint in them, were lying near, through which they sucked the
+liquid: Xenophon did his utmost to conciliate the head-man (who spoke
+Persian, and with whom he communicated through the Perso-Grecian
+interpreter of the army), promising him that not one of his relations
+should be maltreated, and that he should be fully remunerated if he
+would conduct the army safely out of the country, into that of the
+Chalybes which he described as being adjacent. By such treatment the
+head-man was won over, promised his aid, and even revealed to the Greeks
+the subterranean cellars wherein the wine was deposited; while Xenophon,
+though he kept him constantly under watch, and placed his youthful son
+as a hostage under the care of Episthenês, yet continued to treat him
+with studied attention and kindness. For seven days did the fatigued
+soldiers remain in these comfortable quarters, refreshing themselves and
+regaining strength. They were waited upon by the native youths, with
+whom they communicated by means of signs. The uncommon happiness which
+all of them enjoyed after their recent sufferings, stands depicted in
+the lively details given by Xenophon, who left here his own exhausted
+horse, and took young horses in exchange, for himself and the other
+officers.
+
+After this week of repose, the army resumed its march through the snow.
+The head-man, whose house they had replenished as well as they could,
+accompanied Cheirisophus in the van as guide, but was not put in chains
+or under guard: his son remained as an hostage with Episthenês, but his
+other relations were left unmolested at home. As they marched for three
+days, without reaching a village, Cheirisophus began to suspect his
+fidelity, and even became so out of humor, though the man affirmed that
+there were no villages in the track, as to beat him--yet without the
+precaution of putting him afterwards in fetters. The next night,
+accordingly, this head-man made his escape; much to the displeasure of
+Xenophon, who severely reproached Cheirisophus first for his harshness,
+and next for his neglect. This was the only point of difference between
+the two (says Xenophon) during the whole march; a fact very honorable to
+both, considering the numberless difficulties against which they had to
+contend. Episthenês retained the head-man's youthful son, carried him
+home in safety, and became much attached to him.
+
+Condemned thus to march without a guide, they could do no better than
+march up the course of the river; and thus, from the villages which had
+proved so cheering and restorative, they proceeded seven days' march all
+through snow, up the river Phasis; a river not verifiable, but certainly
+not the same as is commonly known under that name by Grecian
+geographers: it was 100 feet in breadth. Two more days' march brought
+them from this river to the foot of a range of mountains near a pass
+occupied by an armed body of Chalybes, Taochi, and Phasiani.
+
+Observing the enemy in possession of this lofty ground, Cheirisophus
+halted until all the army came up, in order that the generals might take
+counsel. Here Kleanor began by advising that they should storm the pass
+with no greater delay than was necessary to refresh the soldiers. But
+Xenophon suggested that it was far better to avoid the loss of life
+which must be incurred, and to amuse the enemy by feigned attack, while
+a detachment should be sent by stealth at night to ascend the mountain
+at another point and turn the position. "However (continued he, turning
+to Cheirisophus), stealing a march upon the enemy is more your trade
+than mine. For I understand that you the full citizens and peers at
+Sparta, practise stealing from your boyhood upward; and that it is held
+noway base, but even honorable, to steal such things as the law does not
+distinctly forbid. And to the end that you may steal with the greatest
+effect, and take pains to do it in secret, the custom is, to flog you if
+you are found out. Here then, you have an excellent opportunity of
+displaying your training. Take good care that we be not found out in
+stealing an occupation of the mountain now before us; for if we _are_
+found out, we shall be well beaten."
+
+"Why, as for that (replied Cheirisophus), you Athenians also, as I
+learn, are capital hands at stealing the public money--and that too in
+spite of prodigious peril to the thief: nay, your most powerful men
+steal most of all--at least if it be the most powerful men among you who
+are raised to official command. So that this is a time for _you_ to
+exhibit _your_ training, as well as for me to exhibit mine."
+
+We have here an interchange of raillery between the two Grecian
+officers, which is not an uninteresting feature in the history of the
+expedition. The remark of Cheirisophus, especially, illustrates that
+which I noted in a former chapter as true both of Sparta and Athens--the
+readiness to take bribes, so general in individuals clothed with
+official power; and the readiness, in official Athenians, to commit such
+peculation, in spite of serious risk of punishment. Now this chance of
+punishment proceeded altogether from those accusing orators commonly
+called demagogues,[67] and from the popular judicature whom they
+addressed. The joint working of both greatly abated the evil, yet was
+incompetent to suppress it. But according to the pictures commonly
+drawn of Athens, we are instructed to believe that the crying public
+evil was,--too great a license of accusation, and too much judicial
+trial. Assuredly such was not the conception of Cheirisophus; nor shall
+we find it borne out by any fair appreciation of the general evidence.
+When the peculation of official persons was thus notorious in spite of
+serious risks, what would it have become if the door had been barred to
+accusing demagogues, and if the numerous popular judges[68] had been
+exchanged for a select few judges of the same stamp and class as the
+official men themselves?
+
+Enforcing his proposition, Xenophon now informed his colleagues that he
+had just captured a few guides, by laying an ambush for certain native
+plunderers who beset the rear; and that these guides acquainted him that
+the mountain was not inaccessible, but pastured by goats and oxen. He
+farther offered himself to take command of the marching detachment. But
+this being overruled by Cheirisophus, some of the best among the
+captains, Aristonymus, Aristeas, and Nikomachus, volunteered their
+services and were accepted. After refreshing the soldiers, the generals
+marched with the main army near to the foot of the pass, and there took
+up their night-station, making demonstrations of a purpose to storm it
+the next morning. But as soon as it was dark, Aristonymus and his
+detachment started, and ascending the mountain at another point,
+obtained without resistance a high position on the flank of the enemy,
+who soon however saw them and despatched a force to keep guard on that
+side. At daybreak those two detachments came to conflict on the heights,
+in which the Greeks were completely victorious; while Cheirisophus was
+marching up the pass to attack the main body. His light troops,
+encouraged by seeing this victory of their comrades, hastened on to the
+charge faster than their heavy-armed foot-soldiers could follow. But the
+enemy were so dispirited by seeing themselves turned, that they fled
+with little or no resistance. Though only a few were slain, many threw
+away their light shields of wicker or woodwork, which became the prey of
+the conquerors.
+
+Thus masters of the pass, the Greeks descended to the level ground on
+the other side, where they found themselves in some villages
+well-stocked with provisions and comforts; the first in the country of
+the Taochi. Probably they halted here some days; for they had seen no
+villages, either for rest or for refreshment, during the last nine days'
+march, since leaving those Armenian villages in which they had passed a
+week so eminently restorative, and which apparently had furnished them
+with a stock of provisions for the onward journey. Such halt gave time
+to the Taochi to carry up their families and provisions into
+inaccessible strongholds, so that the Greeks found no supplies, during
+five days' march through the territory. Their provisions were completely
+exhausted, when they arrived before one of these strongholds, a rock on
+which were seen the families and the cattle of the Taochi; without
+houses or fortification, but nearly surrounded by a river, so as to
+leave only one narrow ascent, rendered unapproachable by vast rocks
+which the defenders hurled or rolled from the summit. By an ingenious
+combination of bravery and stratagem, in which some of the captains much
+distinguished themselves, the Greeks overcame this difficulty, and took
+the height. The scene which then ensued was awful. The Taochian women
+seized their children, flung them over the precipice, and then cast
+themselves headlong also, followed by the men. Almost every soul thus
+perished, very few surviving to become prisoners. An Arcadian captain
+named Æneas, seeing one of them in a fine dress about to precipitate
+himself with the rest, seized him with a view to prevent it. But the man
+in return grasped him firmly, dragged him to the edge of the rock, and
+leaped down to the destruction of both. Though scarcely any prisoners
+were taken, however, the Greeks obtained abundance of oxen, asses, and
+sheep, which fully supplied their wants.
+
+They now entered into the territory of the Chalybes, which they were
+seven days in passing through. These were the bravest warriors whom they
+had seen in Asia. Their equipment was a spear of fifteen cubits long,
+with only one end pointed--a helmet, greaves,[69] stuffed corselet, with
+a kilt or dependent flaps--a short sword which they employed to cut off
+the head of a slain enemy, displaying the head in sight of their
+surviving enemies with triumphant dance and song. They carried no
+shield; perhaps because the excessive length of the spear required the
+constant employment of both hands--yet they did not shrink from meeting
+the Greeks occasionally in regular, stand-up fight. As they had carried
+off all their provisions into hill-forts, the Greeks could obtain no
+supplies, but lived all the time upon the cattle which they had acquired
+from the Taochi. After seven days of march and combat--the Chalybes
+perpetually attacking their rear--they reached the river Harpasus (400
+feet broad), where they passed into the territory of the Skythini. It
+rather seems that the territory of the Chalybes was mountainous; that of
+the Skythini was level, and contained villages, wherein they remained
+three days, refreshing themselves, and stocking themselves with
+provisions.
+
+
+§ 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea.
+
+Four days of additional march brought them to a sight, the like of which
+they had not seen since Opis and Sittakê on the Tigris in Babylonia--a
+large and flourishing city called Gymnias; an indication of the
+neighborhood of the sea, of commerce, and of civilization. The chief of
+this city received them in a friendly manner, and furnished them with a
+guide, who engaged to conduct them, after five days' march, to a hill
+from whence they would have a view of the sea. This was by no means
+their nearest way to the sea, for the chief of Gymnias wished to send
+them through the territory of some neighbors to whom he was hostile;
+which territory, as soon as they reached it, the guide desired them to
+burn and destroy. However, the promise was kept, and on the fifth day,
+marching still apparently through the territory of the Skythini, they
+reached the summit of a mountain called Thêchês, from whence the Euxine
+Sea was visible.
+
+An animated shout from the soldiers who formed the van-guard testified
+the impressive effect of this long-deferred spectacle, assuring, as it
+seemed to do, their safety and their return home. To Xenophon and to the
+rear-guard--engaged in repelling the attack of natives who had come
+forward to revenge the plunder of their territory--the shout was
+unintelligible. They at first imagined that the natives had commenced
+attack in front as well as in the rear, and that the van-guard was
+engaged in battle. But every moment the shout became louder, as fresh
+men came to the summit and gave vent to their feelings; so that Xenophon
+grew anxious, and galloped up to the van with his handful of cavalry to
+see what had happened. As he approached, the voice of the overjoyed
+crowd was heard distinctly crying out _Thalatta! Thalatta!_ (The sea!
+the sea!), and congratulating each other in ecstasy. The main body, the
+rear-guard, the baggage-soldiers driving up their horses and cattle
+before them, became all excited by the sound, and hurried up breathless
+to the summit. The whole army, officers and soldiers, were thus
+assembled, manifesting their joyous emotions by tears, embraces, and
+outpourings of enthusiastic sympathy. With spontaneous impulse they
+heaped up stones to decorate the spot by a monument and commemorative
+trophy; putting on the stones such homely offerings as their means
+afforded--sticks, hides, and a few of the wicker shields just taken from
+the natives. To the guide, who had performed his engagement of bringing
+them in five days within sight of the sea, their gratitude was
+unbounded. They presented him with a horse, a silver bowl, a Persian
+costume, and ten darics[70] in money; besides several of the soldiers'
+rings, which he especially asked for. Thus loaded with presents, he left
+them, having first shown them a village wherein they could find
+quarters--as well as the road which they were to take through the
+territory of the Makrônes.
+
+When they reached the river which divided the land of the Makrônes from
+that of the Skythini, they perceived the former assembled in arms on
+the opposite side to resist their passage. The river not being fordable,
+they cut down some neighboring trees to provide the means of crossing.
+While these Makrônes were shouting and encouraging each other aloud, a
+light-armed foot-soldier in the Grecian army came to Xenophon, saying
+that he knew their language, and that he believed this to be his
+country. He had been a slave at Athens, exported from home during his
+boyhood--he had then made his escape (probably during the Peloponnesian
+War, to the garrison of Dekeleia), and afterwards taken military
+service. By this fortunate accident, the generals were enabled to open
+negotiations with the Makrônes, and to assure them that the army would
+do them no harm, desiring nothing more than a free passage and a market
+to buy provisions. The Makrônes, on receiving such assurances in their
+own language from a countryman, exchanged pledges of friendship with the
+Greeks, assisted them to pass the river, and furnished the best market
+in their power during the three days' march across their territory.
+
+The army now reached the borders of the Kolchians, who were found in
+hostile array, occupying the summit of a considerable mountain which
+formed their frontier. Here Xenophon, having marshalled the soldiers for
+attack, with each company of 100 men in single file, instead of marching
+up the hill in phalanx, or continuous front with only a scanty
+depth--addressed to them the following pithy encouragement--"Now,
+fellow-soldiers, these enemies before us are the only impediment that
+keeps us away from reaching the point at which we have been so long
+aiming. We must even eat them raw, if in any way we can do so."
+
+Eighty of these formidable companies of heavy-armed foot-soldiers, each
+in single file, now began to ascend the hill; the light-armed
+foot-soldiers and bowmen being partly distributed among them, partly
+placed on the flanks. Cheirisophus and Xenophon, each commanding on one
+wing, spread their light-armed foot-soldiers in such a way as to
+outflank the Kolchians, who accordingly weakened their centre in order
+to strengthen their wings. Hence the Arcadian light-armed foot-soldiers
+and heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the Greek centre were enabled to attack
+and disperse the centre with little resistance; and all the Kolchians
+presently fled, leaving the Greeks in possession of their camp, as well
+as of several well-stocked villages in their rear. Amidst these villages
+the army remained to refresh themselves for several days. It was here
+that they tasted the grateful, but unwholesome honey, which this region
+still continues to produce--unaware of its peculiar properties. Those
+soldiers who ate little of it were like men greatly intoxicated with
+wine; those who ate much, were seized with the most violent vomiting and
+diarrhoea, lying down like madmen in a state of delirium. From this
+terrible distemper some recovered on the ensuing day, others two or
+three days afterwards. It does not appear that any one actually died.
+
+Two more days' march brought them to the sea, at the Greek maritime city
+of Trapezus or Trebizond, founded by the inhabitants of Sinôpê on the
+coast of the Kolchian territory. Here the Trapezuntines received them
+with kindness and hospitality, sending them presents of bullocks,
+barley-meal, and wine. Taking up their quarters in some Kolchian
+villages near the town, they now enjoyed, for the first time since
+leaving Tarsus, a safe and undisturbed repose during thirty days, and
+were enabled to recover in some degree from the severe hardships which
+they had undergone. While the Trapezuntines brought produce for sale
+into the camp, the Greeks provided the means of purchasing it by
+predatory incursions against the Kolchians on the hills. Those Kolchians
+who dwelt under the hills and on the plain were in a state of
+semi-dependence upon Trapezus; so that the Trapezuntines mediated on
+their behalf and prevailed on the Greeks to leave them unmolested, on
+condition of a contribution of bullocks.
+
+These bullocks enabled the Greeks to discharge the vow which they had
+made, on the proposition of Xenophon, to Zeus the Preserver, during that
+moment of dismay and despair which succeeded immediately on the massacre
+of their generals by Tissaphernês. To Zeus the Preserver, to
+Heraklês[71] the Conductor, and to various other gods, they offered an
+abundant sacrifice on their mountain camp overhanging the sea; and after
+the festival ensuing, the skins of the victims were given as prizes to
+competitors in running, wrestling, boxing, and other contests. The
+superintendence of such festival games, so fully accordant with Grecian
+usage and highly interesting to the army, was committed to a Spartan
+named Drakontius; a man whose destiny recalls that of Patroklus and
+other Homeric heroes--for he had been exiled as a boy, having
+unintentionally killed another boy with a short sword. Various
+departures from Grecian customs however were admitted. The matches took
+place on the steep and stony hill-side overhanging the sea, instead of
+on a smooth plain; and the numerous hard falls of the competitors
+afforded increased interest to the by-standers. The captive non-Hellenic
+boys were admitted to run for the prize, since otherwise a boy-race
+could not have been obtained. ["Horses also ran; and they had to gallop
+down the steep, and, turning round in the sea, to come up again to the
+altar.[72] In the descent, many rolled down; but in the ascent, against
+the exceedingly steep ground, the horses could scarcely get up at a
+walking pace. There was consequently great shouting, and laughter, and
+cheering from the people."[73]] Lastly, the animation of the scene, as
+well as the ardor of the competitors, was much enhanced by the number of
+the women present.
+
+
+§ 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten
+Thousand.
+
+We now commence a third act in the history of this memorable body of
+men. After having followed them from Sardis to Kunaxa as mercenaries[74]
+to procure the throne for Cyrus--then from Kunaxa to Trapezus as men
+anxious only for escape, and purchasing their safety by marvellous
+bravery, endurance, and organization--we shall now track their
+proceedings among the Greek colonies on the Euxine and at the Bosphorus
+of Thrace, succeeded by their struggles against the meanness of the
+Thracian prince Seuthês, as well as against the treachery and arbitrary
+harshness of the Lacedæmonian commanders Anaxibius and Aristarchus.
+
+Trapezus, now Trebizond, where the army had recently found repose, was a
+colony from Sinôpê, as were also Kerasus and Kotyôra farther westward;
+each of them receiving a governor from the mother-city, and paying to
+her an annual tribute. All these three cities were planted on the narrow
+strip of land dividing the Euxine from the elevated mountain range
+which so closely borders on its southern coast. At Sinôpê itself, the
+land stretches out into a defensible peninsula, with a secure harbor,
+and a large breadth of adjacent fertile soil. So tempting a site invited
+the Milesians,[75] even before the year 600 B.C., to plant a colony
+there, and enabled Sinôpê to attain much prosperity and power. Farther
+westward, not more than a long day's journey for a rowing vessel from
+Byzantium, was situated the Megarian[76] colony of Herakleia, in the
+territory of the Mariandyni.
+
+The native tenants of this line of coast, upon which the Greek settlers
+intruded themselves (reckoning from the westward), were the Bythynian
+Thracians, the Mariandyni, the Paphlagonians, the Tibarêni, Chalybes,
+Mosynoeki, Drilæ, and Kolchians. Here as elsewhere, these natives found
+the Greek seaports useful, in giving a new value to inland produce, and
+in furnishing the great men with ornaments and luxuries to which they
+would otherwise have had no access. The citizens of Herakleia had
+reduced into dependence a considerable portion of the neighboring
+Mariandyni, and held them in a relation resembling that of the natives
+of Esthonia and Lavonia to the German colonies in the Baltic. Some of
+the Kolchian villages were also subject in the same manner to the
+Trapezuntines; and Sinôpê doubtless possessed a similar inland dominion
+of greater or less extent. But the principal wealth of this important
+city arose from her navy and maritime commerce; from the rich thunny
+fishery[77] attached to her promontory; from the olives in her
+immediate neighborhood, which was a cultivation not indigenous, but only
+naturalized by the Greeks on the seaboard; from the varied produce of
+the interior, comprising abundant herds of cattle, mines of silver,
+iron, and copper, in the neighboring mountains, wood for ship-building,
+as well as for house-furniture, and native slaves. The case was similar
+with the three colonies of Sinôpê, more to the eastward--Kotyôra,
+Kerasus, and Trapezus; except that the mountains which border on the
+Euxine, gradually approaching nearer and nearer to the shore, left to
+each of them a more confined strip of cultivable land. For these cities
+the time had not yet arrived to be conquered and absorbed by the inland
+monarchies around them, as Miletus and the cities on the western coast
+of Asia Minor had been. The Paphlagonians were at this time the only
+native people in those regions who formed a considerable aggregated
+force, under a prince named Korylas; a prince tributary to Persia, yet
+half independent--since he had disobeyed the summons of Artaxerxês to
+come up and help in repelling Cyrus--and now on terms of established
+alliance with Sinôpê, though not without secret designs, which he wanted
+only force to execute, against that city. The other native tribes to the
+eastward were mountaineers both ruder and more divided; warlike on their
+own heights, but little capable of any aggressive combinations.
+
+Though we are told that Periklês had once despatched a detachment of
+Athenian colonists to Sinôpê, and had expelled from thence the despot
+Timesilaus,--yet neither that city nor any of her neighbors appear to
+have taken part in the Peloponnesian war, either for or against Athens;
+nor were they among the number of tributaries to Persia. They doubtless
+were acquainted with the upward march of Cyrus, which had disturbed all
+Asia; and probably were not ignorant of the perils and critical state of
+his Grecian army. But it was with a feeling of mingled surprise,
+admiration, and alarm, that they saw that army descend from the
+mountainous region, hitherto only recognized as the abode of Kolchians,
+Makrônes, and other analogous tribes, among whom was perched the mining
+city of Gymnias.
+
+Even after all the losses and extreme sufferings of the retreat the
+Greeks still numbered, when mustered at Kerasus, 8600 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, with light-armed foot-soldiers, bowmen, and slingers,
+making a total of above 10,000 military persons. Such a force had never
+before been seen in the Euxine. Considering both the numbers and the
+now-acquired discipline and self-confidence of the Cyreians, even Sinôpê
+herself could have raised no force capable of meeting them in the field.
+Yet they did not belong to any city, nor receive orders from any
+established government. They were like those mercenary armies which
+marched about in Italy during the fourteenth century, under the generals
+called Condottieri, taking service sometimes with one city, sometimes
+with another. No one could predict what schemes they might conceive, or
+in what manner they might deal with the established communities on the
+shores of the Euxine. If we imagine that such an army had suddenly
+appeared in Sicily, a little time before the Athenian expedition against
+Syracuse, it would have been probably enlisted by Leontini and Katana in
+their war against Syracuse. If the inhabitants of Trapezus had wished to
+throw off the dominion of Sinôpê,--or if Korylas the Paphlagonian were
+meditating war against that city--here were formidable auxiliaries to
+second their wishes. Moreover there were various tempting sites, open to
+the formation of a new colony, which, with so numerous a body of
+original Greek settlers, would probably have overtopped Sinôpê herself.
+There was no restraining cause to reckon upon, except the general
+Hellenic sympathies and education of the Cyreian army; and what was of
+not less importance, the fact that they were not mercenary soldiers by
+permanent profession, such as became so formidably multiplied in Greece
+during the next generation--but established citizens who had come out on
+a special service under Cyrus, with the full intention, after a year of
+lucrative enterprise, to return to their homes and families. We shall
+find such gravitation towards home steadily operative throughout the
+future proceedings of the army. But at the moment when they first
+emerged from the mountains, no one could be sure that it would be so.
+There was ample ground for uneasiness among the Euxine Greeks,
+especially the Sinopians, whose supremacy had never before been
+endangered.
+
+
+§ 11. Plans of the army for the future.
+
+An undisturbed repose of thirty days enabled the Cyreians to recover
+from their fatigues, to talk over their past dangers, and to take pride
+in the anticipated effect which their unparalleled achievement could not
+fail to produce in Greece. Having discharged their vows and celebrated
+their festival to the gods, they held an assembly to discuss their
+future proceedings; when a Thurian[78] soldier named Antileon
+exclaimed--"Comrades, I am already tired of packing up, marching,
+running, carrying arms, falling into line, keeping watch, and fighting.
+Now that we have the sea here before us, I desire to be relieved from
+all these toils, to sail the rest of the way, and to arrive in Greece
+outstretched and asleep, like Odysseus."[79] This pithy address being
+received with vehement acclamations, and warmly responded to by all,
+Cheirisophus offered, if the army chose to empower him, to sail
+forthwith to Byzantium,[80] where he thought he could obtain from his
+friend the Lacedæmonian admiral Anaxibius, sufficient vessels for
+transport. His proposition was gladly accepted; and he departed to
+execute the project.
+
+Xenophon then urged upon the army various resolutions and measures,
+proper for the regulation of affairs during the absence of Cheirisophus.
+The army would be forced to maintain itself by marauding expeditions
+among the hostile tribes in the mountains. Such expeditions accordingly
+must be put under regulation: neither individual soldiers, nor small
+companies, must be allowed to go out at pleasure, without giving notice
+to the generals; moreover, the camp must be kept under constant guard
+and scouts, in the event of surprise from a retaliating enemy. It was
+prudent also to take the best measures in their power for procuring
+vessels; since, after all, Cheirisophus might possibly fail in bringing
+an adequate number. They ought to borrow a few ships of war from the
+Trapezuntines, and detain all the merchant ships[81] which they saw;
+unshipping the rudders, placing the cargoes under guard, and
+maintaining the crew during all the time that the ships might be
+required for transport of the army. Many such merchant vessels were
+often sailing by; so that they would thus acquire the means of
+transport, even though Cheirisophus should bring few or none from
+Byzantium. Lastly, Xenophon proposed to require the Grecian cities to
+repair and put in order the road along the coast, for a land-march;
+since, perhaps, with all their efforts, it would be found impossible to
+get together a sufficient stock of transports.
+
+All the propositions of Xenophon were readily adopted by the army,
+except the last. But the mere mention of a renewed land-march excited
+such universal murmurs of repugnance, that he did not venture to put
+that question to the vote. He took upon himself however to send messages
+to the Grecian cities, on his own responsibility; urging them to repair
+the roads, in order that the departure of the army might be facilitated.
+And he found the cities ready enough to carry his wishes into effect, as
+far as Kotyôra.
+
+The wisdom of these precautionary suggestions of Xenophon soon appeared;
+for Cheirisophus not only failed in his object, but was compelled to
+stay away for a considerable time. An armed ship with fifty oars was
+borrowed from the Trapezuntines, and committed to the charge of a
+Lacedæmonian provincial, named Dexippus, for the purpose of detaining
+the merchant vessels passing by. This man having violated his trust, and
+employed the ship to make his own escape out of the Euxine, a second was
+obtained and confided to an Athenian, Polykratês; who brought in
+successively several merchant vessels. These the Greeks did not
+plunder, but secured the cargoes under adequate guard, and only reserved
+the vessels for transports. It became however gradually more and more
+difficult to supply the camp with provisions. Though the army was
+distributed into suitable detachments for plundering the Kolchian
+villages on the hills, and seizing cattle and prisoners for sale, yet
+these expeditions did not always succeed; indeed on one occasion, two
+Grecian companies got entangled in such difficult ground, that they were
+destroyed to a man. The Kolchians united on the hills in increased and
+menacing numbers, insomuch that a larger guard became necessary for the
+camp; while the Trapezuntines--tired of the protracted stay of the army,
+as well as desirous of exempting from pillage the natives in their own
+immediate neighborhood--conducted the detachments only to villages alike
+remote and difficult of access. It was in this manner that a large force
+under Xenophon himself, attacked the lofty and rugged stronghold of the
+Drilæ--the most warlike nation of mountaineers in the neighborhood of
+the Euxine, well-armed, and troublesome to Trapezus by their incursions.
+After a difficult march and attack, which Xenophon describes in
+interesting detail, and wherein the Greeks encountered no small hazard
+of ruinous defeat--they returned, in the end completely successful, and
+with a plentiful booty.
+
+
+§ 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward.
+
+At length, after long awaiting in vain the reappearance of Cheirisophus,
+increasing scarcity and weariness determined them to leave Trapezus. A
+sufficient number of vessels had been collected to serve for the
+transport of the women, of the sick and wounded, and of the baggage. All
+these were accordingly placed on board under the command of Philesius
+and Sophænetus, the two oldest generals; while the remaining army
+marched by land, along a road which had been just made good under the
+representations of Xenophon. In three days they reached Kerasus,[82]
+another maritime colony of the Sinopians, still in the territory called
+Kolchian; there they halted ten days, mustered and numbered the army,
+and divided the money acquired by the sale of their prisoners. Eight
+thousand six hundred heavy-armed foot-soldiers, out of a total probably
+greater than eleven thousand, were found still remaining; besides
+targeteers[83] and various light troops.
+
+During the halt at Kerasus, the declining discipline of the army became
+manifest as they approached home. Various acts of outrage occurred,
+originating now, as afterwards, in the intrigues of treacherous
+officers. A captain named Klearetus persuaded his company to attempt the
+plunder of a Kolchian village near Kerasus, which had furnished a
+friendly market to the Greeks, and which rested secure on the faith of
+peaceful relations. He intended to make off separately with the booty in
+one of the vessels: but his attack was repelled, and he himself slain.
+The injured villagers despatched three elders as heralds, to remonstrate
+with the Grecian authorities; but these heralds, being seen in Kerasus
+by some of the repulsed plunderers, were slain. A partial tumult then
+ensued, in which even the magistrates of Kerasus were in great danger,
+and only escaped the pursuing soldiers by running into the sea. This
+enormity, though it occurred under the eyes of the generals, immediately
+before their departure from Kerasus, remained without inquiry or
+punishment, from the numbers concerned in it.
+
+Between Kerasus and Kotyôra, there was not then (nor is there now) any
+regular road. This march cost the Cyreian army not less than ten days,
+by an inland track departing from the seashore, and through the
+mountains inhabited by the native tribes Mosynoeki and Chalybes. The
+latter, celebrated for their iron works, were under dependence to the
+former. As the Mosynoeki refused to grant a friendly passage across
+their territory, the army were compelled to fight their way through it
+as enemies, with the aid of one section of these people themselves;
+which alliance was procured for them by the Trapezuntine Timesitheus,
+who was consul or agent of the Mosynoeki and understood their language.
+The Greeks took the mountain fastnesses of this people, and plundered
+the wooden turrets[84] which formed their abodes. Of their peculiar
+fashions Xenophon gives an interesting description which I have not
+space to copy. The territory of the Tibarêni was more easy and
+accessible. This people met the Greeks with presents, and tendered a
+friendly passage. But the generals at first declined the presents,
+preferring to treat them as enemies and plunder them; which in fact they
+would have done, had they not been deterred by unfavorable sacrifices.
+
+Near Kotyôra, which was situated on the coast of the Tibarêni, yet on
+the borders of Paphlagonia, they remained forty-five days, still
+awaiting the appearance of Cheirisophus with the transports to carry
+them away by sea. The Sinopian governor did not permit them to be
+welcomed in so friendly a manner as at Trapezus. No market was provided
+for them, nor were their sick admitted within the walls. But the
+fortifications of the town were not so constructed as to resist a Greek
+force, the like of which had never before been seen in those regions.
+The Greek generals found a weak point, made their way in, and took
+possession of a few houses for the accommodation of their sick; keeping
+a guard at the gate to secure free egress, but doing no farther violence
+to the citizens. They obtained their victuals partly from the Kotyôrite
+villages, partly from the neighboring territory of Paphlagonia, until at
+length envoys arrived from Sinôpê to remonstrate against their
+proceedings.
+
+These envoys presented themselves before the assembled soldiers in the
+camp, when Hekatonymus, the chief and most eloquent among them, began by
+complimenting the army upon their gallant exploits and retreat. He then
+complained of the injury which Kotyôra, and Sinôpê as the mother-city of
+Kotyôra, had suffered at their hands, in violation of common Hellenic
+kinship. If such proceedings were continued, he intimated that Sinôpê
+would be compelled in her own defence to seek alliance with the
+Paphlagonian prince Korylas, or any other barbaric auxiliary who would
+lend them aid against the Greeks. Xenophon replied that if the
+Kotyôrites had sustained any damage, it was owing to their own ill-will
+and to the Sinopian governor in the place; that the generals were under
+the necessity of procuring subsistence for the soldiers, with house-room
+for the sick, and that they had taken nothing more; that the sick men
+were lying within the town, but at their own cost, while the other
+soldiers were all encamped without; that they had maintained cordial
+friendship with the Trapezuntines, and requited all their good offices;
+that they sought no enemies except through necessity, being anxious only
+again to reach Greece; and that as for the threat respecting Korylas,
+they knew well enough that that prince was eager to become master of the
+wealthy city of Sinôpê, and would speedily attempt some such enterprise
+if he could obtain the Cyreian army as his auxiliaries.
+
+This judicious reply shamed the colleagues of Hekatonymus so much, that
+they went the length of protesting against what he had said, and of
+affirming that they had come with propositions of sympathy and
+friendship to the army, as well as with promises to give them an
+hospitable reception at Sinôpê, if they should visit that town on their
+way home. Presents were at once sent to the army by the inhabitants of
+Kotyôra, and a good understanding established.
+
+Such an interchange of goodwill with the powerful city of Sinôpê was an
+unspeakable advantage to the army--indeed an essential condition to
+their power of reaching home. If they continued their march by land, it
+was only through Sinopian guidance and mediation that they could obtain
+or force a passage through Paphlagonia; while for a voyage by sea, there
+was no chance of procuring a sufficient number of vessels except from
+Sinôpê, since no news had been received of Cheirisophus. On the other
+hand, that city had also a strong interest in facilitating their transit
+homeward, and thus removing formidable neighbors, for whose ulterior
+purposes there could be no guarantee. After some preliminary
+conversation with the Sinopian envoys, the generals convoked the army in
+assembly, and entreated Hekatonymus and his companions to advise them
+as to the best mode of proceeding westward to the Bosphorus.
+Hekatonymus, after apologizing for the menacing insinuations of his
+former speech, and protesting that he had no other object in view except
+to point out the safest and easiest plan of route for the army, began to
+unfold the insuperable difficulties of a march through Paphlagonia. The
+very entrance into the country must be achieved through a narrow
+aperture in the mountains, which it was impossible to force if occupied
+by the enemy. Even assuming this difficulty to be surmounted, there were
+spacious plains to be passed over, wherein the Paphlagonian horse,[85]
+the most numerous and bravest in Asia, would be found almost
+irresistible. There were also three or four great rivers, which the army
+would be unable to pass--the Thermôdôn and the Iris, each 300 feet in
+breadth--the Halys, nearly a quarter of a mile in breadth--the
+Parthenius, also very considerable. Such an array of obstacles (he
+affirmed) rendered the project of marching through Paphlagonia
+impracticable; whereas the voyage by sea from Kotyôra to Sinôpê, and
+from Sinôpê to Herakleia, was easy; and the transit from the latter
+place either by sea to Byzantium, or by land across Thrace, yet easier.
+
+Difficulties like these, apparently quite real, were more than
+sufficient to determine the vote of the army, already sick of marching
+and fighting, in favor of the sea voyage; though there were not wanting
+suspicions of the sincerity of Hekatonymus. But Xenophon, in
+communicating to the latter the decision of the army, distinctly
+apprised him that they would on no account permit themselves to be
+divided; that they would either depart or remain all in a body; and
+that vessels must be provided sufficient for the transport of all.
+Hekatonymus desired them to send envoys of their own to Sinôpê to make
+the necessary arrangements. Three envoys were accordingly sent--Ariston,
+an Athenian, Kallimachus, an Arcadian, and Samolas, an Achæan; the
+Athenian, probably, as possessing the talent of speaking in the Sinopian
+senate or assembly.
+
+During the absence of the envoys, the army still continued near Kotyôra,
+with a market provided by the town, and with traders from Sinôpê and
+Herakleia in the camp. Such soldiers as had no money wherewith to
+purchase, subsisted by pillaging the neighboring frontier of
+Paphlagonia. But they were receiving no pay; every man was living on his
+own resources; and instead of carrying back a handsome purse to Greece,
+as each soldier had hoped when he first took service under Cyrus, there
+seemed every prospect of their returning poorer than when they left
+home. Moreover, the army was now moving onward without any definite
+purpose, with increasing dissatisfaction and decreasing discipline;
+insomuch that Xenophon foresaw the difficulties which would beset the
+responsible commanders when they should come within the stricter
+restraints and obligations of the Grecian world.
+
+
+§ 13. Plans of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea.
+
+It was these considerations which helped to suggest to him the idea of
+employing the army on some enterprise of conquest and colonization on
+the Euxine itself; an idea highly flattering to his personal ambition,
+especially as the army was of unrivalled efficiency against an enemy,
+and no such second force could ever be got together in those distant
+regions. His patriotism as a Greek was inflamed with the thoughts of
+procuring for Hellas[86] a new self-governing city, occupied by a
+considerable Hellenic population, possessing a spacious territory, and
+exercising dominion over many neighboring natives. He seems to have
+thought first of attacking and conquering some established non-Hellenic
+city; an act which his ideas of international morality did not forbid,
+in a case where he had contracted no special convention with the
+inhabitants--though he (as well as Cheirisophus) strenuously protested
+against doing wrong to any innocent Hellenic community. He contemplated
+the employment of the entire force in capturing Phasis or some other
+native city; after which, when the establishment was once safely
+effected, those soldiers who preferred going home to remaining as
+settlers, might do so without emperiling those who stayed, and probably
+with their own purses filled by plunder and conquest in the
+neighborhood. To settle as one of the richest proprietors and
+chiefs,--perhaps even the recognized founder, like Agnon at
+Amphipolis,--of a new Hellenic city such as could hardly fail to become
+rich, powerful, and important--was a tempting prospect for one who had
+now acquired the habits of command. Moreover, the sequel will prove how
+correctly Xenophon appreciated the discomfort of leading the army back
+to Greece without pay and without certain employment.
+
+It was the practice of Xenophon, and the advice of his master,
+Sokratês,[87] in grave and doubtful cases where the most careful
+reflection was at fault, to recur to the inspired authority of an oracle
+or a prophet, and to offer sacrifice, in full confidence that the gods
+would vouchsafe to communicate a special revelation to such persons as
+they favored. Accordingly Xenophon, previous to any communication with
+the soldiers respecting his new project, was anxious to ascertain the
+will of the gods by a special sacrifice; for which he invoked the
+presence of Silanus, the chief prophet in the army. This prophet (as I
+have already mentioned), before the battle of Kunaxa, had assured Cyrus
+that Artaxerxês would not fight for ten days--and the prophecy came to
+pass; which made such an impression on Cyrus, that he rewarded him with
+the prodigious present of 3000 darics or ten Attic talents. While others
+were returning poor, Silanus, having contrived to preserve this sum
+through all the hardships of the retreat, was extremely rich, and
+anxious only to hasten home with his treasure in safety. He heard with
+strong repugnance the project of remaining on the Euxine, and determined
+to traverse[88] it by intrigue. As far as concerned the sacrifices,
+indeed, which he offered apart with Xenophon he was obliged to admit
+that the indications of the victims were favorable; Xenophon himself
+being too familiar with the process to be imposed upon. But he at the
+same time tried to create alarm by declaring that a nice inspection
+disclosed evidence of treacherous snares laid for Xenophon; which latter
+indications he himself began to realize by spreading reports among the
+army that the Athenian general was laying clandestine plans for keeping
+them away from Greece without their own concurrence.[89]
+
+Thus prematurely and insidiously divulged, the scheme found some
+supporters, but a far larger number of opponents; especially among those
+officers who were jealous of the ascendency of Xenophon. Timasion and
+Thorax employed it as a means of alarming the Herakleotic and Sinopian
+traders in the camp; telling them that unless they provided not merely
+transports, but also pay for the soldiers, Xenophon would find means to
+detain the army in the Euxine, and would employ the transports when they
+arrived not for the homeward voyage, but for his own projects of
+acquisition. This news spread so much terror both at Sinôpê and
+Herakleia that large offers of money were made from both cities to
+Timasion, on condition that he would ensure the departure of the army,
+as soon as the vessels should be assembled at Kotyôra. Accordingly these
+officers, convening an assembly of the soldiers, protested against the
+duplicity of Xenophon in thus preparing momentous schemes without any
+public debate or decision. And Timasion, seconded by Thorax, not only
+strenuously urged the army to return, but went so far as to promise to
+them, on the faith of the assurances from Herakleia and Sinôpê, future
+pay on a liberal scale, to commence from the first new moon after their
+departure; together with a hospitable reception in his native city of
+Dardanus on the Hellespont, from whence they could make incursions on
+the rich neighboring satrapy of Pharnabazus.
+
+It was not, however, until these attacks were repeated from more than
+one quarter--until the Achæans Philesius and Lykon had loudly accused
+Xenophon of underhand manoeuvring to cheat the army into remaining
+against their will--that the latter rose to repel the imputation; saying
+that all he had done was, to consult the gods whether it would be better
+to lay his project before the army or keep it in his own bosom. The
+encouraging answer of the gods, as conveyed through the victims and
+testified even by Silanus himself, proved that the scheme was not
+ill-conceived; nevertheless (he remarked) Silanus had begun to lay
+snares for him, obtaining by his own proceedings a collateral indication
+which he had announced to be visible in the victims. "If (added
+Xenophon) you had continued as destitute and unprovided, as you were
+just now--I should still have looked out for a resource in the capture
+of some city which would have enabled such of you as chose, to return at
+once; while the rest stay behind to enrich themselves. But now there is
+no longer any necessity; since Herakleia and Sinôpê are sending
+transports, and Timasion promises pay to you from the next new moon.
+Nothing can be better; you will go back safely to Greece, and will
+receive pay for going thither. I desist at once from my scheme, and call
+upon all who were favorable to it to desist also. Only let us all keep
+together until we are on safe ground; and let the man who lags behind
+or runs off, be condemned as a wrongdoer."
+
+Xenophon immediately put this question to the vote, and every hand was
+held up in its favor. There was no man more disconcerted with the vote
+than the prophet Silanus, who loudly exclaimed against the injustice of
+detaining any one desirous to depart. But the soldiers put him down with
+vehement disapprobation, threatening that they would assuredly punish
+him if they caught him running off. His intrigue against Xenophon thus
+recoiled upon himself, for the moment. But shortly afterwards, when the
+army reached Herakleia, he took his opportunity for clandestine flight,
+and found his way back to Greece with the 3000 darics.
+
+If Silanus gained little by his manoeuvre, Timasion and his partners
+gained still less. For so soon as it became known that the army had
+taken a formal resolution to go back to Greece, and that Xenophon
+himself had made the proposition, the Sinopians and the Herakleots felt
+at their ease. They sent the transport vessels, but withheld the money
+which they had promised to Timasion and Thorax. Hence these officers
+were exposed to dishonor and peril; for having positively engaged to
+find pay for the army, they were now unable to keep their word. So keen
+were their apprehensions, that they came to Xenophon and told him that
+they had altered their views, and that they now thought it best to
+employ the newly-arrived transports in conveying the army, not to
+Greece, but against the town and territory of Phasis[90] at the eastern
+extremity of the Euxine. Xenophon replied, that they might convene the
+soldiers and make the proposition, if they chose; but that he would have
+nothing to say to it. To make the very proposition themselves, for which
+they had so much inveighed against Xenophon, was impossible without some
+preparation; so that each of them began individually to sound his
+captains, and get the scheme suggested by them. During this interval,
+the soldiery obtained information of the manoeuvre, much to their
+discontent and indignation; of which Neon (the lieutenant of the absent
+Cheirisophus) took advantage, to throw the whole blame upon Xenophon;
+alleging that it was he who had converted the other officers to his
+original project, and that he intended, as soon as the soldiers were on
+shipboard, to convey them fraudulently to Phasis instead of to Greece.
+There was something so plausible in this glaring falsehood, which
+represented Xenophon as the author of the renewed project, once his
+own--and something so improbable in the fact that the other officers
+should spontaneously have renounced their own strong opinions to take up
+his--that we can hardly be surprised at the ready credence which Neon's
+calumny found among the army. Their exasperation against Xenophon became
+so intense, that they collected in fierce groups; and there was even a
+fear that they would break out into mutinous violence, as they had
+before done against the magistrates of Kerasus.
+
+Well knowing the danger of such spontaneous and informal assemblages,
+and the importance of the habitual solemnities of convocation and
+arrangement, to ensure either discussion or legitimate defence--Xenophon
+immediately sent round the herald to summon the army into the regular
+place of assembly with customary method and ceremony. The summons was
+obeyed with unusual alacrity, and Xenophon then addressed
+them--refraining, with equal generosity and prudence, from saying
+anything about the last proposition which Timasion and others had made
+to him. Had he mentioned it, the question would have become one of life
+and death between him and those other officers.
+
+
+§ 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations.
+
+"Soldiers (said he), I understand that there are some men here
+calumniating me, as if I were intending to cheat you and carry you to
+Phasis. Hear me then, in the name of the gods. If I am shown to be doing
+wrong, let me not go from hence unpunished; but if, on the contrary, my
+calumniators are proved to be the wrong-doers, deal with them as they
+deserve. You surely well know where the sun rises and where he sets; you
+know that if a man wishes to reach Greece, he must go westward--if to
+the barbaric territories, he must go eastward. Can any one hope to
+deceive you on this point, and persuade you that the sun rises on _this_
+side, and sets on _that_? Can any one cheat you into going on shipboard
+with a wind which blows you away from Greece? Suppose even that I put
+you aboard when there is no wind at all. How am I to force you to sail
+with me against your own consent--I being only in one ship, you in a
+hundred and more? Imagine however that I could even succeed in deluding
+you to Phasis. When we land there, you will know at once that we are not
+in Greece; and what fate can I then expect--a detected impostor in the
+midst of ten thousand men with arms in their hands? No--these stories
+all proceed from foolish men, who are jealous of my influence with you;
+jealous, too, without reason--for I neither hinder _them_ from
+out-stripping me in your favor, if they can render you greater
+service--nor _you_ from electing them commanders, if you think fit.
+Enough of this now: I challenge any one to come forward and say how it
+is possible either to cheat, or to be cheated, in the manner laid to my
+charge."
+
+Having thus grappled directly with the calumnies of his enemies, and
+dissipated them in such manner as doubtless to create a reaction in his
+own favor, Xenophon made use of the opportunity to denounce the growing
+disorders in the army; which he depicted as such, that if no corrective
+were applied, disgrace and contempt must fall upon all. As he paused
+after this general remonstrance, the soldiers loudly called upon him to
+go into particulars; upon which he proceeded to recall, with lucid and
+impressive simplicity, the outrages which had been committed at and near
+Kerasus--the unauthorized and unprovoked attack made by Klearetus and
+his company on a neighboring village which was in friendly commerce with
+the army--the murder of the three elders of the village, who had come as
+heralds to complain to the generals about such wrong--the mutinous
+attack made by disorderly soldiers even upon the magistrates of Kerasus,
+at the very moment when they were remonstrating with the generals on
+what had occurred; exposing these magistrates to the utmost peril, and
+putting the generals themselves to ignominy. "If such are to be our
+proceedings (continued Xenophon), look you well into what condition the
+army will fall. You, the aggregate body, will no longer be the sovereign
+authority to make war or peace with whom you please; each individual
+among you will conduct the army against any point which he may choose.
+And even if men should come to you as envoys, either for peace or for
+other purposes, they may be slain by any single enemy; so that you will
+be debarred from all public communications whatever. Next, those whom
+your universal suffrage shall have chosen commanders, will have no
+authority; while any self-elected general who chooses to give the word,
+Cast, Cast (_i.e._ darts or stones), may put to death without trial
+either officer or soldier as it suits him; that is, if he finds you
+ready to obey him, as it happened near Kerasus. Look now what these
+self-elected leaders have done for you. The magistrate of Kerasus, if he
+was really guilty of wrong towards you, has been enabled to escape with
+impunity; if he was innocent, he has been obliged to run away from you,
+as the only means of avoiding death without pretence of trial. Those who
+stoned the heralds to death have brought matters to such a pass, that
+you alone, of all Greeks, cannot enter the town of Kerasus in safety,
+unless in commanding force; and that we cannot even send in a herald to
+take up our dead (Klearetus and those who were slain in the attack on
+the Kerasuntine village) for burial; though at first those who had slain
+them in self-defence were anxious to give up the bodies to us. For who
+will take the risk of going in as herald, from those who have set the
+example of putting heralds to death? We generals were obliged to entreat
+the Kerasuntines to bury the bodies for us."
+
+Continuing in this emphatic protest against the recent disorders and
+outrages, Xenophon at length succeeded in impressing his own sentiment,
+heartily and unanimously, upon the soldiers. They passed a vote that the
+ringleaders of the mutiny at Kerasus should be punished; that if any one
+was guilty of similar outrages in future, he should be put upon his
+trial by the generals, before the captains as judges, and if condemned
+by them, put to death; and that trial should be had before the same
+persons, for any other wrong committed since the death of Cyrus. A
+suitable religious ceremony was also directed to be performed, at the
+instance of Xenophon and the prophets, to purify the army.
+
+This speech affords an interesting specimen of the political morality
+universal throughout the Grecian world, though deeper and more
+predominant among its better sections. In the miscellaneous aggregate,
+and temporary society, now mustered at Kotyôra, Xenophon insists on the
+universal suffrage of the whole body, as the legitimate sovereign
+authority for the guidance of every individual will; the decision of the
+majority, fairly and formally collected, as carrying a title to prevail
+over every dissentient minority; the generals chosen by the majority of
+votes, as the only persons entitled to obedience. This is the cardinal
+principle to which he appeals, as the anchorage of political obligation
+in the mind of each separate man or fraction; as the condition of all
+success, all safety, and all conjoint action; as the only condition
+either for punishing wrong or protecting right; as indispensable to keep
+up their sympathies with the Hellenic communities, and their dignity
+either as soldiers or as citizens. The complete success of his speech
+proves that he knew how to touch the right chord of Grecian feeling. No
+serious acts of individual insubordination occurred afterwards, though
+the army collectively went wrong on more than one occasion. And what is
+not less important to notice--the influence of Xenophon himself, after
+his unreserved and courageous remonstrance, seems to have been sensibly
+augmented--certainly noway diminished.
+
+The circumstances which immediately followed were indeed well
+calculated to augment it. For it was resolved, on the proposition of
+Xenophon himself, that the generals themselves should be tried before
+the newly-constituted tribunal of the captains, in case anyone had
+complaint to make against them for past matters; agreeably to the
+Athenian habit of subjecting every magistrate to a trial of
+accountability on laying down his office. In the course of this
+investigation, Philesius and Xanthiklês were fined twenty minæ,[91] to
+make good an assignable deficiency of that amount, in the cargoes of
+those merchantmen which had been detained at Trapezus for the transport
+of the army: Sophænetus, who had the general superintendence of this
+property, but had been negligent in that duty, was fined ten minæ. Next,
+the name of Xenophon was put up, when various persons stood forward to
+accuse him of having beaten and ill-used them. As commander of the
+rear-guard, his duty was by far the severest and most difficult,
+especially during the intense cold and deep snow; since the sick and
+wounded, as well as the laggards and plunderers, all fell under his
+inspection. One man especially was loud in complaints against him, and
+Xenophon questioned him, as to the details of his case, before the
+assembled army. It turned out that he had given him blows, because the
+man, having been entrusted with the task of carrying a sick soldier, was
+about to evade the duty by burying the dying man alive. This interesting
+debate ended by a full approbation on the part of the army of Xenophon's
+conduct, accompanied with regret that he had not handled the man yet
+more severely.
+
+The statements of Xenophon himself give us a vivid idea of the internal
+discipline of the army, even as managed by a discreet and well-tempered
+officer. "I acknowledge (said he to the soldiers) to have struck many
+men for disorderly conduct; men who were content to owe their
+preservation to your orderly march and constant fighting, while they
+themselves ran about to plunder and enrich themselves at your cost. Had
+we all acted as they did, we should have perished to a man. Sometimes
+too I struck men who were lagging behind with cold and fatigue, or were
+stopping the way so as to hinder others from getting forward: I struck
+them with my fist, in order to save them from the spear of the enemy.
+You yourselves stood by and saw me: you had arms in your hands, yet none
+of you interfered to prevent me. I did it for their good as well as for
+yours, not from any insolence of disposition; for it was a time when we
+were all alike suffering from cold, hunger, and fatigue; whereas I now
+live comparatively well, drink more wine and pass easy days--and yet I
+strike no one. You will find that the men who failed most in those times
+of hardship, are now the most outrageous offenders in the army. There is
+Boïskus, the Thessalian pugilist, who pretended sickness during the
+march, in order to evade the burden of carrying his shield--and now, as
+I am informed, he has stripped several citizens of Kotyôra of their
+clothes. If (he concluded) the blows which I have occasionally given, in
+cases of necessity, are now brought in evidence--I call upon those among
+you also, to whom I have rendered aid and protection, to stand up and
+testify in my favor."
+
+Many individuals responded to this appeal, insomuch that Xenophon was
+not merely acquitted, but stood higher than before in the opinion of the
+army. We learn from his defence that for a commanding officer to strike
+a soldier with his fist, if wanting in duty, was not considered
+improper; at least under such circumstances as those of the retreat. But
+what deserves notice still more, is, the extraordinary influence which
+Xenophon's powers of speaking gave him over the minds of the army. He
+stood distinguished from the other generals, Lacedæmonian, Arcadian,
+Achæan, and the rest, by his power of working on the minds of the
+soldiers collectively; and we see that he had the good sense, as well as
+the spirit, not to shrink from telling them unpleasant truths. In spite
+of such frankness--or rather, partly by means of such frankness--his
+ascendency as commander not only remained unabated, as compared with
+that of the others, but went on increasing. For whatever may be said
+about the flattery of orators as a means of influence over the
+people,--it will be found that though particular points may be gained in
+this way, yet wherever the influence of an orator has been steady and
+long-continued (like that of Periklês or Demosthenês) it is owing in
+part to the fact that he has an opinion of his own, and is not willing
+to accommodate himself constantly to the prepossessions of his hearers.
+Without the oratory of Xenophon, there would have existed no engine for
+kindling or sustaining the common sense or feeling of the ten thousand
+Cyreians assembled at Kotyôra, or for keeping up the moral authority of
+the aggregate over the individual members and fractions. The other
+officers could doubtless speak well enough to address short
+encouragements, or give simple explanations, to the soldiers: without
+this faculty, no man was fit for military command over Greeks. But the
+oratory of Xenophon was something of a higher order. Whoever will study
+the discourse pronounced by him at Kotyôra will perceive a dexterity in
+dealing with assembled multitudes--a discriminating use sometimes of the
+plainest and most direct appeal, sometimes of indirect insinuation or
+circuitous transitions to work round the minds of the hearers--a command
+of those fundamental political convictions which lay deep in the Grecian
+mind, but were often so overlaid by the fresh impulses arising out of
+each successive situation, as to require some positive friction to draw
+them out from their latent state--lastly, a power of expansion and
+varied repetition--such as would be naturally imparted both by the
+education and the practice of an intelligent Athenian, but would rarely
+be found in any other Grecian city. The energy and judgment displayed by
+Xenophon in the retreat were doubtless not less essential to his
+influence than his power of speaking; but in these points we may be sure
+that other officers were more nearly his equals.
+
+The important public proceedings above described not only restored the
+influence of Xenophon, but also cleared off a great amount of bad
+feeling, and sensibly abated the bad habits, which had grown up in the
+army. A scene which speedily followed was not without effect in
+promoting cheerful and amicable sympathies. The Paphlagonian prince
+Korylas, weary of the desultory warfare carried on between the Greeks
+and the border inhabitants, sent envoys to the Greek camp with presents
+of horses and fine robes, and with expressions of a wish to conclude
+peace. The Greek generals accepted the presents, and promised to submit
+the proposition to the army. But first, they entertained the envoys at a
+banquet, providing at the same time games and dances, with other
+recreations amusing not only to them but also to the soldiers generally.
+[Xenophon thus describes them--"As soon as the libations were over, and
+they had sung the pæan, two Thracians rose up and danced in full armor,
+to the sound of a pipe;[92] they leaped very high, and with great
+agility, and wielded their swords; and at last one struck the other, in
+such a manner that every one thought he had killed him. He fell,
+however, artfully, and the Paphlagonians cried out; the other having
+stripped him of his arms, went out singing; while other Thracians
+carried off the man as if he had been dead; though indeed he had
+suffered no hurt. Afterward some others stood up and danced what they
+called the Carpæan dance[93] in heavy arms. The nature of the dance was
+as follows: one man having laid aside his arms, sows, and drives a yoke
+of oxen, frequently turning to look back as if he were afraid. A robber
+then approaches, and the plowman when he perceives him, snatches up his
+arms and runs to meet him, and fights with him in defence of his oxen
+(and the dancers acted all this, keeping time to the music); but at last
+the robber binding the ox driver, leads him off with his oxen.
+Sometimes, however, the plowman binds the robber, and then having
+fastened him to his oxen, drives him off with his hands tied behind him.
+
+"Next came forward a man with a light shield in each hand, and danced,
+sometimes acting as if two adversaries were attacking him; sometimes he
+used his shields as if engaged with only one; sometimes he whirled
+about, and threw a somersault, still keeping the shields in his hands,
+presenting an interesting spectacle. At last he danced the Persian
+dance (frequently bending the knee), clashing his shields together,
+sinking on his knees, and rising again; and all this he performed in
+time to the pipe.
+
+"After him some of the Arcadians coming forward and taking their stand,
+armed as handsomely as they could equip themselves, moved along in time,
+accompanied by a pipe tuned for the war-movement, and sung the pæan, and
+danced in the same manner as in the procession to the gods. The
+Paphlagonians, looking on, testified their astonishment that all the
+dances were performed in armor. The Mysian,[94] observing that they were
+surprised at the exhibition, and prevailing on one of the Arcadians, who
+had a female dancer, to let her come in, brought her forward, equipping
+her as handsomely as he could, and giving her a light shield. She danced
+the Pyrrhic[95] dance with great agility, and a general clapping of
+hands followed; and the Paphlagonians asked whether the women fought
+along with the men; when they replied that it was the women who had
+driven the King from his camp.[96] This was the conclusion of the
+entertainment for that night."[97]] They were followed on the next day
+by an amicable convention concluded between the army and the
+Paphlagonians.
+
+
+§ 15. The army passes by sea to Sinôpê.
+
+Not long afterwards--a number of transports, sufficient for the whole
+army, having been assembled from Herakleia and Sinôpê--all the soldiers
+were conveyed by sea to the latter place, passing by the mouth of the
+rivers Thermôdôn, Iris, and Halys, which they would have found
+impracticable to cross in a land-march through Paphlagonia. Having
+reached Sinôpê after a day and a night of sailing with a fair wind, they
+were hospitably received, and lodged in the neighboring seaport of
+Armênê, where the Sinopians sent to them a large present of barley-meal
+and wine, and where they remained for five days.
+
+It was here that they were joined by Cheirisophus, whose absence had
+been so unexpectedly prolonged. But he came with only a single
+trireme,[98] bringing nothing except a message from Anaxibius, the
+Lacedæmonian general in the Bosphorus; who complimented the army, and
+promised that they should be taken into pay as soon as they were out of
+the Euxine. The soldiers, severely disappointed on seeing him arrive
+thus empty-handed, became the more strongly bent on striking some blow
+to fill their own purses before they reached Greece. Feeling that it was
+necessary to the success of any such project that it should be prepared
+not only skilfully, but secretly, they resolved to elect a single
+general in place of that board of six (or perhaps more) who were still
+in function. Such was now the ascendency of Xenophon, that the general
+sentiment of the army at once turned towards him; and the captains,
+communicating to him what was in contemplation, intimated to him their
+own anxious hopes that he would not decline the offer. Tempted by so
+flattering a proposition, he hesitated at first what answer he should
+give. But at length the uncertainty of being able to satisfy the
+exigencies of the army, and the fear of thus compromising the
+reputation which he had already realized, outweighed the opposite
+inducements. As in other cases of doubt, so in this--he offered
+sacrifice to Zeus the King; and the answer returned by the victims was
+such as to determine him to refusal. Accordingly, when the army
+assembled, with predetermination to choose a single chief, and proceeded
+to nominate him--he respectfully and thankfully declined, on the ground
+that Cheirisophus was a Lacedæmonian, and that he himself was not;
+adding that he should cheerfully serve under any one whom they might
+name. His excuse however was repudiated; especially by the captains.
+Several of these latter were Arcadians; and one of them, Agasias, cried
+out, with full sympathy of the soldiers, that, if that principle were
+admitted, he as an Arcadian ought to resign his command. Finding that
+his former reason was not approved, Xenophon acquainted the army that he
+had sacrificed to know whether he ought to accept the command, and that
+the gods had peremptorily forbidden him to do so.
+
+Cheirisophus was then elected sole commander, and undertook the duty;
+saying that he would have willingly served under Xenophon, if the latter
+had accepted the office, but that it was a good thing for Xenophon
+himself to have declined--since Dexippus had already poisoned the mind
+of Anaxibius against him, though he (Cheirisophus) had emphatically
+contradicted the calumnies.
+
+On the next day, the army sailed forward under the command of
+Cheirisophus, to Herakleia; near which town they were hospitably
+entertained, and gratified with a present of meal, wine, and bullocks,
+even greater than they had received at Sinôpê. It now appeared that
+Xenophon had acted wisely in declining the sole command; and also that
+Cheirisophus, though elected commander, yet having been very long
+absent, was not really of so much importance in the eyes of the soldiers
+as Xenophon. In the camp near Herakleia, the soldiers became impatient
+that their generals (for the habit of looking upon Xenophon as one of
+them still continued) took no measures to procure money for them. The
+Achæan Lykon proposed that they should extort a contribution of no less
+than 3000 staters[99] of Kyzikus from the inhabitants of Herakleia:
+another man immediately outbid this proposition, and proposed that they
+should require 10,000 staters[99]--a full month's pay for the army. It
+was moved that Cheirisophus and Xenophon should go to the Herakleots as
+envoys with this demand. But both of them indignantly refused to be
+concerned in so unjust an extortion, from a Grecian city which had just
+received the army kindly and sent handsome presents. Accordingly Lykon
+with two Arcadian officers undertook the mission, and intimated the
+demand, not without threats in case of non-compliance, to the
+Herakleots. The latter replied that they would take it into
+consideration. But they waited only for the departure of the envoys, and
+then immediately closed their gates, manned their walls, and brought in
+their outlying property.
+
+The project being thus baffled, Lykon and the rest turned their
+displeasure upon Cheirisophus and Xenophon, whom they accused of having
+occasioned its miscarriage. And they now began to exclaim that it was
+disgraceful to the Arcadians and Achæans, who formed more than one
+numerical half of the army and endured all the toil--to obey as well as
+to enrich generals from other Hellenic cities; especially a single
+Athenian who furnished no contingent to the army. Here again it is
+remarkable that the personal importance of Xenophon caused him to be
+still regarded as a general, though the sole command had been vested by
+formal vote in Cheirisophus. So vehement was the dissatisfaction, that
+all the Arcadian and Achæan soldiers in the army, more than 4500
+heavy-armed foot-soldiers in number, renounced the authority of
+Cheirisophus, formed themselves into a distinct division, and chose ten
+commanders from out of their own numbers. The whole army thus became
+divided, into three portions--first the Arcadians and Achæans: secondly,
+1400 heavy-armed foot-soldiers and 700 Thracian light-armed
+foot-soldiers, who adhered to Cheirisophus: lastly, 1700 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, 300 light-armed foot-soldiers, and 40 horsemen (all the
+horsemen in the army), attaching themselves to Xenophon; who however was
+taking measures to sail away individually from Herakleia and quit the
+army altogether, which he would have done had he not been restrained by
+unfavorable sacrifices.
+
+The Arcadian division, departing first, in vessels from Herakleia,
+landed at Kalpê; an untenanted promontory of the Bithynian or Asiatic
+Thrace, midway between Herakleia and Byzantium. From thence they marched
+at once into the interior of Bithynia, with the view of surprising the
+villages and acquiring plunder. But through rashness and bad management,
+they first sustained several partial losses, and ultimately became
+surrounded upon an eminence, by a large muster of the native Bithynians
+from all the territory around. They were only rescued from destruction
+by the unexpected appearance of Xenophon with his division; who had left
+Herakleia somewhat later, but heard by accident, during their march, of
+the danger of their comrades. The whole army thus became re-assembled at
+Kalpê, where the Arcadians and Achæans, disgusted at the ill-success of
+their separate expedition, again established the old union and the old
+generals. They chose Neon in place of Cheirisophus, who--afflicted by
+the humiliation put upon him, in having been first named sole commander
+and next deposed within a week--had fallen sick of a fever and died. The
+elder Arcadian captains farther moved a resolution, that if any one
+henceforward should propose to separate the army into fractions, he
+should be put to death.
+
+The locality of Kalpê was well-suited for the foundation of a colony,
+which Xenophon evidently would have been glad to bring about, though he
+took no direct measures tending towards it; while the soldiers were so
+bent on returning to Greece, and so jealous lest Xenophon should entrap
+them into remaining, that they almost shunned the encampment. It so
+happened that they were detained there for some days without being able
+to march forth even in quest of provisions, because the sacrifices were
+not favorable. Xenophon refused to lead them out, against the warning of
+the sacrifices--although the army suspected him of a deliberate
+manoeuvre for the purpose of detention. Neon however, less scrupulous,
+led out a body of 2000 men who chose to follow him, under severe
+distress for want of provisions. But being surprised by the native
+Bithynians, with the aid of some troops of the Persian satrap
+Pharnabazus, he was defeated with the loss of no less than 500 men; a
+misfortune which Xenophon regards as the natural retribution for
+contempt of the sacrificial warning. The dangerous position of Neon with
+the remainder of the detachment was rapidly made known at the camp: upon
+which Xenophon, unharnessing a wagon-bullock as the only animal near at
+hand, immediately offered sacrifice. On this occasion the victim was at
+once favorable; so that he led out without delay the greater part of the
+force, to the rescue of the exposed detachment, which was brought back
+in safety to the camp. So bold had the enemy become, that in the night
+the camp was attacked. The Greeks were obliged on the next day to
+retreat into stronger ground, surrounding themselves with a ditch and a
+palisade. Fortunately a vessel arrived from Herakleia, bringing to the
+camp at Kalpê a supply of barley-meal, cattle, and wine; which restored
+the spirits of the army, enabling them to go forth on the ensuing
+morning and assume the aggressive against the Bithynians, and the troops
+of Pharnabazus. These troops were completely defeated and dispersed, so
+that the Greeks returned to their camp at Kalpê in the evening both safe
+and masters of the country.
+
+At Kalpê they remained some time awaiting the arrival of Kleander from
+Byzantium, who was said to be about to bring vessels for their
+transport. They were now abundantly provided with supplies, not merely
+from the undisturbed plunder of the neighboring villages, but also from
+the visits of traders who came with cargoes. Indeed the impression--that
+they were preparing, at the instance of Xenophon, to found a new city at
+Kalpê--became so strong that several of the neighboring native villages
+sent envoys to ask on what terms alliance would be granted to them. At
+length Kleander came, but with two triremes only.
+
+Kleander was the Lacedæmonian governor of Byzantium. His appearance
+opens to us a new phase in the eventful history of this gallant army, as
+well as an insight into the state of the Grecian world under the
+Lacedæmonian empire. He came attended by the Lacedæmonian Dexippus, who
+had served in the Cyreian army until their arrival at Trapezus, and who
+had there been entrusted with an armed vessel for the purpose of
+detaining transports to convey the troops home but had abused the
+confidence reposed in him, by running away with the ship to Byzantium.
+
+It so happened that at the moment when Kleander arrived, the whole army
+was out on a marauding excursion. Orders had already been promulgated,
+that whatever was captured by every one when the whole army was out,
+should be brought in and dealt with as public property; though on days
+when the army was collectively at rest, any soldier might go out
+individually and take to himself whatever he could pillage. On the day
+when Kleander arrived, and found the whole army out, some soldiers were
+just coming back with a lot of sheep which they had seized. By right,
+the sheep ought to have been handed into the public store. But these
+soldiers, desirous to appropriate them wrongfully, addressed themselves
+to Dexippus, and promised him a portion if he would enable them to
+retain the rest. Accordingly the latter interfered, drove away those who
+claimed the sheep as public property, and denounced them as thieves to
+Kleander; who desired him to bring them before him. Dexippus arrested
+one of them, a soldier belonging to the company of one of the best
+friends of Xenophon--the Arcadian Agasias. The latter took the man under
+his protection; while the soldiers around incensed not less at the past
+than at the present conduct of Dexippus, broke out into violent
+manifestations, called him a traitor, and pelted him with stones. Such
+was their wrath, that not Dexippus alone, but the crew of the triremes
+also, and even Kleander himself fled, in alarm; in spite of the
+intervention of Xenophon, and the other generals, who on the one hand
+explained to Kleander, that it was an established army-order which these
+soldiers were seeking to enforce--and on the other hand controlled the
+mutineers. But the Lacedæmonian governor was so incensed as well by his
+own fright as by the calumnies of Dexippus, that he threatened to sail
+away at once, and proclaim the Cyreian army enemies to Sparta, so that
+every Hellenic city should be interdicted from giving them reception. It
+was in vain that the generals, well knowing the formidable consequences
+of such an interdict, entreated him to relent. He would consent only on
+condition that the soldiers who had begun to throw stones as well as
+Agasias the interfering officer, should be delivered up to him. This
+latter demand was especially insisted upon by Dexippus, who hating
+Xenophon, had already tried to prejudice Anaxibius against him, and
+believed that Agasias had acted by his order.
+
+The situation now became extremely critical; since the soldiers would
+not easily be brought to surrender their comrades--who had a perfectly
+righteous cause, though they had supported it by undue violence--to the
+vengeance of a traitor like Dexippus. When the army was convened in
+assembly, several of them went so far as to treat the menace of Kleander
+with contempt. But Xenophon took pains to set them right upon this
+point. "Soldiers (said he) it will be no slight misfortune if Kleander
+shall depart as he threatens to do, in his present temper toward us. We
+are here close upon the cities of Greece: now the Lacedæmonians are the
+imperial power in Greece, and not merely their authorized officers, but
+even each one of their individual citizens, can accomplish what he
+pleases in the various cities. If then Kleander begins by shutting us
+out from Byzantium, and next enjoins the Lacedæmonian governors in the
+other cities[100] to do the same, proclaiming us lawless and disobedient
+to Sparta--if, besides, the same representation should be conveyed to
+the Lacedæmonian admiral of the fleet, Anaxibius--we shall be hard
+pressed either to remain or to sail away; for the Lacedæmonians are at
+present masters both on land and at sea. We must not, for the sake of
+any one or two men, suffer the whole army to be excluded from Greece. We
+must obey whatever the Lacedæmonians command, especially as our cities,
+to which we respectively belong, now obey them. As to what concerns
+myself, I understand that Dexippus has told Kleander that Agasias would
+never have taken such a step except by my orders. Now, if Agasias
+himself states this, I am ready to exonerate both him and all of you,
+and to give myself up to any extremity of punishment. I maintain too
+that any other man whom Kleander arraigns ought in like manner to give
+himself up for trial, in order that you collectively may be discharged
+from the imputation. It will be hard indeed, if just as we are reaching
+Greece, we should not only be debarred from the praise and honor which
+we anticipated, but should be degraded even below the level of others,
+and shut out from the Grecian cities."
+
+After this speech from the philo-Laconian[101] Xenophon--so significant
+a testimony of the unmeasured ascendency and interference of the
+Lacedæmonians throughout Greece--Agasias rose, and proclaimed, that what
+he had done was neither under the orders, nor with the privity, of
+Xenophon; that he had acted on a personal impulse of wrath, at seeing
+his own honest and innocent soldier dragged away by the traitor
+Dexippus; but that he now willingly gave himself up as a victim, to
+avert from the army the displeasure of the Lacedæmonians. This generous
+self-sacrifice, which at the moment promised nothing less than a fatal
+result to Agasias, was accepted by the army: and the generals conducted
+both him and the soldier whom he had rescued, as prisoners to Kleander.
+Presenting himself as the responsible party, Agasias at the same time
+explained to Kleander the infamous behavior of Dexippus to the army, and
+said that towards no one else would he have acted in the same manner;
+while the soldier whom he had rescued, and who was given up at the same
+time, also affirmed that he had interfered merely to prevent Dexippus
+and some others from overruling, for their own individual benefit, a
+proclaimed order of the entire army. Kleander, having observed that if
+Dexippus had done what was affirmed, he would be the last to defend him,
+but that no one ought to have been stoned without trial--desired that
+the persons surrendered might be left for his consideration, and at the
+same time retracted his expressions of displeasure as regarded all the
+others.
+
+The generals then retired, leaving Kleander in possession of the
+prisoners, and on the point of taking his dinner. But they retired with
+mournful feelings, and Xenophon presently convened the army to propose
+that a general deputation should be sent to Kleander to implore his
+lenity towards their two comrades. This being cordially adopted,
+Xenophon, at the head of a deputation comprising Drakontius the Spartan
+as well as the chief officers, addressed an earnest appeal to Kleander,
+representing that his honor had been satisfied with the unconditional
+surrender of the two persons required; that the army, deeply concerned
+for two meritorious comrades, entreated him now to show mercy and spare
+their lives; that they promised him in return the most explicit
+obedience, and entreated him to take the command of them, in order that
+he might have personal cognizance of their exact discipline, and compare
+their worth with that of Dexippus. Kleander was not merely soothed, but
+completely won over, by this address; and said in reply that the conduct
+of the generals belied altogether the representations made to him
+(doubtless by Dexippus), that they were seeking to alienate the army
+from the Lacedæmonians. He not only restored the two men in his power,
+but also accepted the command of the army, and promised to conduct them
+back into Greece.
+
+The prospects of the army appeared thus greatly improved; the more so,
+as Kleander, on entering upon his new functions as commander, found the
+soldiers so cheerful and orderly, that he was highly gratified, and
+exchanged personal tokens of friendship and hospitality with Xenophon.
+But when sacrifices came to be offered, for beginning the march
+homeward, the signs were so unpropitious, for three successive days,
+that Kleander could not bring himself to brave such auguries at the
+outset of his career. Accordingly, he told the generals, that the gods
+plainly forbade him, and reserved it for them, to conduct the army into
+Greece; that he should therefore sail back to Byzantium, and would
+receive the army in the best way he could, when they reached the
+Bosphorus. After an interchange of presents with the soldiers, he then
+departed with his two triremes.
+
+The favorable sentiment now established in the bosom of Kleander will be
+found very serviceable hereafter to the Cyreians at Byzantium; but they
+had cause for deeply regretting the unpropitious sacrifices which had
+deterred him from assuming the actual command at Kalpê. In the request
+preferred to him by them that he would march as their commander to the
+Bosphorus, we may recognize a scheme, and a very well-contrived scheme,
+of Xenophon; who had before desired to leave the army at Herakleia, and
+who saw plainly that the difficulties of a commander, unless he were a
+Lacedæmonian of station and influence, would increase with every step of
+their approach to Greece. Had Kleander accepted the command, the
+soldiers would have been better treated, while Xenophon himself might
+either have remained as his adviser, or might have gone home. He would
+probably have chosen the latter course.
+
+
+§ 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises of
+Anaxibius and their results.
+
+Under the command of their own officers, the Cyreians now marched from
+Kalpê across Bithynia to Chrysopolis (in the territory of Chalkêdon on
+the Asiatic edge of the Bosphorus, immediately opposite to
+Byzantium,[102] as Scutari now is to Constantinople), where they
+remained seven days, turning into money the slaves and plunder which
+they had collected. Unhappily for them, the Lacedæmonian admiral
+Anaxibius was now at Byzantium, so that their friend Kleander was under
+his superior command. And Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of the
+northwestern regions of Asia Minor, becoming much alarmed lest they
+should invade his satrapy, despatched a private message to Anaxibius;
+whom he prevailed upon, by promise of large presents, to transport the
+army forthwith across to the European side of the Bosphorus.
+Accordingly, Anaxibius, sending for the generals and the captains across
+to Byzantium, invited the army to cross, and gave them his assurance
+that as soon as the soldiers should be in Europe, he would provide pay
+for them. The other officers told him that they would return with this
+message and take the sense of the army; but Xenophon on his own account
+said that he should not return; that he should now retire from the army,
+and sail away from Byzantium. It was only on the pressing instance of
+Anaxibius that he was induced to go back to Chrysopolis and conduct the
+army across; on the understanding that he should depart immediately
+afterwards.
+
+Here at Byzantium, he received his first communication from the Thracian
+prince Seuthês; who sent Medosadês to offer him a reward if he would
+bring the army across. Xenophon replied that the army would cross; that
+no reward from Seuthês was needful to bring about that movement; but
+that he himself was about to depart, leaving the command in other hands.
+In point of fact, the whole army crossed with little delay, landed in
+Europe, and found themselves within the walls of Byzantium. Xenophon,
+who had come along with them, paid a visit shortly afterwards to his
+friend the governor Kleander, and took leave of him as about to depart
+immediately. But Kleander told him that he must not think of departing
+until the army was out of the city, and that he would be held
+responsible if they stayed. In truth Kleander was very uneasy so long as
+the soldiers were within the walls, and was well aware that it might be
+no easy matter to induce them to go away. For Anaxibius had practised a
+gross fraud in promising them pay, which he had neither the ability nor
+the inclination to provide. Without handing to them either pay or even
+means of purchasing supplies, he issued orders that they must go forth
+with arms and baggage, and muster outside of the gates, there to be
+numbered for an immediate march; any one who stayed behind being held as
+punishable. This proclamation was alike unexpected and offensive to the
+soldiers, who felt that they had been deluded, and were very backward in
+obeying. Hence Kleander, while urgent with Xenophon to defer his
+departure until he had conducted the army outside of the walls,
+added--"Go forth as if you were about to march along with them; when you
+are once outside, you may depart as soon as you please;" Xenophon
+replied that this matter must be settled with Anaxibius, to whom
+accordingly both of them went, and who repeated the same directions, in
+a manner yet more peremptory. Though it was plain to Xenophon that he
+was here making himself a sort of instrument to the fraud which
+Anaxibius had practised upon the army, yet he had no choice but to obey.
+Accordingly, he as well as the other generals put themselves at the head
+of the troops, who followed, however reluctantly, and arrived most of
+them outside of the gates. Eteonikus (a Lacedæmonian officer of
+consideration, noticed more than once in preceding Grecian history)
+commanding at the gate, stood close to it in person; in order that when
+all the Cyreians had gone forth, he might immediately shut it and fasten
+it with the bar.
+
+Anaxibius knew well what he was doing. He fully anticipated that the
+communication of the final orders would occasion an outbreak among the
+Cyreians, and was anxious to defer it until they were outside. But when
+there remained only the rearmost companies still in the inside and on
+their march, all the rest having got out--he thought the danger was
+over, and summoned to him the generals and captains, all of whom were
+probably near the gates superintending the march through. It seems that
+Xenophon, having given notice that he intended to depart, did not answer
+to this summons as one of the generals, but remained outside among the
+soldiers. "Take what supplies you want (said Anaxibius) from the
+neighboring Thracian villages, which are well furnished with wheat,
+barley, and other necessaries. After thus providing yourselves, march
+forward to the Chersonesus,[103] and there Kyniskus will give you pay."
+
+This was the first distinct intimation given by Anaxibius that he did
+not intend to perform his promise of finding pay for the soldiers. Who
+Kyniskus was we do not know, nor was he probably known to the Cyreians;
+but the march here enjoined was at least 150 miles, and might be much
+longer. The route was not indicated, and the generals had to inquire
+from Anaxibius whether they were to go by what was called the Holy
+Mountain (that is, by the shorter line, skirting the northern coast of
+the Propontis), or by a more inland and circuitous road through
+Thrace;--also whether they were to regard the Thracian prince, Seuthês,
+as a friend or an enemy.
+
+
+§ 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium.
+
+Instead of the pay which had been formally promised to them by Anaxibius
+if they would cross over from Asia to Byzantium, the Cyreians thus found
+themselves sent away empty-handed to a long march--through another
+barbarous country, with chance-supplies to be obtained only by their own
+efforts,--and at the end of it a lot unknown and uncertain; while, had
+they remained in Asia, they would have had at any rate the rich satrapy
+of Pharnabazus within their reach. To perfidy of dealing was now added a
+brutal ejectment from Byzantium, without even the commonest
+manifestations of hospitality; contrasting pointedly with the treatment
+which the army had recently experienced at Trapezus, Sinôpê, and
+Herakleia; where they had been welcomed not only by compliments on their
+past achievements, but also by an ample present of flour, meat, and
+wine. Such behavior could not fail to provoke the most violent
+indignation in the bosoms of the soldiery; and Anaxibius had therefore
+delayed giving the order until the last soldiers were marching out,
+thinking that the army would hear nothing of it until the generals came
+out of the gates to inform them; so that the gates would be closed, and
+the walls manned to resist an assault from without. But his calculations
+were not realized. Either one of the soldiers passing by heard him give
+the order, or one of the captains forming his audience stole away from
+the rest, and hastened forward to acquaint his comrades on the outside.
+The bulk of the army, already irritated by the inhospitable way in which
+they had been thrust out, needed nothing farther to inflame them into
+spontaneous mutiny and aggression. While the generals within (who either
+took the communication more patiently, or at least, looking farther
+forward, felt that any attempt to resent or resist the ill-usage of the
+Spartan admiral would only make their position worse) were discussing
+with Anaxibius the details of the march just enjoined--the soldiers
+without, bursting into spontaneous movement, with a simultaneous and
+fiery impulse, made a rush back to get possession of the gate. But
+Eteonikus, seeing their movement, closed it without a moment's delay,
+and fastened the bar. The soldiers on reaching the gate and finding it
+barred, clamored loudly to get it opened, threatened to break it down,
+and even began to knock violently against it. Some ran down to the
+sea-coast, and made their way into the city round the line of stones at
+the base of the city wall, which protected it against the sea; while the
+rearmost soldiers who had not yet marched out, seeing what was passing,
+and fearful of being cut off from their comrades, assaulted the gate
+from the inside, severed the fastenings with axes, and threw it wide
+open to the army. All the soldiers then rushed up, and were soon again
+in Byzantium.
+
+Nothing could exceed the terror of the Lacedæmonians as well as of the
+native Byzantines, when they saw the excited Cyreians again within the
+walls. The town seemed already taken and on the point of being
+plundered. Neither Anaxibius nor Eteonikus took the smallest means of
+resistance, nor stayed to brave the approach of the soldiers, whose
+wrath they were fully conscious of having deserved. Both fled to the
+citadel--the former first running to the seashore, and jumping into a
+fishing-boat to go thither by sea. He even thought the citadel not
+tenable with its existing garrison, and sent over to Chalkêdon for a
+reinforcement. Still more terrified were the citizens of the town. Every
+man in the market-place instantly fled; some to their houses, others to
+the merchant vessels in the harbor, others to the triremes or ships of
+war, which they hauled down to the water, and thus put to sea.
+
+To the deception and harshness of the Spartan admiral, there was thus
+added a want of precaution in the manner of execution, which threatened
+to prove the utter ruin of Byzantium. For it was but too probable that
+the Cyreian soldiers, under the keen sense of recent injury, would
+satiate their revenge, and reimburse themselves for the want of
+hospitality towards them, without distinguishing the Lacedæmonian
+garrison from the Byzantine citizens; and that too from mere impulse,
+not merely without orders, but in spite of prohibitions, from their
+generals. Such was the aspect of the case, when they became again
+assembled in a mass within the gates; and such would probably have been
+the reality, had Xenophon executed his design of retiring earlier, so as
+to leave the other generals acting without him. Being on the outside
+along with the soldiers, Xenophon felt at once, as soon as he saw the
+gates forced open and the army again within the town, the terrific
+emergency which was impending: first, the sack of Byzantium--next,
+horror and antipathy, throughout all Greece, towards the Cyreian
+officers and soldiers indiscriminately--lastly, unsparing retribution
+inflicted upon all by the power of Sparta. Overwhelmed with these
+anxieties, he rushed into the town along with the multitude, using
+every effort to pacify them and bring them into order. They on their
+parts, delighted to see him along with them, and conscious of their own
+force, were eager to excite him to the same pitch as themselves, and to
+prevail on him to second and methodize their present triumph. "Now is
+your time, Xenophon (they exclaimed), to make yourself a man. You have
+here a city--you have triremes--you have money--you have plenty of
+soldiers. Now then, if you choose, you can enrich us; and we in return
+can make you powerful."--"You speak well (replied he); I shall do as you
+propose; but if you want to accomplish anything, you must fall into
+military array forthwith." He knew that this was the first condition of
+returning to anything like tranquillity; and by great good fortune, the
+space called the Thrakion,[104] immediately adjoining the gate inside,
+was level, open, and clear of houses; presenting an excellent place of
+arms or locality for a review. The whole army,--partly from their long
+military practice, partly under the impression that Xenophon was really
+about to second their wishes and direct some aggressive operation--threw
+themselves almost of their own accord into regular array on the
+Thrakion; the heavy-armed foot-soldiers eight deep, the light-armed
+foot-soldiers on each flank. It was in this position that Xenophon
+addressed them as follows.
+
+
+§ 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers.
+
+"Soldiers, I am not surprised that you are incensed, and that you think
+yourselves scandalously cheated and ill-used. But if we give way to our
+wrath--if we punish these Lacedæmonians now before us for their
+treachery, and plunder this innocent city--reflect what will be the
+consequence. We shall stand proclaimed forthwith as enemies to the
+Lacedæmonians and their allies, and what sort of a war that will be,
+those who have witnessed and who still recollect recent matters of
+history may easily fancy. We Athenians entered into the war against
+Sparta with a powerful army and fleet, an abundant revenue, and numerous
+tributary cities in Asia as well as Europe--among them this very
+Byzantium in which we now stand. We have been vanquished in the way that
+all of you know. And what then will be the fate of us soldiers, when we
+shall have as united enemies, Sparta with all her old allies and Athens
+besides,--Tissaphernês and the barbaric forces on the coast--and most of
+all the Great King[105] whom we marched up to dethrone and slay, if we
+were able? Is any man fool enough to think that we have a chance of
+making head against so many combined enemies? Let us not plunge madly
+into dishonor and ruin, nor incur the enmity of our own fathers and
+friends: who are in the cities which will take arms against us--and will
+take arms justly, if we, who abstained from seizing any barbaric city,
+even when we were in force sufficient, shall nevertheless now plunder
+the first Grecian city into which we have been admitted. As far as I am
+concerned, may I be buried ten thousand fathoms deep in the earth rather
+than see you do such things! and I exhort _you_ too, as Greeks, to obey
+the leaders of Greece. Endeavor while thus obedient, to obtain your just
+rights; but if you should fail in this, rather submit to injustice than
+cut yourselves off from the Grecian world. Send to inform Anaxibius,
+that we have entered the city, not with a view to commit any violence,
+but in the hope, if possible, of obtaining from him the advantages which
+he promised us. If we fail, we shall at least prove to him that we quit
+the city not under his fraudulent manoeuvres, but under our own sense of
+the duty of obedience."
+
+This speech completely arrested the impetuous impulse of the army,
+brought them to a true sense of their situation, and induced them to
+adopt the proposition of Xenophon. They remained unmoved in their
+position on the Thrakion, while three of the captains were sent to
+communicate with Anaxibius. While they were thus waiting, a Theban named
+Koeratadas approached, who had once commanded in Byzantium under the
+Lacedæmonians during the previous war. He had now become a sort of
+professional general looking out for an army to command wherever he
+could find one, and offering his services to any city which would engage
+him. He addressed the assembled Cyreians, and offered, if they would
+accept him for their general, to conduct them against the Delta[106] of
+Thrace (the space included between the northwest corner of the
+Propontis[107] and the southwest corner of the Euxine), which he
+asserted to be a rich territory presenting great opportunity of plunder:
+he further promised to furnish them with ample subsistence during the
+march. Presently the envoys returned, bearing the reply of Anaxibius;
+who received the message favorably, promising that not only the army
+should have no cause to regret their obedience, but that he would both
+report their good conduct to the authorities at home, and do everything
+in his own power to promote their comfort. He said nothing farther about
+taking them into pay; that delusion having now answered its purpose. The
+soldiers, on hearing his communication, adopted a resolution to accept
+Koeratadas as their future commander, and then marched out of the town.
+As soon as they were on the outside, Anaxibius, not content with closing
+the gates against them, made public proclamation that if any one of them
+were found in the town, he should be sold forthwith into slavery.
+
+There are few cases throughout Grecian history in which an able
+discourse has been the means of averting so much evil, as was averted by
+this speech of Xenophon to the army in Byzantium. Nor did he ever,
+throughout the whole period of his command, render to them a more signal
+service. The miserable consequences, which would have ensued, had the
+army persisted in their aggressive impulse--first, to the citizens of
+the town, ultimately to themselves, while Anaxibius, the only guilty
+person, had the means of escaping by sea, even under the worst
+circumstances--are stated by Xenophon rather under than above the
+reality. At the same time no orator ever undertook a more difficult
+case, or achieved a fuller triumph over unpromising conditions. If we
+consider the feelings and position of the army at the instant of their
+breaking into the town, we shall be astonished that any commander could
+have arrested their movements. Though fresh from all the glory of their
+retreat, they had been first treacherously entrapped over from Asia,
+next roughly ejected by Anaxibius; and although it may be said truly
+that the citizens of Byzantium had no concern either in the one or the
+other, yet little heed is commonly taken, in military operations, to
+the distinction between garrison and citizens in an assailed town.
+Having arms in their hands, with consciousness of force arising out of
+their exploits in Asia, the Cyreians were at the same time inflamed by
+the opportunity both of avenging a gross recent injury, and enriching
+themselves in the process of execution; to which we may add, the
+excitement of that rush whereby they had obtained re-entry, and the
+farther fact that, without the gates they had nothing to expect except
+poor, hard, uninviting service in Thrace. With soldiers already
+possessed by an overpowering impulse of this nature, what chance was
+there that a retiring general, on the point of quitting the army, could
+so work upon their minds as to induce them to renounce the prey before
+them? Xenophon had nothing to invoke except distant considerations,
+partly of Hellenic reputation, chiefly of prudence; considerations
+indeed of unquestionable reality and prodigious magnitude, yet belonging
+all to a distant future, and therefore of little comparative force,
+except when set forth in magnified characters by the orator. How
+powerfully he worked upon the minds of his hearers, so as to draw forth
+these far-removed dangers from the cloud of present sentiment by which
+they were overlaid--how skilfully he employed in illustration the
+example of his own native city--will be seen by all who study his
+speech. Never did his Athenian accomplishments--his talent for giving
+words to important thoughts--his promptitude in seizing a present
+situation and managing the sentiments of an impetuous multitude--appear
+to greater advantage than when he was thus suddenly called forth to meet
+a terrible emergency. His pre-established reputation and the habit of
+obeying his orders, were doubtless essential conditions of success. But
+none of his colleagues in command would have been able to accomplish the
+like memorable change on the minds of the soldiers, or to procure
+obedience for any simple authoritative restraint; nay, it is probable,
+that if Xenophon had not been at hand, the other generals would have
+followed the passionate movement, even though they had been
+reluctant--from simple inability to repress it. Again--whatever might
+have been the accomplishments of Xenophon, it is certain that even _he_
+would not have been able to work upon the minds of these excited
+soldiers, had they not been Greeks and citizens as well as
+soldiers,--bred in Hellenic sympathies and accustomed to Hellenic order,
+with authority operating in part through voice and persuasion, and not
+through the Persian whip and instruments of torture. The memorable
+discourse on the Thrakion at Byzantium illustrates the working of that
+persuasive agency which formed one of the permanent forces and
+conspicuous charms of Hellenism. It teaches us that if the orator could
+sometimes accuse innocent defendants and pervert well-disposed
+assemblies--a part of the case which historians of Greece often present
+as if it were the whole--he could also, and that in the most trying
+emergencies, combat the strongest force of present passion, and bring
+into vivid presence the half-obscured lineaments of long-sighted reason
+and duty.
+
+
+§ 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthês offers to hire them.
+
+After conducting the army out of the city, Xenophon sent, through
+Kleander, a message to Anaxibius, requesting that he himself might be
+allowed to come in again singly, in order to take his departure by sea.
+His request was granted, though not without much difficulty; upon which
+he took leave of the army under the strongest expressions of affection
+and gratitude on their part and went into Byzantium along with Kleander;
+while on the next day Koeratadas came to assume the command according to
+agreement, bringing with him a prophet, and beasts to be offered in
+sacrifice. There followed in his train twenty men carrying sacks of
+barley-meal, twenty more with jars of wine, three bearing olives, and
+one man with a bundle of garlic and onions. All these provisions being
+laid down, Koeratadas proceeded to offer sacrifice, as a preliminary to
+the distribution of them among the soldiers. On the first day, the
+sacrifices being unfavorable, no distribution took place; on the second
+day, Koeratadas was standing with the wreath on his head at the altar,
+and with the victims beside him, about to renew his sacrifice--when
+Timasion and the other officers interfered, desired him to abstain, and
+dismissed him from the command. Perhaps the first unfavorable sacrifices
+may have partly impelled them to this proceeding. But the main reason
+was, the scanty store, inadequate even to one day's subsistence for the
+army, brought by Koeratadas--and the obvious insufficiency of his means.
+
+On the departure of Koeratadas, the army marched to take up its quarters
+in some Thracian villages not far from Byzantium, under its former
+officers; who however could not agree as to their future order of march.
+Kleanor and Phryniskus, who had received presents from Seuthês, urged
+the expediency of accepting the service of that Thracian prince: Neon
+insisted on going to Chersonese, to be under the Lacedæmonian officers
+in that peninsula (as Anaxibius had projected); in the idea that he, as
+a Lacedæmonian, would there obtain the command of the whole army; while
+Timasion, with the view of re-establishing himself in his native city of
+Dardanus, proposed returning to the Asiatic side of the strait.
+
+Though this last plan met with decided favor among the army, it could
+not be executed without vessels. These Timasion had little or no means
+of procuring; so that considerable delay took place, during which the
+soldiers, receiving no pay, fell into much distress. Many of them were
+even compelled to sell their arms in order to get subsistence; while
+others got permission to settle in some of the neighboring towns, on
+condition of being disarmed. The whole army was thus gradually melting
+away, much to the satisfaction of Anaxibius, who was anxious to see the
+purposes of Pharnabazus accomplished. By degrees, it would probably have
+been dissolved altogether, had not a change of interest on the part of
+Anaxibius induced him to promote its reorganization. He sailed from
+Byzantium to the Asiatic coast, to acquaint Pharnabazus that the
+Cyreians could no longer cause uneasiness, and to require his own
+promised reward. It seems moreover that Xenophon himself departed from
+Byzantium by the same opportunity. When they reached Kyzikus, they met
+the Lacedæmonian Aristarchus; who was coming out as a newly-appointed
+governor of Byzantium, to supersede Kleander, and who acquainted
+Anaxibius that Polus was on the point of arriving to supersede him as
+admiral. Anxious to meet Pharnabazus and make sure of his bribe,
+Anaxibius impressed his parting injunction upon Aristarchus to sell for
+slaves all the Cyreians whom he might find at Byzantium on his arrival,
+and then pursued his voyage along the southern coast of the Propontis to
+Parium. But Pharnabazus, having already received intimation of the
+change of admirals, knew that the friendship of Anaxibius was no longer
+of any value, and took no farther heed of him; while he at the same time
+sent to Byzantium to make the like compact with Aristarchus against the
+Cyreian army.
+
+Anaxibius was stung to the quick at this combination of disappointment
+and insult on the part of the satrap. To avenge it, he resolved to
+employ those very soldiers whom he had first corruptly and fraudulently
+brought across to Europe, cast out from Byzantium, and lastly, ordered
+to be sold into slavery, so far as any might yet be found in that town.
+He now resolved to bring them back into Asia for the purpose of acting
+against Pharnabazus. Accordingly he addressed himself to Xenophon, and
+ordered him without a moment's delay to rejoin the army, for the purpose
+of keeping it together, of recalling the soldiers who had departed, and
+transporting the whole body across into Asia. He provided him with an
+armed vessel of thirty oars to cross over from Parium to Perinthus,
+sending over a peremptory order to the Perinthians to furnish him with
+horses in order that he might reach the army with the greatest speed.
+Perhaps it would not have been safe for Xenophon to disobey this order,
+under any circumstances. But the idea of acting with the army in Asia
+against Pharnabazus, under Lacedæmonian sanction, was probably very
+acceptable to him. He hastened across to the army, who welcomed his
+return with joy, and gladly embraced the proposal of crossing to Asia,
+which was a great improvement upon their forlorn and destitute
+condition. He accordingly conducted them to Perinthus, and encamped
+under the walls of the town; refusing, in his way through Selymbria, a
+second proposition from Seuthês to engage the services of the army.
+
+While Xenophon was exerting himself to procure transports for the
+passage of the army at Perinthus, Aristarchus, the new governor, arrived
+there with two triremes from Byzantium. It seems that not only
+Byzantium, but also both Perinthus and Selymbria, were comprised in his
+government as governor. On first reaching Byzantium to supersede
+Kleander, he found there no less than 400 of the Cyreians chiefly sick
+and wounded; whom Kleander, in spite of the ill-will of Anaxibius, had
+not only refused to sell into slavery, but had billeted[108] upon the
+citizens, and tended with solicitude; so much did his good feeling
+towards Xenophon and towards the army now come into play. We read with
+indignation that Aristarchus, immediately on reaching Byzantium to
+supersede him, was not even contented with sending these 400 men out of
+the town; but seized them,--Greeks, citizens, and soldiers as they
+were--and sold them all into slavery. Apprised of the movements of
+Xenophon with the army, he now came to Perinthus to prevent their
+transit into Asia; laying an embargo on the transports in the harbor,
+and presenting himself personally before the assembled army to prohibit
+the soldiers from crossing. When Xenophon informed him that Anaxibius
+had given them orders to cross, and had sent him expressly to conduct
+them--Aristarchus replied, "Anaxibius is no longer in functions as
+admiral, and I am governor in this town. If I catch any of you at sea, I
+will sink you." On the next day, he sent to invite the generals and the
+captains to a conference within the walls. They were just about to enter
+the gates, when Xenophon, who was among them, received a private
+warning, that if he went in, Aristarchus would seize him, and either put
+him to death or send him prisoner to Pharnabazus. Accordingly Xenophon
+sent forward the others, and remained himself with the army, alleging
+the obligation of sacrificing. The behavior of Aristarchus--who, when he
+saw the others without Xenophon, sent them away, and desired that they
+would all come again in the afternoon--confirmed the justice of his
+suspicions, as to the imminent danger from which he had been preserved
+by this accidental warning. It need hardly be added that Xenophon
+disregarded the second invitation no less than the first; moreover, a
+third invitation, which Aristarchus afterwards sent, was disregarded by
+all.
+
+We have here a Lacedæmonian governor, not scrupling to lay a snare of
+treachery, as flagrant as that which Tissaphernês had practised on the
+banks of the Zab, to entrap Klearchus and his colleagues--and that too
+against a Greek, and an officer of the highest station and merit, who
+had just saved Byzantium from pillage, and was now actually in execution
+of orders received from the Lacedæmonian admiral Anaxibius. Assuredly,
+had the accidental warning been withheld, Xenophon would not have
+escaped falling into this snare; nor could we reasonably have charged
+him with imprudence--so fully was he entitled to count upon
+straightforward conduct under the circumstances. But the same cannot be
+said of Klearchus, who manifested lamentable credulity, nefarious as was
+the fraud to which he fell a victim.
+
+At the second interview with the other officers, Aristarchus, while he
+forbade the army to cross the water, directed them to force their way by
+land through the Thracians who occupied the Holy Mountain, and thus to
+arrive at the Chersonese; where (he said) they should receive pay. Neon
+the Lacedæmonian, with about 800 heavy-armed foot-soldiers who adhered
+to his separate command, advocated this plan as the best. To be set
+against it, however, there was the proposition of Seuthês to take the
+army into pay; which Xenophon was inclined to prefer, uneasy at the
+thoughts of being cooped up in the narrow peninsula of the Chersonese,
+under the absolute command of the Lacedæmonian governor, with great
+uncertainty both as to pay and as to provisions. Moreover it was
+imperiously necessary for these disappointed troops to make some
+immediate movement: for they had been brought to the gates of Perinthus
+in hopes of passing immediately on shipboard; it was midwinter--they
+were encamped in the open field, under the severe cold of Thrace--they
+had neither assured supplies, nor even money to purchase, if a market
+had been near. Xenophon, who had brought them to the neighborhood of
+Perinthus, was now again responsible for extricating them from this
+untenable situation; and began to offer sacrifices, according to his
+wont, to ascertain whether the gods would encourage him to recommend a
+covenant with Seuthês. The sacrifices were so favorable, that he
+himself, together with a confidential officer from each of the generals,
+went by night and paid a visit to Seuthês, for the purpose of
+understanding distinctly his offers and purposes.
+
+Mæsadês, the father of Seuthês, had been apparently a dependent prince
+under the great monarchy of the Odrysian[109] Thracians; so formidable
+in the early years of the Peloponnesian war. But political commotions
+had robbed him of his principality over three Thracian tribes; which it
+was now the ambition of Seuthês to recover, by the aid of the Cyreian
+army. He offered to each soldier one stater of Kyzikus (or nearly the
+same as that which they originally received from Cyrus) as pay per
+month; twice as much to each captain--four times as much to each of the
+generals. In case they should incur the enmity of the Lacedæmonians by
+joining him, he guaranteed to them all the right of settlement and
+fraternal protection in his territory. To each of the generals, over and
+above pay, he engaged to assign a fort on the sea-coast, with a lot of
+land around it, and oxen for cultivation. And to Xenophon in particular,
+he offered the possession of Bisanthê, his best point on the coast. "I
+will also (he added, addressing Xenophon) give you my daughter in
+marriage; and if you have any daughter, I will buy her from you in
+marriage according to the custom of Thrace." Seuthês farther engaged
+never on any occasion to lead them more than seven days' journey from
+the sea, at farthest.
+
+
+§ 20. The army enters the service of Seuthês.
+
+These offers were as liberal as the army could possibly expect; and
+Xenophon himself, mistrusting the Lacedæmonians as well as mistrusted by
+them, seems to have looked forward to the acquisition of a Thracian
+coast-fortress and territory (such as Miltiadês, Alkibiadês, and other
+Athenian leaders had obtained before him) as a valuable refuge in case
+of need. But even if the promise had been less favorable, the Cyreians
+had no alternative; for they had not even present supplies--still less
+any means of subsistence throughout the winter; while departure by sea
+was rendered impossible by the Lacedæmonians. On the next day, Seuthês
+was introduced by Xenophon and the other generals to the army, who
+accepted his offers and concluded the bargain.
+
+They remained for two months in his service, engaged in warfare against
+various Thracian tribes, whom they enabled him to conquer and despoil;
+so that at the end of that period, he was in possession of an extensive
+dominion, a large native force, and a considerable tribute. Though the
+suffering from cold was extreme, during these two months of full winter
+and amidst the snowy mountains of Thrace, the army were nevertheless
+enabled by their expeditions along with Seuthês to procure plentiful
+subsistence; which they could hardly have done in any other manner. But
+the pay which he had offered was never liquidated; at least, in requital
+of their two months of service, they received pay only for twenty days
+and a little more. And Xenophon himself, far from obtaining fulfilment
+of those splendid promises which Seuthês had made to him personally,
+seems not even to have received his pay as one of the generals. For him,
+the result was singularly unhappy; since he forfeited the goodwill of
+Seuthês by importunate demand and complaint for the purpose of obtaining
+the pay due to the soldiers; while they on their side, imputing to his
+connivance the non-fulfilment of the promise, became thus in part
+alienated from him. Much of his mischief was brought about by the
+treacherous intrigues and calumny of a corrupt Greek from Maroneia,
+named Herakleidês; who acted as minister and treasurer to Seuthês.
+
+Want of space compels me to omit the narrative given by Xenophon, both
+of the relations of the army with Seuthês, and of the warfare carried on
+against the hostile Thracian tribes--interesting as it is from the
+juxtaposition of Greek and Thracian manners. It seems to have been
+composed by Xenophon under feelings of acute personal disappointment,
+and probably in refutation of calumnies against himself as if he had
+wronged the army. Hence we may trace in it a tone of exaggerated
+querulousness, and complaint that the soldiers were ungrateful to him.
+It is true that a portion of the army, under the belief that he had been
+richly rewarded by Seuthês while they had not obtained their stipulated
+pay, expressed virulent sentiments and falsehoods against him. Until
+such suspicions were refuted, it is no wonder that the army were
+alienated; but they were perfectly willing to hear both sides--and
+Xenophon triumphantly disproved the accusation. That in the end, their
+feelings towards him were those of esteem and favor, stands confessed in
+his own words, proving that the ingratitude of which he complains was
+the feeling of some indeed, but not of all.
+
+It is hard to say however what would have been the fate of this gallant
+army, when Seuthês, having obtained from their arms in two months all
+that he desired, had become only anxious to send them off without
+pay--had they not been extricated by a change of interest and policy on
+the part of all-powerful Sparta. The Lacedæmonians had just declared war
+against Tissaphernês and Pharnabazus; sending Thimbron into Asia to
+commence military operations. They then became extremely anxious to
+transport the Cyreians across to Asia, which their governor Aristarchus
+had hitherto prohibited--and to take them into permanent pay; for which
+purpose two Lacedæmonians, Charmînus and Polynîkus, were commissioned by
+Thimbron to offer to the army the same pay as he had promised, though
+not paid, by Seuthês; and as had been originally paid by Cyrus. Seuthês
+and Herakleidês, eager to hasten the departure of the soldiers,
+endeavored to take credit with the Lacedæmonians for assisting their
+views. Joyfully did the army accept this offer, though complaining
+loudly of the fraud practised upon them by Seuthês; which Charmînus, at
+the instance of Xenophon, vainly pressed the Thracian prince to redress.
+He even sent Xenophon to demand the arrear of pay in the name of the
+Lacedæmonians, which afforded to the Athenian an opportunity of
+administering a severe lecture to Seuthês. But the latter was not found
+so accessible to the workings of eloquence as the Cyreian assembled
+soldiers. Nor did Xenophon obtain anything beyond a miserable dividend
+upon the sum due:--together with evil expressions towards himself
+personally--an invitation to remain in his service with 1000 heavy-armed
+soldiers instead of going to Asia with the army--and renewed promises,
+not likely now to find much credit, of a fort and a grant of lands.
+
+
+§ 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia.
+
+When the army, now reduced by losses and dispersions, to 6000 men, was
+prepared to cross into Asia, Xenophon was desirous of going back to
+Athens, but was persuaded to remain with them until the junction with
+Thimbron. He was at this time so poor, having scarcely enough to pay for
+his journey home, that he was obliged to sell his horse at Lampsakus,
+the Asiatic town where the army landed. Here he found Eukleidês, a
+Phliasian[110] prophet with whom he had been wont to hold intercourse
+and offer sacrifice at Athens. This man, having asked Xenophon how much
+he had acquired in the expedition, could not believe him when he
+affirmed his poverty. But when they proceeded to offer sacrifice
+together, from some animals sent by the Lampsakenes as a present to
+Xenophon, Eukleidês had no sooner inspected the entrails of the victims,
+than he told Xenophon that he fully credited the statement. "I see (he
+said) that even if money shall be ever on its way to come to you, you
+yourself will be a hindrance to it, even if there be no other (here
+Xenophon acquiesced): Zeus (the Gracious[111]) is the real bar. Have you
+ever sacrificed to him, with entire burnt-offerings, as we used to do
+together at Athens?" "Never (replied Xenophon), throughout the whole
+march." "Do so now, then (said Eukleidês), and it will be for your
+advantage." The next day, on reaching Ophrynium, Xenophon obeyed the
+injunction; sacrificing little pigs entire to Zeus the Gracious, as was
+the custom at Athens during the public festival called Diasia.[112] And
+on the very same day he felt the beneficial effects of the proceeding;
+for Biton and another envoy came from the Lacedæmonians with an advance
+of pay to the army, and dispositions so favorable to himself, that they
+bought back for him his horse, which he had just sold at Lampsakus for
+fifty darics. This was equivalent to giving him more than one year's pay
+in hand (the pay which he would have received as general being four
+darics per month, or four times that of the soldier), at a time when he
+was known to be on the point of departure, and therefore would not stay
+to earn it. The shortcomings of Seuthês were now made up with immense
+interest, so that Xenophon became better off than any man in the army;
+though he himself slurs over the magnitude of the present, by
+representing it as a delicate compliment to restore to him a favorite
+horse.
+
+Thus gratefully and instantaneously did Zeus the Gracious respond to the
+sacrifice which Xenophon, after a long omission, had been admonished by
+Eukleidês to offer. And doubtless Xenophon was more than ever confirmed
+in the belief, which manifests itself throughout all his writings, that
+sacrifice not only indicates, by the interior aspect of the immolated
+victims, the tenor of coming events--but also, according as it is
+rendered to the right god and at the right season, determines his will,
+and therefore the course of events, for dispensations favorable or
+unfavorable.
+
+But the favors of Zeus the Gracious, though begun, were not yet ended.
+Xenophon conducted the army through the Troad,[113] and across Mount
+Ida, to Antandrus; from thence along the coast of Lydia, through the
+plain of Thêbê and the town Adramyttium, leaving Atarneus on the right
+hand, to Pergamus[114] in Mysia; a hill town overhanging the river and
+plain of Kaikus. This district was occupied by the descendants of the
+Eretrian[115] Gongylus, who, having been banished, for embracing the
+cause of the Persians when Xerxes invaded Greece, had been rewarded
+(like the Spartan king Demaratus) with this sort of principality under
+the Persian empire. His descendant, another Gongylus, now occupied
+Pergamus, with his wife Hellas and his sons Gorgion and Gongylus.
+Xenophon was here received with great hospitality. Hellas acquainted
+him, that a powerful Persian, named Asidatês, was now dwelling, with his
+wife, family, and property, in a tower not far off on the plain; and
+that a sudden night march, with 300 men, would suffice for the capture
+of this valuable booty, to which her own cousin should guide him.
+Accordingly, having sacrificed and ascertained that the victims were
+favorable, Xenophon communicated his plan after the evening meal to
+those captains who had been most attached to him throughout the
+expedition, wishing to make them partners in the profit. As soon as it
+became known, many volunteers, to the number of 600, pressed to be
+allowed to join. But the captains repelled them, declining to take more
+than 300, in order that the booty might afford an ampler dividend to
+each partner.
+
+Beginning their march in the evening, Xenophon and his detachment of 300
+reached about midnight the tower of Asidatês. It was large, lofty,
+thickly built, and contained a considerable garrison. It served for
+protection to his cattle and cultivating slaves around, like a baronial
+castle in the Middle Ages; but the assailants neglected this outlying
+plunder, in order to be more sure of taking the castle itself. Its walls
+however were found much stronger than was expected; and although a
+breach was made by force about daybreak, yet so vigorous was the defence
+of the garrison, that no entrance could be effected. Signals and shouts
+of every kind were made by Asidatês to procure aid from the Persian
+forces in the neighborhood; numbers of whom soon began to arrive, so
+that Xenophon and his company were obliged to retreat. And their retreat
+was at last only accomplished, after severe suffering and wounds to
+nearly half of them, through the aid of Gongylus with his forces from
+Pergamus, and of Proklês (the descendant of Demaratus) from Halisarna, a
+little farther off seaward.
+
+Though his first enterprise thus miscarried, Xenophon soon laid plans
+for a second, employing the whole army; and succeeded in bringing
+Asidatês prisoner to Pergamus, with his wife, children, horses, and all
+his personal property. Thus (says he, anxious above all things for the
+credit of sacrificial prophecy) the "previous sacrifices (those which
+had promised favorably before the first unsuccessful attempt) now came
+true." The persons of this family were doubtless redeemed by their
+Persian friends for a large ransom; which, together with the booty
+brought in, made up a prodigious total to be divided.
+
+In making the division, a general tribute of sympathy and admiration was
+paid to Xenophon, in which all the army--generals, captains, and
+soldiers--and the Lacedæmonians besides--unanimously concurred. Like
+Agamemnon at Troy, he was allowed to select for himself the picked lots
+of horses, mules, oxen, and other items of booty; insomuch that he
+became possessor of a share valuable enough to enrich him at once, in
+addition to the fifty darics which he had before received. "Here then
+Xenophon (to use his own language) had no reason to complain of the god"
+(Zeus the Gracious). We may add--what he himself ought to have added,
+considering the accusations which he had before put forth--that neither
+had he any reason to complain of the ingratitude of the army.
+
+
+§ 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion.
+
+As soon as Thimbron arrived with his own forces, and the Cyreians became
+a part of his army, Xenophon took his leave of them. Having deposited in
+the temple at Ephesus[116] that portion which had been confided to him
+as general, of the tenth set apart by the army at Kerasus for the
+Ephesian Artemis, he seems to have executed his intention of returning
+to Athens. He must have arrived there, after an absence of about two
+years and a half, within a few weeks, at farthest, after the death of
+his friend and preceptor Sokratês,[117] whose trial and condemnation
+have been recorded in my last volume. That melancholy event certainly
+occurred during his absence from Athens; but whether it had come to his
+knowledge before he reached the city, we do not know. How much grief and
+indignation it excited in his mind, we may see by his collection of
+memoranda respecting the life and conversations of Sokratês, known by
+the name of Memorabilia, and probably put together shortly after his
+arrival.
+
+That he was again in Asia three years afterwards, on military service
+under the Lacedæmonian king Agesilaus, is a fact attested by himself;
+but at what precise moment he quitted Athens for his second visit to
+Asia, we are left to conjecture. I incline to believe that he did not
+remain many months at home, but that he went out again in the next
+spring to rejoin the Cyreians in Asia--became again their commander--and
+served for two years under the Spartan general Derkyllidas before the
+arrival of Agesilaus. Such military service would doubtless be very much
+to his taste; while a residence at Athens, then subject and quiescent,
+would probably be distasteful to him; both from the habits of command
+which he had contracted during the previous two years, and from feelings
+arising out of the death of Sokratês. After a certain interval of
+repose, he would be disposed to enter again upon the war against his old
+enemy Tissaphernês; and his service went on when Agesilaus arrived to
+take the command.
+
+But during the two years after this latter event, Athens became a party
+to the war against Sparta, and entered into conjunction with the king of
+Persia as well as with the Thebans and others; while Xenophon,
+continuing his service as commander of the Cyreians, and accompanying
+Agesilaus from Asia back into Greece, became engaged against the
+Athenian troops and their Boeotian allies at the bloody battle of
+Korôneia. Under these circumstances, we cannot wonder that the Athenians
+passed sentence of banishment against him;[118] not because he had
+originally taken part in aid of Cyrus against Artaxerxês--nor because
+his political sentiments were unfriendly to democracy, as has been
+sometimes erroneously affirmed--but because he was now openly in arms,
+and in conspicuous command, against his own country. Having thus become
+an exile, Xenophon was allowed by the Lacedæmonians to settle at
+Skillûs, one of the villages of Triphylia, near Olympia in Peloponnesus,
+which they had recently emancipated from the Eleians. At one of the
+ensuing Olympic festivals,[119] Megabyzus, the superintendent of the
+temple of Artemis at Ephesus, came over as a spectator; bringing with
+him the money which Xenophon had dedicated therein to the Ephesian
+Artemis. This money Xenophon invested in the purchase of lands at
+Skillûs, to be consecrated in permanence to the goddess; having
+previously consulted her by sacrifice to ascertain her approval of the
+site contemplated, which site was recommended to him by its resemblance
+in certain points to that of the Ephesian temple. Thus, there was near
+each of them a river called by the same name Selinûs, having in it fish
+and a shelly bottom. Xenophon constructed a chapel, an altar, and a
+statue of the goddess made of cypress-wood: all exact copies, on a
+reduced scale, of the temple and golden statue at Ephesus. A column
+placed near them was inscribed with the following words--"This spot is
+sacred to Artemis. Whoever possesses the property and gathers its
+fruits, must sacrifice to her the tenth every year, and keep the chapel
+in repair out of the remainder. Should any one omit this duty, the
+goddess herself will take the omission in hand."
+
+Immediately near the chapel was an orchard of every description of
+fruit-trees, while the estate around comprised an extensive range of
+meadow, woodland, and mountain--with the still loftier mountain called
+Pholoê adjoining. There was thus abundant pasture for horses, oxen,
+sheep, and also excellent hunting-ground near, for deer and other game;
+advantages not to be found near the Artemision[120] at Ephesus. Residing
+hard by on his own property, allotted to him by the Lacedæmonians,
+Xenophon superintended this estate as steward for the goddess; looking
+perhaps to the sanctity of her name for protection from disturbance by
+the Eleians, who viewed with a jealous eye the Lacedæmonians at Skillûs,
+and protested against the peace and convention promoted by Athens after
+the battle of Leuktra, because it recognized that place, along with the
+townships of Triphylia, as having the right of self-government. Every
+year he made a splendid sacrifice, from the tenth of all the fruits of
+the property; to which solemnity not only all the Skilluntines, but also
+all the neighboring villages, were invited. Booths were erected for the
+visitors, to whom the goddess furnished (this is the language of
+Xenophon) an ample dinner of barley-meal, wheaten loaves, meat, game,
+and sweetmeats; the game being provided by a general hunt, which the
+sons of Xenophon conducted, and in which all the neighbors took part if
+they chose. The produce of the estate, saving this tithe or tenth and
+subject to the obligation of keeping the holy building in repair, was
+enjoyed by Xenophon himself. He had a keen relish for both hunting and
+horsemanship, and was among the first authors, so far as we know, who
+ever made these pursuits, with the management of horses and dogs, the
+subject of rational study and description.
+
+Such was the use to which Xenophon applied the tithe voted by the army
+at Kerasus to the Ephesian Artemis; the other tithe, voted at the same
+time to Apollo, he dedicated at Delphi in the treasure-chamber of the
+Athenians, inscribing upon the offering his own name and that of
+Proxenus. His residence being only at a distance of a little more than
+two miles from the great temple of Olympia,[121] he was enabled to enjoy
+society with every variety of Greeks--and to obtain copious information
+about Grecian politics, chiefly from philo-Laconian informants, and with
+the Lacedæmonian point of view predominant in his own mind; while he had
+also leisure for the composition of his various works. The interesting
+description which he himself gives of his residence at Skillûs implies a
+state of things not present and continuing, but past and gone; other
+testimonies too, though confused and contradictory, seem to show that
+the Lacedæmonian settlement at Skillûs lasted no longer than the power
+of Lacedæmon was adequate to maintain it. During the misfortunes which
+befell that city after the battle of Leuktra (371 B.C.), Xenophon, with
+his family and his fellow-settlers, was expelled by the Eleians, and is
+then said to have found shelter at Corinth. But as Athens soon came to
+be not only at peace, but in intimate alliance, with Sparta--the
+sentence of banishment against Xenophon was revoked; so that the latter
+part of his life was again passed in the enjoyment of his birthright as
+an Athenian citizen and Knight.[122] Two of his sons, Gryllus and
+Diodorus, fought among the Athenian horsemen at the cavalry combat which
+preceded the battle of Mantineia, where the former was slain, after
+manifesting distinguished bravery; while his grandson Xenophon became in
+the next generation the subject of a pleading before the Athenian court
+of justice, composed by the orator Deinarchus.
+
+On bringing this accomplished and eminent leader to the close of that
+arduous retreat which he had conducted with so much honor, I have
+thought it necessary to anticipate a little on the future in order to
+take a glance at his subsequent destiny. To his exile (in this point of
+view not less useful than that of Thucydidês) we probably owe many of
+those compositions from which so much of our knowledge of Grecian
+affairs is derived. But to the contemporary world, the retreat, which
+Xenophon so successfully conducted, afforded a far more impressive
+lesson than any of his literary compositions. It taught in the most
+striking manner the impotence of the Persian land-force, manifested not
+less in the generals than in the soldiers. It proved that the Persian
+leaders were unfit for any systematic operations, even under the
+greatest possible advantages, against a small number of disciplined
+warriors resolutely bent on resistance; that they were too stupid and
+reckless even to obstruct the passage of rivers, or destroy roads, or
+cut off supplies. It more than confirmed the contemptuous language
+applied to them by Cyrus himself, before the battle of Kunaxa; when he
+proclaimed that he envied the Greeks their freedom, and that he was
+ashamed of the worthlessness of his own countrymen. Against such perfect
+weakness and disorganization, nothing prevented the success of the
+Greeks along with Cyrus, except his own paroxysm of fraternal antipathy.
+And we shall perceive hereafter the military and political leaders of
+Greece--Agesilaus, Jason of Pheræ, and others down to Philip and
+Alexander[123]--firmly persuaded that with a tolerably numerous and
+well-appointed Grecian force, combined with exemption from Grecian
+enemies, they could succeed in overthrowing or dismembering the Persian
+empire. This conviction, so important in the subsequent history of
+Greece, takes its date from the retreat of the Ten Thousand. We shall
+indeed find Persia exercising an important influence, for two
+generations to come--and at the peace of Antalkidas an influence
+stronger than ever--over the destinies of Greece. But this will be seen
+to arise from the treason of Sparta, the chief of the Hellenic world,
+who abandons the Asiatic Greeks, and even arms herself with the name and
+the force of Persia, for purposes of aggrandizement and dominion to
+herself. Persia is strong by being enabled to employ Hellenic strength
+against the Hellenic cause; by lending money or a fleet to one side or
+the other of the Grecian parties, and thus becoming artificially
+strengthened against both. But the Xenophontic Anabasis[124] betrays her
+real weakness against any vigorous attack; while it at the same time
+exemplifies the discipline, the endurance, the power of self-action and
+adaptation, the susceptibility of influence from speech and discussion,
+the combination of the reflecting obedience of citizens with the
+mechanical regularity of soldiers--which confer such immortal
+distinction on the Hellenic character. The importance of this expedition
+and retreat, as an illustration of the Hellenic qualities and
+excellence, will justify the large space which has been devoted to it in
+this History.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] =Kunaxa=: see Introduction.
+
+[3] =Heralds=: officers who proclaimed war or peace, challenged to
+battle, and were bearers of messages from the commander-in-chief or
+king; here, messengers.
+
+[4] =Sacrifice=: it was the custom of the Greeks to examine the entrails
+of the animals they sacrificed, in order that from their appearance they
+might learn the will of the gods; and next, that they might gain a
+knowledge of coming events.
+
+In all important undertakings these signs were carefully consulted,
+before any decisive action was taken.
+
+[5] =Hellenic=: pertaining to the Hellenes, or Greeks; Grecian.
+
+[6] =Array=: disposition of forces with reference to defence or attack.
+
+[7] =Herald=: here used apparently in the sense of a public crier.
+
+[8] This seems to have been a standing military jest, to make the
+soldiers laugh at their past panic.
+
+[9] =Talent=: about 57 pounds avoirdupois; or, taking silver at its
+present value, about $1250.
+
+[10] =Phalanx=: a body of troops in compact array, with their shields
+joined and their pikes or spears crossing each other, so as to present a
+firm, unbroken front to the foe.
+
+[11] =Irrigation=: during the long dry summer the crops in this region
+would have perished from drought if the fields had not been watered.
+This was done by a system of canals, in which the supply of water, drawn
+from the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates during the spring floods,
+was stored up to be used when needed. So abundant was the growth of
+grain on this rich soil that Herodotus did not dare state the amount for
+fear that he would be thought guilty of exaggeration.
+
+[12] =Corn=: any kind of grain used for food.
+
+[13] =Satrap=: the governor of a Persian province.
+
+[14] =Cyreian Greeks=: those Greeks who had engaged in the expedition of
+Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne of Persia. See Introduction.
+
+[15] =Covenant=: a solemn agreement or treaty which both parties bound
+themselves to keep by oath, calling on their respective gods to punish
+them if they violated the compact.
+
+[16] =Convention=: treaty or agreement.
+
+[17] See note on p. 38.
+
+[18] =Tribute=: this was an annual tax so heavy and so cruelly extorted
+that it kept the great body of the people in a state little better than
+that of slavery.
+
+[19] =Cyreian Persians=: those Persians who had espoused the cause of
+Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne.
+
+[20] =Amnesty=: pardon.
+
+[21] =Strike our tents=: take down our tents.
+
+[22] =Barbarians=: the Greeks called all foreigners "barbarians." This
+word, however, did not generally express contempt, or necessarily imply
+lack of civilization, but was used to designate those who spoke another
+language than Greek.
+
+[23] =Ionia=: see note on p. 21.
+
+[24] =Wall of Media=: a wall supposed to have extended from the
+Euphrates to the Tigris. It cannot now be traced with certainty.
+
+[25] =Bitumen=: mineral pitch or asphalt. It is now much used for
+cement, for making pavements, and for covering flat roofs.
+
+[26] =Pontoons=: light framework or floats on which a platform or
+roadway is laid for a temporary bridge. Boats or canoes, placed side by
+side, and covered with planks, are not infrequently so used.
+
+[27] =Inflated skins=: bags or vessels made of the skins of sheep and
+other animals. They are quite commonly used in the East for carrying
+wine and other liquids. When inflated they are also employed as above
+mentioned.
+
+[28] =Mysians and Pisidians=: see note on p. 35.
+
+[29] =Ionia=: the central part of the western coast of Asia Minor. Here,
+at a very early period, flourishing Greek colonies were planted, and
+Ionia became celebrated for its art, its literature, and its cities,
+such as Ephesus and Miletus. But the country could not maintain its
+independence against the Eastern kings, and was at this period tributary
+to Persia. If the Ten Thousand could reach Ionia they would be among
+fellow-countrymen and friends, and within easy sail of all parts of
+Greece.
+
+[30] =Tiara=: a flexible cap worn by the Persians. The king alone had
+the right to wear it erect and high, as a badge of royal authority. Some
+suppose that when Tissaphernês says that though he cannot openly place
+the high tiara on his head, but shall wear it on his heart (feeling like
+a king if not looking like one), that he purposely uses the language
+"the better to blind Klearchus," and make him think that if the Greeks
+will aid him with their arms, he will revolt and aspire to become king
+in fact.
+
+[31] =Philhellenic=: Greek-loving.
+
+[32] =Miletus=: a city of Ionia, subject in a measure to Athens,
+revolted in 412 B.C. The next year the Lacedæmonians, or Spartans, who
+were the enemies of Athens, sent over a fleet to aid the people of
+Miletus. Tissaphernês, the Persian satrap, desiring to see the power of
+Athens completely overthrown, promised to pay the Spartan soldiers (of
+whom Klearchus was one), but afterwards made up his mind not to do so,
+and left them to fight at their own expense.
+
+[33] =Arcadian=: an inhabitant of Arcadia, a district of the
+Peloponnesian peninsula, Greece.
+
+[34] =Democrat and philosopher=: Xenophon (431?-355 B.C.) belonged to
+that party in Athens that maintained the principle of government "of the
+people, by the people, and for the people," in opposition to the party
+that, like the Spartans, believed that all political power should be
+monopolized by a favored few. Xenophon was also the disciple and friend
+of Socrates the philosopher, of whom some account will be given later
+on.
+
+[35] =Oneirus=: the god of dreams and messenger of Zeus (Jupiter),
+father of gods and men, sometimes called Zeus the Preserver, Saviour, or
+Deliverer.
+
+[36] =Zeus=: see note above on Oneirus.
+
+[37] =Boeotian dialect=: the inhabitants of the Greek province of
+Boeotia were considered by the Athenians to be a dull and unprogressive
+people. They spoke a broad, coarse dialect.
+
+[38] =Cashier=: to dismiss from service.
+
+[39] =Ears bored=: this was an Eastern (Lydian) custom, which the Greeks
+despised as only befitting slaves, since with them it was a mark of
+servitude. Agasias intimates that Apollonidês either had been a slave or
+at least ought to be one.
+
+[40] =Kilikia= (also spelled Cilicia): Asia Minor.
+
+[41] =Sneeze=: any sudden, involuntary outburst, like sneezing, was
+considered a sign of the divine will for good or evil. As it occurred
+here just as Xenophon pronounced the auspicious word "preservation," it
+was regarded as a favorable omen sent by Zeus himself. The accustomed
+invocation was like the old English custom of crying "God bless you"
+when one sneezed.
+
+[42] =Pæan=: war-song, song of triumph; originally addressed to the god
+Apollo.
+
+[43] =Mysians and Pisidians=: rude tribes inhabiting mountainous
+districts of Asia Minor, and maintaining their independence in spite of
+the efforts of the Persian kings to subjugate them.
+
+[44] =Lotos-eaters=: the lotos is a date-like fruit, fabled by Homer in
+the "Odyssey" to be so delicious and possessed of such marvellous
+properties that those who once tasted it forgot home and friends and
+wished only to remain where they might continue to eat it forever. See
+"Odyssey," Book IX., and compare Tennyson's poem of the "Lotos-Eaters."
+
+[45] =Achæans=: inhabitants of Achaia, in the Peloponnesian peninsula.
+
+[46] =Peloponnesians=: inhabitants of the Greek peninsula of the
+Peloponnesus (or so-called Island of Pelops), now known as the Morea.
+They were considered the best soldiers in Greece. Sparta, the rival and
+enemy of Athens, was the ruling city of this district.
+
+[47] =Athenian catastrophe=: in 415 B.C. the Athenians sent out a
+powerful expedition to conquer Syracuse in Sicily. They met with a
+disastrous defeat, both by land and sea, many thousands being taken
+captive and sold as slaves. Alkibiadês, an Athenian who had taken refuge
+in Sparta, now urged the Spartans to attack Athens, their old rival and
+enemy. His vehement eloquence was eventually successful.
+
+[48] =Periklês=: leader of the party of the people in Athens, and for a
+long time governor of the city; he was perhaps the greatest statesman
+that Greece produced.
+
+[49] =The war=: the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C. This was a desperate
+struggle for supremacy between the two chief powers of Greece, Sparta
+and Athens. The Spartans were a rough, military people, despising all
+intellectual culture and maintaining a narrow and tyrannical form of
+government from which the body of the people was wholly excluded. The
+Athenians, on the contrary, wished to maintain a republic in which all
+citizens should take part; they represented the highest civilization of
+Greece, and were in one sense the schoolmasters of the world.
+
+[50] =Sophists=: a class of philosophers or teachers who gave
+instruction in rhetoric and the art of disputation. They went about from
+city to city, and, contrary to the general custom of Greek philosophers,
+took fees from their pupils. "What the Sophists, among other things
+conducive to success in life, really taught the people, was the art of
+conducting their own cases before the great citizen-juries, where every
+man was forced to be his own advocate." [See Myers's "Outlines of
+Ancient History."]
+
+[51] =Javelin=: a light spear.
+
+[52] =Carbines=: short muskets, or rifles.
+
+[53] =Rhodian=: pertaining to the island of Rhodes, off the southwest
+coast of Asia Minor.
+
+[54] =Nineveh=: "an exceeding great city" (Jonah iii. 3), larger, says
+Strabo, than Babylon, having walls with 1500 towers 200 feet high.
+(Diodorus.)
+
+[55] =Cuirass=: defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the
+girdle.
+
+[56] =Sacrificed=: not only to propitiate the gods, but to obtain omens
+or signs for their future guidance.
+
+[57] =Cubit=: a measure of length; the distance from the elbow to the
+end of the middle finger, or about eighteen inches.
+
+[58] =Corselet=: armor covering the front of the upper part of the body.
+
+[59] =Reins=: the small of the back, or the kidneys.
+
+[60] =Burial=: the Greeks believed that so long as the corpse remained
+unburied the spirit would roam about restlessly in the dreary
+under-world or common abode of departed souls.
+
+[61] =Kretan=: or Cretan (from Crete).
+
+[62] =Augury=: omen or sign.
+
+[63] =Libations=: wine or liquor poured out on the ground or on a victim
+in honor of the gods.
+
+[64] =Bivouac= (biv-wak'): an encampment without tents or shelter, or
+one in which the whole army is on guard against surprise; here, the
+former is probably meant.
+
+[65] =Sesame=: an Eastern plant from whose seeds an oil is obtained,
+which is used for food and other purposes.
+
+[66] =Boreas=: the god of the north wind.
+
+[67] =Demagogues=: leaders of the people, popular orators. (The word now
+means those who mislead the people or who pretend to be interested in
+public affairs and reforms merely to gain their own ends.) In Greece
+these orators usually addressed assemblies or bodies of citizens who
+acted as judges.
+
+[68] =Judges= (dicasts): these sometimes, as in the case of the trial of
+Socrates, numbered five and six hundred persons, who acted as judge and
+jury combined.
+
+[69] =Greaves=: armor for the front of the lower part of the leg.
+
+[70] =Daric=: a Persian gold coin worth about $5.00.
+
+[71] =Heraklês= (Hercules): the exploits of this god in his numerous
+encounters with wild beasts and robbers led to his worship on perilous
+journeys.
+
+[72] =The altar=: probably that where they had been sacrificing.
+
+[73] Xenophon.
+
+[74] =Mercenaries=: hired soldiers.
+
+[75] =Milesians=: inhabitants of Miletus, Asia Minor.
+
+[76] =Megarian=: pertaining to Megara, a district of Greece northwest of
+Athens. It was famous for its commerce.
+
+[77] =Thunny fishery=: the thunny, or tunny, a large fish abundant in
+the Mediterranean and highly esteemed both for food and for the oil
+which it yields.
+
+[78] =Thurian=: an inhabitant of Thurii, a city of Lower Italy, founded
+by a colony from Athens.
+
+[79] =Odysseus=: as Homer in the "Odyssey" represents Odysseus, or
+Ulysses, to have done.
+
+[80] =Byzantium=: the modern Constantinople.
+
+[81] =Merchant ships=: small, one-masted vessels, not larger than our
+fishing-smacks.
+
+[82] =Kerasus=: this place is the native home of the cherry, and the
+origin of its name. The fruit was introduced into Italy from Kerasus
+about 70 B.C., and thence to England, France, and other countries
+conquered by the Romans.
+
+[83] =Targeteers=: troops carrying a light target, or shield.
+
+[84] =Turrets= (or small towers): the name of the
+people--Mosynoeki--means the "tower-dwellers."
+
+[85] =Paphlagonian horse=: meaning the Paphlagonian cavalry.
+
+[86] =Hellas=: Greece.
+
+[87] "The gods (says Euripidês, in the Sokratic vein) have given us
+wisdom to understand and appropriate to ourselves the ordinary comforts
+of life: in obscure or unintelligible cases we are enabled to inform
+ourselves by looking at the blaze of the fire, or by consulting prophets
+who understand the livers of sacrificial victims and the flight of
+birds. When they have thus furnished so excellent a provision for life,
+who but spoilt children can be discontented and ask for more? Yet still
+human prudence, full of self-conceit, will struggle to be more powerful,
+and will presume itself to be wiser, than the gods."
+
+It will be observed that this constant outpouring of special
+revelations, through prophets, omens, &c., was (in view of these
+Sokratic thinkers) an essential part of divine government; indispensable
+to satisfy their ideas of the benevolence of the gods; since rational
+and scientific prediction was so habitually at fault and unable to
+fathom the phenomena of the future. (Grote.)
+
+[88] =Traverse=: thwart.
+
+[89] Though Xenophon accounted sacrifice to be an essential preliminary
+to any action of dubious result, and placed great faith in the
+indications which the victims offered, as signs of the future purposes
+of the gods,--he nevertheless had very little confidence in the
+professional prophets. He thought them quite capable of gross deceit.
+(Grote.) Thus Silanus (see p. 92) pretends to find some unfavorable
+indications in sacrifices which supported Xenophon.
+
+[90] =Phasis=: on the Euxine; means the town of that name, not the
+river. (Grote.)
+
+[91] =Minæ=: the Mina was about one pound by weight of silver, or $20.
+Twenty minæ would be therefore $400.
+
+[92] =Pipe=: a fife or flute-like instrument.
+
+[93] =Carpæan dance=: perhaps because one of the dancers represented a
+sower of grain (from _karpos_, fruit), or possibly from _karpos_, wrist,
+the wrists of one being bound.
+
+[94] =Mysian=: from Mysia, Asia Minor.
+
+[95] =Pyrrhic dance=: a kind of dance accompanied with every gesture of
+the body used in giving and avoiding blows.
+
+[96] This appears to have been said jocosely in reference to the Persian
+King.
+
+[97] Xenophon.
+
+[98] =Trireme=: a war-vessel propelled by three ranks of rowers placed
+one above the other.
+
+[99] =Three thousand staters=: about $11,500; ten thousand staters would
+be in round numbers about $38,000. The stater was a Greek gold coin; its
+value is usually given at about $5.00, but Grote here makes it
+considerably less.
+
+[100] =Cities=: cities then were generally built with walls and gates,
+so that it was easy to exclude any whom they did not wish should enter.
+
+[101] =Philo-Laconian=: Sparta-loving (Sparta being in the district of
+Laconia). Compare what is said of Xenophon on p. 41.
+
+[102] =Byzantium=: this city (the modern Constantinople) was founded by
+a Greek colony B.C. 657. It had a mixed population, and was at this time
+under the rule of a Lacedæmonian or Spartan governor.
+
+[103] =The Chersonesus= (the peninsula): a peninsula of Southern Thrace,
+opposite Asia Minor, having numerous Greek cities, and noted for its
+abundance of grain, much of which was exported to Athens.
+
+[104] =Thrakion=: probably an open space or square near the Thracian
+Gate of the city.
+
+[105] =The Great King=: the King of Persia.
+
+[106] =Delta=: so named because it resembled the Greek capital letter
+Delta, Δ, corresponding to the English D; hence a triangular-shaped
+piece of land.
+
+[107] =Propontis= (now, the Sea of Marmora): between Asia and Europe.
+
+[108] =Billeted upon the citizens=: assigned them quarters among the
+citizens, who were thus bound to provide for them.
+
+[109] =Odrysian=: from Odrysæ, a numerous and powerful people of Thrace.
+
+[110] =Phliasian=: from Phliûs, a city of Peloponnesus.
+
+[111] It appears that the epithet (the Gracious) is here applied to Zeus
+in the same conciliatory sense as the denomination _Eumenides_ (Well or
+Kindly-disposed) to the avenging goddesses. Zeus is conceived as having
+actually inflicted, or being in a disposition to inflict, evil: the
+sacrifice to him under this surname represents a sentiment of fear, and
+is one of atonement, expiation, or purification, destined to avert his
+displeasure; but the surname itself is to be interpreted so as to
+designate, not the actual disposition of Zeus (or of other gods), but
+that disposition which the sacrifice is intended to bring about in him.
+(Grote.)
+
+[112] =Diasia=: a Greek festival, celebrated in honor of Zeus (Jupiter)
+the Gracious.
+
+[113] =Troad=: the plain around Troy, the scene of the famous Trojan
+war, celebrated in Homer's Iliad.
+
+[114] =Pergamus=: a city noted for its library of over 200,000
+manuscript rolls, which were eventually removed to Alexandria, Egypt.
+Parchment, a name derived from this place, was invented here.
+
+[115] =Eretrian=: pertaining to Eretria, a city of Ionia, Asia Minor.
+
+[116] =Temple of Ephesus=: sacred to the goddess Artemis, or Diana, twin
+sister of Apollo. This temple ranked among the Seven Wonders of the
+world. It was held so sacred that it was used as a "safe-deposit" for
+treasures, which were secure here against robbery or war. See the
+interesting reference to it in Acts xix. 24-41.
+
+[117] =Sokratês=: the philosopher and moralist, and the friend and
+instructor of Xenophon, had publicly taught, in the streets of Athens,
+for thirty years. His method was to convince people how little they
+really knew, by asking a series of searching questions which eventually
+led those whom he interrogated to confess their ignorance. "He taught
+that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong; and that the gods
+wished men to know them, not by beliefs and observances, but by doing
+good." This teaching, which was misunderstood by many, together with the
+dislike--not to say hatred--which such a "cross-examining missionary"
+would inevitably excite, caused his trial for impiety or rejection of
+the popular deities. He was then over seventy. When asked whether he had
+prepared his defence, he replied "that his whole life had been a
+preparation, since he had spent it in studying what was right and
+endeavoring to do it." Condemned by the judges to drink poison, he spent
+the last hours of his life conversing with his friends on the
+immortality of the soul. Xenophon has left an entertaining and valuable
+sketch of his beloved master.
+
+[118] =Banished=: Xenophon was banished for attachment to Sparta against
+his country--Athens. (Grote.)
+
+[119] =Olympic festivals=: the greatest of the religious festivals among
+the Greeks. It was held at Olympia every four years in honor of Zeus
+(Olympian Jove), and was celebrated by games and contests lasting
+several weeks. All Greece sent delegations to attend and take part in
+the festival.
+
+[120] =Artemision=: the temple of Artemis or Diana.
+
+[121] =Temple of Olympia=: the magnificent temple of Zeus (Olympian
+Jove). It contained a colossal statue of the god, seated, and holding
+the globe and the sceptre as emblems of his power. The work was by the
+celebrated sculptor Phidias, and was carved in gold and ivory.
+
+[122] =Knight=: originally one of an upper class of citizens ranking
+second in point of wealth and political power.
+
+[123] Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers before the battle of
+Issus by referring to the bravery of the Greeks in the "Retreat of the
+Ten Thousand."
+
+[124] =Anabasis= (The March Up-country): the name given by Xenophon to
+his account of the expedition of Cyrus the younger in his march from the
+shore of the Mediterranean against the King of Persia at Babylon. The
+narrative of the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" forms part of the
+"Anabasis." Strictly speaking, this portion of the work should be called
+the Katabasis, or "The March Down"; that is, from Babylonia to the Black
+Sea.
+
+
+
+
+SKETCH OF NAPOLEON.
+
+(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.)
+
+
+Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica (then recently ceded to
+France), in 1769. He was of Italian descent, and up to the age of ten
+could speak no French. In 1779 he was sent to the military school of
+Brienne, in France, and there began his education for the army. As a
+lieutenant of artillery he did good service in behalf of the French
+revolutionary government at the siege of Toulon, which had revolted in
+1793.
+
+Two years later that government was threatened by the rising of the
+people of Paris, headed by the National Guard. General Barras gave
+Napoleon an opportunity of showing his military skill in defence of the
+authorities, and the young officer, with his well-directed volleys of
+grape-shot, speedily quelled the insurrection. From that time Napoleon's
+name became familiar to the French people.
+
+In 1796 he married Madame Josephine Beauharnais, a West Indian lady,
+whose husband had been guillotined during the Revolution. About the same
+time Napoleon received the command of the French army of Italy, and with
+his successful Italian campaign against Austria his reputation as a
+general began.
+
+From that date until his final abdication in 1815, he was almost
+constantly engaged in active war, or in preparations for it. During that
+period of twenty years he fought nearly the whole of Europe; and up to
+his fatal Russian campaign in 1812, he was victorious in every great
+battle which he personally directed in the open field. This constant
+success inspired him with the belief that he was invincible. As one of
+his friends said, "He appeared like a man walking in a halo of glory";
+and as an eminent statesman declared, "France gave herself to him,
+absorbed herself in him, and seemed, at one time, no longer to think,
+except through him." From a simple artillery officer Napoleon had risen
+to be the greatest military commander in the world. His adopted country
+had placed him at the head of the government, and ended by making him
+Emperor. By his conquests he had enlarged France so that his imperial
+dominions extended to the Baltic on the north, and beyond Rome on the
+southeast.
+
+To increase his glory and strengthen his power, he established a circle
+of dependent thrones and principalities, occupied by his brothers and
+his favorites, who were bound to obey his will and extend his sway.
+
+Of all the nations of Europe, England alone had been able to withstand
+him; and in 1812 London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were the only
+leading capitals whose streets his triumphant armies had not entered.
+
+It was when he was at the apparent summit of his power that Napoleon
+divorced his faithful Josephine, in order that he might marry the
+Princess Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of Austria. His object
+was to found a reigning family allied by blood with one of the oldest
+and proudest dynasties of Europe. In this, as in all other things, he
+seemed to accomplish his purpose, for from this union a son was born
+who, under the title of the "King of Rome," promised to perpetuate his
+father's name and power.
+
+Having secured an heir to his crown Napoleon now determined to
+rigorously carry out his "continental policy" of humbling England by
+shutting out her trade from every port of Europe. If this could be done
+effectually, as he believed was possible, he might hope to starve his
+old enemy into submission.
+
+The attempt to accomplish this design was the chief cause of the
+campaign against Russia, and of Napoleon's ultimate downfall. The Czar,
+contrary to the provisions of the treaty of Tilsit, made in 1807, was
+now opposed to continuing the blockade which excluded English commerce
+from the Baltic. Not only did the Russian sovereign refuse to yield on
+this point, but he went so far as to form an alliance with Sweden, in
+order to resist the French Emperor's demands more effectually.
+
+Napoleon accordingly declared war, and in the spring of 1812 began
+gathering a force of over 600,000 men for the invasion of Russia. The
+Grand Army was chiefly French; but the Emperor compelled his
+allies--Austria, Prussia, Italy, and the German States--to furnish large
+numbers of troops; and he also received help from Poland. Besides the
+Imperial Guard, a body of picked men over 50,000 strong, under the
+command of Marshals Lefebvre, Mortier, and Bessières, there were 13
+corps. The French were led by Marshals Davoust, Oudinot, Ney, Murat,
+King of Naples; the Italians by Prince Eugene; the Poles by Poniatowski;
+the Austrians by General Schwartzenberg; the Germans and Prussians by
+St. Cyr, Regnier, Vandamme, Victor, Macdonald, and Augereau.
+
+The Poles fought for Napoleon in the belief that, if successful, he
+would secure their independence against the power of Russian oppression;
+the other nations because they dared not refuse.
+
+This enormous force, which was double that of the Czar's, gradually
+collected on the banks of the Niemen, a river emptying into the Baltic,
+and forming part of the western boundary of Russia. The army crossed it
+in three divisions, at a considerable distance from each other.[125] All
+were to meet at Wilna, a Polish city which Russia had seized in the
+dismemberment of that country, and which was about fifty miles southeast
+of the Niemen.
+
+Napoleon himself, at the head of one of the three divisions, with a
+force of over two hundred thousand, crossed the river at Kowno on the
+23d of June, and began his march for Wilna.[126] The weather was
+intensely hot, and in the course of a few weeks many thousand men fell
+out of the ranks through sickness and fatigue, and great numbers of
+horses died. The French hoped to encounter the Russian forces in a
+decisive battle before advancing far into the country. But it was the
+policy of the Czar not to fight, but to keep falling back, destroying
+all supplies as fast as he retreated, and so compelling the French to
+depend wholly upon their own resources.
+
+Napoleon himself confessed that the Russians had the advantage. They, he
+said, would be animated by love of their native land to repel invasion,
+and all private and public interests would unite them. The French, on
+the other hand, had nothing to urge them on but the love of conquest and
+of glory, without even the hope of plunder, for in those desolate
+regions there was nothing they could seize.
+
+The first real encounter was at Smolensk, a walled city on the Dnieper,
+about half way between Wilna and the ancient capital of Russia. After a
+day of hard fighting, the Russians fired the city and abandoned it. The
+French entered the smoking ruins. They were victors, but such a victory
+was almost as disheartening as a defeat. From that place a weary
+seven-days march brought the Grand Army to the village of Borodino, on
+the banks of the Kologa, a tributary of the Moskwa.[127] Here the
+Russian general, Kutusoff, had determined to make a stand in defence of
+that holy city of Moscow, not many leagues distant, for which every
+peasant stood ready to lay down his life. The result of the battle was
+in favor of Napoleon, but it cost him the lives of thirty thousand men
+to gain it; and though the Russians lost double that number, they knew
+that the time was coming when the elements and the great barren spaces
+of their country would fight for them. This was the 7th of September.
+From that date the Russians resumed their old tactics and continued to
+slowly retreat, burning the villages and the crops as they fell back. At
+length, at noon of the 14th, the French emperor came in sight of "the
+city of the Czars."
+
+What followed from that time until Napoleon, baffled and beaten, reached
+Paris, leaving the wreck of the Grand Army behind him, may best be
+learned from the ensuing narrative of Count Ségur,[128] who was one of
+the generals in that army, an officer of the imperial staff, and an
+eye-witness of what he describes.[129]
+
+His faithful history of that terrible disaster must necessarily be
+painful. It is in most respects the very opposite of Xenophon's account
+of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, which precedes it. But the reader
+should reflect that the dark and sorrowful scenes of history may have
+lessons as salutary as the brighter ones; and that the story of a great
+failure, involving the ruin and death of thousands, may be as
+instructive and as helpful as the story of a great success. In
+Xenophon's case, we have the spectacle of a man of more than ordinary
+ability, stimulated by difficulty and peril until he rises to real
+greatness of achievement. In Napoleon's career we see a naturally "great
+mind dragged to ruin by its own faults"; but such a man could not fall
+alone, and it was inevitable that a multitude should suffer with him and
+for him.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+
+§ 1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar.
+
+The ancient capital of Russia, appropriately denominated by its poets
+"_Moscow[130] with the gilded cupolas_," was a vast and fantastic
+assemblage of two hundred and ninety-five churches, and fifteen hundred
+palaces, with their gardens and dependencies. These larger mansions of
+brick, and their parks, intermixed with neat houses of wood, and even
+thatched cottages, were spread over several square leagues of irregular
+ground. They were grouped round the Kremlin, a lofty triangular
+fortress. The vast double enclosure in which this was situated was about
+two miles in circuit. It contained, first, several palaces, some
+churches, and rocky and uncultivated spots, and secondly, a prodigious
+bazaar,--the town of the merchants and shopkeepers,--where was displayed
+the collected wealth of the four quarters of the globe.
+
+These palaces, these edifices, nay, the very shops themselves, were all
+covered with burnished and painted iron. The churches, each surmounted
+by a balcony and several steeples, terminating in golden balls, then the
+crescent, and lastly the cross, reminded the spectator of the history of
+this nation: it was Asia and its religion, at first victorious,
+subsequently vanquished, so that finally the cross of Christ surmounted
+the crescent of Mohammed.
+
+A ray of sunshine caused this splendid city to glisten with a thousand
+varied colors. At sight of it the traveller paused, delighted and
+astonished. It reminded him of the prodigies with which the Eastern
+poets had amused his childhood. On entering it, a nearer view served but
+to heighten his astonishment: he recognized the nobles by the manners,
+the habits, and the different languages of modern Europe, and by the
+rich and airy elegance of their dress. He beheld, with surprise, the
+luxury and the Asiatic form of that of the traders, the peculiar
+costumes of the common people, and their long beards. He was struck by
+the same variety in the edifices; and all this was tinged with a local
+and sometimes harsh coloring, such as befitted the country of which
+Moscow was the ancient capital.
+
+When, lastly, he observed the grandeur and magnificence of the numerous
+palaces, the wealth which they displayed, the luxury of the equipages,
+the multitude of slaves and of obsequious menials, the splendor of all
+these gorgeous spectacles, and heard the noise of those sumptuous
+festivities, entertainments, and rejoicings which incessantly resounded
+within its walls, he fancied himself transported to a city of
+kings--into the midst of an assemblage of princes, who had brought with
+them their manners, customs, and attendants from every quarter of the
+world.
+
+These princes were nevertheless but subjects, still opulent and powerful
+subjects: grandees, vain of their ancient nobility, strong in their
+collected numbers and in the general ties of blood contracted during the
+seven centuries which this capital had existed. They were also landed
+proprietors, proud of their vast possessions; for almost the whole
+territory of the government of Moscow belonged to them, and they there
+reigned over a million of serfs.[131] Finally, they were nobles, resting
+with a patriotic and religious pride upon "the cradle and the tomb of
+their nobility"; for such is the appellation they give to Moscow.
+
+To this ancient capital necessity brought the Czar[132] Alexander. His
+first appearance was in the midst of the assembled nobles. There
+everything was great: the circumstances, the assembly, the speaker, and
+the resolutions which he inspired. His voice betrayed emotion: no sooner
+did he cease speaking, than one simultaneous cry burst from all hearts:
+"Sire, ask what you please! we offer you everything! take our all!"
+
+One of the nobles then proposed the levy of a militia, and for its
+formation, the gift of one peasant or serf in twenty-five. But a hundred
+voices interrupted him, exclaiming that "the country required a greater
+sacrifice; that they should grant one serf in ten, ready armed,
+equipped, and supplied with provisions for three months." This was
+offering, for the single government of Moscow, 80,000 men, and a great
+quantity of warlike stores.
+
+The latter proposition was immediately voted without discussion; some
+say with enthusiasm; and that it was executed in like manner, so long as
+the danger was at hand. Others attribute the consent of the assembly to
+a sentiment of submission alone; which, indeed, in the presence of
+absolute power, is apt to absorb every other.
+
+They add, that on the breaking up of the meeting, the principal nobles
+were heard to murmur among themselves against the extravagance of such a
+measure. "Was the danger, then, so pressing? Did the Russian army,
+which, as they were told, still numbered 400,000 men, no longer exist?
+Why deprive them of so many peasants? The service of these men would be,
+it is said, only temporary; but who could ever hope for their return?
+and was not even this an event to be dreaded? Would these serfs,
+habituated to the irregularities of war, bring back their former habits
+of submission? Undoubtedly not; they would return full of new sentiments
+and new ideas, with which they would infect the villages; they would
+there propagate a refractory spirit, which would give infinite trouble
+to the master by spoiling the slave."
+
+Be this as it may, the resolution of the assembly was generous, and
+worthy of so great a nation. The details are of little consequence. We
+well know that it is the same everywhere; that everything in the world
+loses by being seen too near; and, lastly, that nations should be judged
+by the general mass and by results.
+
+Alexander then addressed the merchants, but more briefly: he ordered the
+proclamation to be read to them, in which Napoleon was represented as "a
+perfidious wretch; a Moloch, who, with treachery in his heart and
+loyalty on his lips, was striving to blot out Russia from the face of
+the earth."
+
+It is said that, at these words, his auditors, to whose strongly-marked
+and flushed faces their long beards imparted a look at once antique,
+majestic, and wild, were inflamed with rage. Their eyes flashed fire;
+they were seized with a convulsive fury, of which their stiffened arms,
+their clenched fists, the gnashing of their teeth, and their subdued
+execrations, expressed the vehemence. The effect was correspondent.
+Their chief, whom they elect themselves, proved himself worthy of his
+station: he put down his name at once for 50,000 rubles.[133] It was
+two-thirds of his fortune, and he paid it the next day.
+
+These merchants were divided into three classes, and they proceeded to
+fix the contribution for each; but one of the assembly, who was included
+in the lowest class, declared that his patriotism would brook no limit,
+and he immediately subscribed a sum far surpassing the standard
+proposed: the others all followed his example more or less closely.
+Advantage was taken of their first emotions. Everything was at hand that
+was requisite to bind them irrevocably while they were yet together,
+excited by one another and by the words of their sovereign.
+
+The patriotic donation amounted, it is said, to two millions of rubles.
+The other governments repeated, like so many echoes, the national cry of
+Moscow. The emperor accepted all; but all could not be given
+immediately; and when, in order to complete his work, he claimed the
+rest of the promised succor, he was obliged to have recourse to
+constraint, the danger which had alarmed some and inflamed others having
+by that time ceased to exist.
+
+
+§ 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army; preparations for
+destroying the city.
+
+After the reduction of Smolensk,[134] and when Napoleon reached Viazma,
+a town about one hundred and seventy miles from Moscow, consternation
+reigned in Moscow. The great battle had not yet been lost, and already
+people began to abandon that capital.
+
+In his proclamation, the governor-general, Count Rostopchin,[135] told
+the women that "he should not detain them, as the less fear there was,
+the less danger there would be; but that their brothers and husbands
+must stay, or they would cover themselves with infamy." He then added
+encouraging particulars concerning the hostile force, which consisted,
+according to his statement, of "one hundred and fifty thousand men, who
+were reduced to the necessity of feeding on horseflesh. The emperor
+Alexander was about to return to his faithful capital; eighty-three
+thousand Russians, recruits and militia, with eighty pieces of cannon
+were marching towards Borodino, to join Kutusoff."[136]
+
+He thus concluded: "If these forces are not sufficient, I will say to
+you, 'Come, my Muscovite[137] friends, let us march also! We will
+assemble one hundred thousand men; we will take the image of the Blessed
+Virgin, and one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and put an end to
+the business at once!'"
+
+It has been remarked, as a purely local singularity, that most of these
+proclamations were in the scriptural style, and highly poetical in their
+character.
+
+At the same time, a sort of balloon of prodigious size was constructed
+by command of Alexander, not far from Moscow, under the direction of a
+German artificer. The destination of this aerial machine was to hover
+over the French army, to single out its chief, and destroy him by a
+shower of balls and fire. Several attempts were made to raise it, but
+without success, the springs by which the wings were to be worked always
+breaking.
+
+Rostopchin, nevertheless, affecting to persevere in the plan, is said to
+have caused a great quantity of rockets and other combustibles to be
+prepared. Moscow itself was destined to be the great infernal machine,
+the sudden nocturnal explosion of which was to destroy the emperor and
+his army. Should the enemy escape this danger, he would at least no
+longer have an asylum or resources; and the horror of this tremendous
+calamity, charged to his account, as had been the disasters of Smolensk,
+Viazma, and other towns, would not fail to rouse the whole of
+Russia.[138]
+
+Adverse, therefore, to any treaty, this governor foresaw that in the
+populous capital, which the Russians themselves style the oracle, the
+exemplar of the whole empire, Napoleon would have recourse to the weapon
+of revolution, the only one that would be left him to accomplish his
+purpose. For this reason he resolved to raise a barrier of fire between
+that great captain and all weaknesses, from whatever quarter they might
+proceed, whether from the throne or from his countrymen, either nobles
+or senators; and more especially between a population of serfs and the
+soldiers of a free nation; in short, between the latter and that mass of
+artisans and tradesmen who form in Moscow the commencement of an
+intermediate class; a class for which the French Revolution was
+especially brought about.
+
+All the preparations were made in silence, without the knowledge either
+of the people, the proprietors of all classes, or perhaps of their
+emperor. The nation was ignorant that it was sacrificing itself. This is
+so strictly true, that, when the moment for execution arrived, we heard
+the inhabitants who had fled to the churches execrating this
+destruction. Those who beheld it from a distance, the most opulent of
+the nobles, deceived like their peasants, charged us with it: and, in
+short, those by whom it was ordered threw the odium of it upon us,
+having engaged in the work of destruction in order to render us objects
+of detestation, and caring but little about the maledictions of so many
+unfortunate creatures, provided they could throw upon us the weight of
+them.
+
+The silence of Alexander leaves room to doubt whether he approved this
+dreadful determination or not. What part he took in the catastrophe is
+still a mystery to the Russians: either they are ignorant on the
+subject, or they make a secret of the matter: the effect of despotism,
+which enjoins ignorance or silence.
+
+Some think that no individual in the empire, excepting the sovereign,
+would have dared to take on himself so heavy a responsibility. His
+subsequent conduct disavowed without disproving it. Others are of
+opinion that this was one of the causes of his absence from the army,
+and that, not wishing to appear either to order or to forbid it, he
+would not stay to be a witness of the catastrophe.
+
+As to the general abandonment of the houses all the way from Smolensk,
+it was compulsory, the Russian army defending them till they were
+carried sword in hand, and describing us everywhere as destructive
+monsters. The country suffered but little from this emigration. The
+peasants residing near the high-road escaped through byways to other
+villages belonging to their lords, where they found accommodation.
+
+The forsaking of their huts, made of trunks of trees laid one upon
+another, which a hatchet suffices for building, and of which a bench, a
+table, and an image constitute the whole furniture, was scarcely any
+sacrifice for serfs who had nothing of their own, whose persons did not
+even belong to themselves, and whose masters were obliged to provide for
+them, since they were their property and the source of all their income.
+
+These peasants, moreover, in removing their carts, their implements, and
+their cattle, carried everything with them, most of them being able with
+their own hands to supply themselves with habitation, clothing, and all
+other necessaries: for these people are still in but the first stage of
+civilization, and far from that division of labor which denotes the
+extension and high improvement of commerce and of society.
+
+But in the towns, and especially in the great capital, how could they be
+expected to quit so many establishments, to resign so many conveniences
+and enjoyments, so much wealth, movable and immovable? and yet it cost
+little or no more to obtain the total abandonment of Moscow than that of
+the meanest village. There, as at Vienna, Berlin, and Madrid, the
+principal nobles hesitated not to retire on our approach; for, with
+them, to remain would seem to be the same as to betray. But here,
+tradesmen, artisans, day-laborers, all thought it their duty to flee as
+well as the most powerful of the grandees. There was no occasion to
+command: these people have not yet ideas sufficient to judge for
+themselves, to distinguish and to weigh differences; the example of the
+nobles was sufficient. The few foreigners remaining at Moscow might have
+enlightened them; some of these were exiled, and terror hindered the
+rest.
+
+It was, besides, an easy task to excite apprehensions of profanation,
+pillage, and devastation in the minds of people so cut off from other
+nations, and in the inhabitants of a city which had been so often
+plundered and burned by the Tartars. With these examples before their
+eyes, they could not await an impious and ferocious enemy but for the
+purpose of fighting him: the rest must necessarily shun his approach
+with horror, if they would save themselves in this life or in the next.
+Thus obedience, honor, religion, fear, everything, in short, enjoined
+them to flee, with all that they could carry with them.
+
+A fortnight before our arrival, the departure of the records, the public
+chests and treasure, and that of the nobles and of the principal
+merchants, together with their most valuable effects, indicated to the
+rest of the inhabitants what course they should pursue. The governor,
+already impatient to see Moscow evacuated, appointed superintendents to
+expedite the emigration.
+
+On the 3d of September, a French woman, living in the city, ventured to
+leave her hiding-place, at the risk of being torn in pieces by the
+furious Muscovites. She wandered a long time through extensive quarters,
+the solitude of which astonished her, when a distant and doleful sound
+thrilled her with terror. It was like the funeral dirge of this vast
+city: fixed in motionless suspense, she beheld an immense multitude of
+persons, of both sexes, in deep affliction, carrying their effects and
+their sacred images, and leading their children along with them. Their
+priests, laden with the sacred symbols of religion, headed the
+procession. They were invoking Heaven in hymns of lamentation, in which
+all of them joined with tears.
+
+On reaching the gates of the city, this crowd of unfortunate creatures
+passed through them with painful hesitation: turning their eyes once
+more towards Moscow, they seemed to be bidding a last farewell to their
+holy city; but, by degrees, their sobs and the doleful tones of their
+hymns died away in the vast plains by which it is surrounded.
+
+
+§ 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow.
+
+Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in masses. The roads
+were covered to the distance of forty leagues by fugitives on foot, and
+several unbroken files of vehicles of every kind. At the same time, the
+measures of Rostopchin to prevent dejection and preserve order detained
+many of these unfortunate people till the very last moment.
+
+To this must be added the appointment of Kutusoff, which had revived
+their hopes, the false intelligence of a victory at Borodino, and, for
+those of moderate means, the hesitation natural at the moment of
+abandoning the only home which they possessed. Lastly, the inadequacy of
+the means of transport, either because at this time heavy requisitions
+for the exigencies of the army had reduced the number of vehicles, or
+because they were too small, as it is customary to make the carriages in
+this country very light, on account of the sandy soil, and of the roads,
+which may be said to be rather marked out than constructed.
+
+Kutusoff, although defeated at Borodino, had sent letters to all
+quarters announcing that he was victorious. He deceived Moscow, St.
+Petersburg, and even the commanders of the other Russian armies.
+Alexander communicated this false intelligence to his allies. In the
+first transports of his joy he hastened to the altars, loaded the army
+and the family of his general with honors and money, gave directions for
+rejoicings, returned thanks to Heaven, and appointed Kutusoff a
+field-marshal of the empire.
+
+Most of the Russians affirm that their emperor was grossly imposed upon
+by this report. They are still unacquainted with the motives of such a
+deception, which at first procured Kutusoff unbounded favors, that were
+not withdrawn from him, and afterward, it is said, dreadful menaces,
+that were not put in execution.
+
+If we may credit several of his countrymen, who were perhaps his
+enemies, it would appear that he had two motives. In the first place, he
+wished not to shake by disastrous intelligence the little firmness
+which, in Russia, Alexander was generally, though erroneously, thought
+to possess. In the second, as his despatch would probably arrive on the
+very birthday of his sovereign, it is added that his object was to
+obtain from him the rewards for which this kind of anniversaries affords
+occasion.
+
+But at Moscow the delusive impression was of short continuance. The
+rumor of the destruction of half his army was almost immediately
+propagated in that city, from the singular commotion produced by
+extraordinary events, which is known frequently to spread almost
+instantaneously to prodigious distances. Still, however, the language of
+the chiefs, the only persons who dared to speak, continued haughty and
+threatening: many of the inhabitants, trusting to it, remained; but they
+were every day more and more tormented by a painful anxiety. At nearly
+one and the same moment, they were transported with rage, elevated by
+hope, and overwhelmed with fear.
+
+During one of these periods of dejection and dismay, while, prostrate
+before the altars, or in their own houses before the images of their
+saints, they had abandoned all hope but in Heaven, shouts of joy were
+suddenly heard: the people instantly thronged the streets and the public
+places to learn the cause. Intoxicated with delight, their eyes were
+fixed on the cross of the principal church. A vulture had entangled
+himself in the chains which supported it, and was held suspended by
+them. This was a certain presage to minds whose natural superstition was
+heightened by extraordinary anxiety: it was thus that their God would
+seize and deliver Napoleon into their power.
+
+Rostopchin took advantage of all these movements, which he excited or
+checked according as they were favorable to him or otherwise. He caused
+the most diminutive to be selected from the prisoners taken from the
+French, and exhibited them to the people, that the latter might derive
+courage from the sight of their weakness; and yet he emptied Moscow of
+every kind of supplies, in order to feed the vanquished and to famish
+the conquerors. This measure was easily carried into effect, as Moscow
+was provisioned in spring and autumn by water only, and in winter by
+sledges.
+
+He was still attempting to preserve, with a remnant of hope, the order
+that was necessary, especially in such a flight, when the effects of the
+disaster at Borodino were fully manifested. The long train of wounded,
+their groans, their garments and linen dyed with blood; their most
+powerful nobles struck and overthrown like the rest: all this was a
+novel and alarming sight to a city which had for such a length of time
+been exempt from the horrors of war. The police redoubled their
+activity; but the terror which they excited could not long make head
+against a still greater terror.
+
+Rostopchin once more addressed the people. He declared that "he would
+defend Moscow to the last extremity; that the courts were already
+closed, but that was of no consequence; that there was no occasion for
+tribunals to try the guilty": he added that "in two days he would give
+the signal." He recommended to the people to "arm themselves with
+hatchets, and especially with three-pronged forks, as the French were
+not heavier than a sheaf of wheat." As for the wounded, he said he
+should cause "masses to be said, and the water to be blessed, in order
+to their speedy recovery. The next day," he added, "he should repair to
+Kutusoff, to take final measures for exterminating the enemy."
+
+The Russian army, in their position in front of Moscow, numbered
+ninety-one thousand men, six thousand of whom were Cossacks,[139]
+sixty-five thousand veteran troops (the remnant of one hundred and
+twenty-one thousand engaged at the Moskwa),[140] and twenty thousand
+recruits, armed half with muskets and half with pikes.
+
+The French army, one hundred and thirty thousand strong the day before
+the great battle, had lost about forty thousand men at Borodino, and
+still consisted of ninety thousand. Some regiments on the march, and the
+divisions of Laborde and Pino, had just joined it: so that, on its
+arrival before Moscow, it still amounted to nearly one hundred thousand
+men. Its march was retarded by six hundred and seven pieces of cannon,
+two thousand five hundred artillery carriages, and five thousand
+baggage-wagons: it had no more ammunition than would suffice for one
+engagement. Kutusoff perhaps calculated the disproportion between his
+effective force and ours. On this point, however, nothing but conjecture
+can be advanced, for he assigned purely military motives for his
+retreat.
+
+Thus much is certain, that Kutusoff deceived Rostopchin to the very last
+moment. He even swore to him "by his gray hair that he would perish with
+him before Moscow," when all at once the governor was informed that, in
+a council of war held at night in the camp, it had been determined to
+abandon the capital without a battle.
+
+Rostopchin was incensed at this intelligence, but his resolution
+remained unshaken. There was now no time to be lost; no farther pains
+were taken to conceal from Moscow the fate that was destined for it;
+indeed it was not worth while to dissemble for the sake of the few
+inhabitants who were left; and, besides, it was necessary to induce them
+to seek their safety in flight.
+
+At night, therefore, emissaries went round, knocking at every door and
+announcing the conflagration. Fuses were introduced at every favorable
+aperture, especially into the shops covered with iron, in the
+tradesmen's quarter, and the fire-engines were carried off. The
+desolation had now attained its highest pitch, and each individual,
+according to his disposition, was either overwhelmed with despair or
+urged to a decision. Most of those who were left formed groups in the
+public places; they crowded together, questioned each other, and asked
+each other's advice; while many wandered about at random, some depressed
+by terror, others in a frightful state of exasperation. At length the
+army, their last hope, deserted them: the troops began to traverse the
+city, and in their retreat they hurried along with them the still
+considerable remnant of its population.
+
+They departed by the Kolomna gate,[141] surrounded by a multitude of
+women, children, and aged persons, in the deepest affliction. The fields
+were covered with them. They fled in all directions, by every path,
+across the country, without provisions, and laden with such of their
+effects as, in their agitation, they had first laid their hands on.
+Some, for want of horses, had harnessed themselves to carts, and in this
+manner dragged along their infant children, a sick wife, or an infirm
+father; in short, whatever they held most dear. The woods afforded them
+shelter, and they subsisted on the charity of their countrymen.
+
+On that day a terrific scene terminated this melancholy drama. This, the
+last day of Moscow, having arrived, Rostopchin collected together all
+whom he had been able to retain and arm. The prisons were thrown open. A
+squalid and disgusting crew tumultuously issued from them. These
+wretches rushed into the streets with ferocious joy. Two men, a Russian
+and a Frenchman, the one accused of treason, the other of political
+indiscretion, were selected from among this horde, and dragged before
+Rostopchin, who fiercely reproached the Russian with his crime. He was
+the son of a tradesman, and had been apprehended while exciting the
+people to insurrection. A circumstance which occasioned alarm was the
+discovery that he belonged to a sect of German religious and political
+fanatics. His audacity had never failed him in prison. It was imagined,
+for a moment, that the spirit of equality had penetrated into Russia. He
+did not, however, disclose any accomplices.
+
+At this crisis his father arrived. It was expected that he would
+intercede for his son; but, on the contrary, he insisted on his death.
+The governor granted him a few moments, that he might once more speak to
+and bless him. "What, I! I bless a traitor!" exclaimed the enraged
+Russian, and, turning to his son, with a horrid voice and gesture he
+pronounced a curse upon him.
+
+This was the signal for his execution. The poor wretch was struck down
+by an ill-directed blow of a sabre. He fell, but wounded only, and
+perhaps the arrival of the French might have saved him, had not the
+people perceived that he was yet alive. They forced the barrier, fell
+upon him, and tore him to pieces.
+
+The Frenchman, during this scene, was petrified with terror. "As for
+thee," said Rostopchin, turning towards him, "being a Frenchman, thou
+canst not but wish for the arrival of the French army: be free, then,
+and go and tell thy countrymen that Russia had but one traitor, and that
+he has been punished." Then, addressing himself to the wretches who
+surrounded him, he called them sons of Russia, and exhorted them to make
+atonement for their crimes by serving their country. He was the last to
+quit the doomed city, and he then rejoined the Russian army.
+
+From that moment the mighty Moscow belonged neither to the Russians nor
+to the French, but to that guilty horde whose fury was directed by a few
+officers and soldiers of the police. They were organized, and each had
+his post allotted to him, in order that pillage, fire, and devastation
+might commence everywhere at once.
+
+
+§ 4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city.
+
+That very day (September the 14th), Napoleon, being at length satisfied
+that Kutusoff had not thrown himself on his right flank, rejoined his
+advanced guard. He mounted his horse a few leagues from Moscow. He
+marched slowly and cautiously, sending scouts before him to examine the
+woods and the ravines, and to ascend all the eminences to look out for
+the enemy's army. A battle was expected, and the ground favored the
+opinion: works also had been begun, but they had all been abandoned, and
+we experienced not the slightest resistance.
+
+At length the last eminence only remained to be passed: it is contiguous
+to Moscow, which it commands. It is called _The Hill of Salvation_,
+because on its summit the inhabitants, at sight of their holy city,
+cross and prostrate themselves. Our scouts soon gained the top of this
+hill. It was two o'clock: the sun caused this great city to glisten with
+a thousand colors. Struck with astonishment at the sight, they paused,
+exclaiming, "Moscow! Moscow!" Every one quickened his pace; the troops
+hurried on in disorder; and the whole army, clapping their hands,
+repeated with transport, "Moscow! Moscow!" just as sailors shout "Land!
+land!" at the conclusion of a long and toilsome voyage.
+
+At the sight of this gilded city, of this splendid capital, uniting
+Europe and Asia, of this magnificent emporium of the luxury and arts of
+the two fairest divisions of the globe, we stood still, in proud
+contemplation. What a glorious day had now arrived! It would furnish the
+grandest, the most brilliant recollection of our whole lives. We felt at
+this moment that all our actions would engage the attention of the
+astonished world, and that every movement we made, however trivial,
+would be recorded by history.
+
+At that moment dangers and sufferings were all forgotten: was it
+possible to purchase too dearly the proud felicity of being able to say
+during the rest of life, "I belonged to the army of Moscow!"
+
+Napoleon himself hastened up. He paused in transport: an exclamation of
+delight escaped his lips. Ever since the great battle, the discontented
+marshals had shunned him; but at the sight of captive Moscow, at the
+intelligence of the arrival of a flag of truce, struck with so important
+a result, and intoxicated with all the enthusiasm of glory, they forgot
+their grievances. They pressed around the emperor, paying homage to his
+good fortune, and already tempted to attribute to the foresight of his
+genius the little pains he had taken on the 7th to complete his victory.
+
+But in Napoleon, first emotions were of short duration. He had too much
+to think of to indulge his sensations for any length of time. His first
+exclamation was, "There at last is that famous city!" and the second,
+"It was high time!"
+
+His eyes fixed on this capital, already expressed nothing but
+impatience: in it he beheld in imagination the whole Russian empire. Its
+walls enclosed all his hopes, peace, the expenses of the war, immortal
+glory: his eager looks, therefore, intently watched all its outlets.
+When would its gates at length open? When should he see that deputation
+come forth, which would place its wealth, its population, its senate,
+and the principal of the Russian nobility at his disposal? Henceforth
+that enterprise in which he had so rashly engaged, brought to a
+successful termination by dint of boldness, would pass for the result of
+a deep combination; his imprudence for greatness: henceforth his victory
+at the Moskwa, incomplete as it was, would be deemed his greatest
+achievement. Thus all that might have turned to his ruin would begin to
+decide whether he was the greatest man in the world, or the most rash;
+in short, whether he had raised himself an altar or dug for himself a
+grave.
+
+Anxiety, however, soon began to take possession of his mind. On his left
+and right he beheld Prince Eugene and Poniatowski approaching the
+hostile city; Murat, with his scouts, had already reached the entrance
+of the suburbs, and yet no deputation appeared: an officer sent by
+Miloradovitch[142] merely came to declare that his general would set
+fire to the city if his rear was not allowed time to evacuate it.
+
+Napoleon granted every demand. The troops of the two armies were for a
+short time intermingled. Murat was recognized by the Cossacks, who, with
+the familiarity of the wandering tribes, and curious and ardent as the
+people of the south, thronged around him: then by their gestures and
+exclamations they extolled his valor and intoxicated him with their
+admiration. Murat took the watches of his officers, and distributed them
+among these barbarous warriors. One of them called him his chief.
+
+Murat was tempted to believe that among them he should find a new
+Mazeppa,[143] or that he himself might become one: he imagined that he
+had completely gained them over. This momentary armistice, under the
+actual circumstances, sustained the hopes of Napoleon, such need had he
+of self-delusion. He was amused in this way for two hours.
+
+Meanwhile the day was declining, and Moscow continued dull, silent, and
+seemingly inanimate. The anxiety of the emperor increased, and the
+impatience of the soldiers could scarcely be repressed. Some officers
+ventured within the walls of the city. Moscow was deserted!
+
+At this intelligence, which he angrily refused to credit, Napoleon
+ascended the Hill of Salvation, and approached the Moskwa and the
+Dorogomilow gate.[144] He paused once more, but in vain, at the entrance
+of that barrier. Murat pressed him to permit his soldiers to occupy the
+city. "Well!" he replied, "let them enter, then, since they wish it!" He
+recommended the strictest discipline: he still indulged hopes. "Perhaps
+these inhabitants," he said, "do not even know how to surrender, for
+here everything is new; they to us, and we to them."
+
+Reports now began rapidly to succeed each other: they all agreed. Some
+Frenchmen, residents of Moscow, ventured to quit the hiding-places which
+for some days had concealed them from the fury of the populace, and
+confirmed the fatal tidings. The emperor called Daru.[145] "Moscow
+deserted!" he exclaimed: "what an improbable story! We must know the
+truth of it. Go and bring me the boyars."[146] He imagined that those
+men, stiff with pride or paralyzed by terror, remained motionless in
+their houses; and he, who had hitherto been always met by the submission
+of the vanquished, would encourage their confidence and anticipate their
+prayers.
+
+How, indeed, was it possible for him to persuade himself that so many
+magnificent palaces, so many splendid temples, so many rich mercantile
+establishments, had been forsaken by their owners, like the paltry
+hamlets through which he had recently passed? Daru's mission, however,
+was fruitless. Not a Muscovite was to be seen; not a particle of smoke
+arose from a single chimney; not the slightest noise issued from this
+vast and populous city: its three hundred thousand inhabitants seemed to
+be struck dumb and motionless by enchantment: it was the silence of the
+desert!
+
+But such was the incredulity of Napoleon that he was not yet convinced,
+and waited for further information. At length an officer, wishing to
+gratify him, or persuaded that whatever he willed must necessarily be
+accomplished, entered the city, seized five or six vagabonds, drove them
+before his horse to the emperor, and presented them to him as a
+deputation. From the first words they uttered, however, Napoleon
+detected the imposture, and perceived that they were only poor laborers.
+
+It was not till then that he ceased to doubt the entire evacuation of
+Moscow, and gave up all the hopes that he had built upon it. He shrugged
+his shoulders, and with that contemptuous look with which he met
+everything that crossed his wishes, he exclaimed, "Ah! the Russians do
+not know yet the effect which the taking of their capital will produce
+upon them!"
+
+It was now an hour since Murat and the long and close column of his
+cavalry had entered Moscow: they penetrated to the centre of that
+gigantic body, as yet untouched, but inanimate. Struck with profound
+astonishment at finding a solitude so complete, they replied to the
+stillness of this modern Thebes by a silence equally solemn. These
+warriors listened, with a secret shuddering, to the sound of their
+horses' steps among these deserted palaces. They were amazed to hear
+nothing but the noise they themselves made amid such numerous
+habitations. No one thought of stopping or of plundering, either from
+prudence, or because highly civilized nations respect themselves in
+enemies' capitals.
+
+Meanwhile they were silently observing this mighty city, which would
+have been truly remarkable had they met with it in a flourishing and
+populous country, but which was here in these deserts still more
+astonishing. It was like a rich and beautiful oasis. They had at first
+been struck by the sudden view of so many magnificent palaces, but they
+now perceived that they were intermingled with mean cottages: a
+circumstance which indicated the want of gradation among the classes,
+and that luxury had not been generated there, as in other countries, by
+industry, but had preceded it; whereas, in the natural order, it ought
+to be more or less its proper consequence.
+
+Amid these reflections, which were favored by the slowness of our march,
+the report of firearms was all at once heard: the column halted. Its
+last horses were still crossing the fields; its centre was in one of
+the longest streets of the city; its head had reached the Kremlin. The
+gates of that citadel appeared to be closed; ferocious cries issued from
+within it; men and women, of savage and disgusting aspect, appeared
+fully armed upon its walls. In a state of drunken fury, they uttered the
+most horrible imprecations. Murat sent them amicable proposals, but to
+no purpose. It was found necessary to employ cannon to break open the
+gate.
+
+We penetrated, partly without opposition, partly by force, among these
+wretches. One of them rushed close to Murat and endeavored to kill one
+of his officers. It was thought sufficient to disarm him; but he again
+fell upon his victim, threw him to the ground, and attempted to
+suffocate him; and even after his arms were seized and held, he strove
+to tear him with his teeth. These were the only Muscovites who had
+waited our coming! and who seemed to have been left behind as a savage
+and frightful emblem of the national hatred.
+
+It was easy to perceive, however, that there was no unison in this
+patriotic fury. Five hundred recruits, who had been forgotten in the
+Kremlin, took no part in this scene: at the first summons they
+dispersed; and farther on we overtook a convoy of provisions, the escort
+of which immediately threw down its arms. Several thousand stragglers
+and deserters from the enemy voluntarily remained in the power of our
+advance guard. The latter left to the corps which followed the task of
+picking them up; these, again, to others, and so on; and thus they
+remained at liberty in the midst of us, till the conflagration and
+pillage of the city reminding them of their duty, and rallying in them
+one general feeling of antipathy, they went and rejoined Kutusoff.
+
+Murat, who had been stopped but a few moments by the Kremlin, dispersed
+this despicable crew. Ardent and indefatigable as in Italy and Egypt,
+after a march of twenty-seven hundred miles, and sixty battles fought to
+reach Moscow, he traversed that proud city without deigning to halt in
+it, and pursuing the Russian rear guard, he boldly and without
+hesitation took the road for Vladimir and Asia.
+
+Several thousand Cossacks, with four pieces of cannon, were retreating
+in that direction: the armistice was at an end; and Murat, tired of this
+peace of half a day, immediately ordered it to be broken by a discharge
+of carbines. But our cavalry considered the war as finished; Moscow
+appeared to them to be the goal of it; and the advanced posts of the two
+empires seemed unwilling to renew hostilities. A fresh order arrived,
+but the same hesitation prevailed. At length Murat, incensed at this
+disobedience, gave his commands in person; and the firing, with which he
+seemed to threaten Asia, but which was not destined to cease till we had
+retreated to the banks of the Seine, was renewed.
+
+
+§ 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city discovered
+to be on fire.
+
+Napoleon did not enter Moscow till after dark. He stopped in one of the
+first houses of the Dorogomilow suburb. There he appointed Marshal
+Mortier governor of that capital. "Above all," he said to him, "no
+pillage. For this you shall be answerable to me with your life. Defend
+Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."
+
+That was a gloomy night: sinister reports rapidly followed each other.
+Some Frenchmen, resident in the country, and even a Russian officer of
+police, came to give intelligence respecting the conflagration. He
+related all the particulars of the preparations that had been made for
+it. The emperor, alarmed by these accounts, strove in vain to compose
+himself to rest. He called every moment, and fatal tidings were repeated
+to him. Still he persisted in his incredulity till about two in the
+morning, when news was brought to him that the fire had actually broken
+out.
+
+It was at the Exchange, in the centre of the city, in its richest
+quarter. Instantly he issued orders upon orders. As soon as it was
+light, he himself hastened to the spot and threatened the Young Guard
+and Mortier. The marshal pointed out to him some houses covered with
+iron; they were closely shut up, still untouched and uninjured without,
+and yet a black smoke was already issuing from them. Napoleon dejectedly
+entered the Kremlin.
+
+At the sight of this half-Gothic, half-modern palace of the Ruricks and
+the Romanoffs, of their throne still standing, of the cross of the great
+Ivan, and of the finest part of the city, which is overlooked by the
+Kremlin, and which the flames, as yet confined to the bazaar, seemed
+disposed to spare, his former hopes revived. His ambition was flattered
+by this great conquest. "At length, then," he exclaimed, "I am in
+Moscow, in the ancient palace of the Czars, in the Kremlin!" He examined
+every part of it with pride, curiosity, and gratification.
+
+He required a statement of the resources of the city; and, in this brief
+moment given to hope, sent proposals of peace to the Emperor Alexander.
+A superior officer of the enemy had just been found in the great
+hospital: he was charged with the delivery of this letter. It was by
+the baleful light of the flames of the bazaar that Napoleon finished
+it, and the Russian departed. He was to be the bearer of the news of the
+disaster to his sovereign, whose only answer was the conflagration of
+his capital.
+
+Daylight favored the efforts of the Duke of Treviso to subdue the
+flames. The incendiaries kept themselves concealed. Doubts even were
+entertained of their existence. At length, strict injunctions being
+issued, order restored, and alarm for a moment suspended, each took
+possession of a commodious house or sumptuous palace, under the idea of
+finding comforts that had been dearly purchased by long and excessive
+privations.
+
+Two officers had taken up their quarters in one of the buildings of the
+Kremlin. The view from thence embraced the north and west of the city.
+About midnight they were awakened by an extraordinary light. They looked
+out and beheld palaces filled with flames, which at first merely
+illuminated, but ere long totally consumed these superb and noble
+structures. They observed that the north wind drove these flames
+directly towards the Kremlin, and they became alarmed for the safety of
+that fortress, in which the flower of their army and its commander
+reposed. They were apprehensive also for the surrounding houses, where
+our soldiers, attendants, and horses, weary and exhausted, were
+doubtless buried in profound sleep. Sparks and burning fragments were
+already flying over the roofs of the Kremlin, when the wind, shifting
+from north to west, blew them in another direction.
+
+One of these officers, relieved from apprehension respecting his own
+corps, then composed himself again to sleep, exclaiming, "Let others
+look to it; 'tis no affair of ours"; for such was the unconcern
+produced by the multiplicity of events and misfortunes, such the
+selfishness arising from excessive suffering and fatigue, that they left
+to each only just strength and feeling sufficient for his personal
+service and preservation.
+
+But it was not long before fresh and more vivid lights again awoke them.
+They beheld other flames rising in the direction which the wind had
+again taken towards the Kremlin, and they cursed French imprudence and
+want of discipline, to which they imputed this disaster. Three times did
+the wind thus change from west to north, and three times did these
+hostile fires, as if obstinately bent on the destruction of the imperial
+quarters, appear eager to follow its course.
+
+At this sight a strong suspicion seized their minds. Could the
+Muscovites, aware of our rash and thoughtless negligence, have conceived
+the hope of burning, with Moscow, our soldiers, heavy with wine,
+fatigue, and sleep; or, rather, had they dared to imagine that they
+should involve Napoleon in this catastrophe, believing that the loss of
+such a man would be a full equivalent for that of their capital; that it
+was a result of sufficient importance to justify the sacrifice of all
+Moscow to obtain it; that Heaven, perhaps, in order to grant them so
+signal a triumph, had decreed so great a sacrifice?
+
+Whether this was actually their plan we cannot tell; but nothing less
+than the emperor's good fortune was required to prevent its being
+realized. In fact, not only did the Kremlin contain, unknown to us, a
+magazine of powder, but that very night, the guards, asleep and
+carelessly posted, suffered a whole park of artillery to enter and draw
+up under the windows of Napoleon.
+
+It was at this moment that the flames were driven from all quarters,
+with the greatest violence, towards the Kremlin; for the wind, drawn
+towards this vast conflagration, increased every moment in strength. The
+flower of the army and the emperor himself would have been destroyed, if
+but one of the brands that flew over our heads had alighted on one of
+the powder-wagons. Thus upon a single spark out of the multitudes that
+were for several hours floating in the air, depended the fate of the
+whole army.
+
+At length the day, a dismal day it was, appeared; it came only to add to
+the horrors of the scene, and to take from it all its brilliancy. Many
+of the officers sought refuge in the halls of the palace. The chiefs,
+and Mortier himself, who had been contending for thirty-six hours
+against the fire, there dropped down from fatigue, and in despair.
+
+They said nothing, and we accused ourselves. Most of us supposed that
+want of discipline on the part of our troops and drunkenness had begun
+the disaster, and that the high wind had completed it. We viewed
+ourselves with feelings of disgust. The cry of horror which all Europe
+would not fail to set up, terrified us. Filled with consternation at so
+tremendous a catastrophe, we accosted each other with downcast looks. We
+were roused only by our eagerness to obtain intelligence; and every
+account now began to accuse the Russians alone of the disaster.
+
+In fact, officers arrived from all quarters, and they all agreed on this
+point. The very first night, that of the 14th, a fire-balloon had
+settled on the palace of Prince Trubetskoi, and consumed it: this had
+been the signal. Fire was now immediately set to the Exchange; and
+Russian police soldiers had been seen stirring it up with tarred lances.
+In some places, shells, perfidiously placed in the stoves of the
+houses, had exploded and wounded the military who crowded around them.
+Retiring to other quarters still standing, they sought there for fresh
+retreats; but when on the point of entering houses that were closely
+shut up and uninhabited, they had heard faint explosions within; these
+were succeeded by a light smoke, which immediately became thick and
+black, then reddish, lastly fire was seen, and presently the whole
+edifice was involved in flames.
+
+All had seen hideous-looking men, covered with rags, and women
+resembling furies, wandering among these flames. These wretches,
+intoxicated with wine and with the success of their crimes, no longer
+took any pains to conceal themselves: they proceeded in triumph through
+the blazing streets; they were caught, armed with torches, striving to
+spread the conflagration; and it was necessary to strike down their
+hands with sabres to oblige them to loose their hold. It was said that
+these banditti had been let loose from the prisons by the Russian
+generals for the express purpose of burning the city; and that, in fact,
+a resolution so extreme could only have been conceived by patriotism,
+and executed by guilt.
+
+Orders were immediately issued to shoot all the incendiaries on the
+spot. The army was on foot. The Old Guard, which exclusively occupied
+one part of the Kremlin, was under arms: the baggage, and the horses
+ready loaded, filled the courts; we were struck dumb with astonishment,
+surprise, and disappointment at witnessing the destruction of such
+admirable quarters. Though masters of Moscow, we were forced to go and
+bivouac,[147] without provisions, outside its gates.
+
+While our troops were yet struggling with the conflagration, and
+disputing their prey with the flames, Napoleon, whose sleep none had
+dared to disturb during the night, was awakened by the twofold light of
+day and of the burning city. His first feeling was that of irritation,
+and he would have stayed the devouring element by the breath of his
+command; but he soon paused, and yielded to impossibility. Surprised
+that when he had struck at the heart of an empire he should find there
+any other sentiment than that of abject submission, he felt himself
+vanquished, and surpassed in heroic determination.
+
+This conquest, for which he had sacrificed everything, was like a
+phantom which he had eagerly pursued, and, at the moment when he
+imagined he had grasped it, he saw it vanish from him in a mingled mass
+of smoke and flame. He was then seized with extreme agitation: he
+seemed, as it were, consumed by the fires which were around him. He rose
+every moment from his seat, paced to and fro, and again sat abruptly
+down. He traversed his apartments with hurried steps: his sudden and
+vehement gestures betrayed a painful uneasiness; he quitted, resumed,
+and again as suddenly abandoned an urgent occupation, to hasten to the
+windows and watch the progress of the flames. Short and incoherent
+exclamations burst from his laboring bosom! "What a tremendous
+spectacle! It is their own work! So many palaces! What extraordinary
+resolution! What men! These are indeed Scythians!"[148]
+
+Between the fire and his quarters there was an extensive vacant space,
+then the Moskwa and its two quays; and yet the panes of the windows
+against which he leaned felt already burning to the touch, and the
+constant exertions of sweepers, placed on the iron roofs of the palace,
+were not sufficient to keep them clear of the numerous flakes of fire
+which were continually lighting upon them.
+
+At this moment a rumor was spread that the Kremlin had been mined; and
+the fact, it was said, was confirmed later by the declarations of the
+Russians, and by written documents. Some of his attendants were beside
+themselves with fear, while the military awaited unmoved what the orders
+of the emperor and fate should decree; but he replied to their alarm
+only with a smile of incredulity.
+
+Still, he continued to walk about in the utmost agitation: he stopped at
+every window, to gaze on the terrible, the victorious element that was
+furiously consuming his brilliant conquest; seizing on all the bridges,
+on all the avenues to his fortress, enclosing, and, as it were,
+besieging him in it; spreading every moment wider and wider; constantly
+reducing him within narrower limits, and confining him at length to the
+site of the Kremlin alone.
+
+We breathed already nothing but smoke and ashes: night approached, and
+was about to add darkness to our other dangers; while the equinoctial
+gales, as if in alliance with the Russians, increased in violence. Then
+Murat and Prince Eugene hastened to the emperor's quarters: in company
+with the Prince of Neufchâtel they made their way to him, and urged him
+by their entreaties, and on their knees, to remove from this scene of
+desolation. All was in vain.
+
+Master, after so many sacrifices, of the palace of the Czars, he was
+bent on not yielding that conquest even to the conflagration, when all
+at once the shout of "the Kremlin is on fire!" passed from mouth to
+mouth, and roused us from the contemplative stupor into which we had
+been plunged. The emperor went out to ascertain the danger. Twice had
+the fire communicated to the building in which he was and twice had it
+been extinguished; but the tower of the arsenal was still burning. A
+soldier of the police had been found in it. He was brought in, and
+Napoleon caused him to be interrogated in his presence. This man was the
+incendiary; he had executed his commission at the signal given by his
+chief. It was now evident that everything was devoted to destruction,
+the ancient and sacred Kremlin not excepted.
+
+The gestures of the emperor bespoke disdain and vexation: the wretch was
+hurried into the first court, and there the enraged soldiers despatched
+him with their bayonets.
+
+
+§ 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city.
+
+This occurrence decided Napoleon. He hastily descended the northern
+staircase, famous for the massacre of the Strelitzes,[149] and requested
+to be conducted out of the city, to the distance of a league on the road
+to St. Petersburg, towards the imperial palace of Petrowski.
+
+But we were besieged by an ocean of fire, which blocked up all the gates
+of the citadel, and frustrated our first attempts to escape. After some
+search, we discovered a postern-gate[150] leading between the rocks to
+the Moskwa. It was by this narrow pass that Napoleon, his officers and
+guard, made their way from the Kremlin. But what had they gained by this
+movement? They had approached nearer to the fire, and could neither
+retreat nor remain where they were; and how were they to advance? how
+force a passage through the billows of this sea of flame? Those who had
+traversed the city, stunned by the tempest and blinded by the ashes,
+could no longer find their way, since the streets themselves were not
+distinguishable amid smoke and ruins.
+
+There was no time to be lost. The roaring of the flames around us became
+every moment more terrific. A single narrow winding street, completely
+enveloped in fire on either side, appeared rather the entrance than the
+outlet of this hell. The emperor, however, on foot, and without
+hesitation, rushed into this frightful passage. He advanced amid the
+crackling of the flames, the crash of floors, and the fall of burning
+timbers, and of fragments of red-hot iron roofs which tumbled around
+him. These ruins impeded his progress. The flames, while with impetuous
+roar they consumed the edifices between which we were proceeding,
+spreading beyond the walls, were blown out by the wind, and formed an
+arch over our heads. We walked on a ground of fire, beneath a fiery
+canopy and between two walls of fire. The intense heat burned our eyes,
+which we were nevertheless obliged to keep open and fixed on the danger.
+A consuming atmosphere parched our throats, and rendered our respiration
+short and difficult; and we were already almost suffocated by the smoke.
+Our hands were burned, either in endeavoring to protect our faces from
+the insupportable heat, or in brushing off the sparks which every moment
+fell upon our garments. In this inexpressible distress, and when a rapid
+advance seemed to be our only means of safety, our guide stopped in
+uncertainty and agitation. Here probably would have terminated our
+adventurous career, had not some pillagers of the first corps recognized
+the emperor amid the whirling flames: they ran up and guided him towards
+the smoking ruins of a quarter which had been reduced to ashes in the
+morning.
+
+It was there that we met the Prince of Eckmühl. This marshal, who had
+been wounded at the Moskwa, had desired to be carried back among the
+flames to rescue Napoleon, or to perish with him. He threw himself into
+his arms with transport; the emperor received him kindly, but with that
+composure which in danger he never lost for a moment.
+
+To escape from this vast region of desolation, it was farther necessary
+to pass a long convoy of powder which was defiling amid the fire. This
+was not the least of his dangers, but it was the last, and by nightfall
+he arrived at Petrowski.
+
+The next morning, the 17th of September, Napoleon cast his first look
+towards Moscow, hoping to see that the conflagration had subsided. But
+he beheld it again raging with the utmost violence: the city appeared
+like one vast column of fire, rising in whirling eddies to the sky,
+which it deeply colored. Absorbed by this melancholy contemplation, he
+maintained a long and gloomy silence, which he broke only by the
+exclamation, "This forebodes to us great misfortunes!"
+
+The effort which he had made to reach Moscow had expended all his means
+of warfare. Moscow had been the limit of his projects, the aim of all
+his hopes, and Moscow was no more! What was now to be done? Here this
+decisive genius was forced to hesitate. He who in 1805 had ordered the
+sudden and total abandonment of the expedition prepared at an immense
+expense, for the invasion of England; and determined at Boulogne on the
+surprise and annihilation of the Austrian army, in short, on all the
+operations of the campaign between Ulm and Munich exactly as they were
+executed; this same man, who in the following year dictated at Paris
+with like infallibility all the movements of his army as far as Berlin,
+the day of his entrance into that capital, and the appointment of the
+governor whom he destined for it; he it was who, astonished in his turn,
+was now in perplexity what course to pursue. Never had he communicated
+his most daring projects to the most confidential of his ministers but
+in order for their execution; he was now, however, constrained to
+consult and put to the proof those who were around him.
+
+But, in doing this, he still preserved the same show of confidence and
+of determination. He declared that he would march for St. Petersburg.
+This conquest was already marked out on his maps, hitherto so prophetic:
+orders were even issued to the different corps to hold themselves in
+readiness. But this was all only a feint: it was but a better face that
+he strove to assume, or an expedient for diverting his grief at the loss
+of Moscow; so that Berthier, and more especially Bessières, soon
+convinced him that he had neither time, provisions, roads, nor a single
+requisite for so distant an expedition.
+
+At this moment he was apprised that Kutusoff, after having fled towards
+the east, had suddenly turned to the south, and thrown himself between
+Moscow and Kaluga. This was an additional circumstance against the
+expedition to St. Petersburg. There was a threefold reason for marching
+upon the beaten army, and endeavoring to extinguish it: to secure his
+right flank and his line of operation; to possess himself of Kaluga and
+of Tula, the one the granary, the other the arsenal of Russia; and,
+lastly, to open safe, short, new, and untouched retreat to Smolensk and
+Lithuania.[151]
+
+Some one proposed to return upon Wittgenstein and Witepsk.[152]
+Napoleon, however, remained undecided between these different plans.
+That for the conquest of St. Petersburg alone flattered him: the others
+appeared but as ways of retreat, as acknowledgments of error; and
+whether from pride, or policy which would not admit itself to be in the
+wrong, he rejected them.
+
+Besides, where was he to halt in case of a retreat? He had so fully
+calculated on concluding a peace at Moscow, that he had no
+winter-quarters provided in Lithuania. Kaluga had no temptations for
+him. Wherefore lay waste fresh provinces? It would be wiser only to
+threaten them, and thus leave the Russians something to lose, in order
+to induce them to conclude a peace by which they might be preserved.
+Would it be possible to march to another battle, to fresh conquests,
+without exposing a line of operation covered with sick, stragglers,
+wounded, and convoys of all sorts? Moscow was the general rallying
+point: how could it be changed? What other name would have any
+attraction?
+
+Lastly, and above all, how could he relinquish a hope to which he had
+made so many sacrifices, when he knew that his letter to Alexander had
+just passed the Russian advanced posts; when eight days would be
+sufficient for receiving an answer, so ardently desired; when he
+required that time to rally and reorganize his army, to collect the
+relics of Moscow, the conflagration of which had but too strongly
+sanctioned pillage, and to draw his soldiers away from that vast
+infirmary.
+
+Meanwhile, scarcely a third of that army and of that capital now
+existed. But himself and the Kremlin were still standing: his renown was
+still entire, and he persuaded himself that those two great names,
+Napoleon and Moscow, combined, would be sufficient to accomplish
+everything. He determined, therefore, to return to the Kremlin, which a
+battalion of his guard had unfortunately preserved.
+
+
+§ 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city.
+
+The camps which he traversed on his way thither presented an
+extraordinary sight. In the fields, in the midst of the mud, were large
+fires, kept up with mahogany furniture, windows and gilded doors. Around
+these fires, on litters of damp straw, imperfectly sheltered by a few
+boards, were seen the soldiers and their officers, splashed all over
+with mud, and blackened with smoke, seated in arm-chairs or reclining on
+silken couches. At their feet were spread, or heaped together, Cashmere
+shawls, the rarest furs of Siberia, the gold stuffs of Persia, and
+silver dishes, off which they had nothing to eat but black dough baked
+in the ashes, and half broiled and bloody horseflesh. Strange
+combination of abundance and want, of riches and filth, of luxury and
+wretchedness!
+
+Between the camp and the city were met troops of soldiers dragging along
+their booty, or driving before them, like beasts of burden, Muscovites
+bending under the weight of the pillage of their capital: for the fire
+brought to light nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, previously
+concealed in that immense city. Some of these, of both sexes, were well
+dressed: they were tradespeople. They came with the wreck of their
+property, to seek refuge at our fires. They lived pell-mell with our
+soldiers, protected by some, and tolerated, or, rather, scarcely
+remarked by others.
+
+About ten thousand of the enemy's troops were in the same predicament.
+For several days they wandered about among us, free, and some of them
+even still armed. Our soldiers met these vanquished Russians without the
+slightest animosity, and without thinking of making them prisoners;
+either that they considered the war at an end, or from thoughtlessness
+or pity, or because, when not in battle, the French delight in having no
+enemies. They suffered them to share their fires; nay, more, they
+allowed them to pillage in their company. But when some degree of order
+was restored, or, rather, when the officers had organized this marauding
+as a regular system of forage, the great number of these Russian
+stragglers attracted notice, and orders were given to secure them; but
+seven or eight thousand had already escaped. It was not long before we
+had to fight them.
+
+On entering the city the emperor was struck by a sight still more
+extraordinary: a few houses scattered here and there among the ruins
+were all that was left of the mighty Moscow. The smell issuing from this
+vast city, overthrown, burned, and calcined, was horrible. Heaps of
+ashes, and, at intervals, fragments of walls or half-demolished pillars,
+were now the only vestiges that marked the sites of streets.
+
+In the suburbs were found a few Russians of both sexes, covered with
+garments scorched and blackened by the fire. They flitted like spectres
+among the ruins; some of them were scratching up the earth in gardens in
+quest of vegetables, while others were disputing with the crows for the
+relics of the dead animals which their army had left behind. Farther on,
+others again were seen plunging into the Moskwa to bring out some of the
+grain which had been thrown into it by command of Rostopchin, and which
+they devoured without preparation, soured and spoiled as it was.
+
+Meanwhile the sight of the booty in the camps, where everything was yet
+wanting, inflamed the soldiers, whom a sense of duty or stricter
+officers had hitherto kept with their colors. They murmured. "Why were
+they to be kept back? Why were they to perish by famine and want, when
+everything was within their reach? Was it right to allow the enemy's
+fires to destroy what might be saved? Why was such respect to be paid to
+the conflagration?" They added, that "as the inhabitants of Moscow had
+not only abandoned, but even endeavored utterly to destroy it, all that
+they could save would be fairly gained; that the remains of that city,
+like the arms of the conquered, belonged by right to the victors, as the
+Muscovites had turned their capital into a vast machine of war for the
+purpose of annihilating us."
+
+The best principled, and the best disciplined were those who argued
+thus, and it was impossible to reply satisfactorily to them. Exaggerated
+scruples, however, at first preventing the issuing of orders for
+pillage, it was permitted, unrestrained by regulations. Then it was,
+urged by the most imperious wants, that all hurried to share the spoil,
+soldiers of the highest class, and even officers. Their chiefs were
+obliged to shut their eyes: only such guards as were absolutely
+indispensable remained with the colors and the piled arms.
+
+The emperor saw his whole army dispersed over the city. His progress was
+obstructed by long files of marauders going in quest of booty or
+returning with it; by tumultuous assemblages of soldiers grouped around
+the entrances of cellars, or the doors of palaces, shops, and churches,
+which the fire had nearly reached, and which they were endeavoring to
+break into.
+
+His steps were impeded by the fragments of furniture of every kind which
+had been thrown out of the windows to save them from the flames, or by
+rich pillage which had been abandoned from caprice for other booty, for
+such is the way with soldiers; they are incessantly beginning their
+fortunes afresh, taking everything indiscriminately, loading themselves
+beyond measure, as if they could carry all that they find; then, after
+they have gone a few steps, compelled by fatigue to throw away
+successively the greatest part of their burden.
+
+The roads were obstructed by these accumulations; and the open places,
+like the camp, were turned into markets, whither every one repaired to
+exchange superfluities for necessaries. There the rarest articles, the
+value of which was not known to their possessors, were sold for the
+merest pittance; while others of little worth, but more showy
+appearance, were purchased at the most exorbitant prices. Gold, from
+being most portable, was bought at an immense loss with silver that the
+knapsacks were incapable of holding. Everywhere soldiers were seen
+seated on bales of merchandise, on heaps of sugar and coffee, amid
+wines and the most exquisite liquors, all of which they were offering
+in exchange for a morsel of bread. Many, in a state of intoxication
+aggravated by hunger, had fallen near the flames, which, reaching them,
+put a miserable end to their lives.
+
+The houses and palaces which had escaped the fire served as quarters for
+the officers, who respected whatever was found in them. They beheld with
+pain this vast destruction, and the pillage which was its necessary
+consequence. Some of our best men were reproached with being too greedy
+in collecting whatever they could rescue from the flames; but their
+number was so small that they were all mentioned by name. In these
+ardent men war was a passion which presupposed the existence of many
+others. It was not covetousness, for they did not hoard; they spent
+lavishly what they had thus picked up, taking in order to give,
+believing that one hand washed the other, and that they paid for
+everything with the danger they encountered in acquiring it.
+
+It was amid this confusion that Napoleon again entered Moscow. He had
+allowed the pillage, hoping that his army, scattered over the ruins,
+would find much that was valuable; but when he learned that the disorder
+increased; that the Old Guard[153] itself had yielded to the temptation;
+that the Russian peasants, who were at length allured thither with
+provisions, for which he caused them to be liberally paid, that they
+might induce others to come, were robbed of what they brought to us by
+our famished soldiers; when he was informed that the different corps,
+destitute of everything, were ready to fight each other for the relics
+of Moscow; that, finally, all our existing resources were wasted by this
+lawless freebooting, he then issued severe orders, and forbade his guard
+to leave their quarters. The churches in which our cavalry had sheltered
+themselves, were evacuated, and restored to their religious uses.[154]
+The business of plunder was ordered to be taken in turn by the different
+corps, like any other duty, and directions were at length given for
+securing the Russian stragglers.
+
+But it was too late. These soldiers had fled; the affrighted peasants
+returned no more; and great quantities of provisions were wasted. The
+French army have sometimes fallen into these faults, but on the present
+occasion the fire must plead their excuse; no time was to be lost in
+anticipating the flames. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that at the
+first command of the emperor perfect order was restored.
+
+Most of our men behaved generously, considering the small number of
+inhabitants who remained, and the great number of enemies they met with.
+But if, in the first moments of pillage, some excesses were perpetrated,
+ought this to appear surprising in an army exasperated by such urgent
+wants, such severe sufferings, and composed of so many different
+nations?
+
+Misfortunes having since overwhelmed these warriors, reproaches, as in
+such circumstances is ever the case, have been raised against them. Who
+can be ignorant that similar disorders have always been the bad side of
+great wars, or, so to speak, the inglorious part of glory; that the
+renown of conquerors casts its shadow like everything else in this
+world? Does there exist a creature however diminutive, on every side of
+which the sun can shine at once? It is a law of nature, therefore, that
+great bodies shall cast great shadows.
+
+
+§ 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon at
+not hearing from the Czar.
+
+Meanwhile Kutusoff, on leaving Moscow, had drawn Murat towards Kolomna,
+the point where the Moskwa intersects the road. Here, under favor of the
+night, he suddenly turned to the south, proceeding by the way of Podol,
+to throw himself between Moscow and Kaluga. This night march of the
+Russians around Moscow, the ashes and flames of which were wafted to
+them by the violence of the wind, was gloomy in the extreme. They were
+lighted on their march by the baleful conflagration which was consuming
+the centre of their commerce, the sanctuary of their religion, the
+cradle of their empire! Filled with horror and indignation, they kept a
+sullen silence, which was unbroken save by the dull and monotonous sound
+of their footsteps, the roaring of the flames, and the howling of the
+blast. The dismal light was frequently varied by livid and sudden
+flashes. The brows of these warriors might then be seen contracted by
+intense and unutterable grief, and the fire of their sombre and
+threatening looks answered to these flames, which they regarded as our
+work; they already betrayed the ferocious revenge which was rankling in
+their hearts, which spread throughout the empire, and of which so many
+Frenchmen were the victims.
+
+At that solemn moment, Kutusoff, in a firm and impressive tone,
+addressed his sovereign, and informed him of the loss of his capital. He
+stated that, "in order to save the fertile provinces of the south, and
+to keep up his communications with Tormasoff and Tchitchakoff, he had
+been obliged to abandon Moscow, but emptied of its inhabitants, who were
+its life; and," said he, "as the people are the soul of every country,
+so where the Russian people are, there will be Moscow and the empire of
+Russia."
+
+It is said that on receiving this intelligence Alexander was
+thunderstruck. Napoleon, it was known, built hopes on the weakness of
+his rival, and the Russians themselves dreaded the effects of that
+weakness. But the Czar disappointed as well these hopes as fears. In his
+addresses to his subjects he exhibited himself no less great than his
+misfortune: "No pusillanimous dejection!" he exclaimed; "let us vow
+redoubled courage and perseverance! The enemy is in deserted Moscow as
+in a tomb, without means of domination or even of existence. He entered
+Russia with three hundred thousand men of all countries, without union
+or any national or religious bond: he has already lost half of them by
+the sword, by famine, and by desertion: he has but the wreck of this
+army in Moscow: he is in the heart of Russia, and not a single Russian
+is at his feet.
+
+"Meanwhile our forces are increasing and closing around him. He is in
+the midst of a mighty population, encompassed by armies which are
+waiting his movements and keeping him in check. To escape from famine,
+he will soon be obliged to direct his flight through the ranks of our
+brave soldiers. Shall we then recede, when all Europe is looking on and
+encouraging us? Let us, on the contrary, set it an example, and kiss
+the hand which has thus led us forth to be the first among the nations
+to vindicate the cause of independence and virtue." He concluded with an
+invocation to the Almighty.
+
+This circuitous march of Kutusoff, whether made from indecision or as a
+stratagem, was much in his favor. Murat lost all traces of him for three
+days. The Russian general employed all this interval in studying the
+ground and in intrenching himself. His advanced guard had nearly reached
+Woronowo, one of the finest domains belonging to Count Rostopchin, when
+that nobleman proceeded on before it. The Russians supposed that he had
+gone to take a last look at this splendid mansion, when all at once it
+was wrapped from their sight by clouds of smoke.
+
+They hurried on to extinguish the fire, but Rostopchin himself repelled
+their aid. They beheld him, amid the flames which he was encouraging,
+smiling at the demolition of this magnificent edifice, and then with a
+firm hand penning these words, which the French, shuddering with
+astonishment, afterwards read on the iron gate of a church which was
+left standing: "For eight years I have been embellishing this
+country-seat, where I have lived happily in the bosom of my family. The
+inhabitants of this estate, to the number of 1720, leave it on your
+approach, while I have set fire to my house, that it may not be polluted
+by your presence. Frenchmen, I have relinquished to you my two houses at
+Moscow, with their furniture, worth half a million of rubles. Here you
+will find nothing but ashes!"
+
+It was near this place that Murat came up with Kutusoff. On the 29th of
+September there was a smart engagement of cavalry and another on the 4th
+of October. Murat fought till nightfall, and repulsed the Russian
+force.
+
+Meanwhile, the conflagration at Moscow, which commenced in the night of
+the 14th of September, suspended through our exertions during the day of
+the 15th, revived the following night, and, raging with the utmost
+violence on the 16th, 17th, and 18th, abated on the 19th: it ceased
+altogether on the 20th, and on that day Napoleon returned to the
+Kremlin. To this point he attracted the looks of all Europe. There he
+awaited his convoys, his re-enforcements, and the stragglers of his
+army; certain that his soldiers would all be rallied by his victory, by
+the allurements of a rich booty, by the imposing sight of captive
+Moscow, and, above all, by his own glory, which, from the summit of this
+immense pile of ruins, still shone attractive like a beacon upon a rock.
+
+Twice, however, on the 22d and 28th of September, letters from Murat had
+wellnigh drawn him from this fatal abode. They announced a battle; and
+twice the orders for departure were written, and then burned. It seemed
+as though the war was finished for the emperor, and that he was only
+waiting for an answer from St. Petersburg. He nourished his hopes with
+the recollections of Tilsit and Erfurt.[155] Was it possible that at
+Moscow he should have less ascendancy over Alexander? Then, as is common
+with men who have long been the favorites of fortune, what he ardently
+wished he confidently expected.
+
+His genius possessed, besides, the extraordinary faculty of being able
+to throw aside the most important occupation whenever he pleased,
+either for the sake of variety or for rest; for in him the power of will
+surpassed that of imagination. In this respect he reigned over himself
+no less despotically than he did over others.
+
+Thus Paris diverted his attention from Petersburg. His accumulating
+affairs and the couriers, which in the first days succeeded each other
+without intermission, served to engage him. But the rapidity with which
+he transacted business soon left him again with nothing to do. His
+expresses,[156] which at first came from France in a fortnight, now
+ceased to arrive. A few military posts, placed in four towns reduced to
+ashes, and in wooden houses rudely palisaded, were wholly insufficient
+to guard a road of nearly two hundred and eighty miles; for we had been
+able to fix only these few steps, and at so great a distance apart, on
+so long a ladder. This too lengthened line of operation was consequently
+broken at every point where it was touched by the enemy: a few peasants,
+or a handful of Cossacks, were quite sufficient for the purpose.
+
+Still no answer was received from Alexander. The uneasiness of Napoleon
+increased, while his means of diverting his attention from it
+diminished. The activity of his genius, accustomed to the government of
+all Europe, had nothing with which to occupy itself but the management
+of one hundred thousand men; and then, the organization of his army was
+so perfect, that this was scarcely any occupation to him. Here
+everything was fixed: he held all the wires in his hand: he was
+surrounded by ministers who could tell him immediately, at any hour of
+the day, the position of each man in the morning or at night, whether
+with his colors, in the hospital, on leave of absence, or wherever else
+he might be, and that, from Moscow to Paris: to such a degree of
+perfection had the science of a concentrated administration been then
+brought, so experienced and well chosen were the officers, and so much
+was required by their commander.
+
+But eleven days had already elapsed: still Alexander was silent, and
+still did Napoleon hope to overcome his rival by obstinacy: thus losing
+the time which he ought to have gained, and which might have been made
+so serviceable against attack.
+
+From this period all his actions indicated to the Russians, still more
+strongly than at Witepsk, that their mighty foe was resolved to fix
+himself in the heart of their empire. Moscow, though in ashes, received
+a governor and municipal officers: orders also were issued to provision
+it for the winter: and a theatre was formed amid its ruins. The first
+actors of Paris, it is said, were sent for. An Italian singer strove to
+reproduce in the Kremlin the evening entertainments of the Tuileries. By
+such means Napoleon expected to dupe a government which the habit of
+reigning over ignorance and error had rendered an adept in all these
+delusions.
+
+He was himself sensible of the inadequacy of these means, and yet
+September was past, and October had begun. Alexander had not deigned to
+reply! it was an affront! he was exasperated. On the 3d of October,
+after a night of restlessness and irritation, he summoned his marshals.
+"Come in," said he, as soon as he perceived them; "hear the new plan
+which I have conceived: Prince Eugene, read it." They listened. "We must
+burn the remains of Moscow, and march by Twer to St. Petersburg, where
+we shall be joined by Macdonald. Murat and Davoust will form the rear
+guard." The emperor, all animation, fixed his sparkling eyes on his
+generals, whose rigid and silent countenances expressed nothing but
+astonishment.
+
+Then exalting himself in order to rouse them, "What!" said he, "and are
+_you_ not inflamed by this idea? Was there ever so great a military
+achievement? Henceforth this conquest is the only one that is worthy of
+us! With what glory shall we be covered, and what will the whole world
+say when it learns that in three months we have conquered the two great
+capitals of the North!"
+
+But Davoust, as well as Daru, objected to him "the season, the want of
+supplies, a sterile desert, and artificial road, that from Twer to St.
+Petersburg runs for a hundred leagues through morasses, and which three
+hundred peasants might in a single day render impassable. Why keep
+proceeding north? Why go to meet, to provoke, and to defy the winter? it
+was already too near; and what was to become of the six thousand wounded
+still in Moscow? Were they then to be left to the mercy of Kutusoff?
+That general would not fail to follow close at our heels. We should have
+at once to attack and to defend, thus marching to a conquest as though
+we were in flight."
+
+These officers have declared that they themselves then proposed various
+plans: a useless trouble with a prince whose genius outstripped all
+other imaginations, and whom their objections would not have stopped,
+had he been fully determined to march on St. Petersburg. But that idea
+was in him only a sally of anger, an inspiration of despair, on finding
+himself obliged in the face of Europe to give way, to relinquish his
+conquest and to fall back.
+
+It was more especially a threat to frighten his officers as well as the
+enemy, and to bring about and to promote a negotiation which
+Caulaincourt was to open. That officer had made himself agreeable to
+Alexander; he was the only one of the grandees of Napoleon's court who
+had acquired any influence over his rival; but for some months past
+Napoleon had kept him at a distance, because he had not been able to
+induce him to approve of his expedition.
+
+It was nevertheless to this very man that he was now obliged to have
+recourse, and to disclose his anxiety. He sent for him; but, when alone
+with him, he hesitated. Taking him by the arm, he walked to and fro for
+a long time in great agitation, his pride preventing him from breaking
+so painful a silence: at length he yielded, but in a threatening manner.
+Caulaincourt, who had formerly been minister to Russia, was to persuade
+the enemy to solicit peace of him, as if it were by his condescension
+that it was to be granted.
+
+After a few words, which were scarcely articulate, he said that "he was
+about to march to St. Petersburg. He knew that the destruction of that
+city would give pain to General Caulaincourt. Russia would then rise
+against the Emperor Alexander; there would at once be a conspiracy
+against that monarch; he would be assassinated, which would be a most
+unfortunate circumstance. He esteemed that prince, and should regret
+him, both for his own sake and that of France. His disposition," he
+added, "was suited to our interests: no prince could replace him with so
+much advantage to us. He had thought, therefore, of sending General
+Caulaincourt to him, to prevent such a catastrophe."
+
+General Caulaincourt, however, more obstinate than disposed to flattery,
+did not alter his tone. He maintained that "these overtures would be
+useless; that, unless the Russian territory was entirely evacuated,
+Alexander would listen to no proposals; that Russia was sensible of all
+her advantage at this season of the year; nay, more, that this step
+would be detrimental to himself, inasmuch as it would demonstrate the
+need which he had of peace, and betray all the embarrassment of our
+situation."
+
+He added, "that the more particular he was in the selection of his
+negotiator, the more clearly would he show his anxiety; that, therefore,
+he (Caulaincourt) would be more likely to fail than any other,
+especially as he would go with the certainty of failing." The emperor
+abruptly terminated the conversation by these words: "Well, then, I will
+send Lauriston."
+
+The latter asserts that he added fresh objections to the preceding, and
+that, being urged by the emperor, he recommended to him to begin his
+retreat that very day, by way of Kaluga. Napoleon, irritated at this,
+sharply replied, "that he liked simple plans, less circuitous routes,
+high roads, the road by which he had come, yet he would not retrace it
+but with peace." Then showing to him, as he had done to General
+Caulaincourt, the letter which he had written to Alexander, he ordered
+him to go and obtain of Kutusoff a safe conduct to St. Petersburg. The
+last words of the emperor to Lauriston were, "I want peace, I must have
+peace, I absolutely will have peace only save my honor."
+
+The general set out, and reached the advanced posts of the Russians on
+the 5th of October. Hostilities were instantly suspended, and an
+interview granted, at which Wolkonsky, aid-de-camp to Alexander, and
+Beningsen were present, without Kutusoff. Wilson asserts that the
+Russian generals and officers, suspicious of their commander, and
+accusing him of weakness, had raised a cry of treason, and that the
+latter had not dared to leave his camp.
+
+As Lauriston's instructions purported that he was to address himself to
+no one but Kutusoff, he peremptorily rejected any intermediate
+communication; and seizing, as he said, this occasion for breaking off a
+negotiation which he disapproved, he retired, in spite of all the
+solicitations of Wolkonsky, with the intention of returning to Moscow.
+Had he carried this into effect, no doubt Napoleon, exasperated, would
+have fallen upon Kutusoff, overthrown him and destroyed his army, as yet
+very incomplete, and forced him into a peace. In case of less decisive
+success, he would at least have been able to retire without loss upon
+his reinforcements.
+
+Unfortunately, Beningsen desired an interview with Murat. Lauriston
+waited. The chief of the Russian staff, an abler negotiator than
+soldier, strove to charm this monarch of yesterday by demonstrations of
+respect; to seduce him by praises; to deceive him with smooth words,
+breathing nothing but a weariness of war and the hope of peace; and
+Murat, tired of battles, anxious respecting their result, and, as it is
+said, regretting his throne, now that he had no hope of a better,
+suffered himself to be charmed, seduced, and deceived.
+
+It was soon demonstrated that the chief point in which they were all
+agreed was to deceive Murat and the emperor; and in this they succeeded.
+These details transported Napoleon with joy. Credulous from hope,
+perhaps from despair, he was for some moments dazzled by these
+appearances: eager to escape from the inward feeling which oppressed
+him, he seemed desirous to deaden it by resigning himself to an
+expansive joy. He therefore summoned all his generals, and triumphantly
+announced to them a speedy peace. "They had but to wait another
+fortnight. None but himself was acquainted with the Russian character.
+On the receipt of his letter St. Petersburg would be illuminated." But
+the armistice[157] proposed by Kutusoff was so unsatisfactory to him,
+that he ordered Murat to break it instantly; it nevertheless continued
+to be observed, the cause of which is not known.
+
+This armistice was a very singular one. If either party wished to break
+it, three hours' notice was to be sufficient. It was confined to the
+fronts of the two camps, but did not extend to their flanks: such, at
+least, was the interpretation put upon it by the Russians. Thus, we
+could not bring up a convoy, or send out a foraging party, without
+fighting; so that the war continued everywhere excepting where it could
+be favorable to us.
+
+As for the emperor, who was not so easily deceived, he had but a few
+moments of factitious joy. He soon complained "that an annoying warfare
+of partisans[158] hovered around him; that, notwithstanding all these
+pacific demonstrations, bodies of Cossacks were prowling on his flanks
+and in his rear. Had not one hundred and fifty dragoons of his Old Guard
+been surprised and routed by a number of these barbarians? And this two
+days after the armistice, on the road to Mojaisk, on his line of
+operation, that by which the army communicated with its magazines, its
+reinforcements, and he himself with Europe?"
+
+Our soldiers, and especially our cavalry, were obliged every morning to
+go to a great distance in quest of provisions for the evening and for
+the next day; and as the environs of Moscow and Vinkowo became gradually
+more and more drained, they were daily compelled to extend their
+excursions. Both men and horses returned worn out with fatigue, that is
+to say, such of them as returned at all; for we had to fight for every
+bushel of rye and for every truss of forage. It was a series of
+incessant surprises and skirmishes, and of continual losses. The
+peasantry took part in it. They punished with death such of their number
+as the prospect of gain had allured to our camp with provisions. Others
+set fire to their own villages to drive our foragers out of them, and to
+give them up to the Cossacks, whom they had previously summoned, and who
+kept us there in a state of siege.
+
+Thus the war was everywhere: in our front, on our flanks, and in our
+rear. Our army was constantly weakening, and the enemy becoming daily
+more enterprising. This conquest seemed destined to fare like many
+others, which are won in the mass, and lost piece-meal.
+
+Murat himself at length grew uneasy. In these daily skirmishes he had
+seen half the remnant of his cavalry melted away. At the advanced posts,
+the Russian officers, on meeting with ours, either from weariness,
+vanity, or military frankness carried to indiscretion, exaggerated the
+disasters which threatened us. Showing us those wild-looking horses,
+scarcely at all broken in, whose long manes swept the dust of the plain,
+they said, "Did not this tell us that a numerous cavalry was joining
+them from all quarters, while ours was gradually perishing? Did not the
+continual discharges of firearms within their line apprise us that a
+multitude of recruits were then training under favor of the armistice?"
+
+And, in fact, notwithstanding the long journeys which they had to make,
+all these recruits joined the army. There was no occasion to defer
+calling them together, as in other years, till deep snows, obstructing
+all the roads excepting the high road, rendered their desertion
+impossible. Not one failed to obey the national appeal; all Russia rose:
+mothers, it was said, wept for joy on learning that their sons had been
+selected for soldiers: they hastened to acquaint them with the glorious
+intelligence, and even accompanied them to see them marked with the sign
+of the Crusaders, to hear them cry, _'Tis the will of God!_
+
+The Russian officers added "that they were particularly astonished at
+our security on the approach of their frightful winter, which was their
+natural and most formidable ally, and which they expected every moment:
+they pitied us and urged us to fly. In a fortnight," said they, "your
+nails will drop off, and your muskets will fall from your benumbed and
+half-dead fingers."
+
+The language of some of the Cossack chiefs was also remarkable. They
+asked our officers "if they had not, in their own country, corn enough,
+air enough, and graves enough: in short, room enough to live and die?
+Why, then, did they come so far from home to throw away their lives, and
+to fatten a foreign soil with their blood?" They added that "this was a
+robbery of their native land, which while living it is our duty to
+cultivate, to defend, and to embellish; and to which, after our death,
+we owe our bodies, which we received from it, which it has fed, and
+which, in their turn, ought to feed it."
+
+The emperor was not ignorant of these warnings, but he would not suffer
+his resolution to be shaken by them. The uneasiness which had again
+seized him betrayed itself in angry orders. It was then that he caused
+the churches of the Kremlin to be stripped of everything that could
+serve for a trophy to the Grand Army. These objects, devoted to
+destruction by the Russians themselves, belonged, he said, to the
+conquerors, by the double right conferred by victory and by the
+conflagration.
+
+It required long efforts to remove the gigantic cross from the steeple
+of Ivan the Great, to the possession of which the Russians attached the
+salvation of their empire. The emperor determined that it should adorn
+the dome of the Invalides[159] at Paris. During the work it was remarked
+that a great number of ravens kept flying round this cross, and that
+Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, exclaimed that "it seemed as
+if these flocks of ill-omened birds meant to defend it." We cannot
+pretend to tell all that he thought in this critical situation, but it
+is well known that he was accessible to every kind of presentiment.
+
+His nights, in particular, became irksome to him. He passed part of them
+with Count Daru. It was then only that he admitted the danger of his
+situation. "From Wilna to Moscow, what submission, what point of
+support, of rest, or of retreat, marked his power? It was a vast, bare,
+and desert field of battle, in which his diminished army was
+imperceptible, insulated, and, as it were, lost in the horrors of an
+immense void. In this country of foreign manners and religion he had not
+conquered a single individual: he was, in fact, master only of the
+ground on which he stood. That which he had just quitted and left
+behind him was no more his than that which he had not reached.
+Insufficient for these vast deserts, he was lost, as it were, in their
+immense space."
+
+He then reviewed the different resolutions of which he still had the
+choice. "People imagined," he said, "that he had nothing to do but
+march, without considering that it would take a month to refit his army
+and to evacuate his hospitals; that if he relinquished his wounded, the
+Cossacks would daily be seen triumphing over his sick and his
+stragglers. He would appear to fly. All Europe would resound with the
+report! Europe, which envied him, which was seeking a rival under whom
+to rally, and would imagine that it had found such a rival in
+Alexander."
+
+The letter of which Lauriston was the bearer to the Czar had been
+despatched on the 6th of October, and the answer to it could scarcely
+arrive before the 20th: still, in spite of so many threatening
+demonstrations, the pride, the policy, and perhaps the health of
+Napoleon induced him to pursue the worst of all courses, that of waiting
+for this answer, and of trusting to time, which was destroying him.
+Daru, as well as his other officers, was astonished to find in him no
+longer that prompt decision, variable and rapid as the occurrences which
+called it forth: they asserted that his genius could no longer
+accommodate itself to circumstances; and they placed it to the account
+of his natural persistence, which had led to his elevation, and which
+seemed destined to cause his downfall.
+
+
+§ 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow.
+
+Napoleon, however, was completely aware of his situation. To him
+everything seemed lost if he receded in the face of astonished Europe,
+and everything saved if he could surpass Alexander in determination. He
+appreciated but too well the means that were left him to shake the
+constancy of his rival; he knew that the diminishing number of his
+effective troops, that his situation, the season, in short, everything,
+would become daily more and more unfavorable to him; but he reckoned
+upon that magic force which his renown gave him. Hitherto that had lent
+to him a real and never failing strength: he endeavored, therefore, to
+keep up, by specious arguments, the confidence of his army, and perhaps,
+also, the faint hope that was still left to himself.
+
+Moscow, empty of inhabitants, no longer furnished him with anything to
+lay hold of. "It is no doubt a misfortune," he said, "but this
+misfortune is not without its advantage. Had it been otherwise, he would
+not have been able to keep order in so large a city, to overawe a
+population of three hundred thousand souls, and to sleep in the Kremlin
+but at the hazard of assassination. They have left us nothing but ruins,
+but at least we are quiet among them. Millions have no doubt slipped
+through our hands, but how many thousand millions is Russia losing! Her
+commerce is ruined for a century to come. The nation is thrown back
+fifty years, which of itself is an important result; and when the first
+moment of enthusiasm is passed, this reflection will fill them with
+consternation." The conclusion which he drew was, "that so violent a
+shock would convulse the throne of Alexander, and force that prince to
+sue for peace."
+
+In reviewing his different corps, their reduced battalions now presented
+so narrow a front that he was but a moment in traversing it, and this
+palpable diminution of their numbers evidently vexed him; either,
+therefore, to deceive his enemies or his own soldiers, he declared that
+the practice hitherto pursued of ranging the men three deep was wrong,
+and that two were sufficient; and he ordered his infantry in future to
+be drawn up in two ranks only.
+
+Nay, more: he even insisted that the inflexibility of the regimental
+returns should give way to this illusion. He disputed their results; and
+the obstinacy of Count Lobau could not overcome his. He was desirous, no
+doubt, of making his aid-de-camp[160] understand what he wished others
+to believe, and that nothing could shake his resolution.
+
+Meanwhile the attitude of his army seconded his wishes. Most of the
+officers persevered in their confidence. The common soldiers, who saw
+their whole lives in the present, and expected but little from the
+future, were for the most part unconcerned about it, and still retained
+their thoughtlessness, the most valuable of their qualities. The
+rewards, however, which the emperor bestowed profusely upon them in the
+daily reviews, were received at best with a sedate joy, mingled with
+some degree of dejection. The vacant places about to be filled up were
+yet freshly dyed with blood: these favors were menacing.
+
+On the other hand, when leaving Wilna, many of them had thrown away
+their winter garments, that they might load themselves with provisions.
+Their shoes were worn out by the length of the march, and the rest of
+their apparel by the successive actions in which they had been engaged;
+but, in spite of all, their attitude was still lofty. They carefully
+concealed their wretched plight from the notice of the emperor, and
+appeared before him with their arms bright and in the best order. In
+this first court of the palace of the Czars, full sixteen hundred miles
+from their resources, and after so many battles and bivouacs, they were
+anxious to appear still clean, alert, and prompt, for herein consists
+the pride of the soldier; and here they piqued themselves upon it the
+more, on account of the difficulty, in order to astonish, and because
+man prides himself on whatever requires extraordinary effort.
+
+The emperor complaisantly affected to know no better, catching at
+everything to keep up his hopes; when all at once the first snows fell.
+With them fell all the illusions with which he had endeavored to
+surround himself. From that moment he thought of nothing but retreat,
+without, however, pronouncing the word, and yet no positive order for it
+could be obtained from him. He merely said that in twenty days the army
+must be in winter quarters, and he urged the departure of his wounded.
+On this as on other occasions, he would not consent to the voluntary
+relinquishment of anything, however trifling: there was a deficiency of
+horses for his artillery, now too numerous for an army so reduced; but
+it did not signify, and he flew into a passion at the proposal to leave
+part of it behind. "No; the enemy would make a trophy of it;" and he
+insisted that everything should go along with him.
+
+In this desert country he gave orders for the purchase of 20,000 horses,
+and he expected forage for two months to be provided on a tract where
+the most distant and dangerous excursions were not sufficient for the
+supply of the passing day. Some of his officers were astonished to hear
+orders which it was so impossible to execute; but we have already seen
+that he sometimes issued such orders to deceive his enemies, and more
+frequently to indicate to his own troops the extent of their
+necessities, and the exertions they were called on to make in order to
+supply them.
+
+His distress manifested itself only in paroxysms of ill-humor, and this
+most frequently in the morning, at his levee. There, amid his assembled
+chiefs, in whose anxious looks he imagined he could read disapprobation,
+he seemed desirous to awe them by the severity of his manner, by his
+sharp tone, and his abrupt language. From the paleness of his face,
+however, it was evident that Truth, whose best time for obtaining a
+hearing is in the stillness of night, had annoyed him grievously by her
+presence, and oppressed him with her unwelcome light. Sometimes, on
+these occasions, his bursting heart would overflow, and pour forth its
+sorrows without any restraint. His agitation was manifested at such
+times by movements of extreme impatience; but, so far from lightening
+his griefs, he only aggravated them by those acts of injustice for which
+he reproached himself, and which he was afterwards anxious to repair.
+
+It was only to Count Daru that he unbosomed himself frankly, but without
+any weakness. He said "he should march upon Kutusoff, crush or drive him
+back, and then turn suddenly towards Smolensk." Daru, who had before
+approved this course, replied that "it was now too late; that the
+Russian army was re-enforced, his own weakened, and his victory
+forgotten; that, the moment his troops turned their faces towards home,
+they would slip away from him by degrees; that each soldier, laden with
+booty, would try to get the start of the army, for the purpose of
+disposing of it in France." "What, then, is to be done?" exclaimed the
+emperor. "Remain here," replied Daru; "make one vast intrenched camp of
+Moscow, and pass the winter in it. He would answer for it that there
+would be no want of bread and salt: the rest foraging on a large scale
+would supply. Such of the horses as they could not procure food for
+might be salted down. As to lodgings, if there were not houses enough,
+the cellars might make up the deficiency. Here we might stay till the
+return of spring, when our re-enforcements and all Lithuania in arms
+would come to relieve, to join us, and to complete the conquest."
+
+After listening to this proposal the emperor was for some time silent
+and thoughtful: he then replied, "This is a lion's counsel! But what
+would Paris say? What would they do there? What have they been doing
+there for the last three weeks that they have not heard from me? Who
+knows what would be the effect of a suspension of communication for six
+months? No: France would not accustom itself to my absence, and Prussia
+and Austria would take advantage of it."
+
+Still Napoleon could not make up his mind either to stay or to depart.
+Though overcome in this struggle of pertinacity, he deferred from day to
+day the avowal of his defeat. Amid the threatening storm of men and
+elements which was gathering around him, his ministers and aids-de-camp
+saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits of some new verses
+which he had received, or the regulations for one of the French theatres
+at Paris, which he took three evenings to finish. As they were
+acquainted with his deep anxiety, they could not but admire the strength
+of his genius, and the facility with which he could take off the whole
+force of his attention from, or fix it on, whatever subject he pleased.
+
+It was merely remarked that he prolonged his meals, which had hitherto
+been so simple and so short. He seemed desirous of stifling thought by
+repletion. He would then pass whole hours half reclined, and as if
+torpid, awaiting with a novel in his hand the catastrophe of his
+terrible history. In contemplating this obstinate and inflexible
+character thus struggling with impossibility, his officers would observe
+to each other that, having arrived at the summit of his glory, he no
+doubt foresaw that from his first retrograde step would date its
+decline; that for this reason he continued immovable, clinging to, and
+lingering a few moments longer on, his proud elevation.
+
+Kutusoff, meanwhile, was gaining the time which we were losing. His
+letters to Alexander described "his army as being in the midst of
+plenty; his recruits arriving from all quarters, and being rapidly
+trained; his wounded recovering in the bosom of their families; the
+whole of the peasantry on foot, some in arms, some on the look-out from
+the tops of steeples or in our camp, while others were stealing into our
+habitations, and even into the Kremlin. Rostopchin received a daily
+report of what was passing at Moscow as regularly as before its capture.
+If they undertook to be our guides, it was for the purpose of delivering
+us into his hands. His partisans were every day bringing in some
+hundreds of prisoners. Everything concurred to destroy the enemy's army
+and to strengthen his own; to serve him and to betray us; in a word, the
+campaign, which was over for us, was but just about to begin for them."
+
+Kutusoff neglected no advantage. He made his camp ring with the news of
+the victory of Salamanca. "The French," said he, "are expelled from
+Madrid. The hand of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Moscow
+will be his prison, his grave, and that of the whole of his Grand Army.
+We shall soon subdue France in Russia!" It was in such language that
+the Russian general addressed his troops and his emperor; and still he
+kept up appearances with Murat. At once bold and crafty, he contrived
+gradually to prepare a sudden and impetuous warfare, and to cover his
+plans for our destruction with demonstrations of kindness and honeyed
+words.
+
+But at length, after so many days of illusion, the charm was all at once
+dispelled. A single Cossack dissolved it. This barbarian fired at Murat,
+at the moment when that prince came as usual to show himself at the
+advanced posts. Highly exasperated, the king immediately declared to
+Miloradovitch that an armistice which had been incessantly violated was
+now at an end, and that thenceforward each party must look only to
+itself.
+
+At the same time he apprised the emperor that the woody country on his
+left might favor the enemy's attempts against his flank and rear; that
+his first line, being backed against a ravine, might be precipitated
+into it; that, in short, the position which he then occupied, in advance
+of a defile, was dangerous, and rendered a retrograde movement
+absolutely necessary. But Napoleon would not consent to this step,
+though he had at first pointed out Woronowo as a more secure position.
+In this war, still in his view rather political than military, he
+dreaded above all things the appearance of receding. He preferred
+risking everything rather than acknowledge to his enemies the slightest
+irresolution.
+
+Amid these preparations, and at the moment when Napoleon was reviewing
+Ney's divisions in the first court of the Kremlin, a report was all at
+once circulated that the sound of cannon was heard towards Vinkowo. It
+was some time before any one dared to apprise him of the circumstance;
+some from incredulity or uncertainty, and dreading the first movement of
+his impatience; others from weakness, hesitating to provoke a terrible
+explosion or apprehensive of being sent to verify the assertion, and
+exposed to a fatiguing excursion.
+
+Duroc at length took courage to inform him. The emperor was at first
+agitated; but, quickly recovering himself, he continued the review. An
+aid-de-camp, young Béranger, arrived shortly after with intelligence
+that Murat's first line had been surprised and overthrown, his left
+turned by favor of the woods, his flank attacked, and his retreat cut
+off: that twelve pieces of cannon, twenty ammunition wagons, and thirty
+wagons belonging to the train were taken, two generals killed, three or
+four thousand men lost, as well as the baggage; and, lastly, that the
+king himself was wounded. He had not been able to rescue the relics of
+his advanced guard from the enemy but by repeatedly charging their
+numerous troops, which already occupied the high road in his rear, his
+only retreat.
+
+Our honor, however, had been saved. The attack in front, directed by
+Kutusoff, was feeble; Poniatowski, at some leagues' distance on the
+right, made a glorious resistance; Murat and his resolute men, by almost
+superhuman exertions, checked Bagawout, who was ready to penetrate our
+left flank, and restored the fortunes of the day; while Claparède and
+Latour-Maubourg cleared the defile of Spaskapli, two leagues in the rear
+of our line, which was already occupied by Platoff. Two Russian generals
+were killed, and others wounded: the loss of the enemy was considerable,
+but the advantage of the attack, our cannon, our position, the victory,
+in short, was theirs.
+
+As for Murat, he had no longer an advanced guard. The armistice had
+destroyed half the remnant of his cavalry. This engagement had finished
+it; the survivors, emaciated with hunger, were so few as scarcely to
+furnish a charge. Thus had the war in earnest recommenced; and it was
+now the 18th of October.
+
+At these tidings Napoleon recovered the fire of his youth. A thousand
+orders, general and particular, all differing, yet all in unison and all
+necessary, burst at once from his impetuous genius. Night had not yet
+arrived, and the whole army was already in motion. The emperor himself
+quitted Moscow before daylight on the 19th of October. "Let us march
+upon Kaluga," said he, "and woe be to those whom I meet with by the
+way!"
+
+
+§ 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle.
+
+On the southern side of Moscow, near one of its gates, is an extensive
+suburb, divided by two high roads; both run to Kaluga: that on the right
+is the more ancient, the other is quite new. It was on the first that
+Kutusoff had just beaten Murat. By the same road Napoleon left Moscow on
+the 19th of October, announcing to his officers his intention to return
+to the frontiers of Poland. One of them, Rapp, observed that "it was
+late, and that winter might overtake them by the way." The emperor
+replied "that he had been obliged to allow time to the soldiers to
+recruit themselves, and to the wounded collected at Moscow, and at other
+places, to move off towards Smolensk." Then, pointing to a still serene
+sky, he asked "if in that brilliant sun they did not recognize his
+star." But this appeal to his fortune, and the sinister expression of
+his looks, belied the security which he affected.
+
+Napoleon entered Moscow with ninety thousand fighting men, and twenty
+thousand sick and wounded, and quitted it with more than a hundred
+thousand combatants. He left there with only twelve hundred sick. His
+stay, therefore, notwithstanding daily losses, had served to rest his
+infantry, to complete his stores, to augment his force by ten thousand
+men, and to protect the recovery or the retreat of a great part of his
+wounded. But on this very first day he could perceive that his cavalry
+and artillery might be said rather to crawl than to march.
+
+A melancholy spectacle added to the gloomy presentiments of our chief.
+The army had, ever since the preceding day, been pouring out of Moscow
+without intermission. In this column of one hundred and forty thousand
+men and about fifty thousand horses of all kinds, the hundred thousand
+combatants marching at its head with their knapsacks and their arms,
+upward of five hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and two thousand
+artillery wagons, still exhibited a formidable appearance, worthy of
+soldiers who had conquered the world. But the rest, whose numbers were
+in an alarming proportion, resembled a horde of Tartars after a
+successful invasion. They formed three or four files of almost infinite
+length, in which there was a confused mixture of chaises, ammunition
+wagons, handsome carriages, and, in short, vehicles of every kind. Here
+trophies of Russian, Turkish, and Persian colors, and the gigantic cross
+of Ivan the Great; there, long-bearded Russian peasants carrying or
+driving along our booty, of which they constituted a part; and some
+dragging even wheelbarrows filled with whatever they could remove. The
+fools were not likely to proceed in this manner till the conclusion of
+the first day, and yet their senseless avidity made them think nothing
+of battles and a march of two hundred leagues.
+
+Among these followers of the army were particularly remarked a multitude
+of men of all nations, without uniform and without arms, and servants
+swearing in every language, and urging by dint of shouts and blows the
+progress of elegant carriages, drawn by pigmy horses harnessed with
+ropes. These were filled with provisions, or with booty saved from the
+flames. They carried, also, many French women with their children.
+Formerly these females had been happy inhabitants of Moscow; but they
+now fled from the hatred of the Muscovites, which the invasion had drawn
+upon their heads, and the army was their only asylum.
+
+A few Russian girls, voluntary captives, also followed. It looked like a
+caravan, a wandering nation, or, rather, one of those armies of
+antiquity returning loaded with slaves and with spoils after a great
+devastation. It was inconceivable how the head of this column could draw
+and protect such a prodigious mass of equipages in so long a route.
+
+Notwithstanding the width of the road and the shouts of his escort,
+Napoleon had great difficulty in obtaining a passage through this
+immense throng. No doubt the obstruction of a defile, a few forced
+marches, or a handful of Cossacks would have been sufficient to rid us
+all of this encumbrance; but fortune or the enemy had alone a right to
+lighten us in this manner. As for the emperor, he was fully sensible
+that he could neither deprive his soldiers of this fruit of so many
+toils, nor reproach them for securing it. Besides, provisions concealed
+the booty; and was it for him, who could not give his troops the
+subsistence he should have done, to forbid their carrying it along with
+them? Lastly, in case of the failure of military conveyances, these
+vehicles would be the only means of preservation for the sick and
+wounded.
+
+Napoleon therefore extricated himself in silence from the immense train
+which he drew after him, and advanced on the old road leading to Kaluga.
+He pushed on in this direction for some hours, declaring that he would
+go and beat Kutusoff on the very field of his victory. But all at once,
+about midday, opposite to the castle of Krasnopachra, where he halted,
+he suddenly turned to the right with his army, and in three marches
+across the country gained the new road to Kaluga.
+
+The rain, which overtook him in the midst of this manoeuvre, spoiled the
+cross-roads, and obliged him to halt in them. This was a most
+unfortunate circumstance. It was with difficulty that our cannon were
+drawn out of the sloughs.
+
+At any rate, the emperor had masked his movement by Ney's corps and the
+remnants of Murat's cavalry, which had remained behind the Motscha and
+at Woronowo. Kutusoff, deceived by this feint, was still waiting for the
+Grand Army on the old road, while, on the 23d of October, the whole of
+it had been transferred to the new one, and had but one march to make in
+order to pass quietly by him, and to get between him and Kaluga.
+
+On the first day of this flanking march, a letter was sent from Berthier
+to Kutusoff, as a last attempt at peace, or perhaps merely as a ruse. No
+satisfactory answer was returned to it.
+
+On the 23d the imperial quarters were at Borowsk. That night was an
+agreeable one for the emperor: he was informed that, at six in the
+evening, Delzons with his division, who was four leagues in advance of
+him, had found the town of Malo-jaroslavetz and the woods which command
+it unoccupied: this was a strong position within reach of Kutusoff, and
+the only point where he could cut us off from the new road to Kaluga.
+
+The emperor wished at first to secure that advantage by his presence:
+the order to march was even given, but shortly after withdrawn, we know
+not why. He passed the whole of that evening on horseback, not far from
+Borowsk, on the left of the road, the side on which he supposed Kutusoff
+to be. He reconnoitered the ground in the midst of a heavy rain, as if
+he anticipated that it might become a field of battle. Next day, the
+24th, he learned that the Russians had disputed the possession of the
+town with Delzons. Either from confidence or uncertainty in his plans,
+this intelligence appeared to give him very little concern.
+
+He quitted Borowsk, therefore, late and leisurely, when the noise of a
+very smart engagement reached where he was; he then became uneasy,
+hastened to an eminence and listened. "Had the Russians anticipated him?
+Was his manoeuvre thwarted? Had he not used sufficient expedition in
+that march, the object of which was to pass the left flank of Kutusoff?"
+
+The emperor was still listening: the noise increased. "Is it then a
+battle?" he exclaimed. Every discharge agitated him, for the chief point
+with him was no longer to conquer, but to preserve, and he urged on with
+all possible speed, Davoust accompanying him; but he and that marshal
+did not reach the field of battle till dark, when the firing was already
+subsiding, and the whole was over.
+
+The emperor saw the close of the battle, but without being able to
+assist the viceroy.[161] A band of Cossacks from Twer had nearly
+captured one of his officers, who was only a very short distance from
+him.
+
+At this time an officer, sent by Prince Eugene, came to him and
+explained the whole affair. "The troops had," he said, "in the first
+place, been obliged to cross the Louja at the foot of the town, at the
+bottom of an elbow which the river makes in its course, and then to
+climb a steep hill. It is on this precipitous declivity, broken by
+pointed crags, that the town is built. Beyond is an elevated plain,
+surrounded with woods, from which run three roads, one in front coming
+from Kaluga, and two on the left, from Lectazowo, the seat of the
+intrenched camp of Kutusoff."
+
+After crossing the Louja by a narrow bridge, the high road from Kaluga
+runs along the bottom of a ravine which ascends to the town, and then
+enters it. The enemy in mass occupied this hollow way; Delzons and his
+Frenchmen rushed upon them pell-mell; the Russians were broken and
+overthrown; they gave way, and presently our bayonets glistened on the
+heights.
+
+Delzons, conceiving himself sure of the victory, announced it as won. He
+had nothing but a pile of buildings to storm; but his soldiers
+hesitated. He himself advanced, and was encouraging them by his words,
+actions, and example, when a ball struck him in the forehead, and
+extended him on the ground. His brother threw himself upon him, covered
+him with his body, clasped him in his arms, and was striving to bear him
+out of the fire and the fray, when a second ball hit him also, and both
+expired together.
+
+This loss left a great void, which required to be filled. Guilleminot
+succeeded Delzons, and the first thing he did was to throw a hundred men
+into a church and the yard around it, in the walls of which they made
+loopholes. This church stood on the left of the high road, which it
+commanded, and to its possession we owed the victory. Five times during
+the day was this post passed by the Russian columns as they were
+pursuing ours, and five times did its fire, seasonably poured upon their
+flank and rear, harass them and retard their progress: afterward, when
+we resumed the offensive, this position placed them between two fires,
+and ensured the success of our attacks.
+
+Scarcely had that general made this disposition when he was assailed by
+a host of the enemy: he was driven back towards the bridge, where the
+viceroy had stationed himself in order to judge how to act and to
+prepare his reserves. At first the re-enforcements which he sent came up
+but slowly one after another; and, as is almost always the case where
+there is this tardy movement, being singly inadequate to any great
+effort, each was successively destroyed without result.
+
+At length the whole of the 14th division was engaged; and the combat was
+carried for the third time to the heights. But when the French had
+passed the houses, advanced beyond the central point from which they had
+set out, and reached the plain where they were exposed, and where the
+circle expanded, they could advance no farther; overwhelmed by the fire
+of a whole Russian army, they were daunted and shaken; fresh columns
+incessantly came up: our thinned ranks gave way and were broken; the
+obstacles of the ground increased their confusion; and at length they
+retired precipitately, and abandoned everything.
+
+Meanwhile, the shells having set fire to the wooden town behind them, in
+their retreat they were stopped by the conflagration: one fire drove
+them back upon another; the Russian recruits, wrought up to a pitch of
+fanatic fury, closely pursued them; our soldiers became enraged; they
+fought man to man; some were seen seizing each other with one hand and
+striking with the other, until both rolled down the precipices into the
+flames without quitting their hold. There the wounded expired, either
+suffocated by the smoke or consumed by the flames.
+
+The 15th division was still left. The viceroy summoned it: as it
+advanced, it threw a brigade into the suburb on the left, and another
+into the town on the right. It consisted of Italians, recruits, who had
+never before been in action. They ascended, shouting enthusiastically,
+ignorant of the danger or despising it, from that singular disposition
+which renders life less dear in its flower than in its decline, either
+because while young we fear death less from the feeling of its distance,
+or because at that age, rich in years and lavish of everything, we are
+prodigal of life as the wealthy are of their fortune.
+
+The shock was terrible: everything was reconquered for the fourth time,
+and speedily lost again in like manner. More eager to begin than their
+seniors, these young troops were sooner disheartened, and returned
+flying to the old battalions, which supported them, and were obliged to
+lead them back to danger.
+
+The Russians, imboldened by their constantly increasing numbers and by
+success, descended by their right to gain possession of the bridge and
+to cut off our retreat. Prince Eugene had nothing left but his last
+reserve: he and his guard, therefore, now took part in the combat. At
+this sight, and in obedience to his call, the remains of the 13th,
+14th, and 15th divisions resumed their courage: they made a last and
+desperate effort, and for the fifth time the combat was transferred to
+the heights.
+
+At the same time, Colonel Peraldi and the Italian troops overthrew with
+their bayonets the Russians who were already approaching the left of the
+bridge: infuriated by the smoke and the fire through which they had
+passed, and encouraged by their success and the havoc which they made,
+they pushed forward without stopping on the elevated plain, and
+endeavored to make themselves masters of the enemy's cannon; but one of
+those deep clefts with which the soil of Russia is intersected stopped
+them in the midst of a destructive fire, their ranks opened, the enemy's
+cavalry attacked them, and they were driven back to the very gardens of
+the suburb. There they paused and rallied: all, both French and
+Italians, obstinately defended the upper avenues of the town, and the
+Russians, being at length repulsed, drew back and concentrated
+themselves on the road to Kaluga, between the woods and
+Malo-jaroslavetz.
+
+In this manner did 18,000 Italians and French, crowded together at the
+bottom of a ravine, defeat 50,000 Russians, posted over their heads, and
+seconded by all the obstacles that a town built on a steep declivity is
+capable of presenting.
+
+The army, however, surveyed with sorrow this field of battle, where
+seven generals and 4000 French and Italians had been killed or wounded.
+The sight of the enemy's loss afforded no consolation; it was not twice
+the amount of ours, and their wounded would be saved. It was moreover
+recollected, that in a similar situation, Peter I., in sacrificing ten
+Russians for one Swede, thought that he was not sustaining merely an
+equal loss, but that he was gaining even by so terrible a bargain. But
+what caused the greatest pain was the reflection that this sanguinary
+conflict might have been spared.[162]
+
+
+§ 11. Napoleon holds a council of war and decides to retreat northward.
+
+Do you recollect, comrades, that fatal field? Can you still figure to
+yourselves the blood-stained ruins of that town, those deep ravines, and
+the woods which surround that elevated plain, and mark it, as it were,
+for a field of combat? On the one side were the French, quitting the
+north, from which they sought to fly; on the other, at the entrance of
+the wood, were the Russians, guarding the south, and striving to drive
+us back upon their all-subduing winter. In the midst of this plain,
+between the two armies, was Napoleon, his steps and his eyes wandering
+from south to west, along the roads to Kaluga and Medyn, both which were
+closed against him. On that to Kaluga were Kutusoff and one hundred and
+twenty thousand men, ready to dispute with him sixty miles of defiles;
+towards Medyn he beheld a numerous cavalry: it was Platoff and those
+same hordes which had just penetrated the flank of the army, traversed
+it through and through, and burst forth, laden with booty, to form again
+on his right flank, where re-enforcements and artillery were waiting for
+them. It was on that side that the eyes of the emperor were fixed the
+longest; it was principally in regard to it that he listened to reports
+of his officers, and consulted his maps: until, oppressed with regret
+and gloomy forebodings, he slowly returned to his headquarters.
+
+Murat, Prince Eugene, Berthier, Davoust and Bessières followed him. This
+miserable habitation of an obscure artisan contained within it an
+emperor, two kings, and three generals. Here they were about to decide
+the fate of Europe, and of the army which had conquered it. Smolensk was
+the goal. Should they march thither by Kaluga, Medyn, or Mojaisk?
+Napoleon was seated at a table, his head supported by his hands, which
+concealed his features, as well as the anguish which they no doubt
+expressed.
+
+A silence fraught with such imminent perils was for some time respected,
+until Murat, whose actions were always the result of impetuous feeling,
+became weary of this hesitation.
+
+"Give him but the remnant of his cavalry and that of the Guard," he
+said, "and he would force his way into Russian forests and the Russian
+battalions, overthrow all before him, and open anew to the army the road
+to Kaluga."
+
+Here Napoleon, raising his head, extinguished all his fire by saying
+that "we had exhibited temerity enough already; that we had done but too
+much for glory, and it was now high time to give up thinking of anything
+but how to save the rest of the army."
+
+Bessières, either because his pride revolted at the idea of being put
+under the command of the King of Naples, or from a desire to preserve
+uninjured the cavalry of the Guard, which he had formed, for which he
+was answerable to Napoleon, and which he exclusively commanded, finding
+himself supported, then ventured to add, that "neither the army nor even
+the Guard had sufficient spirit left for such efforts." The marshal
+concluded by giving his opinion in favor of retreat, which the emperor
+approved by his silence.
+
+The Prince of Eckmühl then immediately said that, "as a retreat seemed
+decided upon, he proposed that it should be by Medyn and Smolensk." But
+Murat here interrupted him; and, whether from enmity, or from that
+discouragement which usually succeeds the rejection of a rash measure,
+he declared himself astonished "that any one should dare propose so
+imprudent a step to the emperor. Had Davoust sworn the destruction of
+the army? Would he have so long and heavy a column trail along in utter
+uncertainty, without guides, and on an unknown track, within reach of
+Kutusoff, presenting its flank to all the attacks of the enemy? Would
+he, Davoust, defend it? When in our rear Borowsk and Vereïa would lead
+us without danger to Mojaisk, why reject that safe route? There
+provisions must have been already collected, there everything was known
+to us, and we could not be misled by any traitor."
+
+At these words, Davoust, burning with a rage which he could scarcely
+repress, replied that "he proposed a retreat through a fertile country,
+by an untouched, plentiful, and well supplied route, where the villages
+were still standing, and by the shortest road, that the enemy might not
+be able to cut us off, as on the route by Mojaisk to Smolensk,
+recommended by Murat. And what a route! a desert of sand and ashes,
+where convoys of wounded would increase our embarrassment, where we
+should meet with nothing but ruins, traces of blood, skeletons, and
+famine!
+
+"Moreover, though he deemed it his duty to give his opinion when it was
+asked, he was ready to obey orders contrary to it with the same zeal as
+if they were consonant with his suggestions; but that the emperor alone
+had a right to impose silence on him, and not Murat, who was not his
+sovereign, and never should be!"
+
+The quarrel growing warm, Bessières and Berthier interposed. As for the
+emperor, still absorbed and in the same attitude, he appeared insensible
+to what was passing. At length he broke up the council with the words,
+"Well, gentlemen, I will decide."
+
+He decided on retreat, and by that road which would carry him most
+speedily to a distance from the enemy; but it required another desperate
+effort before he could bring himself to give an order of march so new to
+him. So painful, indeed, was this effort, that in the inward struggle
+which it produced he lost the use of his senses.
+
+It is a remarkable fact, that he issued orders for this retreat
+northward at the very moment that Kutusoff and his Russians, dismayed at
+their defeat at Malo-jaroslavetz, were retiring towards the south.
+
+From that moment Napoleon had nothing in his view but Paris, just as on
+leaving Paris he saw nothing but Moscow. It was on the 26th of October
+that the fatal movement of our retreat commenced. Davoust, with
+twenty-five thousand men, remained as a rear-guard. While by advancing a
+few paces, without being aware of it, he was spreading consternation
+among the Russians, the Grand Army, in astonishment, was turning its
+back on them. It marched with downcast eyes, as if ashamed and humbled.
+In the midst of it, its commander, gloomy and silent, seemed to be
+anxiously measuring his line of communication with the fortresses on the
+Vistula.
+
+For the space of more than two hundred and fifty leagues it offered but
+two points where he could halt and rest, the first Smolensk, the second
+Minsk. He had made those towns his two great depôts, where immense
+magazines were established.
+
+Napoleon, however, reckoned upon the Duke of Belluno and his thirty-six
+thousand fresh troops. That corps had been at Smolensk ever since the
+beginning of September. He relied also upon detachments being sent from
+his depôts, on the sick and wounded who had recovered, and on the
+stragglers, who would be rallied and formed at Wilna into marching
+battalions. All these would successively come into line, and fill up the
+chasms made in his ranks by the sword, famine, and disease. He should
+therefore have time to regain that position on the Dwina and the
+Borysthenes, where he wished it to be believed that his presence, added
+to that of Victor, Saint-Cyr, and Macdonald, would overawe
+Wittgenstein,[163] check Kutusoff, and threaten the Czar Alexander even
+in his second capital.
+
+He accordingly announced that he was going to take post on the Dwina.
+But it was not in truth, upon that river and the Borysthenes that his
+thoughts rested: he was sensible that it was not with a harassed and
+reduced army that he could guard the interval between those two rivers
+and their courses, which the ice would speedily seal.
+
+It was therefore a hundred leagues beyond Smolensk, in a more compact
+position, behind the morasses of the Berezina--to Minsk, that it was
+necessary to repair in search of winter quarters, from which he was then
+forty marches distant.
+
+
+§ 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin: view of the
+battle-field of Borodino.
+
+Napoleon had arrived quite pensive at Vereïa,[164] when Mortier
+presented himself before him. But I here discover, that, hurried along
+in the relation just as we then were in reality, by the rapid succession
+of violent scenes and memorable events, my attention has been diverted
+from occurrences worthy of notice. On the 23d of October, at half past
+one in the morning, the air was shaken by a tremendous explosion, which
+for a moment startled both armies, though amid such mighty anticipations
+scarcely anything then much excited their astonishment.
+
+Mortier had obeyed his orders: the Kremlin was no more.[165] Barrels of
+powder had been placed in all the halls of the palaces of the Czars, and
+one hundred and eighty-three thousand pounds under the vaults which
+supported them. The marshal, with eight thousand men, had remained on
+this volcano, which a single Russian shell might have exploded. Here he
+covered the march of the army upon Kaluga, and the retreat of our
+different convoys towards Mojaisk.
+
+Among these eight thousand men there were scarcely two thousand on whom
+Mortier could rely; the others were dismounted cavalry, men of different
+countries and regiments, under new officers, with dissimilar habits,
+with no common recollections, in short, without any bond of union,
+forming a rabble rather than an organized body, and who could scarcely
+fail in a short time to disperse.
+
+This marshal, therefore, was looked upon as a doomed man. The other
+chiefs, his old companions in glory, had left him with tears in their
+eyes, as well as the emperor himself, who said to him "that he relied on
+his good fortune; but still, in war, we must sometimes make part of a
+sacrifice." Mortier resigned himself without hesitation to his fate. His
+orders were to defend the Kremlin, and on retreating to blow it up, and
+to burn what still remained of the city. It was on the 21st of October,
+that Napoleon sent him his last commands. After executing them, the
+marshal was to march upon Vereïa, and to form the rear guard of the
+army.
+
+In this letter Napoleon particularly recommended to him "to put the men
+still remaining in the hospitals into the carriages belonging to the
+young rear guard, those of the dismounted cavalry, and any others that
+he might find. The Romans," he added, "awarded a civic crown to him who
+had saved a citizen: so many soldiers as he should save, so many crowns
+would the Duke of Treviso deserve."
+
+At length, after four days' resistance, the French bade a final adieu to
+that fatal city. They carried with them four hundred wounded, and, on
+retiring, deposited in a safe and secret place a firework, skilfully
+prepared, which was already slowly consuming: the rate of its burning
+had been minutely calculated, so that it was known precisely at what
+hour the fire would reach the immense collection of powder buried among
+the foundations of these devoted palaces.
+
+Mortier hastened his flight; but as he was retiring, some greedy
+Cossacks and miserable-looking Muscovites, allured probably by the
+prospect of pillage, approached: they listened, and, imboldened by the
+apparent quiet which pervaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate
+into it: they ascended; and their greedy hands were already stretched
+forth to lay hold on their plunder, when in an instant they were all
+hurled into the air with the buildings they had come to pillage, and
+with thirty thousand stand of arms that had been left in them; and soon
+their mangled limbs, mingled with fragments of walls and shattered
+weapons, thrown to a great distance, descended in a horrible shower.
+
+The earth shook under the feet of Mortier: at Fominskoé, thirty miles
+off, the emperor heard the explosion; and in that indignant tone in
+which he sometimes addressed Europe, he published the following day a
+bulletin, at Borowsk, announcing that "the Kremlin, the arsenal, the
+magazines, were all destroyed; that that ancient citadel, which dated
+from the origin of the monarchy, and was the first palace of the Czars,
+no longer existed; that Moscow was now but a heap of ruins, without
+importance either political or military. He had abandoned it to Russian
+beggars and plunderers, in order to march against Kutusoff, to throw
+himself on the left wing of that general, to drive him back, and then to
+proceed quietly to the banks of the Dwina, where he should take up his
+winter quarters." Then, apprehensive lest he should appear to be
+retreating, he added that "there he should be within eighty leagues of
+Wilna and of St. Petersburg, a double advantage; that is to say, twenty
+marches nearer to his resources and his object." By this remark he hoped
+to give to his retreat the air of an offensive movement.
+
+It was on this occasion he declared that "he had refused to give orders
+for the entire destruction of the country which he was quitting: he felt
+a repugnance to aggravate the miseries of its inhabitants. To punish
+the Russian incendiary, and a few wretches who made war like Tartars, he
+would not ruin nine thousand proprietors, and leave two hundred thousand
+serfs, innocent of all these barbarities, absolutely destitute of
+resources."
+
+On the 28th of October we again beheld Mojaisk.[166] That town was still
+full of wounded: some were carried away, and the rest collected together
+and abandoned, as at Moscow, to the generosity of the Russians. Napoleon
+had proceeded but a short distance from that place when the winter
+began. Thus, after an obstinate combat, and ten days' marching and
+countermarching, the army, which had brought from Moscow only fifteen
+rations of flour per man, had advanced but three days' march on its
+retreat. It was in want of provisions, and now overtaken by the winter.
+
+Some leagues from Mojaisk we had to cross the Kologa. It was but a large
+rivulet: two trees, the same number of props, and a few planks were
+sufficient to ensure the passage; but such was the confusion and
+inattention that the emperor was detained there. Several pieces of
+cannon, which it was attempted to get across by fording, were lost. It
+seemed as if each corps was marching separately, as if there were no
+staff, no general order, no common tie, nothing, in short, that bound
+them together. In fact, the elevation of the chiefs rendered them too
+independent of each other. The emperor himself had become so exceedingly
+great, that he was at an immeasurable distance from the details of his
+army; while Berthier, holding an intermediate place between him and
+officers, all of whom were kings, princes, or marshals, was obliged to
+act with a great deal of caution. He was, besides, incompetent to his
+situation.
+
+The emperor, stopped by the frivolous obstacle of a broken bridge,
+confined himself to a gesture expressive of dissatisfaction and
+contempt, to which Berthier replied only by a look of resignation. On
+this particular point he had received no orders from the emperor: he
+therefore conceived that he was not to blame; for Berthier was a
+faithful echo, a mirror, and nothing more. Always ready, clear, and
+distinct, he, so to speak, exactly repeated the emperor, reflected him,
+but added nothing of his own; and what Napoleon forgot was never
+supplied.
+
+After passing the Kologa we marched on, absorbed in thought, when some
+of us, raising our eyes, uttered a cry of horror. Each one instantly
+looked about him, and there lay stretched before us a plain trampled,
+bare, and devastated, all the trees cut down within a few feet from the
+surface, and farther off craggy hills, the highest of which appeared
+misshapen, and bore a striking resemblance to an extinguished volcano.
+The ground around us was everywhere covered with fragments of helmets
+and cuirasses, with broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and
+standards dyed with blood.
+
+On this desolate spot[167] lay thirty thousand half-devoured corpses;
+while a pile of skeletons on the summit of one of the hills overlooked
+the whole. It seemed as though Death had here fixed his throne.
+Presently the cry was heard, "It is the field of the great battle!"
+forming a long and doleful murmur. The emperor passed quickly by. No one
+stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy were urging us on: we merely turned
+our faces as we marched along to take a last melancholy look at the vast
+grave of so many companions in arms, uselessly sacrificed, and whose
+remains we were obliged to leave behind, unheeded and uninterred.
+
+
+§ 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma. Battle near that place.
+
+At length the emperor reached Viazma.[168] He here halted to wait for
+Prince Eugene and Davoust, and to reconnoitre the road to Medyn and
+Yucknow, which at this place unites with the high road to Smolensk. It
+was this cross-road which might possibly bring the Russian army from
+Malo-jaroslavetz on his passage. But on the first of November, after
+waiting thirty-six hours and seeing no indications of that army, he
+again set out, wavering between the hope that Kutusoff had fallen
+asleep, and the fear lest he might have left Viazma on his right, and
+proceeded two marches farther to cut off his retreat. He left Ney,
+however, at Viazma to collect the first and fourth corps, and to
+relieve, by forming the rear guard, Davoust, whom he judged to be
+fatigued.
+
+He complained of the tardiness of the latter, and wrote to reproach him
+with being still five marches behind, when he ought to have been no more
+than three: the genius of that marshal he considered too methodical to
+direct, in a suitable manner, so irregular a march.
+
+But this delay was accounted for by the fact that Davoust had found a
+marsh without a bridge, and completely encumbered with wagons. He had
+dragged them out of the slough in sight of the enemy, and so near them
+that their fires lighted his labors, and the sound of their drums
+mingled with that of his own voice. For the marshal and his generals
+could not yet resolve on abandoning to the enemy so many trophies; nor
+did they make up their minds to it until after fruitless exertions, and
+in the last extremity.
+
+The road they were traversing was crossed at short intervals by marshy
+hollows. A slope, slippery as glass with the ice, hurried the carriages
+into them, and there they stuck fast: to draw them out it was necessary
+to climb on the opposite side a similar slope, where the horses, whose
+shoes were worn entirely smooth, could obtain no footing, and where
+every moment they and their drivers dropped down exhausted together. The
+famished soldiers immediately fell upon these luckless animals and tore
+them to pieces; then at fires, kindled with the remains of their
+carriages, they broiled the yet bleeding flesh, and devoured it.
+
+Meanwhile the artillerymen, a chosen corps, and their officers, all
+brought up in the first military school in the world, kept off these
+unfortunate wretches whenever they could, and took the horses from their
+own carriages and wagons, which they abandoned to save the guns. To
+these they harnessed their horses, nay, even themselves; while the
+Cossacks, observing their disasters from a distance, though they dared
+not attack, with their light pieces mounted on sledges, threw their
+balls among these disorderly groups, and increased the confusion.
+
+On the 3d of November, Prince Eugene was advancing towards Viazma,
+preceded by his equipages and his artillery, when the first light of day
+all at once discovered to him his retreat threatened by an army on his
+left, behind him his rear guard cut off, and on his left the plain
+covered with stragglers and scattered vehicles, fleeing before the
+lances of the enemy. At the same time, towards Viazma he heard Marshal
+Ney, who should have assisted him, fighting for his own preservation.
+
+At the same time, Compans, one of Davoust's generals, joined the Italian
+rear guard with his division. These cleared a passage for themselves,
+and while, united with the viceroy, they were warmly engaged, Davoust
+with his column passed rapidly behind them, along the left side of the
+high road, then crossing it, as soon as he had got beyond them, he
+claimed his place in the order of battle, took the right wing, and found
+himself between Viazma and the Russians. Prince Eugene gave up to him
+the ground which he had been defending, and crossed to the other side of
+the road. The enemy then began to extend himself in front of them, and
+endeavored to outflank their wings.
+
+Miloradovitch, the Russian general, left to himself, now tried to break
+the French line of battle; but he could penetrate it by his fire alone,
+which made dreadful havoc in our ranks. Eugene and Davoust were growing
+weak; and, as they heard another action in the rear of their right, they
+imagined that the rest of the Russian army was approaching Viazma by the
+Yuknof road, the outlet of which Ney was defending.
+
+It was only, however, an advanced guard: but they were alarmed at the
+noise of this engagement in the rear of their own, threatening their
+retreat. The action had now continued ever since seven in the morning,
+and night was approaching: the baggage must by this time have got away,
+and the French generals began to retire.
+
+This retrograde movement increased the ardor of the enemy, and but for a
+memorable effort of the 25th, 57th, and 85th regiments, and the
+protection of a ravine, Davoust's corps would have been broken, turned
+by its right, and destroyed. Prince Eugene, who was not so briskly
+attacked, was able to effect his retreat more rapidly through Viazma;
+but the Russians followed him thither, and had penetrated into the town
+at the very time when Davoust, pursued by 20,000 men, and overwhelmed by
+eighty pieces of cannon, in his turn attempted to pass.
+
+Morand's division first entered the place: it was marching on with
+confidence, under the idea that the action was over, when the Russians,
+who were concealed by the windings of the streets, suddenly fell upon
+it. The surprise was complete, and the confusion great: Morand
+nevertheless rallied and encouraged his men, retrieved matters, and
+fought his way through.
+
+It was Compans who put an end to the affair. He closed the march with
+his division. Finding himself too closely pressed by the bravest troops
+of Miloradovitch, he turned about, dashed in person at the most eager,
+overthrew them, and having thus made them fear him, he finished his
+retreat without farther molestation. This conflict, glorious to each,
+was in its result disastrous to all. It was, unhappily, without unity or
+order. There were troops enough to conquer had there not been too many
+commanders. It was not till near two o'clock that the latter met to
+concert their manoeuvres, and these were even then executed without
+harmony.
+
+When at length the river, the town of Viazma, night, mutual fatigue, and
+Marshal Ney had established a barrier between them and the enemy, the
+danger being adjourned and the bivouacs established, the numbers were
+counted. Several pieces of cannon which had been broken, the baggage,
+and four thousand killed or wounded were found missing. Many of the
+soldiers, too, had dispersed. Their honor had been saved, but there were
+immense gaps in their ranks. It was necessary to close them up, to bring
+everything within a narrower compass, to form what remained into a more
+compact whole. Each regiment scarcely composed a battalion, each
+battalion scarcely a platoon. The soldiers remaining had no longer their
+accustomed places, comrades, or officers.
+
+This sad reorganization took place by the light of the conflagration of
+Viazma, and during the successive discharges of the cannon of Ney and
+Miloradovitch, the thunders of which were prolonged amid the double
+gloom of the night and of the forests. Several times the remnants of
+these brave battalions, conceiving they were attacked, crawled to their
+arms. The next morning, when they again fell into their ranks, they were
+astonished at the smallness of their numbers.
+
+
+§ 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effects upon the
+troops.
+
+The spirits of the troops were nevertheless still supported by the
+example of their leaders, by the hopes of finding all their wants
+supplied at Smolensk, and still more by the aspect of a yet brilliant
+sun, that universal source of hope and life, which seemed to contradict
+and deny the spectacles of despair and death that already encompassed
+us.
+
+But on the 6th of November the heavens changed. Their azure disappeared.
+The army marched enveloped in a chilling mist. This mist became thicker,
+and presently a blinding storm of snow descended upon it. It seemed as
+if the sky itself were falling, and uniting with the earth and our
+enemies to complete our destruction. All objects rapidly changed their
+appearance, becoming utterly confounded, and not to be recognized any
+more: we proceeded without knowing where we were, without perceiving the
+point to which we were bound; everything was converted into an obstacle
+to stop our progress. While we were struggling with the tempest of wind
+and snow, the latter, driven by the storm, lodged and accumulated in
+every hollow, concealing unknown abysses, which perfidiously opened
+beneath our feet. There the soldiers were ingulfed, and the weakest,
+resigning themselves to their fate, found their grave in these
+treacherous pits.
+
+Those who followed turned aside; but the tempest, driving into their
+faces the snow that was descending from the sky and that which it raised
+from the earth, seemed resolved to arrest their farther progress. The
+Russian winter, in this new form, attacked them at every point: it
+penetrated through their light garments, and their rent and worn-out
+shoes. Their wet clothes froze to their bodies: an icy envelope encased
+them, and stiffened all their limbs. A piercing and violent wind almost
+prevented respiration; and, seizing their breath the moment it was
+exhaled, converted it into icicles, which hung from their beards all
+about their mouths.
+
+The miserable creatures still crawled shivering along, till the snow,
+gathering in balls on the soles of their shoes, or a fragment of some
+broken article, a branch of a tree, or the body of one of their
+comrades, encountered in the way, caused them to stumble and fall. There
+their groans were unheeded; the snow soon covered them; slight hillocks
+marked the spots where they lay: there was their only grave. The road,
+like a cemetery, was thickly studded with these elevations; the most
+intrepid and the most indifferent were affected; they passed quickly on
+with averted looks. But before them and around them there was nothing
+but snow; this immense and dismal uniformity extended farther than the
+eye could reach; the imagination was astounded: it seemed a vast
+winding-sheet which Nature had thrown over the army. The only objects
+not enveloped by it were some gloomy pines, trees of the tombs, with
+their funereal verdure and their gigantic and motionless trunks
+completing the solemnity of a general mourning, and of an army dying
+amid nature already dead.
+
+Everything, even to their very arms, still offensive at
+Malo-jaroslavetz, but since defensive only, now turned against our men.
+They seemed to their frozen limbs an insupportable weight. In the falls
+they experienced, they dropped almost unperceived from their hands, and
+were broken or buried in the snow. If they rose again it was without
+them: they had not thrown them away, but hunger and cold had wrested
+them from their grasp. The fingers of others were frozen to the muskets
+they still held, depriving them of the motion necessary to keep up some
+degree of warmth and of life.
+
+We soon met with numbers of men belonging to all the different corps,
+sometimes singly, sometimes in troops. They had not basely deserted
+their colors: it was cold and exhaustion which had separated them from
+them. In this mortal struggle, at once general and individual, they had
+parted from each other, and there they were, disarmed, vanquished,
+defenceless, without leaders, obeying nothing but the most urgent
+instinct of self-preservation.
+
+Most of them, attracted by the sight of by-paths, dispersed themselves
+over the country in hopes of finding bread and shelter for the coming
+night; but on their first passage all had been laid waste to the extent
+of seven or eight leagues: they met only with Cossacks and an armed
+population, which gathered around them, wounded and stripped them naked,
+and then left them, with bursts of savage laughter, to perish in the
+snow. These people, who had risen at the call of Alexander and Kutusoff,
+and who had not then learned, as they since have, to avenge nobly a
+country which they had been unable to defend, hovered on both flanks of
+the army under favor of the woods. Those whom they did not despatch with
+their pikes and hatchets, they drove back to the fatal and all-devouring
+high road.
+
+Night then came on: a night of sixteen hours! But on that snow, which
+covered everything, where were they to halt, where sit, where lie down,
+where find even a root to satisfy their hunger, or dry wood to kindle a
+fire? Fatigue, darkness, and repeated orders nevertheless stopped those
+whom their moral and physical strength and the efforts of their officers
+had still kept together. They strove to establish themselves; but the
+tempest, not yet subsided, dispersed the first preparations for
+bivouacs. The pines, laden with frost, obstinately resisted ignition;
+while the snow, which still continued to fall from the sky, and that on
+the ground, which melted with the effect of the first heat, extinguished
+their kindling fires, and, with them, the strength and spirits of the
+men.
+
+When at length the flames gained the ascendancy, the officers and
+soldiers around them commenced preparing their wretched repast: it
+consisted of lean and ragged pieces of flesh torn from the horses that
+had given out, and at most a few spoonfuls of rye flour mixed with
+snow-water. The next morning circular ranges of soldiers extended
+lifeless marked the sites of the bivouacs, and the ground about them was
+strewed with the bodies of several thousand horses.
+
+From that day we began to place less reliance on one another. In that
+vivacious army, susceptible of all impressions, and taught to reason by
+an advanced civilization, despondency and neglect of discipline rapidly
+spread, the imagination knowing no bounds in evil any more than in good.
+Henceforward, at every bivouac, at every difficult passage, nay, every
+moment, some portion separated from the yet organized lines and fell
+into disorder. There were some, however, who were proof against this
+widespread contagion of insubordination and despair. These were
+officers, non-commissioned officers, and the firmest among the soldiers.
+They were extraordinary men; they encouraged one another by repeating
+the name of Smolensk, which town they knew they were approaching, and
+where they had been promised that all their wants should be supplied.
+
+It was thus, after this deluge of snow, and the increase of cold which
+it foreboded, that each one, whether officer or soldier, either
+preserved or lost his fortitude, according to his disposition, age, or
+constitution; while he who of all our leaders had hitherto been the most
+strict in enforcing discipline, now paid but little attention to it.
+Thrown out of his established ideas of regularity, order, and method, he
+was seized with despair at the sight of such universal confusion: and
+conceiving, before the rest, that all was lost, he felt himself ready to
+abandon all.
+
+From this point for some distance, nothing remarkable occurred in the
+imperial column except that it was found necessary to throw the spoils
+of Moscow into the Lake of Semlewo; cannon, Gothic armor, the ornaments
+of the Kremlin, and the cross of Ivan the Great, were all buried in its
+waters. Trophies, glory, those acquisitions to which we had sacrificed
+everything, all now became a burden to us: our object was no longer to
+embellish life, but to preserve it. In this vast wreck, the army, which
+might be compared to a mighty ship tossed by the most tremendous of
+tempests, threw without hesitation into that sea of ice and snow
+everything that could burden or impede its progress.
+
+The attitude of Napoleon was the same that he retained throughout the
+whole of this dismal retreat. It was grave, silent, and resigned:
+suffering much less in body than others, but far more in mind, and
+brooding with speechless agony over his misfortunes. At that moment
+General Charpentier sent him from Smolensk a convoy of provisions.
+Bessières wished to take possession of them; but the emperor instantly
+ordered them to be forwarded to the Prince of Moskwa, saying that "those
+who were fighting must eat before the rest." At the same time, he sent
+word to Ney "to defend himself long enough to allow him some stay at
+Smolensk, where the army should eat, rest, and be reorganized."
+
+The Russians, however, advanced under favor of a wood and of our
+forsaken carriages, whence they kept up a fire of musketry on Ney's
+troops. Half of the latter, whose icy arms froze their stiffened
+fingers, became discouraged; they gave way, excusing themselves by their
+want of firmness on the preceding day, and fleeing because they had
+before fled, which but for this, they would have considered as
+impossible. But Ney, rushing in among them, seized one of their muskets,
+and led them back to action, which he was himself the first to renew;
+exposing his life like a private soldier, with a firelock in his hand,
+the same as though he had been neither possessed of wealth, nor power,
+nor consideration; in short, as if he had still everything to gain, when
+in fact he had everything to lose. But, though he had again turned
+soldier, he ceased not to be general: he took advantage of the ground,
+supported himself against a height, and covered his approach by
+occupying a palisaded house. His generals and colonels, among whom he
+particularly remarked Fezenzac, strenuously seconded him; and the enemy,
+who had expected to pursue, was obliged to retreat.
+
+By this action Ney afforded the army a respite of twenty-four hours; and
+it profited by it to proceed towards Smolensk. The next day, and every
+succeeding day, he displayed the same heroism. Between Viazma and
+Smolensk he fought ten whole days.
+
+
+§ 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at the
+passage of the Wop.
+
+On the 13th of November Ney was approaching that city, which he was not
+to enter till the ensuing day, and had faced about to beat off the
+enemy, when all at once the hills upon which he intended to support his
+left were seen covered with a multitude of fugitives. In their terror,
+these unfortunate wretches fell, and rolled down to where he was upon
+the frozen snow, which they stained with their blood. A band of
+Cossacks, which was soon perceived in the midst of them, sufficiently
+accounted for this disorder. The astonished marshal, having caused this
+horde of enemies to be dispersed, discovered behind it the army of
+Italy, returning completely stripped, without baggage and without
+cannon.
+
+Platoff had kept it besieged, as it were, all the way from
+Dorogobouje.[169] Near that town Prince Eugene had quitted the high
+road, and, in order to proceed towards Witepsk, had taken that which,
+two months before, had brought him from Smolensk; but the Wop, which,
+when he had crossed it before, was a mere brook, and had scarcely been
+noticed, he now found swollen into a river. It ran over a muddy bed, and
+was bounded by two steep banks. It was found necessary to cut a passage
+in these precipitous and frozen banks, and to give orders for the
+demolition of the neighboring houses during the night, for the purpose
+of building a bridge with the materials. But those who had taken shelter
+in them opposed their being destroyed; and, as the viceroy was more
+beloved than feared, his instructions were not obeyed. The
+bridge-builders became disheartened, and when daylight, with the
+Cossacks, appeared, the bridge, after being twice broken down, was at
+last abandoned.
+
+Five or six thousand soldiers still in order, twice the number of
+disbanded men, the sick and wounded, upward of a hundred pieces of
+cannon, ammunition-wagons, and a multitude of vehicles of every kind,
+lined the bank and covered a league of ground. An attempt was made to
+ford the river through the floating ice which was carried along by its
+current. The first guns that were attempted to be got over reached the
+opposite bank; but the water kept rising every moment, while at the same
+time the bed of the stream at the place of passage was continually
+deepened by the wheels and by the efforts of the horses. One carriage
+stuck fast, others did the same, and at length the stoppage became
+general.
+
+Meanwhile the day was advancing; the men were exhausting themselves in
+vain efforts: hunger, cold, and the Cossacks became pressing, and the
+viceroy finally found himself compelled to order his artillery and all
+his baggage to be left behind. A distressing spectacle ensued. The
+owners were allowed scarcely a moment to part from their effects: while
+they were selecting from them such articles as they most needed, and
+loading their horses with them, a multitude of soldiers came rushing up:
+they fell in preference upon the vehicles of luxury; these they broke in
+pieces and rummaged every part, avenging their poverty on the wealth,
+and their privations on the superfluities they here found, and snatching
+them from the Cossacks, who were in the meantime looking on at a
+distance.
+
+But it was provisions of which most of them were in quest. They threw
+aside embroidered clothes, pictures, ornaments of every kind, and gilt
+bronzes for a few handfuls of flour. In the evening it was a strange
+sight to behold the mingled riches of Paris and of Moscow, the luxuries
+of two of the largest cities in the world, lying scattered and despised
+on the snow of the desert.
+
+At the same time, most of the artillerymen spiked their guns in despair,
+and scattered their powder about. Others laid a train with it as far as
+some ammunition-wagons, which had been left at a considerable distance
+behind our baggage. They waited till the most eager of the Cossacks had
+come up to them, and when a great number, greedy of plunder, had
+collected about them, they threw a brand from a bivouac upon the train.
+The fire ran, and in a moment reached its destination; the wagons were
+blown up, the shells exploded, and such of the Cossacks as were not
+killed on the spot dispersed in dismay.
+
+The army of Italy, thus completely dismantled, soaked in the waters of
+the Wop, without food, without shelter, passed the night on the snow
+near a village where its officers expected to find lodgings for
+themselves. Their soldiers, however, beset its wooden houses. They
+rushed like madmen, and in swarms, on every habitation, profiting by the
+darkness, which prevented them from recognizing their officers or being
+known by them. They tore down everything, doors, windows, and even the
+woodwork of the roofs, feeling but little compunction in compelling
+others, be they who they might, to bivouac like themselves.
+
+Their generals attempted in vain to drive them off: they took their
+blows without a murmur or the least opposition, but without
+desisting--even the men of the royal and imperial guards; for,
+throughout the whole army, such were the scenes that occurred every
+night. The unfortunate fellows kept silently but actively at work on the
+wooden walls, which they pulled in pieces on every side at once, and
+which, after vain efforts, their officers were obliged to relinquish to
+them, for fear they would fall upon their own heads. It was an
+extraordinary mixture of perseverance in their design and of respect for
+the anger of their superiors.
+
+Having kindled good fires, they spent the night in drying themselves,
+amid the shouts, imprecations, and groans of those who were still
+crossing the torrent, or who, slipping from its banks, were precipitated
+into it and drowned.
+
+
+§ 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk.
+
+At length the army once more came in sight of Smolensk: it had reached
+the goal so often announced to it of all its sufferings. The soldiers
+exultingly pointed it out to each other. There was that land of promise
+where their hunger was to find abundance, their fatigue rest; where
+bivouacs in a cold of nineteen degrees would be forgotten in houses
+warmed by good fires. There they would enjoy refreshing sleep; there
+they might repair their apparel; there they would be furnished with new
+shoes, and clothing adapted to the climate.
+
+At this sight, the corps of picked men, the veteran regiments, and a few
+other soldiers alone kept their ranks; the rest ran forward with all
+possible speed. Thousands of men, chiefly unarmed, covered the two steep
+banks of the Borysthenes: they crowded in masses around the lofty walls
+and gates of the city; but this disorderly multitude, with their haggard
+faces begrimed with dirt and smoke, their tattered uniforms, and the
+grotesque habiliments which they had substituted in place of them: in
+short, with their strange, hideous looks, and their impetuous ardor,
+excited alarm. It was believed, that if the irruption of this crowd,
+maddened with hunger, were not repelled, that a general pillage would be
+the consequence, and the gates were closed against it.
+
+It was also hoped that by exercising this rigor these men would be
+forced again to rally about their standards. A horrible struggle between
+order and disorder now commenced in the remnant of this unfortunate
+army. In vain did they entreat, weep, threaten, strive to burst open the
+gates, and even drop down dead at the feet of their comrades placed to
+repel them; they found the latter inexorable, and were forced to wait
+the arrival of the first troops that were still officered and in order.
+
+These were the Old and the Young Guard; and it was not till after them
+that the disbanded men were allowed to enter: the latter, and the other
+corps which arrived in succession, from the 8th to the 14th, believed
+that their admission had been delayed merely to give more rest and more
+provisions to this favored guard. Their sufferings rendered them unjust:
+they execrated it. "Were they, then, to be forever sacrificed to this
+privileged class; fellows kept for mere parade, who were never foremost
+but at reviews, festivals, and distributions? Was the army to put up
+with their leavings, always to wait till they had glutted themselves?"
+It was useless to tell them in reply, that to attempt to save all was
+the way to lose all; that it was necessary to keep at least one corps
+entire, and to give the preference to that which in the last extremity
+would be capable of making the most powerful effort.
+
+At length these poor creatures were admitted into that Smolensk for
+which they had so long ardently wished, while the banks of the
+Borysthenes were strewed with their expiring companions, the weakest of
+whom impatience and several hours' waiting had brought to that state.
+Others, again, were left on the icy steep, which they had to climb to
+reach the upper town. The rest ran to the magazines, where many fell
+exhausted while they beset the doors; for here also they were repulsed.
+"Who were they?" it was asked. "To what corps did they belong? What had
+they to prove it? The persons appointed to distribute the provisions
+were responsible for them: they had orders to deliver them only to
+authorized officers bringing receipts, for which alone they could
+exchange the rations committed to their care." These poor famished
+creatures had no officers, nor could they tell where their regiments
+were: two-thirds of the army were in this predicament.
+
+These miserable men then dispersed themselves through the streets,
+having no longer any hope but in pillage. But horses dissected to the
+very bones everywhere denoted a famine; the doors and windows of the
+houses had been all broken and torn away to feed the fires of the
+bivouacs; they found no shelter in them, no winter quarters prepared, no
+wood. The sick and wounded were left in the streets, in the carts which
+had brought them. It was again, it was always the same fatal high road,
+passing through a town which was but an empty name: it was a new bivouac
+among deceitful ruins, colder even than the forests they had just
+quitted.
+
+Then only did these disorganized troops seek their colors: they rejoined
+them for a moment in order to obtain food; but all the bread that could
+be baked had been distributed; and there was no biscuit, no butcher's
+meat. Rye flour, dry vegetables, and spirits were dealt out to them. It
+required the most strenuous efforts to prevent the detachments of the
+different corps from murdering each other at the doors of the magazines;
+and when, after long formalities, their wretched fare was at last
+delivered to them, the soldiers refused to carry it to their regiments;
+they fell upon their sacks, snatched out of them a few pounds of flour,
+and ran to secrete themselves till they had devoured it. The same was
+the case with the spirits; and the next day the houses were found full
+of the bodies of these miserable creatures.
+
+In short, that Smolensk, which the army had looked forward to, as the
+term of their sufferings, marked, as it were, only their commencement.
+Inexpressible hardships still awaited us: we had yet to march forty days
+under that yoke of iron. Some, already borne down by present miseries,
+sank under the frightful prospect of those which were before them.
+Others sternly resolved to battle with their destiny; and, finding they
+had nothing to rely on but themselves, they determined to live at all
+hazards.
+
+Thenceforward, according as they found themselves the stronger or the
+weaker, by violence or stealth they plundered their companions of their
+subsistence, of their garments, and of the gold with which they had
+filled their knapsacks instead of provisions. These wretches, whom
+despair had thus made robbers, then threw away their arms to save their
+infamous booty, profiting by the general confusion, an obscure name, a
+uniform no longer distinguishable, and night: in short, by every kind of
+concealment favorable to cowardice and guilt. If works already published
+had not exaggerated these horrors, I should have passed over in silence
+such terrible details; for atrocities so extreme were, after all,
+comparatively rare, and justice was dealt to the most criminal.
+
+On the 9th of November the emperor arrived amid this scene of
+desolation. He shut himself up in one of the houses in the new square,
+and never quitted it till the 14th to resume his retreat. He had
+calculated upon fifteen days' provisions and forage for an army of one
+hundred thousand men; but there was not more than half this quantity of
+flour, rice, and spirits, and no meat at all. Cries of rage were now
+directed against the principal individual appointed to provide these
+supplies; and the commissary saved his life only by prostrating himself
+on his knees at the feet of Napoleon, and remaining in that posture for
+a long time. But the reasons which he assigned for his failure did more
+for him than his supplications.
+
+Many of these reasons were well founded. A chain of other magazines had
+been formed from Smolensk to Minsk and Wilna. These two towns were, in a
+still greater degree than Smolensk, centres of provisioning, of which
+the fortresses of the Vistula formed the first line. The total quantity
+of provisions, indeed, distributed over this space was incalculable; the
+efforts for transporting them thither had been gigantic; while the
+result was little better than nothing. Scattered over such a vast
+extent, immense as they were, they were found wholly insufficient.
+
+Thus great expeditions are crushed by their own weight. Human limits had
+been surpassed: the genius of Napoleon, in attempting to soar above
+time, climate, and distance, had, as it were, lost itself in space;
+great as was its measure, it had gone beyond it.
+
+Napoleon had been at Smolensk for five days. It was known that Ney had
+received orders to arrive there as late as possible, and Eugene to halt
+for two days at a point near Smolensk. Then it was not the necessity of
+waiting for the army of Italy which detained him! To what, then, must we
+attribute this delay, in the midst of famine, disease, and when the
+winter and three hostile armies were gradually surrounding us?
+
+The emperor no doubt fancied that by dating his despatches for five days
+from that city, he would give to his disorderly flight the appearance of
+a slow and glorious retreat. In the same spirit, no doubt, he had
+ordered the destruction of the towers which surrounded Smolensk, from
+the wish, as he expressed it, of not being again stopped short by its
+walls! as if there were any idea of our returning to a place which we
+were not even sure that we should ever get out of.
+
+The emperor, however, made an effort that was not altogether fruitless.
+This was to rally under one commander all that remained of the cavalry;
+when it was found that of this force, thirty-seven thousand strong at
+the passage of the Niemen, there now remained only eight hundred men on
+horseback. He gave the command of these to Latour-Maubourg; and, whether
+from the esteem felt for him, or from the general indifference, no one
+objected to it.
+
+This army, which left Moscow one hundred thousand strong, in
+five-and-twenty days had been reduced to thirty-six thousand men, while
+the artillery had lost three hundred and fifty of their cannon; and yet
+these feeble remains continued as before to be divided into eight
+armies, which were encumbered with sixty thousand unarmed stragglers,
+and a long train of cannon and baggage.
+
+Whether it was the encumbrance of so many men and carriages, or a
+mistaken sense of security, which led the emperor to order a day's
+interval between the departure of each marshal, is uncertain; but most
+probably it was the latter. Be that, however, as it may, he, Eugene,
+Davoust, and Ney, quitted Smolensk in succession; and Ney was not to
+leave it till the 16th or 17th. He had orders to make the artillery
+dismount the cannon left behind, and bury them; to destroy the
+ammunition, to drive all the stragglers before him, and to blow up the
+towers which surrounded the city.
+
+Kutusoff, meanwhile, was waiting for us at some leagues' distance,
+prepared to cut in pieces, one after the other, those remnants of corps
+thus extended and parcelled out.
+
+
+§ 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoë.
+
+It was on the 14th of November, about five in the morning, that the
+imperial column at last quitted Smolensk. Its march was still firm, but
+gloomy and silent as night, like the mute and sombre aspect of the
+country through which it was advancing.
+
+This stillness was only interrupted by the cracking of the whips applied
+to the horses, and by short and violent imprecations when they met with
+ravines, and when down these icy declivities, men, horses, and artillery
+were rolling in the darkness one over the other. The first day they
+advanced five leagues, and the artillery of the guard took twenty-two
+hours to get over that distance.
+
+Kutusoff, at the same time, with the bulk of his army, moved forward,
+and took a position in the rear of these advanced corps, within reach of
+them all, felicitating himself on the success of his manoeuvres, which,
+after all, would inevitably have failed, owing to his tardiness, had it
+not been for our want of foresight; for this was a contest of errors, in
+which, ours being the greatest, we narrowly escaped total destruction.
+Having made these dispositions, the Russian commander must have believed
+that the French army was entirely in his power; but this belief saved
+us. Kutusoff was wanting to himself at the moment of action; his old age
+executed only half, and that badly, the plans which it had wisely
+combined.
+
+During the time that all these masses were arranging themselves round
+Napoleon, he remained perfectly tranquil in a miserable hut, the only
+one left standing in Korythnia, apparently quite unconscious of all
+these movements of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, which were
+surrounding him in all directions; at least he sent no orders to the
+three corps which had halted at Smolensk, to expedite their march, and
+he himself waited for daylight to proceed.
+
+His column was advancing without precaution, preceded by a crowd of
+stragglers, all eager to reach Krasnoë, when, at two leagues from that
+place, a line of Cossacks, extending from the heights on our left across
+the great road, appeared before them. Seized with astonishment, these
+stragglers instantly halted: they had looked for nothing of the kind,
+and with their first impressions were led to believe that relentless
+fate had traced upon the snow between them and Europe that long, black,
+and motionless line as the fatal term assigned to their hopes.
+
+Suddenly a Russian battery began firing. Their balls crossed the road.
+The German corps became confused and made no attempt to meet this
+attack. But a wounded officer who chanced to be there assumed the
+command of the Germans, and the men obeyed him as if he had been their
+rightful leader. On seeing this advanced column of Germans march forward
+in such good order, the enemy confined himself to attacking it with his
+artillery, which it disregarded and soon left behind. When it came to
+the turn of the Old Guard to pass through this fire, they closed their
+ranks around Napoleon like a movable fortress, proud of the honor of
+protecting him. Their band of music expressed their satisfaction. When
+the danger was greatest, it played the well-known air, "_Where can one
+be happier than in the bosom of his family?_" But the emperor, whom
+nothing escaped, stopped them with the exclamation, "Rather play, '_Let
+us watch for the safety of the empire!_'" words much better suited to
+the feelings which then occupied him, and to the general condition of
+affairs.
+
+At the same time, the enemy's fire becoming troublesome, he gave orders
+to silence it, and in two hours he reached Krasnoë.
+
+On the 17th, before daylight, Napoleon issued his orders, armed himself,
+and going out on foot at the head of his Old Guard, began his march. But
+it was not towards Poland, his ally, that he directed it, nor towards
+France, where he would still be received as the head of a new dynasty,
+and the Emperor of the West. His words on grasping his sword on this
+occasion were, "I have sufficiently acted the emperor; it is time I
+should become the general." He turned back upon eighty thousand of the
+enemy, plunging into the thickest of them, in order to draw all their
+efforts against himself, to make a diversion in favor of Davoust and
+Ney, and to rescue them from a country, the gates of which were closed
+against them.
+
+Daylight at last appeared, exhibiting on the one part the Russian
+battalions and batteries, which on three sides, in front, on our right,
+and in our rear, bounded the horizon, and on the other Napoleon, with
+his six thousand guards, advancing with a firm step, and proceeding to
+take his place in the centre of that terrible circle. At the same time,
+Mortier, a few yards in front of the emperor, deployed,[170] in the face
+of the whole Russian army, with the five thousand men still remaining to
+him.
+
+Here, then, it was made evident that renown is something more than a
+vain shadow, that it is real strength, and doubly powerful from the
+inflexible pride which it imparts to its favorites, and the timid
+precautions it imposes on those who venture to attack it. The enemy had
+only to march forward without manoeuvring, or even firing; their mass
+alone was sufficient to crush Napoleon with all his feeble battalions;
+still they did not dare come to close quarters with him. They were awed
+at the presence of the conqueror of Egypt and of Europe. The Pyramids,
+Marengo, Austerlitz, Friedland, a host of victories seemed to rise
+between him and the astounded Russians. Might we not also fancy that, in
+the eyes of that passive and superstitious people, a renown so
+extraordinary appeared like something supernatural? that they regarded
+it as wholly beyond their power, or, at least, believed that they could
+safely assail it only from a distance? and, in short, that against that
+Old Guard, that living fortress, that column of granite, as it had been
+called by its leader, human efforts were impotent, or that cannon alone
+could demolish it?
+
+But every moment strengthened the enemy and weakened Napoleon. The noise
+of artillery, as well as Claparède, apprised him that in the rear of
+Krasnoë and his army Beningsen was proceeding to take possession of the
+road to Liady, and entirely cut off his retreat. The east, the west, and
+the south were flashing with the enemy's fires; one side alone remained
+open, that of the north and the Dnieper, towards an eminence, at the
+foot of which were the high road and the emperor. We fancied we saw the
+enemy already covering this eminence with his cannon. In that situation
+they would have been just over Napoleon's head, and might have crushed
+him at a few yards' distance. He was apprised of his danger, cast his
+eyes for an instant towards the height, and uttered merely these words,
+"Very well, let one of my battalions take possession of it." Immediately
+afterward, without giving farther heed to it, his whole attention was
+directed to the perilous situation of Mortier.
+
+Fortunately, some troops which Davoust had rallied and the appearance of
+another troop of his stragglers, attracted the enemy's attention.
+Mortier availed himself of it. He gave orders to the three thousand men
+he had still remaining to retreat slowly in the face of their fifty
+thousand enemies. "Do you hear, soldiers?" cried General Laborde, "the
+marshal orders ordinary time! Ordinary time, soldiers!" And this brave
+and unfortunate troop, dragging with them some of their wounded, under a
+shower of balls and grape-shot, retired as deliberately from this field
+of carnage as they would have done from a field of manoeuvre.
+
+
+§ 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a council.
+
+As soon as Mortier had succeeded in placing Krasnoë between him and
+Beningsen, he was in safety.
+
+The next day the march was resumed, though with reluctance. The
+impatient stragglers took the lead, and all of them got the start of
+Napoleon: he was on foot with a stick in his hand, walking slowly and
+hesitatingly, and halting every quarter of an hour, as if unwilling to
+tear himself away from that old Russia, whose frontier he was then
+passing, and in which he had left his unfortunate companions in arms.
+
+In the evening he reached Dombrowna,[171] a wooden town, and inhabited
+as well as Liady: a novel sight for an army, which had for three months
+seen nothing but ruins. At last, then, we had emerged from Russia
+proper, and her deserts of snow and ashes, and were entering into a
+friendly and inhabited country, whose language we understood. The
+weather just then became milder, a thaw began, and we received some
+provisions.
+
+Thus the winter, the enemy, solitude, and, with some, famine and
+bivouacs, all ceased at once; but it was too late. The emperor saw that
+his army was destroyed: every moment the name of Ney escaped from his
+lips, with expressions of the deepest grief. That night he was heard
+groaning and exclaiming "that the misery of his poor soldiers cut him to
+the heart, and yet that he could not succor them without establishing
+himself in some place: but where was it possible for him to stop without
+ammunition, provisions, or artillery? He was no longer strong enough to
+halt: he must reach Minsk as quickly as possible."
+
+He had scarcely spoken the words, when a Polish officer arrived with the
+news that Minsk itself, his magazine, his retreat, his only hope, had
+just fallen into the hands of the Russians, Tchitchakoff having entered
+it on the 16th. Napoleon at first was mute, and completely overpowered
+by this last blow; but immediately afterward, elevating himself in
+proportion to his danger, he coolly replied, "Very well! we have now
+nothing to do but to clear ourselves a passage with our bayonets."
+
+Napoleon then turned to his Old Guard, and, stopping in front of each
+battalion, "Grenadiers!"[172] said he, to them, "we are retreating
+without being conquered by the enemy; let us not be vanquished by
+ourselves! Set an example to the army. Several of you have already
+deserted your colors, and even thrown away your arms. I have no wish to
+have recourse to military laws to put a stop to this disorder, but
+appeal entirely to your sense of duty. Do justice to yourselves. To your
+own honor I commit the maintenance of your discipline!"
+
+The other troops he addressed in a similar style. These few words were
+quite sufficient to the old grenadiers, who probably had no occasion for
+them. The others received them with acclamations; but an hour afterward,
+when the march was resumed, they were entirely forgotten. As to his rear
+guard, throwing the blame of this wild alarm mostly upon it, he sent an
+angry message to Davoust on the subject.
+
+At Orcha we found rather an abundant supply of provisions, a bridge
+equipage of sixty boats, with all its appurtenances, which we burned,
+and thirty-six pieces of cannon, with their horses, which were
+distributed between Davoust, Eugene, and Latour-Maubourg.
+
+Napoleon entered Orcha with six thousand guards, the remains of
+thirty-five thousand! Eugene, with eighteen hundred soldiers, the
+remains of forty-two thousand! and Davoust, with four thousand, the
+remains of seventy thousand!
+
+This marshal had lost everything, was actually without linen, and
+emaciated with hunger. He seized upon a loaf, which was offered him by
+one of his comrades, and voraciously devoured it. A handkerchief was
+given him to wipe his face, which was white with frost. He exclaimed
+"that none but men with constitutions of iron could support such trials;
+that it was physically impossible to resist them; that there were limits
+to human strength, the utmost of which had been exceeded."
+
+The emperor made fruitless efforts to check this general despondency.
+When alone, he was heard compassionating the sufferings of his soldiers;
+but in their presence, even upon that point, he wished to appear
+inflexible. He issued a proclamation, "ordering all who had deserted
+their ranks to return to them: if they did not, he would strip the
+officers of their commissions, and the soldiers should be shot."
+
+A threat like this produced no impression whatever upon men who had
+become insensible, or were reduced to despair, fleeing not from danger,
+but from suffering, and caring as little for the death with which they
+were menaced as for the life that was offered them.
+
+But Napoleon's confidence increased with his perils: in his eyes, this
+handful of men, in these deserts of snow and ice, was still the Grand
+Army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! nor was there any affectation
+in this firmness: we were certain of it, when in this very town, we saw
+him burn, with his own hands, everything belonging to him that might
+serve as a trophy to the enemy, in the event of his fall.
+
+But everything was now changed: two hostile armies were opposing his
+retreat; and the question to be decided was, through which of them he
+should cut his way. As he knew nothing of the Lithuanian forests into
+which he was about penetrating, he summoned such of his officers as had
+been through them, in order to obtain information.
+
+The emperor began by remarking that "too great familiarity with victory
+was often the precursor of great disasters, but that recrimination was
+now out of the question." He then mentioned the capture of Minsk, and,
+admitting the skilfulness of Kutusoff's persevering manoeuvres on the
+right flank, he said that "it was his intention to abandon his line of
+operations on Minsk, unite with the Dukes of Belluno and Reggio, cut his
+way through Wittgenstein's army, and regain Wilna by turning the sources
+of the Berezina." Jomini combated this plan.
+
+Finally Napoleon decided upon Borizoff.[173] But he said, "that it was
+cruel to retreat without fighting, to present the appearance of flight.
+Had he only a magazine, some point of support which would allow him to
+halt, he would prove to Europe that he still knew how to fight and how
+to conquer."
+
+All these were mere illusions. At Smolensk, where he arrived first, and
+from which he was the first to depart, he had rather been informed of
+his disasters than witnessed them himself. At Krasnoë, where our
+miseries had been more fully unfolded before him, the peril by which we
+were surrounded had diverted his attention from them; but at Orcha he
+could contemplate, at one view and leisurely, the whole extent of his
+misfortunes.
+
+At Smolensk, thirty-six thousand combatants, one hundred and fifty
+cannon, the army-chest, and the hope of life, and of breathing at
+liberty on the other side of the Berezina, still remained; here there
+were scarcely ten thousand soldiers, almost without clothing or shoes,
+entangled amid a crowd of dying men, with but a few cannon, and a
+plundered army-chest.
+
+
+§ 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney.
+
+Being at length, on the 20th of November, compelled to quit Orcha, he
+left there Eugene, Mortier, and Davoust, and halted after a march of six
+miles from that place, still inquiring for Marshal Ney, who was
+advancing by a different route, and still expecting him. The same
+feeling of grief pervaded the portion of the army remaining at Orcha. As
+soon as the most pressing wants allowed a moment's rest, the thoughts
+and looks of every one were directed towards the Russian bank. They
+listened for any warlike sounds which might announce the arrival of Ney,
+or, rather, his last desperate struggle with the foe; but nothing was to
+be seen but parties of the enemy, who were already menacing the bridges
+of the Borysthenes.
+
+After exhausting all their conjectures, they had relapsed into a gloomy
+silence, when suddenly they heard the steps of horses, and then the
+joyful cry, "Marshal Ney is safe! here are some Polish cavalry come to
+announce his approach!" One of his officers now galloped in, and
+informed them that the marshal was advancing on the right bank of the
+Borysthenes, and had sent him to ask for assistance.
+
+When the two corps, Eugene's and Ney's, fairly recognized each other,
+they could no longer be kept in their ranks. Soldiers, officers,
+generals, all rushed forward together. The soldiers of Eugene, eagerly
+grasping the hands of those of Ney, held them with a joyful mixture of
+astonishment and curiosity, and embraced them with the tenderest
+sympathy. They lavished upon them the refreshments and brandy which they
+had just received, and overwhelmed them with questions. Then they
+proceeded in company towards Orcha, all burning with impatience,
+Eugene's soldiers to hear, and Ney's to relate, their story.
+
+The officers of Ney stated that on the 17th of November they had quitted
+Smolensk with twelve cannon, six thousand infantry, and three hundred
+cavalry, leaving there five thousand sick to the mercy of the enemy; and
+that, had it not been for the noise of Platoff's artillery and the
+explosion of the mines, their marshal would never have been able to draw
+from the ruins of that city seven thousand unarmed stragglers who had
+taken shelter among them. They dwelt upon the attentions which their
+leader had shown to the wounded, and to the women and their children,
+proving upon this occasion that the bravest are also the most humane.
+
+At the gates of the city an unnatural action struck them with a horror
+that they still felt in all its force. A mother abandoned her little
+son, only five years old: in spite of his cries and tears, she drove him
+away from her sledge, which was too heavily laden. She exclaimed, at the
+same time, with a distracted air, that "_he_ had never seen France! _he_
+would not regret it! but _she_ knew France! _she_ was resolved to see
+France once more!" Twice did Ney himself replace the unfortunate child
+in the arms of his mother, and twice did she cast him from her on the
+frozen snow.
+
+This solitary crime, amid a thousand instances of the most devoted and
+sublime tenderness, they did not leave unpunished. The unnatural parent
+was herself abandoned to the snow from which her infant was snatched,
+and intrusted to another mother: this little orphan was then in their
+ranks; he was afterward seen at the Berezina, then at Wilna, again at
+Kowno, and finally escaped from all the horrors of the retreat.
+
+Frustrated in his plans Ney instead of advancing to join Napoleon was
+compelled to order his men to return towards Smolensk. At these words
+they were struck motionless with astonishment. Even his aid-de-camp
+could not believe his ears: he remained silent, like one who does not
+comprehend what he hears, and looked at his general in amazement. But
+the marshal briefly repeating the same order in a still more imperative
+tone, they were no longer at any loss, but all recognized in it
+resolution taken, a resource discovered, that self-confidence which
+inspires others with the same feeling, and a spirit which rises superior
+to its situation, however perilous it may be. They instantly obeyed,
+and, without the slightest hesitation, turned their backs on their own
+army, on the emperor, and on France. Once more they returned into that
+fatal Russia. Their retrograde march had lasted an hour: again they came
+to the field of battle marked by the remains of the army of Italy; there
+they halted, and the marshal, who had remained with the rear guard, then
+joined them.
+
+Their eyes followed all his movements. What did he intend doing? and,
+whatever might be his plan, where would he direct his steps, without a
+guide, in an unknown country? But, while they were thus perplexing
+themselves, he, with his warlike instinct, had halted on the edge of a
+ravine of such depth as to make it evident that there was a stream at
+the bottom of it. By clearing away the snow and breaking the ice, this
+fact was soon established: and then, consulting his map, he exclaimed,
+"This is one of the streams which flow into the Dnieper: this must be
+our guide, and we must follow it; it will lead us to that river, which
+we must cross, and on the other side we shall be safe." Accordingly, he
+immediately proceeded in that direction.
+
+A lame peasant was the only inhabitant they could discover; but even
+this was an unlooked-for piece of good fortune. He told them that they
+were within the distance of a league from the Dnieper, but that it was
+not fordable there, and could not yet be frozen over. "It must be so,"
+the marshal remarked; but when he was reminded that a thaw had just
+commenced, he added, "it does not signify; we must pass, as there is no
+other resource."
+
+At last at about eight o'clock, after passing through a village, they
+soon came to the termination of the ravine, and the Russian, who walked
+before, halted and pointed out to them the river.
+
+Finally, about midnight, the passage began; but the first persons who
+ventured on the ice called out that it was bending under them, that it
+was sinking, that they were up to their knees in water; and immediately
+after that frail support was heard cracking and splitting, as in the
+breaking up of a frost. All halted in consternation.
+
+Ney ordered them to pass only one at a time: they proceeded with
+caution, not knowing sometimes in the dark whether they were placing
+their feet on the ice or into a chasm; for there were places where they
+were obliged to clear large fissures, and jump from one piece to
+another, at the risk of falling between them and disappearing forever.
+The first hesitated, but those who were behind kept calling to them to
+make more haste.
+
+When at last, after several of these dreadful panics, they reached the
+opposite bank and fancied themselves safe, a perpendicular steep,
+slippery as glass, opposed their landing, and many were again thrown
+back upon the ice, either bruised by it, or breaking it in their fall.
+It would seem, indeed, as though this Russian river and its banks had
+contributed with regret, by surprise, and by compulsion, as it were, to
+their escape.
+
+But what they spoke of as being the most painful of all, were the
+trouble and distraction of the females and of the sick, when it became
+necessary for them to abandon, along with the baggage, the remains of
+their fortune, their provisions, and, in short, all their resources both
+for the present and the future. They were seen stripping themselves,
+selecting, throwing away, taking up again, and falling at length through
+exhaustion and grief upon the frozen bank of the river. The narrators
+appeared to shudder again at the recollection of the horrible sight of
+so many men scattered over that abyss, of the continual noise of persons
+falling, of the cries of such as sank in, and, above all, of the wailing
+and despair of the wounded, who, from their carts, which could not be
+trusted to this weak support, stretched out their hands to their
+companions, and entreated them not to leave them behind.
+
+Their leader at length determined to attempt the passage of several
+wagons, loaded with these poor creatures; but in the middle of the
+stream the ice sank down and separated. Then were heard proceeding from
+the gulf, first cries of anguish long and piercing, then stifled and
+feeble groans, quickly succeeded by an awful silence. All had
+disappeared!
+
+But at length Ney had succeeded in reaching Orcha; from this time
+forward he was the hero of the retreat.
+
+When Napoleon, who was two leagues farther on, heard that Ney had again
+made his appearance, he leaped and shouted for joy, exclaiming, "Then I
+have saved my honor! I would have given three hundred millions from my
+exchequer sooner than have lost such a man."
+
+
+§ 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians.
+
+The army had thus for the third and last time repassed the Dnieper, a
+river half Russian and half Polish, but having its source in Russia. It
+runs from east to west as far as Orcha, where it appears as if it would
+penetrate into Poland; but there the high lands of Lithuania oppose its
+farther progress, and compel it to turn abruptly towards the south, and
+to become the frontier of the two countries.
+
+Kutusoff and his eighty thousand Russians halted before this feeble
+obstacle. Hitherto they had been rather the spectators than the authors
+of our calamities; but from this time we saw them no more, and were at
+last delivered from the punishment of their joy.
+
+On the 22d of November the army had a disagreeable march from Orcha to
+Borizoff, on a wide road skirted by a double row of large birch-trees,
+the snow having melted, and the mud being very deep. The weakest here
+found their graves; and those of our wounded who, in expectation of a
+continuance of the frost, had exchanged their wagons for sleighs, were
+left behind, and fell into the hands of the Cossacks.
+
+It was during the early part of the march to Borizoff that the news of
+the fall of Minsk[174] became generally known in the army. The leaders
+themselves now began to look around them with consternation; and, after
+witnessing such a succession of frightful spectacles their imagination
+depicted a still more fatal futurity. In their private conversation they
+did not hesitate to say that, "like Charles XII. in Russia, Napoleon had
+carried his army to Moscow only to destroy it."
+
+Deploring, then, the rash obstinacy of the stay at Moscow, and the fatal
+hesitation at Malo-jaroslavetz, they proceeded to reckon up their
+losses. Since their departure from Moscow they had lost all their
+baggage, five hundred cannon, thirty-one standards, twenty-seven
+generals, forty thousand prisoners, and sixty thousand dead: all that
+remained were forty thousand unarmed stragglers and eight thousand
+effective soldiers.
+
+With respect to the loss of Minsk the governor of that place had been
+negligently chosen. He was, it was said, one of those men who undertake
+everything, who promise everything, and who do nothing. On the 16th of
+November he lost that capital, and with it four thousand seven hundred
+sick, the warlike stores, and two million rations of provisions. It was
+five days since the news of this loss had reached Dombrowna, and the
+news of a still greater calamity came on the heels of it.
+
+This same governor had retreated towards Borizoff. There he neglected to
+inform Oudinot, who was only at the distance of two marches, to come to
+his assistance; and failed to support Dombrowski, who made a hasty march
+thither: the result was that the latter was overpowered by the fire of
+the Russian artillery, which took him in flank, and, attacked by a force
+more than double his own, he was driven across the river, and out of the
+town as far as the Moscow road.
+
+This disaster was wholly unexpected by Napoleon. Finally, when the
+emperor learned at Dombrowna the loss of Minsk, he had no suspicion that
+Borizoff was in such imminent danger, as when he passed the next day
+through Orcha he had the whole of his bridge-equipage burned.
+
+It was on the day immediately subsequent to that fatal catastrophe, at
+the distance of three marches from Borizoff, and upon the high road,
+that an officer arrived and announced to Napoleon this fresh disaster.
+The emperor, striking the ground with his stick, and casting a furious
+look to heaven, pronounced these words: "Is it, then, written above that
+we shall now commit nothing but faults?"
+
+Meanwhile Marshal Oudinot, who was already marching towards Minsk,
+totally ignorant of what had happened, halted on the 21st. In the middle
+of the night General Brownkowski arrived to announce to him his own
+defeat, as well as that of General Dombrowski;[175] that Borizoff was
+taken, and that the Russians were following close at his heels.
+
+In fact, every disaster which Napoleon could anticipate had occurred;
+the melancholy conformity, therefore, of his situation with that of the
+Swedish conqueror, threw his mind into such a state of agitation that
+his health became still more seriously affected than it had been at
+Malo-jaroslavetz. Among the expressions he made use of, loud enough to
+be overheard, was this: "See what happens when we heap faults on
+faults!"
+
+His orders, however, displayed decision. Oudinot had just sent to inform
+him of his determination to overthrow Lambert: this he approved of, and
+he also urged him to make himself master of a passage across the
+Berezina, either above or below Borizoff. He was desirous that by the
+24th the place for this passage should be fixed on and the preparations
+begun, and that he should be apprised of it, in order to make his march
+correspond. Far from thinking of making his escape through the midst of
+these three hostile armies, his only idea now was to beat Tchitchakoff
+and retake Minsk.
+
+It is true that, eight hours afterward, in a second letter to the Duke
+of Reggio, he resigned himself to crossing the Berezina near Veselowo,
+and by retreating directly upon Wilna, by Vileika, to avoid the Russian
+admiral.
+
+But on the 24th he learned that the passage could only be attempted near
+Studzianka; that at that spot the river was only fifty-four fathoms
+wide, and six feet deep; and that they would land on the opposite side
+in a marsh, under the fire of a commanding position strongly occupied by
+the enemy.
+
+
+§ 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina.
+
+All hope of passing between the Russian armies was thus lost: driven by
+the armies of Kutusoff and Wittgenstein upon the Berezina, there was no
+alternative but to cross that river in the teeth of the army of
+Tchitchakoff, which lined its banks.
+
+After having made his preparations, Napoleon plunged into the gloomy and
+immense forest of Minsk, in which there was only here and there an open
+spot surrounding some wretched hamlet or single habitation. The noise of
+Wittgenstein's artillery filled it with its echoes. The Russian general
+came rushing from the north upon the right flank of our expiring column,
+and he brought back with him the winter which had quitted us at the
+same time with Kutusoff. The news of his threatening march accelerated
+our steps, and our motley array of from forty to fifty thousand men,
+women, and children hurried through the forest as rapidly as their
+weakness and the slipperiness of the ground, from the frost again
+setting in, would allow.
+
+These forced marches, commenced before daylight, and not terminating
+until after its close, dispersed all who had previously been together.
+They lost themselves in the double darkness of the forest and of the
+night. They halted in the evening, and resumed their march in the
+morning, in obscurity, at random, and without hearing the signal: the
+dissolution of the remains of the corps was now completed; all were
+mixed and confounded together.
+
+In this last stage of helplessness and confusion, as we were approaching
+Borizoff, we heard loud cries before us. Some rushed forward, fancying
+it was an attack. It was Victor's army, which had been feebly driven
+back by Wittgenstein to the right side of our road, where it remained
+waiting for us. Still, quite complete and full of animation, it received
+the emperor, as soon as he made his appearance, with the customary but
+now long-forgotten acclamations.
+
+Of our disasters it had heard nothing: they had been carefully concealed
+even from its leaders. When, therefore, instead of that grand column
+which had conquered Moscow, its soldiers perceived behind Napoleon only
+a train of spectres covered with tattered vestments of every kind,
+women's pelisses, pieces of carpet, or dirty cloaks, half burned and
+riddled by the fires, and with nothing but rags on their feet, their
+consternation was extreme. They seemed terrified at the sight of those
+unfortunate soldiers, as they defiled before them, with emaciated
+frames, faces black with dirt, and hideous bristly beards, unarmed,
+shameless, marching confusedly, with their heads bent, and their eyes
+fixed on the ground and silent, like a troop of captives.
+
+But what astonished them more than all was to see the number of generals
+and officers of every grade, scattered about and insulated, seemingly
+only occupied about themselves, and thinking of nothing but to save the
+wrecks of their property or their persons: they were marching pell-mell
+with the soldiers, who did not notice them, to whom they had no longer
+any commands to give, and of whom they had nothing to expect, all ties
+between them being dissolved, and all distinctions of rank obliterated
+by the common misery.
+
+It was, indeed, merely the shadow of an army, but it was the shadow of
+the Grand Army. It felt conscious that nature alone had vanquished it.
+The presence of Napoleon animated it. To him it had long been accustomed
+to look, not for its means of support, but to lead it to victory. This
+was its first unfortunate campaign, and it had had so many fortunate
+ones: it only required to be able to follow him. He alone who had
+elevated his soldiers so high, and now sunk them so low, was yet able to
+save them. He was still, therefore, cherished in the heart of his army,
+like hope in the heart of man.
+
+Thus, amid so many beings who might have reproached him with their
+misfortunes, he marched on without the least fear, speaking to one and
+all without affectation, certain of being respected as long as glory
+could command respect. Knowing perfectly that he belonged to us as much
+as we to him, his renown being, as it were, common national property,
+we should have sooner turned our arms against ourselves (which was the
+case with many), as being a minor suicide, than against him.
+
+Some of the men fell and died at his feet; and, though they were in the
+most frightful delirium, their sufferings never gave its wanderings the
+turn of reproach, but of entreaty. And in fact, did not he share the
+common danger? Who of them all risked so much as he? Who had suffered
+the greatest loss in this disaster?
+
+If any imprecations were ever uttered, it was not in his presence; for
+it seemed that, of all misfortunes, that of incurring his displeasure
+was still the greatest: so rooted was their confidence in, and their
+submission to, that man who had subjected the world to them; whose
+genius, hitherto uniformly victorious and invincible, had assumed the
+place of their free-will; and who, having had so long in his hands the
+book of pensions, of rank, and of history, had found wherewithal to
+satisfy not only covetous spirits, but also every generous heart.
+
+At the close of the night of the 25th of November, Napoleon made them
+sink the first trestle in the muddy bed of the Berezina River. But to
+crown our misfortunes, the rising of the waters had made the traces of
+the ford entirely disappear. It required the most incredible efforts on
+the part of our unfortunate engineers, who were plunged in the water up
+to their mouths, and had to contend with the floating pieces of ice
+which were carried along by the stream. Many of them perished from the
+cold, or were drowned by the cakes of ice being violently driven against
+them by the current and wind.
+
+On the 27th, Napoleon, with about five thousand guards, and Ney's corps,
+now reduced to six hundred men, crossed the Berezina about two o'clock
+in the afternoon: he posted himself in reserve to Oudinot, and secured
+the outlet from the bridges against the efforts of the Russians.
+
+He had been preceded by a crowd of baggage and stragglers, and numbers
+of them continued to cross the river after him as long as daylight
+lasted.
+
+But Partouneaux with his division was not so fortunate. At every point
+where he attempted to pass, he encountered the enemy's fires, and was
+obliged to turn back: in this way he wandered about for several hours
+altogether at random, in plains covered with snow, in the midst of a
+violent tempest. At every step he saw his soldiers pierced through by
+the cold, and exhausted with hunger and fatigue, falling half dead into
+the hands of the Russian cavalry, who pursued him without intermission.
+
+This unfortunate general was still struggling with the heavens, with
+men, and with his own despair, when he felt even the ground giving way
+under his feet. In fact, deceived by the snow, he was marching upon a
+lake, which not being frozen sufficiently hard to bear him, he had
+fallen in and was on the point of being drowned, and then only did he
+yield and give up his arms.
+
+While this catastrophe was accomplishing, his other three brigades,
+being more and more hemmed in upon the road, lost all power of movement.
+They delayed their surrender, however, till the next morning, first by
+fighting, and then by parleying: at length they all fell, one after the
+other, and a common misfortune again united them with their general.
+
+Of the whole division, a single battalion only escaped.
+
+During the whole of that day, the 28th, the situation of the ninth corps
+under General Victor, was so much the more critical, as a weak and
+narrow bridge was its only means of retreat; in addition to which its
+avenues were obstructed by the baggage and the stragglers. By degrees,
+as the action became warmer, the terror of these poor wretches increased
+their disorder. First of all they had been alarmed by the rumors of a
+serious engagement; then their terror was increased by seeing the
+wounded returning from it; and, last of all, they were thrown into the
+utmost consternation by the batteries of the Russian left wing, some
+shot from which began to fall among them.
+
+They had been already crowding one upon the other, and the immense
+multitude heaped upon the bank pell-mell with the horses and carriages,
+formed there a most alarming encumbrance. It was about the middle of the
+day that the first Russian balls fell into the midst of this chaos, and
+they were the signal of universal despair.
+
+Then it was, as in all cases of extremity, that the real dispositions of
+men exhibited themselves without disguise, and actions were witnessed,
+some of them the most base, and others the most noble and even sublime.
+In accordance with their character, some furious and determined, with
+sword in hand, cleared for themselves a horrible passage. Others, still
+more cruel, opened a way for their wagons by driving them without mercy
+over the crowds of unfortunate persons who stood in their way, and
+crushed them to death. Their detestable avarice made them sacrifice
+their companions in misfortune to the preservation of their baggage.
+Others again, seized with a pusillanimous terror, wept, supplicated, and
+sank under the influence of a passion which completed the exhaustion of
+their strength. Some were observed (and these were principally the sick
+and wounded) who, renouncing life, went aside, and, resigned to their
+fate, sat themselves down, gazing with a fixed and motionless eye on the
+snow which was shortly to be their winding-sheet.
+
+Numbers of those who started first among this crowd of desperadoes,
+missing the bridge, attempted to scale it by the sides, but the greater
+part were pushed into the river. There were seen women in the midst of
+the stream and among the masses of floating ice, with their children in
+their arms, raising them by degrees as they felt themselves sinking, and
+when completely submerged, their stiffened arms still holding them above
+the water.
+
+In the midst of this horrible disorder, the artillery bridge gave way
+and broke down. The column entangled in this narrow passage in vain
+attempted to retrograde. The crowds which were following behind,
+ignorant of the calamity, and not hearing the cries of those before
+them, kept urging them on until they pushed them into the gulf, into
+which they in their turn were precipitated.
+
+Every one then attempted to pass by the other bridge. A great number of
+large ammunition wagons, heavy carriages and cannon crowded to it from
+all parts. Pressed on by their drivers and carried rapidly along over a
+rough and unequalled declivity, in the midst of masses of men, they
+ground to pieces the poor wretches who were unfortunate enough to get
+between them, until at length the greater part, furiously encountering
+each other, were overturned, killing in their fall those who were around
+them. Multitudes pressed against these obstacles, and becoming entangled
+among them, were thrown down, and crushed to pieces by other multitudes
+as they successively stumbled upon them.
+
+Thus these miserable creatures were rolling one upon the other, and
+nothing was heard but cries of rage and of anguish. In this frightful
+confusion, those who were trodden and crushed under the feet of their
+companions, struggling to lay hold of them with their nails and teeth,
+were, like so many enemies, trampled upon without mercy.
+
+Among them were wives and mothers, calling in tones of distraction upon
+their husbands and their children, from whom they had been separated but
+a moment before, never again to be united. Stretching out their arms,
+they entreated to be allowed to pass in order to rejoin them: but they
+were hurried backward and forward with the crowd, until at length,
+overcome by the pressure, they sank without being so much as noticed.
+Amid the howling of a violent tempest, the discharge of cannon, the
+whistling of balls, the explosion of shells, vociferations, groans, and
+frightful oaths, this infuriated crowd heard not the cries of the
+victims it was swallowing up.
+
+The more fortunate gained the bridge by scrambling over heaps of
+wounded, of women and children thrown down and half suffocated, whom
+they again trampled beneath their feet in their attempts to reach it.
+When at last they reached the narrow defile, they fancied that they were
+safe; but the fall of a horse, or the breaking or displacing of a plank,
+again arrested everything.
+
+There was also at the outlet of the bridge, on the other side, a morass,
+into which many horses and carriages had sunk, a circumstance which
+greatly embarrassed and retarded the entrance. Then it was that, in that
+infuriated column, crowded together, on a single plank of safety, there
+arose a terrible struggle, in which the weakest least fortunately
+situated were plunged into the river by their more powerful or more
+successful comrades. The latter, without so much as turning their
+heads, and hurried along by the instinct of self-preservation, pushed on
+towards the goal with unabated fury, regardless of the imprecations of
+rage and despair uttered by their companions or officers whom they had
+thus sacrificed.
+
+But, on the other hand, how many noble instances there were of devotion!
+and why are time and space denied me to relate them? Soldiers, and even
+officers, harnessed themselves to sledges, to snatch from that fatal
+bank their sick or wounded comrades. Farther off, and out of reach of
+the crowd, were seen soldiers, motionless and watching over their dying
+commanders, who had confided themselves to their care: in vain did the
+latter conjure them to think only of their own preservation; they
+refused; and sooner than abandon their expiring leaders, resolved to
+take their chance of slavery or death.
+
+Above the first passage, where young Lauriston had thrown himself into
+the river, in order more promptly to execute the orders of Napoleon, a
+little boat, carrying a mother and her two children, was upset and sank
+under the ice: an artilleryman, who, like the others, was struggling on
+the bridge to open a passage for himself, observed the accident, and all
+at once, unmindful of his own life, he threw himself into the river, and
+by great exertion succeeded in saving one of the three victims. It was
+the youngest of the two children: the poor little thing kept calling for
+his mother in tones of despair, when the brave artilleryman was heard
+telling him "not to cry; that he had not rescued him from the water only
+to desert him on the bank; that he should want for nothing; and that he
+would be his father and his family."
+
+The night of the 28th added to all these calamities. Its darkness was
+insufficient to conceal from the artillery of the Russians its miserable
+victims. Amid the snow, which covered everything, the course of the
+river, the black mass of men, horses, and carriages, and the noise
+proceeding from them, were enough to enable the enemy's artillerymen
+unerringly to direct their fire.
+
+At about nine o'clock in the evening their desolation became complete,
+when Victor commencing his retreat, his divisions opened for themselves
+a passage through these despairing wretches, whom they had till then
+been protecting. A rear guard, however, having been left, the multitude,
+benumbed with cold, or still anxious to preserve their baggage, refused
+to avail themselves of the last night for crossing to the opposite
+shore. In vain were their wagons set fire to, in order to tear them from
+them; it was only the appearance of daylight which brought them again,
+but too late, to the entrance of the bridge, which they once more
+besieged. At half past eight in the morning, seeing the Russians
+approaching, General Eblé set fire to it by Napoleon's orders; then
+those who were left on the eastern side of the river "realized that they
+had lost their last chance."
+
+A multitude of wagons and of cannon, several thousand men and women, and
+some children, were thus abandoned on the hostile bank. They were seen
+wandering in desolate troops on the borders of the river. Some plunged
+into it in order to swim across; others ventured themselves on the
+pieces of ice which were floating along; and some there were who threw
+themselves headlong upon the timbers of the burning bridge, which,
+sinking under them, exposed them at the same time to the horrors of a
+twofold death. Shortly after, the bodies of many of these unfortunate
+creatures, wedged in the ice, were seen collecting against the trestles
+of the bridge. The rest awaited the Russians. The Russian general did
+not show himself upon the heights until an hour after Eblé's departure;
+and without having gained a victory, he reaped all the fruits of one.
+
+Napoleon remained till the last moment on these melancholy banks, near
+the ruins of Brilowa, unsheltered and at the head of his guard,
+one-third of which was destroyed by the storm. During the day they stood
+to their arms, and were drawn up in order of battle; at night they
+bivouacked in a square round their leader; and there the old grenadiers
+incessantly kept feeding their fires. They sat on their knapsacks, with
+their elbows planted upon their knees, and their hands supporting their
+heads; slumbering in this manner, doubled upon themselves, that one limb
+might warm the other, and that they might feel less the emptiness of
+their stomachs.
+
+About these bivouacs were collected men of all classes, of all ranks, of
+all ages; ministers, generals, administrators. Among them was remarked
+an elderly nobleman of by-gone days, when light and brilliant graces
+held sovereign sway. This general officer of sixty was seen sitting on
+the snow-covered trunk of some tree, occupying himself with unruffled
+gayety every morning in adjusting the details of his toilet: in the
+midst of a hurricane he had his hair elegantly dressed, and powdered
+with the nicest care, amusing himself in this manner with all our
+calamities, and with the fury of the elements which assailed him.
+
+Near him were officers of scientific corps, still finding subjects for
+discussion. Imbued with the spirit of an age which a few discoveries
+have encouraged to hope for explanations of everything, these
+individuals, amid the acute sufferings we were enduring from the north
+wind, were seeking to divine the cause of its unvarying direction. The
+theory was advanced that, since his departure for the antarctic pole,
+the sun, by heating the southern hemisphere, had rarefied all its
+currents of air, elevated them, and left on the surface of that zone a
+vacuum, into which the currents of air of ours, which were lower on
+account of being more dense, were violently rushing. That thus the
+northern pole, loaded with these denser vapors, which had been
+collecting and cooling since the preceding summer, was discharging them
+by an impetuous and icy current, which swept over the Russian territory,
+and stiffened or destroyed everything it encountered in its course.
+
+Others of these officers were remarking with curious attention the
+regular six-sided crystallization of each one of the flakes of snow
+which covered their garments.
+
+The phenomena of the simultaneous appearance of several distinct images
+of the sun, reflected to the eye by means of the icy particles suspended
+in the atmosphere, was also a subject for observation, and several times
+momentarily diverted their thoughts from their sufferings.
+
+
+§ 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army and sets out for Paris.
+
+On the 29th the emperor quitted the banks of the Berezina, pushing on
+before him the crowd of disbanded soldiers, and marching with the ninth
+corps, which was already disorganized. The day before, the second and
+ninth corps and Dombrowski's division presented a total of fourteen
+thousand men; and now, with the exception of about six thousand, they
+had no longer any form of division, brigade, or regiment.
+
+Night, hunger, cold, the fall of many of their officers, the loss of the
+baggage on the other side of the river, the example of such a number of
+runaways, and the much more revolting sight of the wounded abandoned on
+both sides of the river, and left weltering in despair on the snow,
+which was dyed with their blood: everything, in short, contributed to
+discourage them; and they were now confounded with the mass of disbanded
+men who had come from Moscow.
+
+The whole still formed sixty thousand men, but without the least order
+or unity. All marched pell-mell, cavalry, infantry, artillery, French
+and Germans: there was no longer either wing or centre. The artillery
+and carriages drove on through this tumultuous crowd with no other
+instructions than to proceed as rapidly as possible.
+
+On the 3d of December Napoleon arrived in the morning at
+Malodeczno,[176] which was the last point where the Russian general,
+Tchitchakoff was likely to get the start of him. Some provisions were
+found there, the forage was abundant, the day beautiful, the sun bright,
+and the cold bearable. There also the couriers, who had been so long
+kept back, arrived all at once. The Poles were immediately directed
+onward to Warsaw through Olita, and the dismounted cavalry by Merecz to
+the Niemen; while the rest of the army was to follow the high road,
+which they had again regained.
+
+Up to that time Napoleon seemed to have entertained no idea of quitting
+his army. But about the middle of that day he suddenly informed Daru and
+Duroc of his determination to set off immediately for Paris.
+
+Daru did not see the necessity of it. He objected "that the
+communication with France was again opened, and the most dangerous
+crisis passed; and that at every retrograde step he would now be meeting
+the re-enforcements sent him from Paris and from Germany." The emperor's
+reply was, "that he no longer felt himself sufficiently strong to leave
+Prussia between him and France. And besides, what necessity was there
+for his remaining at the head of a routed army? Murat and Eugene would
+be sufficient to direct it, and Ney to cover its retreat.
+
+"His return to France had become indispensable, in order to secure her
+tranquillity and to summon her to arms; to take measures there for
+keeping the Germans steady in their fidelity to him; and, finally, to
+return with fresh and adequate forces to the assistance of his Grand
+Army.
+
+"But, in order to effect these objects, it was necessary that he should
+travel alone over four hundred leagues of the territories of his allies:
+and that he might do so without danger, his resolution should be there
+unforeseen, his passage unknown, and the rumor of his disastrous retreat
+still uncertain; that he would, in short, precede the news of it, and
+anticipate the effect it might produce on them, and the defections to
+which it might give rise. He had, therefore, no time to lose, and the
+moment for his departure had already arrived."
+
+Such were the motives assigned by Napoleon; and General Caulaincourt
+immediately received orders secretly to prepare for his departure. The
+rendezvous was fixed at Smorgoni,[177] and the time the night of the 5th
+of December.
+
+When Napoleon reached Smorgoni all the marshals were summoned. As they
+successively entered, he took each one aside in private, and first of
+all secured their approbation of his plan, gaining some by his
+arguments, and others by confidential communications.
+
+His manner was kind and flattering to them all; and afterward, having
+assembled them at his table, he complimented them for their brilliant
+actions during the campaign. As to himself, the only confession he made
+of his temerity was couched in these words: "If I had been born to the
+throne, if I had been a Bourbon, it would have been easy for me not to
+have committed any faults."
+
+When their interview was over, he made Prince Eugene read to them his
+twenty-ninth bulletin; after which, declaring aloud what he had confided
+to each of them privately, he told them "that he was about to depart
+that very night with Duroc, Caulaincourt and Lobau, for Paris; that his
+presence there was indispensable for France as well as for the remains
+of his unfortunate army. It was there only that he could take measures
+for keeping the Austrians and Prussians in check. These nations would
+certainly pause before they declared war against him, when they saw him
+at the head of the French nation, and a fresh army of twelve hundred
+thousand men."
+
+He added, that "he had ordered Ney to proceed to Wilna, there to
+reorganize the army; that Rapp would second him, and afterward go to
+Dantzic, Lauriston to Warsaw, and Narbonne to Berlin; that his own guard
+would remain with the army; but that it would be necessary to strike a
+blow at Wilna, and stop the enemy there. There they would find
+re-enforcements, provisions, and ammunition of all sorts; that afterward
+they would go into winter quarters on the other side of the Niemen; and
+that he hoped the Russians would not pass the Vistula before his
+return."
+
+He said, in concluding, "I leave the King of Naples to command the army.
+I hope that you will yield him the same obedience that you would to
+myself, and that the greatest harmony will prevail among you."
+
+As it was now ten o'clock at night, he rose, affectionately pressed
+their hands, embraced them all--and departed.
+
+Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who were drawn up in
+an avenue as he passed, bidding them adieu merely by forced and
+melancholy smiles: their good wishes, equally silent, and expressed only
+by respectful gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut
+themselves up in a carriage.
+
+His escort at first consisted only of Poles, afterwards of the
+Neapolitans of the Royal Guard. This corps consisted of between six and
+seven hundred men when it left Wilna to meet the emperor: it perished
+almost entirely in that short passage, though the winter was its only
+adversary. That very night the Russians surprised and afterward
+abandoned a town through which the escort had to pass; and Napoleon was
+within an hour of falling into that affray.
+
+He met the Duke of Bassano at Miedniki, a village about thirty miles
+west of Smorgoni. His first words to him were "that he had no longer an
+army; that for several days past he had been marching in the midst of a
+troop of disbanded men, wandering to and fro in search of subsistence;
+that they might still be rallied by giving them bread, shoes, clothing,
+and arms; but that the duke's military administration had anticipated
+nothing, and his orders had not been executed." But upon Murat replying,
+by showing him a statement of the immense stores of provisions and
+clothing collected at Wilna, he exclaimed "that he gave him fresh life;
+that he would forthwith give him an order to transmit to Murat and
+Berthier, to halt for eight days in that capital, there to rally the
+army, and infuse into it sufficient heart and strength to continue the
+retreat less deplorably."
+
+The remainder of Napoleon's journey was effected without molestation. He
+went round Wilna by its suburbs, crossed Wilkoski, where he exchanged
+his carriage for a sleigh, and stopped during the 10th at Warsaw, to ask
+the Poles for a levy of ten thousand Cossacks, and to promise them that
+he would speedily return at the head of three hundred thousand men. From
+thence he rapidly traversed Silesia,[178] visited Dresden and its
+monarch, and finally reached Paris, where he suddenly made his
+appearance on the 19th of December, two days after the arrival of his
+twenty-ninth bulletin.
+
+From Malo-jaroslavetz to Smorgoni, this master of Europe had been no
+more than the general of a dying and disbanded army; from Smorgoni to
+the Rhine he was an unknown fugitive, travelling through a hostile
+country; beyond the Rhine he again found himself the master and the
+conqueror of Europe. A brief blast of the gale of prosperity once more
+and for the last time swelled his sails.
+
+Meanwhile, his generals, whom he left at Smorgoni, approved of his
+departure, and, far from being discouraged, placed all their hopes in
+it. The army had now only to flee; the road was open, and the Russian
+frontier at a very short distance. They were getting within reach of a
+re-enforcement of eighteen thousand men, all fresh troops, of a great
+city, and immense magazines. Murat and Berthier, abandoned to
+themselves, fancied they were quite competent to direct the flight. But
+in the midst of such frightful disorder, it required a Napoleon for a
+rallying-point, and he had just disappeared. In the mighty chasm which
+he left, Murat was scarcely perceptible.
+
+It was then but too clearly seen that a great man is not to be replaced;
+either that the pride of his followers can no longer stoop to obey
+another, or that, having always thought of, foreseen, and ordered
+everything himself, he had formed good instruments, skilful lieutenants,
+but no commanders.
+
+The very first night a general refused to obey. The marshal who
+commanded the rear guard was almost the only one who returned to the
+royal headquarters. Three thousand men of the Old and the Young Guard
+were still there. This was the whole of the Grand Army, and of that
+gigantic body there remained nothing but the head. But at the news of
+Napoleon's departure, these veterans, spoiled by the habit of being
+commanded only by the conqueror of Europe, being no longer supported by
+the honor of serving him, and scorning to act as guards to another, gave
+way in their turn, and voluntarily fell into disorder.
+
+Henceforward there was no longer fraternity in arms; there was an end to
+all society, to all ties; the excess of misery had completely brutified
+them. Hunger, devouring hunger, had reduced these unfortunate men to
+that brutal instinct of self-preservation which constitutes the sole
+understanding of ferocious animals, and which is ready to sacrifice
+everything to itself; nature, wild and barbarous around them, seemed to
+have communicated to them all its savageness. The strongest despoiled
+the weakest; they rushed about the dying, and frequently waited not for
+their last breath. When a horse fell, you might have fancied you saw a
+famished pack of hounds: they surrounded him, they tore him to pieces,
+and quarrelled among themselves for his remains like ravenous dogs.
+
+The greater number, however, preserved sufficient moral strength to
+provide for their own safety without injuring others; but this was the
+last effort of their virtue. If either leader or comrade fell by their
+side or under the wheels of the cannon, in vain did they call for
+assistance, in vain did they invoke the names of a common country, a
+common religion, and a common cause; they could not even obtain a
+passing look. The merciless cold of the climate had passed into their
+comrades' hearts: its rigor had contracted their feelings no less than
+their features. With the exception of a few of the commanders, all were
+absorbed by their sufferings, and terror left no room for compassion.
+
+There were a few, however, who still stood firm, as it were, against
+both heaven and earth: these protected and assisted the weakest; but
+their number was deplorably small.
+
+
+§ 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure. Arrival
+at Wilna.
+
+On the 6th of December, the very day after Napoleon's departure, the sky
+exhibited a more dreadful appearance. Icy particles were seen floating
+in the air, and the birds fell stiff and frozen to the earth. The
+atmosphere was motionless and silent: it seemed as if everything in
+nature which possessed life and movement, even the wind itself, had been
+seized, chained, and, as it were, congealed by a universal death. Not a
+word or a murmur was then heard: there was nothing but the gloomy
+silence of despair, and the tears which proclaimed it.
+
+We crept along in the midst of this empire of death like doomed spirits.
+The dull and monotonous sound of our steps, the cracking of the frost,
+and the feeble groans of the dying, were the only interruptions to this
+doleful and universal silence. Anger and imprecations there were none,
+nor anything which indicated a remnant of warmth; scarcely was strength
+enough left to utter a prayer; and most of the men fell without even
+complaining, either from weakness or resignation, or because people
+complain only when they look for kindness, and fancy they are pitied.
+
+Such of our soldiers as had hitherto been the most persevering here lost
+heart entirely. Sometimes the snow sank beneath their feet, but more
+frequently, its glassy surface refusing them support, they slipped at
+every step, and tottered along from one fall to another. It seemed as
+though this hostile soil were leagued against them; that it
+treacherously escaped from under their efforts; that it was constantly
+leading them into snares, as if to embarrass and retard their march, and
+to deliver them up to the Russians in pursuit of them, or to their
+terrible climate.
+
+And, in truth, whenever, for a moment, they halted from exhaustion, the
+winter, laying his icy hand upon them, was ready to seize his victims.
+In vain did these unhappy creatures, feeling themselves benumbed, raise
+themselves up, and, already deprived of the power of speech, and plunged
+into a stupor, proceed a few steps like automatons: their blood froze
+in their veins, like water in the current of rivulets, congealing the
+heart, and then flying back to the head; and these dying men staggered
+as if they had been intoxicated. From their eyes, reddened and inflamed
+by the constant glare of the snow, by the want of sleep, and the smoke
+of the bivouacs, there flowed real tears of blood; their bosoms heaved
+with deep and heavy sighs; they looked towards heaven, at us, and on the
+earth, with an eye dismayed, fixed, and wild, as expressive of their
+farewell, and, it might be, of their reproaches against the barbarous
+nature which was tormenting them. It was not long before they fell upon
+their knees, and then upon their hands; their heads still slowly moved
+for a few minutes alternately to the right and left, and from their open
+mouths some sounds of agony escaped; at last, they fell flat upon the
+snow, burying their faces in it, and their sufferings were at an end.
+
+Their comrades passed by them without moving a step out of their way,
+that they might not, by the slightest curve, prolong their journey, and
+without even turning their heads; for their beards and hair were so
+stiffened with ice that every movement was painful. Nor did they even
+pity them; for, in fact, what had they lost by dying? what had they left
+behind them? They suffered so much, they were still so far from France,
+so much divested of all feelings of country by the surrounding prospect
+and by misery, that every dear illusion was broken, and hope almost
+destroyed. The greater number, therefore, had from necessity, from the
+habit of seeing death constantly around them, and from the prevailing
+feeling, become careless of dying, sometimes treating it with contempt;
+but generally, on seeing these unfortunates stretched on the snow, and
+instantly stiffened, contenting themselves with the thought that they
+had no more wants, that they were at rest, that their sufferings were
+over. And, indeed, death, in a situation quiet, certain, and uniform,
+may be felt as a strange event, a frightful contrast, a terrible change;
+but in this tumult, this violent and ceaseless movement of a life of
+action, danger, and suffering, it appeared nothing more than a
+transition, a slight alteration, an additional removal, which excited
+little alarm.
+
+Such were the last days of the Grand Army: its last nights were still
+more frightful. Those whom they surprised marching together, far from
+every habitation, halted on the borders of the woods: there they lighted
+their fires, before which they remained the whole night, erect and
+motionless like spectres. They seemed as if they could not possibly have
+enough of the heat: they kept so close to it as to burn their clothes,
+as well as the frozen parts of their body, which the fire decomposed.
+The most dreadful pain then compelled them to stretch themselves on the
+ground, and the next day they attempted in vain to rise.
+
+In the meantime, such as the winter had almost wholly spared, and who
+still retained some portion of courage, prepared their melancholy meal.
+It had consisted, ever since they left Smolensk, of some slices of
+horseflesh broiled, and a little rye-meal made into a sort of gruel with
+snow-water, or kneaded into paste, which they seasoned, for want of
+salt, with the powder of their cartridges.
+
+The sight of these fires was constantly attracting fresh spectres, who
+were driven back by the first comers. These poor wretches wandered about
+from one bivouac to another, until, struck by the frost and despair
+together, and giving themselves up for lost, they laid themselves down
+upon the snow behind their more fortunate comrades, and there expired.
+Many of them, destitute of the means and the strength necessary to cut
+down the lofty fir-trees, made vain attempts to set fire to them as they
+were standing; but death speedily surprised them, and they might be seen
+in every sort of attitude, stiff and lifeless about their trunks.
+
+Under the vast sheds erected by the sides of the high road in some parts
+of the way, scenes of still greater horror were witnessed. Officers and
+soldiers all rushed precipitately into them, and crowded together in
+heaps. There, like so many cattle, they pressed upon each other around
+the fires, and as the living could not remove the dead from the circle,
+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
+lamentations. At this unlooked-for sight, its inhabitants became alarmed
+and shut their doors. Deplorable then was it to see these troops of
+wretched wanderers in the streets, some furious and others despairing,
+threatening or entreating, endeavoring to break open the doors of the
+houses and the magazines, or dragging themselves to the hospitals.
+Everywhere they were repulsed: at the magazines, from most unseasonable
+formalities, as, from the dissolution of the corps and the mingling of
+the soldiers, all regular distribution had become impossible.
+
+There had been collected there sufficient flour and bread to last for
+forty days, and butchers' meat for thirty-six days, for one hundred
+thousand men. Not a single commander ventured to step forward and give
+orders for giving out these provisions to all who came for them. The
+commissaries who had them in charge were afraid of being made
+responsible for them; and the others dreaded the excesses to which the
+famished soldiers would give themselves up when everything was at their
+discretion. These commissaries were, besides, ignorant of our desperate
+situation; and when there was scarcely time for pillage, had they been
+so inclined, our unfortunate comrades were left for several hours to die
+of hunger at the very doors of these immense magazines, filled with
+whatever they stood in need of, all of which fell into the enemy's hands
+the following day.
+
+At last, the exertions of several of the commanders, as Eugene and
+Davoust, the compassion of the Lithuanians, and the avarice of the Jews,
+opened some places of refuge. Nothing could be more remarkable than the
+astonishment manifested by these unfortunate men at finding themselves
+once more in inhabited houses. How delicious did a loaf of leavened
+bread appear to them, and how inexpressible the pleasure of eating it
+seated! and, afterward, with what admiration were they struck at seeing
+a scanty battalion still under arms, in regular order, and uniformly
+dressed! They seemed to have returned from the very extremities of the
+earth, so much had the violence and persistency of their sufferings
+wrested and torn them from all their habits, so deep had been the abyss
+from which they had escaped!
+
+But scarcely had they begun to taste these sweets, when the cannon of
+the Russians were heard thundering over their heads and upon the city.
+These menacing sounds, the shouts of the officers, the drums beating to
+arms, and the wailings and clamor of an additional multitude of
+fugitives which had just arrived, filled Wilna with fresh confusion.
+
+Every one thought much more of disputing his life with famine and the
+cold than with the enemy. But when the cry of "Here are the Cossacks"
+was heard (which for a long time had been the only signal which the
+greater number obeyed), it was instantly echoed through the whole city,
+and the rout again began.
+
+This city contained a large proportion of the baggage of the army, and
+of its treasures, its provisions, a crowd of enormous wagons, loaded
+with the emperor's equipage, a large quantity of artillery, and a large
+number of wounded men. Our retreat had come upon them like an unexpected
+tempest, almost like a thunderbolt. Some were terrified and thrown into
+confusion, while consternation kept others motionless. Bearers of
+orders, soldiers, horses, and carriages, were seen hurrying about in all
+directions, crossing and overturning each other.
+
+In the midst of this tumult, several of the commanders pushed forward
+out of the city towards Kowno, with all the troops they could contrive
+to muster; but at the distance of a league from the latter place this
+heavy and frightened column encountered the height and the ravine of
+Ponari.
+
+During our conquering advance, this woody hillock had only appeared to
+our soldiers a fortunate accident of the ground, from which they could
+discover the whole plain of Wilna, and take a survey of their enemies.
+Its rough but sharp declivity had then scarcely been remarked. During a
+regular retreat, it would have presented an excellent position for
+turning round and stopping the enemy; but in a disorderly flight, where
+everything which, in other circumstances, might have been of service,
+became injurious; where, in our precipitation and disorder, everything
+was turned against us, this hill and its defile became an insurmountable
+obstacle, a wall of ice, against which all our efforts were powerless.
+It arrested everything, baggage, treasure, and wounded; and the evil was
+sufficiently great, in this long series of disasters, to form an epoch.
+
+Here, in fact, it was that money, honor, and all remains of discipline
+and strength were completely lost. After fifteen hours of fruitless
+effort, when the drivers and the soldiers of the escort saw the King of
+Naples and the whole column of fugitives passing them by the sides of
+the hill; when they heard the noise of the enemy's cannon and musketry
+coming nearer and nearer every instant, and saw Ney himself retreating
+with three thousand men; when, at last, turning their eyes upon
+themselves, they beheld the hill completely covered with cannon and
+carriages, broken or overturned, and men and horses fallen to the
+ground, and expiring one upon the other--then it was that they gave up
+all idea of saving anything, and determined only to anticipate the enemy
+by becoming plunderers themselves.
+
+One of the covered wagons of treasure, which burst of itself, served as
+a signal; every one now rushed to the others; they were immediately
+broken open, and the most valuable effects taken from them. The soldiers
+of the rear guard, who were passing at the time of this disorder, threw
+away their arms to join in the plunder; they became so eagerly engaged
+in it as neither to hear, in fact, the whistling of the enemy's balls,
+nor to pay the slightest attention to the howlings of the Cossacks, who
+were at their heels.
+
+It is even said that the Cossacks got mixed among them without being
+observed; that for some minutes, French and Tartars were confounded in
+the same greediness; forgetting they were at war, and pillaging together
+the same treasure-wagons. Two millions of gold and silver then
+disappeared.
+
+But amid all these horrors there were noble acts of devotion. Those
+there were who abandoned everything to save some of the unfortunate
+wounded by carrying them on their shoulders; while others, unable to
+extricate their half-frozen comrades from the throng, sacrificed their
+lives in defending them either against their own countrymen, or from the
+blows of their enemies.
+
+On the most exposed part of the hill, an officer of the emperor, Colonel
+the Count de Turenne, repulsed the Cossacks, and in defiance of their
+cries of rage and their fire, he distributed before their eyes the
+private treasure of Napoleon to the guards whom he found within his
+reach. These brave men, fighting with one hand, and collecting the
+spoils of their leader with the other, succeeded in saving them. Long
+afterward, when they were out of all danger, each man faithfully
+restored what had been intrusted to him. Not a single piece of money was
+lost.
+
+This catastrophe at Ponari was the more disgraceful, as it might easily
+have been foreseen, and no less easily prevented: for the hill could
+have been turned by its sides. The property we here abandoned, however,
+was at least of some use by arresting the pursuit of the Cossacks. While
+these were busy in collecting their plunder, Ney, at the head of a few
+hundred French and Bavarians, supported the retreat as far as Évé. As
+this was his last effort, we must not neglect to describe the close of
+that retreat which he had continued uninterruptedly, and in the most
+methodical manner, ever since he left Viazma on the 3d of November.
+
+
+§ 24. Conclusion.
+
+Finally Ney and his men arrived at Kowno, which was the last town of the
+Russian empire. On the 13th of December, after marching forty-six days
+under the most terrible sufferings, they once more came in sight of a
+friendly country. Instantly, without halting, or looking behind them,
+the greater part plunged into, and dispersed themselves in, the forests
+of Prussian Poland. Some there were, however, who, on their arrival on
+the friendly bank of the Niemen, turned round; and there, when they cast
+a last look on that land of horrors from which they were escaping, and
+found themselves on the same spot whence, five months before, their
+countless eagles[179] had taken their victorious flight, tears gushed
+from their eyes and they broke out into exclamations of the most
+poignant sorrow.
+
+"This, then, was the bank which they had studded with their bayonets!
+this the allied country which had disappeared, only five months before,
+under the steps of their immense army, and which then seemed to them to
+be metamorphosed into moving hills and plains of men and horses! These
+were the same valleys from which, under the rays of a brilliant sun, had
+poured forth the three long columns of dragoons and cuirassiers,
+resembling three rivers of glittering iron and brass. And now, men,
+arms, eagles, horses, the sun itself, and even this frontier river,
+which they had crossed replete with ardor and hope, had all disappeared.
+The Niemen was now only a lengthened line of masses of ice, arrested and
+chained to each other by the increasing severity of the winter. Instead
+of the three French bridges, brought from a distance of five hundred
+leagues, and thrown across it with such audacious promptitude, a Russian
+bridge alone was standing. Finally, in place of those innumerable
+warriors, of their four hundred thousand comrades, who had been so often
+their partners in victory, and who had dashed onward with so much pride
+and joy into the territory of Russia, they now saw issuing from these
+pale and frozen deserts only a thousand infantry and horsemen still
+under arms, nine cannon, and twenty thousand miserable wretches covered
+with rags, with downcast looks, hollow eyes, cadaverous and livid
+complexions, and long beards matted with frost; some disputing in
+silence the narrow passage of the bridge, which, in spite of their small
+numbers, did not suffice for the eagerness of their flight; others
+fleeing dispersed over the rough ice of the river, toiling and dragging
+themselves along from one point to another: this was the whole Grand
+Army! and even many of these fugitives were recruits who had just joined
+it!"
+
+Two kings, one prince, eight marshals, followed by a few officers,
+generals on foot, dispersed, and without attendants: finally, a few
+hundred men of the Old Guard, still armed--these were the remains of
+the Grand Army--these alone represented it!
+
+Or rather, I should say, it still breathed only in Marshal Ney!
+Comrades! allies! enemies! here I invoke your testimony; let us pay the
+homage which is due to the memory of an unfortunate hero: the facts
+alone will suffice.
+
+All were flying, and Murat himself, traversing Kowno as he had done
+Wilna, first gave, and then withdrew, an order, to rally at Tilsit, and
+subsequently fixed upon Gumbinnen. Ney then entered Kowno, accompanied
+only by his aids-de-camp, for all besides had given way or fallen around
+him. From the time of his leaving Viazma, this was the fourth rear guard
+which had been worn out and disappeared in his hands. But winter and
+famine, far more than the Russians, had destroyed them. For the fourth
+time he remained alone before the enemy, and, still undismayed, he
+sought for a fifth rear guard.
+
+Several thousand soldiers covered the market-place and the neighboring
+streets; but they were laid out stiff before the liquor-shops which they
+had broken open, and where they drank the cup of death, from which they
+had vainly hoped they were to inhale fresh life.
+
+Such were the only succors which Murat had left him; and Ney found
+himself alone in Russia, with seven hundred foreign recruits. At Kowno,
+as it had been after the disasters of Viazma, of Smolensk, of the
+Berezina, and of Wilna, it was to him that the honor of our arms and all
+the peril of the last steps of our retreat were again confided.
+
+On the 14th, at daybreak, the Russians commenced their attack. One of
+their columns made a hasty advance from the Wilna road, while another
+crossed the Niemen on the ice above the town, landed on the Prussian
+territory, and, proud of being the first to cross its frontier, marched
+to the bridge of Kowno, to close that outlet upon Ney, and completely
+cut off his retreat.
+
+Ney, though abandoned by all, neither gave himself up nor his post.
+After vain efforts to detain these fugitives, he collected their
+muskets, which were still loaded, became once more a common soldier,
+and, with only four others, kept facing thousands of the enemy. His
+audacity stopped them; it made some of his artillerymen, too, ashamed,
+and they imitated their marshal: besides it gave time to his aid-de-camp
+and to General Gérard, to collect thirty soldiers, and to Generals Ledru
+and Marchand to collect the only battalion which remained.
+
+But at that moment a second attack of the Russians commenced on the
+other side of the Niemen, and near the bridge of Kowno: it was then half
+past two o'clock. Ney sent Ledru, Marchand, and their four hundred men
+forward to retake and secure that passage. As for himself, without
+giving way, or disquieting himself farther as to what was passing in his
+rear, he kept on fighting at the head of his thirty men, and maintained
+himself until night at the Wilna gate. He then traversed the town and
+crossed the Niemen, constantly fighting, retreating, but never flying,
+marching after all the others, supporting to the last moment the honor
+of our arms, and for the hundredth time during the last forty days and
+forty nights, putting his life and liberty in jeopardy to save a few
+more Frenchmen. Finally, he was the last of the Grand Army that quitted
+that fatal Russia, showing to the world how courage battles with ill
+fortune, and proving that with heroes even the greatest disasters turn
+to glory.[180]
+
+General Dumas was seated in the French headquarters on the Prussian side
+of the Niemen when a man entered wrapped in a long cloak. His face was
+blackened with gunpowder, his hair singed with fire. "At last," said he,
+"I am here." "But who are you?" asked General Dumas in astonishment. "I
+am the rear guard of the Grand Army--I am Marshal Ney. I have fired the
+last shot on the bridge of Kowno, I have thrown my musket into the
+river, and I have walked here across the forest."
+
+Napoleon had entered Russia with an army of over six hundred thousand
+men. Not more than eighty thousand recrossed the Niemen, and many of
+them did not live to reach their homes.[181]
+
+Thus ended the Russian campaign. Thus did the star of the North triumph
+over that of Napoleon.
+
+Comrades, my task is done; it is now for you to bear your testimony to
+the truth of the picture. Its colors will no doubt appear pale to your
+eyes and to your hearts, which are still full of these great
+recollections. But who does not know that an action is always more
+eloquent than its description; and that, if great historians are
+produced by great men, the former are still more rare than the latter?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[125] Namely, at Kowno, Pilony, south of Kowno, and Grodno, still
+further south. At Kowno a monument bears the following inscription in
+Russian: "In 1812 Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000 men.
+The army recrossed the frontier numbering 70,000."
+
+[126] See map facing p. 1. The upper dotted line represents the advance
+to Moscow; the lower, the line of retreat from that city.
+
+[127] =Moskwa=, =Kologa=: these and other Russian geographical names are
+variously spelled.
+
+[128] Count Ségur was elected a member of the French Academy, and his
+history of the retreat has not only passed through many editions in
+France, but it has been translated into all the leading languages of
+Europe.
+
+[129] The history of Napoleon after the Russian retreat will form the
+subject of a note at the close of Count Ségur's narrative.
+
+[130] =Moscow=: the ancient capital of Russia is situated on the Moskwa
+river (a tributary of the Oka), from which the city derives its name. It
+first appears in history in the middle of the twelfth century. It early
+became the metropolis and seat of government, and continued so until a
+short time after the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, in
+1703.
+
+For centuries Moscow was both the political and religious centre of the
+empire. Here the Czars were crowned, here they resided, here they were
+buried. Here, too, the patriarch, or former head of the Russian church,
+had his residence, amid cathedrals, monasteries, and shrines, which have
+always been regarded with peculiar reverence.
+
+To the Russian peasant the city still remains sacred. It is the heart,
+as it were, of his native land. He cherishes toward it the same feeling
+which the devout Mohammedan does for Mecca, or the devout Catholic for
+Rome. He calls it "Our Holy Mother Moscow"; and when he comes in sight
+of its gilded spires and cupolas he makes the sign of the cross, falls
+upon his knees, and utters a prayer.
+
+In the centre of Moscow stands the Kremlin, or fortress--for so the
+Tartar name is usually translated. This famous stronghold marks the
+original settlement. It covers nearly a hundred acres, and is situated
+on an eminence on the left bank of the river. It is triangular in shape,
+and is surrounded by a lofty stone wall, considerably more than a mile
+in extent, which is pierced with five gates and surmounted by eighteen
+commanding towers.
+
+The Kremlin is almost a city in itself. Besides extensive barracks and
+an arsenal, with other government buildings, it contains the ancient
+palace of the Czars, a monastery, and several noted churches, one of
+which is the oldest and most venerated in Russia.
+
+Formerly the entire fortification was encompassed by a broad, deep moat.
+This has been filled up, and now forms a spacious boulevard, with
+pleasure gardens, a library, a museum, and the great bazaar or market,
+where all kinds of merchandise are offered for sale.
+
+At the time of the French invasion Moscow is supposed to have had a
+population of at least 325,000; at the present time it has more than
+double that number.
+
+Napoleon entered the city September 14, 1812. That very night it was set
+on fire, and the conflagration continued until the whole place, outside
+the Kremlin, was practically a heap of bricks and ashes.
+
+During the fire Napoleon was obliged to leave his quarters in the
+fortress and establish them in a suburb of the city, but later he
+returned to the Kremlin.
+
+He evacuated Moscow on October 19, not quite five weeks after he entered
+it. He found it a great metropolis. He left it a mass of ruins, where
+nothing any longer existed to support life.
+
+[131] =Serfs=: these serfs were slaves in all but name, and were bought
+and sold like cattle. They were emancipated by law in 1861, the whole
+number throughout Russia then being over 21,000,000.
+
+[132] =Czar=: the correct Russian spelling of this word is said to be
+Tsar, which is now gradually coming into use in English. The title was
+first assumed by Ivan IV. (Ivan the Terrible) in 1533.
+
+[133] =Ruble= (or Rouble): a Russian silver coin worth about
+seventy-five cents.
+
+[134] =Smolensk=: see Introduction, "Napoleon."
+
+[135] =Rostopchin=: (Ros-top-chen').
+
+[136] =Kutusoff=: commander-in-chief of the Russian army.
+
+[137] =Muscovite=: a native of Muscovy, an old name for Russia.
+
+[138] Rostopchin denied, in a work which he published, that he set fire
+to the city. He insisted that it was done by the French, together with
+the rabble of Moscow. It is now thought that the governor began the work
+of destruction, which was completed partly by the Russians and partly by
+the French.
+
+[139] =Cossacks=: a race of people inhabiting the south of Russia. On
+account of their great skill in horsemanship they are largely employed
+in the Russian army as cavalry.
+
+[140] =Moskwa=: the French often spoke of the battle of Borodino as the
+Battle of the Moskwa, though it is not on that river, but on the Kologa,
+a tributary of it. The accounts of the number killed differ.
+
+[141] =Kolomna gate=: a gate leading to Kolomna, a town on the Moskwa
+River.
+
+[142] =Miloradovitch=: a Russian general.
+
+[143] =Mazeppa=: a Pole, who having been detected in a crime was bound
+to the back of a wild horse and carried by the animal to the country of
+the Cossacks. There he became head of the Cossack forces, and when Peter
+the Great attempted to seize that country, Mazeppa formed an alliance
+with Charles XII. of Sweden for the independence of the Cossacks.
+
+[144] =Dorogomilow=: the name of a quarter of the city.
+
+[145] =Daru=: a distinguished French author and statesman who
+accompanied Napoleon in his Russian campaign.
+
+[146] =Boyars=: nobles, or men of rank.
+
+[147] =Bivouac= (biv-wak'): to encamp without tents or shelter.
+
+[148] =Scythians=: a race of fierce barbarians, formerly inhabiting the
+country north and east of the Black Sea. Napoleon intimates that these
+men are their descendants.
+
+[149] =Strelitzes=: a body of military guards that revolted under Peter
+the Great.
+
+[150] =Postern-gate=: a small rear or side gate.
+
+[151] =Lithuania=: a province of Russia bordering on the Niemen and
+hence near supplies.
+
+[152] =Witepsk=: a point passed on the march to Moscow, about midway
+from the Niemen; here the Russian general, Wittgenstein, appears to have
+been stationed.
+
+[153] =Old Guard=: the emperor's body-guard, composed of a large force
+of veterans.
+
+[154] "Napoleon also took measures for relieving the unfortunate of all
+classes. He ordered lists to be made of all the citizens whom the
+conflagration had deprived of the means of subsistence, opened houses of
+refuge for them, and supplied them with food."
+
+[155] =Tilsit and Erfurt=: at these places Napoleon had negotiated
+treaties, greatly in favor of the French, with the Czar of Russia.
+
+[156] =Expresses=: messengers.
+
+[157] =Armistice=: a temporary suspension of hostilities.
+
+[158] =Partisans=: soldiers detached to intercept convoys of provisions
+and the like.
+
+[159] =Invalides=: one of the great public buildings at Paris; a
+soldiers' home and hospital. Napoleon is buried here.
+
+[160] =Aid-de-camp=: an officer who carries orders and directs movements
+for a general.
+
+[161] =The viceroy=: Prince Eugene.
+
+[162] The indecisive battle of Malo-jaroslavetz, a town about fifty
+miles southwest of Moscow, compelled Napoleon to give up his original
+plan of retreat, which would have taken him through an unexhausted
+country to the southward, and forced him to go back to the north,
+retracing his steps by the route he came.
+
+[163] =Wittgenstein=: commander of one division of the Russian forces,
+held a position on the Dwina River and later on the Berezina, a
+tributary of the Dnieper.
+
+[164] =Vereïa=: a village about twenty-five miles northwest of
+Malo-jaroslavetz.
+
+[165] =Kremlin=: it was afterward found that the fortress was but
+slightly injured.
+
+[166] =Mojaisk=: about ten miles northwest of Vereïa and seventy west of
+Moscow.
+
+[167] The battle-field of Borodino, which Napoleon had fought on his
+march to Moscow. See Introduction.
+
+[168] =Viazma=: about fifty miles west of Borodino.
+
+[169] =Dorogobouje=: a town about fifty miles west of Viazma and nearly
+two hundred west of Moscow. It is situated on the river Wop, a branch of
+the Dnieper.
+
+[170] =Deployed=: formed a more extended front or line.
+
+[171] =Dombrowna=: a town about fifty miles west of Smolensk and two
+hundred from Moscow.
+
+[172] =Grenadiers=: these were men of long service and acknowledged
+bravery. Originally these soldiers threw hand grenades or small
+explosive shells. When these grenades went out of use the name
+grenadiers was still retained.
+
+[173] =Borizoff=: a town on the Berezina River, about 320 miles
+southwest of Moscow, and about 75 west of Orcha.
+
+[174] =Minsk=: a town on a tributary of the Berezina River, about 400
+miles southwest of Moscow. Here Napoleon had immense stores of
+provisions, clothing, and ammunition. He was pushing forward to reach
+this place.
+
+[175] Polish generals in Napoleon's Grand Army.
+
+[176] =Malodeczno=: a town about seventy miles west of the Berezina
+River.
+
+[177] =Smorgoni=: a village about thirty-five miles northwest of
+Malodeczno, and four hundred and fifty southwest of Moscow.
+
+[178] =Silesia=: a province of southeastern Prussia.
+
+[179] =Eagles=: Napoleon's colors were surmounted by the figure of an
+eagle.
+
+[180] Marshal Ney, whom Napoleon called "the bravest of the brave,"
+fought under the emperor in several subsequent battles. When Napoleon
+abdicated and was exiled to Elba, Ney supported the government of his
+successor and enemy, Louis XVIII. On the escape of Napoleon from Elba,
+in the spring of 1815, Ney was sent with an army against him, but
+instead of fighting for Louis XVIII., he took service under his old
+commander. At Waterloo he led the Old Guard, those men who could die but
+never surrender. After the final fall of Napoleon, Marshal Ney was tried
+and sentenced to be shot for treason to the government of Louis XVIII.,
+whose cause he had deserted. Wellington tried to save his life, but in
+vain. If courage can expiate faults, then his are buried in his grave.
+
+[181] On Napoleon's arrival in Paris he began at once to raise a fresh
+army. It has been said that it was "an army of boys," for France had
+lost most of her fighting men on the battle-field, or in Russia. In 1813
+he was defeated at Leipsic, and obliged to retreat across the Rhine. The
+next year he abdicated and retired to Elba.
+
+In the spring of 1815 he escaped from Elba, and raising an army fought
+and lost the battle of Waterloo.
+
+After his second abdication he was sent an exile to St. Helena, where he
+died about six years later (1821). His remains were brought to Paris in
+1840, and interred under the dome of the Hotel des Invalides, or
+Soldiers' Hospital. Above his tomb one reads these words: "I desire that
+my ashes shall repose on the banks of the Seine, among the French
+people, whom I have so greatly loved."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX TO NOTES.
+
+WITH PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES.[182]
+
+
+A-chæ´ans, 37.
+
+A-ch�´i-a.
+
+Ad-ra-my̆t´ti-um.
+
+Ǣ-nē´as.
+
+Ǣ-ni-�´nēs.
+
+Ā-g�´si-as.
+
+Ā-gĕs-i-l�´us.
+
+Ā´gi-ăs.
+
+Aid-de-camp, 217.
+
+Ajaccio (A-yat´ch�).
+
+Alexander the Great, 149.
+
+Ăl-ki-bi´a-dēs.
+
+Altar, 75.
+
+Amnesty, 13.
+
+Am-phīp´o-lis.
+
+A-nab´a-sis, 150.
+
+Ăn-ax-īb´i-ŭs.
+
+An-tal´ki-dăs.
+
+An-tăn´drŭs.
+
+An-tĭl´e-�n.
+
+Ăp-ol-l�n´i-dēs.
+
+Arcadian, 27.
+
+Ā-ri-æ´us.
+
+Ăr-is-tar´chus.
+
+A-rĭs´te-ăs.
+
+A-ris´ton.
+
+Ăr-is-t�n´y-mŭs.
+
+Ar´me-nē.
+
+Ar´mis-tĭce, 211.
+
+Array, 7.
+
+Ar´te-mĭs.
+
+Ar-te-mĭs-ĭ´�n, 146.
+
+Ar-tax-erx´ēs.
+
+A-si´da-tēs.
+
+A-tar´neūs.
+
+Athenian catastrophe, 38.
+
+Augereau (Ōzh-r�´).
+
+Augury, 57.
+
+
+Banished, 145.
+
+Barbarians, 14.
+
+Barras (Bar-rah´).
+
+Bas´i-as.
+
+Beauharnais (B�-ar-n�´).
+
+Béranger (B�-ron-zh�´).
+
+Berthier (Ber-te-�´).
+
+Bessières (Bĕs-sē-air´).
+
+Billeted, 132.
+
+Bi-san´the.
+
+Bi-thy̆n´i-a.
+
+Bi´ton.
+
+Bitumen (Be-tu´men), 15.
+
+Bivouac (Bĭv´wak), 60, 187.
+
+Boe-o´ti-a.
+
+Boeotian dialect, 31.
+
+Bo-is´kus.
+
+B�´re-ăs, 62.
+
+Borizoff, 271.
+
+Borodino, 242.
+
+Bo-ry̆s´the-nēs.
+
+Bos´pho-rŭs.
+
+Boulogne (Boo-l�n´).
+
+Boyars, 179.
+
+Brăs´i-das.
+
+Bras-i-di´as.
+
+Brienne (Brī-ĕn´).
+
+Burial, 56.
+
+By-zan´ti-um, 80, 116.
+
+
+Carbines, 43.
+
+Car-pæ´an dance, 103.
+
+Cashier, 31.
+
+Caulaincourt (K�-lan-koor´).
+
+Chal-kē´don.
+
+Chal´y-bēs.
+
+Char-mī´nus.
+
+Charpentier (Shar-pon-tē-�´).
+
+Cheir-is´o-phŭs.
+
+Cher-so-nē´sus, 119.
+
+Chry-s�p´o-lis.
+
+Cities, 113.
+
+Claparède (Clap-ar-aid´).
+
+Compans (Con-pan´).
+
+Convention, 12.
+
+Corn, 9.
+
+Corselet, 52.
+
+Cossacks, 171.
+
+Covenant, 11.
+
+Cubit, 52.
+
+Cuirass, 48.
+
+Cy-re´ian Greeks, 10.
+
+Cy-re´ian Persians, 13.
+
+Czar, 160.
+
+
+Dance, Carpæan, 103.
+
+Dance, Pyrrhic, 104.
+
+Dar´da-nŭs.
+
+Dăr´ic, 71.
+
+Da-ri´us.
+
+Daru´, 179.
+
+Davoust (Da-voo´).
+
+De-in´ar-chus.
+
+Dĕk-e-lī´a.
+
+Delta, 125.
+
+Delzons (Del-zon´).
+
+Demagogues, 66.
+
+Dĕm-a-r�´tus.
+
+Democrat and Philosopher, 29.
+
+De-mok´ra-tēs.
+
+Deployed, 265.
+
+Der-ky̆l´li-das.
+
+Dex-ip´pus.
+
+Dī-�´si-a, 139.
+
+Dī-o-d�´rus.
+
+Dnieper (Nee´per).
+
+Dombrowna, 268.
+
+Dorogobouje, 254.
+
+Dorogomilow, 178.
+
+Dra-kon´ti-ŭs.
+
+Dri´læ.
+
+Dumas (Du-mah´).
+
+Duroc (Du-rok´).
+
+
+Eagles, 308.
+
+Ears bored, 32.
+
+Eblé (Eb-l�´).
+
+Eckmühl (Ek´mīl).
+
+Ek-băt´a-na.
+
+E-le´i-ans.
+
+Ephesus, Temple of, 143.
+
+E-pis´the-nēs.
+
+E-rē´tri-a.
+
+E-rē´tri-an, 141.
+
+Erfurt, 204.
+
+Es-th�´ni-a.
+
+Ē-te-o-nī´kus.
+
+Eū-klei´dēs.
+
+Eū-ry̆l´o-chus.
+
+Évé (Ā-v�´).
+
+Expresses, 205.
+
+
+Festivals, Olympic, 145.
+
+Fishery, Thunny, 76.
+
+Friedland (Freed´land).
+
+
+Gérard (Zh�-rar´).
+
+Glûs (Gloos).
+
+Gods, The, 89.
+
+Gon´gy-lŭs.
+
+Gor´gi-�n.
+
+Gracious, Zeus The, 139.
+
+Great King, The, 124.
+
+Greaves, 69.
+
+Grenadiers, 269.
+
+Guard, The Old, 199.
+
+Guilleminot (Gweel-me-n�´).
+
+Gȳ-lĭp´pus.
+
+Gym´ni-as.
+
+
+Ha´lys.
+
+Har´pa-sŭs.
+
+Hek-a-ton´y-mus.
+
+Hellas, 89.
+
+Hellen´ic, 3.
+
+Hĕr-a-klei´dēs.
+
+Hĕr-ak-lē´ot-ic.
+
+Hĕr´a-klēs, 74.
+
+Herald, 7.
+
+Heralds, 2.
+
+He-rod´o-tus.
+
+
+Inflated skins, 19.
+
+Invalides (An-val-eed´), 214.
+
+I-�´ni-a, 21.
+
+Irrigation, 9.
+
+
+Javelin, 43.
+
+Jomini (Zho-me-ne´).
+
+Judges, 67.
+
+
+Kæ´næ.
+
+Ka-ī´kus.
+
+Kal´pē.
+
+Kal-lim´a-chus.
+
+Kar-du´ki-a.
+
+Ken-trī´tēs.
+
+Ker´a-sŭs, 83.
+
+Ki-lik´i-a, 32.
+
+King, The Great, 124.
+
+Kle-an´der.
+
+Kle-�´nor.
+
+Kle-ar´chus.
+
+Kle-ar´e-tus.
+
+Kle-on´y-mŭs.
+
+Knidus (Nī´dus).
+
+Knight, 148.
+
+Koe-ra´ti-das.
+
+Kolomna gate, 173.
+
+Kor-o-nē´a.
+
+Kor´y-las.
+
+Ko-rys-the´ni-a.
+
+K�-ty-�´ra.
+
+Krasnoë (Kras-no´e).
+
+Kretan, 56.
+
+Kremlin, 238.
+
+Ktesias (Tē´si-ăs).
+
+Ku-nax´a, 1.
+
+Kutusoff, 163.
+
+Ky-nis´kus.
+
+Ky̆z´i-kŭs.
+
+
+Laç-e-dæ´mon.
+
+Laç-e-dæ-mo´ni-ans.
+
+Lamp´sa-kŭs.
+
+La-ris´sa.
+
+Latour-maubourg (La-toor´-m�-boor´).
+
+Lebure´.
+
+Ledru´.
+
+Lefebvre (Lĕ-fĕv´vr).
+
+Libations, 58.
+
+Lithuania, 194.
+
+Lobau (L�-b�´).
+
+Lon-ti´ni.
+
+Lotos-eaters, 35.
+
+Lyd´i-a.
+
+Ly´kon.
+
+
+Machiavel (Mak´i-a-vel).
+
+Mæ-sa´dēs.
+
+Mag-nē´tēs.
+
+M�-kr�´-nēs.
+
+Malodeczno, 292.
+
+Malo-jaro-slavetz, 233.
+
+Man-ti-nē´a.
+
+Man-ti-nei´a.
+
+Marchand (Mar-shon´).
+
+Ma-ri-an-dȳ´nī.
+
+Mar-o-nei´a.
+
+Marshal Ney (Nay), 311.
+
+Mazeppa, 178.
+
+Media, Wall of, 15.
+
+Me-dos´ar-des.
+
+Mĕg-a-bȳ´zus.
+
+Meg´a-ra.
+
+Meg-a´rian, 76.
+
+Mercenaries, 75.
+
+Merchant ships, 80.
+
+Mi-le´sians, 76.
+
+Mi-lē´tus, 24.
+
+Miloradovitch, 177.
+
+Mil-tī´a-dēs.
+
+Mil-to-ky´thēs.
+
+Mi´næ, 99.
+
+Minsk, 277.
+
+Mith-ri-d�´tēs.
+
+Mojaisk, 241.
+
+Mortier (Mor-tē-�´).
+
+Moscow, 157.
+
+Moskwa, 171.
+
+M�s-y-noe´kī.
+
+Munich (Mu´nik).
+
+Murat (Mu-rah´).
+
+Muscovite, 163.
+
+My̆´si-a.
+
+Mysian, 104.
+
+Mysians, 35.
+
+
+Ne´on.
+
+Neufchâtel (Nūf-shah-tĕl´).
+
+Ney, Marshal (Nay), 311.
+
+Niemen (Nee´men).
+
+Nī-kar´chus.
+
+Nī´ki-as.
+
+Ni-kom´a-chŭs.
+
+Nineveh, 44.
+
+
+Ŏd´ry-sæ.
+
+Ŏd-rys´ian, 135.
+
+O-dys´seus, 80.
+
+Old Guard, 199.
+
+Olympic Festivals, 145.
+
+O-ly̆m´pi-a, Temple of, 147.
+
+O-neir´us, 29.
+
+Oph-ry-nē´um.
+
+O´pis.
+
+O-ron´tas.
+
+Oudinot (Oo-de-n�´).
+
+
+Pæ´an, 34.
+
+Paphlagonian horse, 87
+
+P�´ri-um.
+
+Partisans, 211.
+
+Partouneaux (Par-too-n�´).
+
+Pa-rys´a-tis.
+
+Pĕl-o-pon-nē´si-ans, 37.
+
+Pĕl-o-pon-nē´sus.
+
+Per´ga-mŭs, 140.
+
+Peraldi (Per-al´dĭ).
+
+Pe-rin´thus.
+
+Per´i-klēs, 39.
+
+Phalanx, 8.
+
+Pha-li´nus.
+
+Phar-na-b�´zus.
+
+Pha-si-�´ni.
+
+Pha´sis, 93.
+
+Phē´rae.
+
+Phi-lē´si-us.
+
+Phil-hellen´ic, 22.
+
+Philo-Laco´ni-an, 113.
+
+Phli-a´si-an, 139.
+
+Ph�l´o-ē.
+
+Phry-nis´kŭs.
+
+Phys´kus.
+
+Pino (Pēno´).
+
+Pipe, 103.
+
+Pi-sid´i-a.
+
+Pisid´ians, 35.
+
+Pol-y-æ´nŭs.
+
+Po-ly̆k´ra-tēs.
+
+P�l-y-nī´kus.
+
+Poniatowski (P�-ni-a-tow´ski).
+
+Pontoons, 18.
+
+Postern-gate, 190.
+
+Pr�k´lēs.
+
+Pro-pon´tis, 125.
+
+Pr�x´e-nŭs.
+
+Pyrrhic Dance, 104.
+
+
+Reggio (Red´j�).
+
+Regnier (R�-ne-�).
+
+Reins, 52.
+
+Rhodian, 43.
+
+Rostopchin, 163, 164.
+
+Ru´ble, 162.
+
+
+Sacrifice, 2, 91.
+
+Sacrificed, 50.
+
+St. Cyr (San Seer´).
+
+Sam´o-las.
+
+Sar´dis.
+
+Sa´trap, 10.
+
+Scu-ta´ri.
+
+Scythians, 188.
+
+Ségur (S�gur´).
+
+Se-lī´nus.
+
+Se-lȳm´bri-a.
+
+Serfs, 160.
+
+Ses´a-me, 61.
+
+Seū´thēs.
+
+Sikon´yan.
+
+Sī-l�´nus.
+
+Sī-lē´si-a, 296.
+
+Sī-n�´pe.
+
+Sīt´ta-kē.
+
+Skil´lus.
+
+Skins, Inflated, 19.
+
+Sky-thi´ni.
+
+Smorgoni, 293.
+
+Sneeze, 34.
+
+Sok´ra-tēs, 143.
+
+So-phæn´e-tŭs.
+
+Sophists, 40.
+
+So-tĕr´i-das.
+
+St�t´ers, 107.
+
+Strelitzes, 190.
+
+Strike our tents, 14.
+
+Sy-ko´ni-ans.
+
+
+Talent, 7.
+
+T�´o-chi.
+
+Targeteers, 83.
+
+Tchitchakoff (Chich´a-k�f).
+
+Te-lĕb´o-ăs.
+
+Temple of Ephesus, 143.
+
+Temple of Olympia, 147.
+
+Thē´bē.
+
+Thē´chēs.
+
+Ther-m�´don.
+
+Tho´rax.
+
+Thra´ki-on, 123.
+
+Thunny fishery, 76.
+
+Thu-ri´an, 79.
+
+Ti-�´ra, 21.
+
+Tĭb-a-rē´nī.
+
+Til´sit, 204.
+
+Tī-m�´si-�n.
+
+Ti-me-sil-a´ŭs.
+
+Tĭm-e-sīth´e-ŭs.
+
+Tīr-i-b�´zus.
+
+Tis-sa-pher´nēs.
+
+Tra-pē´zus.
+
+Traverse, 90.
+
+Tribute, 13.
+
+Tri-phy̆l´i-a.
+
+Trī´rēme, 105.
+
+Tr�´ad, 140.
+
+Tuileries (Tweel´re).
+
+Turrets, 84.
+
+Twer (Wer).
+
+
+Ve-re´i-a, 238.
+
+Viazma, 243.
+
+Viceroy, 229.
+
+
+Wall of Media, 15.
+
+War, The, 39.
+
+Witepsk, 194.
+
+Wittgenstein, 237.
+
+
+Xan´thi-klēs.
+
+Xĕn´o-ph�n.
+
+
+Zăb´a-tŭs.
+
+Za-kyn´thus.
+
+Zeūs, 29.
+
+Zeūs, The Gracious, 139.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[182] In the classical names _ch_ has the sound of _k_, e.g. Achaia
+(A-k�´i-a); the diphthong _æ_ has the sound of long _ē_, e.g. Æneas
+(Ē-nē´as), Kænæ (Kē´nē); _ēs_ at the end of a word has the sound
+of _eez_, e.g. Apollonidēs (Ăp-ol-l�n´i-deez); _ti_ in Boeotia has
+the sound of _she_, e.g. (Bē-�´she-ah). The Russian names may be
+pronounced as English.
+
+
+
+
+CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.
+
+_In forming the mind and taste of the young, is it not better to use
+authors who have already lived long enough to afford some guaranty that
+they may survive the next twenty years?_
+
+="Children derive impulses of a wonderful and important kind from
+hearing things that they cannot entirely comprehend."=--SIR WALTER
+SCOTT.
+
+It is now some five or six years since we began publishing the Classics
+for Children, and the enterprise, which at first seemed a novel one, may
+fairly be said to have passed the stage of experiment.
+
+It has been the aim to present the best and most suitable literature in
+our language in as complete a form as possible; and in most cases but
+few omissions have been found necessary. Whether judged from the
+literary, the ethical, or the educational standpoint, each of the books
+has attained the rank of a masterpiece.
+
+The series places within reach of all schools an abundant supply of
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+CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.
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+_=Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.=_ "Meas. for Meas." omitted.
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+_=The Two Retreats.=_ Xenophon's and Napoleon's.
+
+
+GINN & COMPANY, Publishers,
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+BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO.
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                           |
+    |                                               |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the  |
+    | original document have been preserved.        |
+    |                                               |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:   |
+    |                                               |
+    | Page 180 soltitude changed to solitude        |
+    | Page 192 Echmühl changed to Eckmühl           |
+    | Page 212 Winkowo changed to Vinkowo           |
+    | Page 296 Maret changed to Murat               |
+    | Page 315 Augerau changed to Augereau          |
+    | Page 315 Charpontier changed to Charpentier   |
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by 
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by 
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Two Great Retreats of History
+
+Author: George Grote
+        Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
+Editor: David Henry Montgomery
+
+Release Date: August 22, 2008 [EBook #26390]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Barbara Kosker, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY.
+
+
+   I. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.
+
+  II. NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+
+
+
+  _WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES_
+
+  By
+
+  D. H. M.
+
+
+
+
+  BOSTON, U.S.A.: PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY. 1889.
+
+
+
+
+  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by
+
+  GINN & COMPANY,
+
+  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
+
+
+
+
+  TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+The two following selections contain, first, Grote's account of the
+Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, taken from his "History of Greece,"
+and, secondly, an abridgment of Count Ségur's narrative of Napoleon's
+retreat from Russia.
+
+Grote's History, based on Xenophon's, is given entire, with the
+exception that, in a very few instances, some slight verbal change has
+been made in order to better adapt the work to school use.
+
+Two maps are furnished, an introduction is prefixed to each selection,
+and all needed notes subjoined.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+
+
+  TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+
+  I. Retreat of the Ten Thousand.
+                                                                     PAGE
+  Sketch of Cyrus the Younger (Introductory to the Retreat of the
+  Ten Thousand)                                                         v
+
+  §  1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+        retreat                                                         1
+
+  §  2. Commencement of the retreat                                     6
+
+  §  3. Negotiations with Tissaphernês                                 10
+
+  §  4. Treachery of Tissaphernês                                      19
+
+  §  5. Xenophon's dream and its results                               29
+
+  §  6. The Greeks cross the Zab                                       42
+
+  §  7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian Mountains     50
+
+  §  8. March through Armenia; great suffering from cold and
+        hunger                                                         60
+
+  §  9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea                      70
+
+  § 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward
+        the Ten Thousand                                               75
+
+  § 11. Plans of the army for the future                               79
+
+  § 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward                    82
+
+  § 13. Plan of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea          88
+
+  § 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations             95
+
+  § 15. The army passes by sea to Sinôpê                              104
+
+  § 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises
+        of Anaxibius and their results                                116
+
+  § 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium                       120
+
+  § 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers                             123
+
+  § 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthês offers to hire
+        them                                                          128
+
+  § 20. The army enters the service of Seuthês                        135
+
+  § 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia                   138
+
+  § 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion                  143
+
+
+  II. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow.
+
+  Sketch of Napoleon (Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow)        152
+
+  §  1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar                    157
+
+  §  2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army;
+        preparations for the destruction of the city                  162
+
+  §  3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow                 168
+
+  §  4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city    175
+
+  §  5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city
+        discovered to be on fire                                      182
+
+  §  6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city                   190
+
+  §  7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city          195
+
+  §  8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of
+        Napoleon at not hearing from the Czar                         201
+
+  §  9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow                           215
+
+  § 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle                       224
+
+  § 11. Napoleon holds a council of war, and decides to retreat
+        northward                                                     233
+
+  § 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin; view of the
+        battle-field of Borodino                                      238
+
+  § 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma; battle near that place               243
+
+  § 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effect
+        upon the troops                                               247
+
+  § 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at
+        the passage of the Wop                                        253
+
+  § 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk                               257
+
+  § 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoë                   263
+
+  § 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a
+        council                                                       267
+
+  § 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney                                        272
+
+  § 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians                              277
+
+  § 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina    280
+
+  § 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army, and sets out for Paris      291
+
+  § 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure;
+        arrival at Wilna                                              298
+
+  § 24. Conclusion                                                    308
+
+  Index to notes and list of proper names with their pronunciation    316
+
+
+
+
+MAPS.
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+  1. The advance and the retreat of the Ten Thousand, facing        1
+
+  2. The advance and the retreat of Napoleon in his Russian
+     campaign, facing                                               1
+
+
+
+
+SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER.
+
+(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.)
+
+
+In the year 423 B.C. Darius Nothus ascended the throne of Persia. That
+country was then the greatest empire in the world, and had an area
+nearly equal to that of the United States. The capital of this seemingly
+powerful realm was the ancient city of Babylon on the lower Euphrates.
+Here the Great King, as he was styled, had his principal palace, from
+which he issued orders to his twenty or more satraps or governors whose
+provinces extended in name at least from the shores of the Mediterranean
+to the banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.
+
+Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but
+unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be known in
+history. The eldest was Artaxerxês, a youth of but little character; and
+the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided qualities of his mother. In
+order to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, the founder of the
+Persian Empire, who died more than a hundred years earlier, he is
+commonly called Cyrus the Younger.
+
+He was his mother's favorite, and as he was born after Darius assumed
+the crown, while Artaxerxês was born before that date, Parysatis seems
+to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the true heir to the
+throne, since he was in fact the _king's_ eldest son. Through her
+influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia and the adjacent provinces of
+western Asia Minor when he was but sixteen. This position, since it made
+him the military ruler of that populous and wealthy section of country,
+was one of great importance, and doubtless had no small influence in
+shaping the young man's future career.
+
+In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, to Babylon,
+and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to Artaxerxês,
+who, from his remarkable memory which appears to have been his chief
+characteristic, got the title of Artaxerxês Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly
+was not deficient in this mental quality, for he seems to have
+remembered his mother's suggestions about his being the rightful heir to
+the throne so well, that at the coronation of Artaxerxês he plotted his
+assassination; or at least, Tissaphernês, a neighboring satrap,[1]
+accused him of it. Cyrus, who appears to have had no adequate defence to
+make, was forthwith arrested and would probably have been summarily put
+to death--for in Persia the law's delays were unknown--had not Parysatis
+interfered. Realizing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward and,
+clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about him, and
+pressed his neck to hers in such a way that the executioner must have
+beheaded her with the same stroke with which he decapitated Cyrus.
+
+The prayers and entreaties of Parysatis saved the young man's life, and
+he was even permitted to return to Sardis and resume his power. He went;
+but with no intention of remaining in that subordinate position. Not
+only was he resolved to be revenged on Tissaphernês, but he was equally
+determined to overthrow the mild Artaxerxês and convince him of the
+mistake of yielding to a woman's tears.
+
+Cyrus had learned from his residence on the Mediterranean coast, how far
+superior Greek soldiers were to the troops of Persia. The former would
+not only fight from patriotic motives, but what was more, they would
+readily fight outside of Greece, if they were paid well for it; the
+latter would only fight when they were flogged to it, and officers had
+to carry whips to drive them into battle by the sting of the lash.
+
+Under the pretext that he was about to engage in a local and private
+war with his enemy Tissaphernês, Cyrus managed to gradually collect an
+army of about ten thousand Greeks whom Klearchus, an ex-governor of
+Byzantium, hired for him. These ten thousand were the real core of the
+expedition, though in addition a hundred thousand Asiatics were to form
+the bulk of it. With this force the young satrap believed that he could
+take Babylon and with it that title of Great King which he coveted. It
+was true that Artaxerxês would meet him with an army of ten men to his
+one; but, as Cyrus said, mere "numbers and noise" did not tell on the
+battle-field, and "numbers and noise" were all that the Persian
+sovereign had to rely on.
+
+When all was ready, Cyrus set out from Sardis on his memorable march in
+the spring of 401. Among the Greeks was a volunteer named Xenophon, who
+had been persuaded to go by his friend Proxenus, a general in the army
+of Cyrus. Xenophon, as we shall see, eventually saved his countrymen
+from destruction, and became not only the leader, but the historian of
+the expedition.
+
+With the exception of Klearchus, none of the army seem to have known the
+real object of the campaign, but supposed that Cyrus was going to attack
+the Pisidians, robber tribes that inhabited the mountainous country
+southeast of Sardis. Artaxerxês appears to have been equally in the
+dark, and though he knew Cyrus was advancing in the direction of
+Babylon, he thought that his ultimate purpose was to make war on
+Tissaphernês, and so gave himself no more trouble about the matter.
+
+All went well with Cyrus and his Greek mercenaries until they reached
+that city of Tarsus in Cilicia, which was later to become famous as the
+birthplace of the apostle Paul. When they reached that place, Xenophon's
+countrymen saw that they had been deceived, and that Cyrus evidently had
+some greater foe in view than the rough banditti of the Pisidian
+highlands. At first they were on the point of mutinying, and of stoning
+Klearchus to give proper emphasis to their feelings; but sober second
+thought showed them that it was doubtful whether they would gain
+anything by such a course. Klearchus, who was quite equal to the
+emergency, bade them reflect that they were now a long distance from
+home, and that Cyrus had it in his power to make it difficult for them
+to get back without his permission. Next, they were promised a decided
+increase of pay if they would keep on. These considerations so
+influenced the Greeks that they finally resolved to continue their march
+and take the chances of war. Cyrus still refused to divulge his real
+purpose; and though there cannot be much doubt that the Ten Thousand
+felt pretty reasonably certain what it was, yet they probably believed
+he had chances enough of success to make it worth their while to run the
+risk with him.
+
+Accordingly the army resumed their forward movement, following the trend
+of the coast round the Gulf of Issus, and then striking southeasterly
+again, until some time in the summer they reached and crossed the
+Euphrates at Thapsacus. From that point they marched down the left bank
+of the river, through the hilly desert of Arabia, toward the great city
+of Babylon. Early in September they reached a point on the Tigris,
+nearly opposite Bagdad, and about two days' march from Kunaxa, a place
+not very far northwest of the Persian capital.
+
+Up to this time Cyrus had met with no opposition, though he was daily
+expecting to see the advance-guard of his brother's army. Before going
+further he thought it prudent to hold a grand review of his troops,
+which he did at midnight, as it was now reported that Artaxerxês, with
+an army of over a million, was coming to give him battle.
+
+But the million did not make their appearance, and so Cyrus decided to
+keep on until he should encounter them. The next day the invading army
+reached a trench which had evidently been recently dug to obstruct their
+advance. It stretched across the plain between the Euphrates and the
+Tigris, in connection with the ruins of the old Median Wall, built
+probably in the days of Nebuchadnezzar as one of the defences of
+Babylon. This trench was eighteen feet deep, thirty feet wide, and
+upwards of forty miles in length; it stopped short of the Euphrates by
+only twenty feet. Over that narrow strip of ground, which the Persian
+king might easily have held with a small number of resolute men, the
+Cyreian forces passed, with no one to hinder them. The great trench, on
+which so much labor had been expended, was, therefore, not only useless
+as a defence to Artaxerxês, but it was a positive encouragement to Cyrus
+and his men, for it revealed the inefficiency and the cowardice of the
+Persians. The whole army now moved rapidly forward, confident of an easy
+victory, many even supposing that Artaxerxês would make no stand at all,
+but abandon his capital to them. The Great King, however, was not so
+hopelessly pusillanimous as that; for, when Cyrus reached Kunaxa, scouts
+brought word that the enemy's hosts were not far behind. This time the
+intelligence was correct. That very afternoon a great cloud of white
+dust rolled up from the plain, and as it kept advancing the invaders
+caught sight of the flash of brazen armor and a forest of spears.
+
+When all was ready for the battle to begin, the Greeks, not waiting to
+be attacked, charged on the run against the Persian left wing. The
+Persians, who seem to have thought that on such an occasion absence of
+body was a good deal better than presence of mind, waited just long
+enough to hear the Greeks give a fierce shout to Mars, accompanied by a
+significant clatter of spears and shields. That satisfied them, and,
+turning like a flock of frightened sheep, they ran for their lives.
+
+Cyrus, who had refused to put on a helmet, now dashed into the fight
+with uncovered head, making straight for King Artaxerxês, who occupied
+the centre of his army. "I see the man!" he cried, and, hurling his
+lance, he struck and slightly wounded the Great King; but that
+fratricidal blow was the last, for just then a javelin pierced Cyrus
+under the eye, and he fell from his horse and was slain. His head and
+right hand were then cut off to serve as a warning to traitors. The
+native or Asiatic troops, seeing the disaster, fled, and did not stop
+till they had reached a former camp eight miles away.
+
+Meanwhile the victorious Ten Thousand, knowing nothing of what had
+happened to Cyrus, pursued the Persians as long as light lasted; then
+when the sun had set they returned to find that their camp had been
+plundered by the enemy, and that they must go to bed supperless. It was
+not until sunrise of the next day that they learned that Cyrus was dead;
+that their companions in arms had fled; and that they were left a mere
+handful of men without a leader, and without provisions, in the heart of
+the enemy's country.
+
+How to retreat from such a position was the supreme question. They could
+not return the way they came, for that road led them through the desert,
+where it would be impossible to get food. If they were to get back alive
+they must take the northern route to the shores of the Black Sea. This
+would lead them through a fertile but rough country, in which they would
+have to find their way as best they could across rivers and over
+mountains, harassed by the Persians in the rear, and encountering savage
+tribes who would dispute their progress. At the shortest such a march
+would be about six hundred miles even in an air line, with prospect of
+something like six hundred more before they reached the Mediterranean.
+
+After many delays, this latter course was the one they finally resolved
+to take, and owing to Xenophon's courage and resolution it turned out
+successfully.
+
+After eight months of wandering, hardships, and peril, they all came in
+sight of the Euxine, and perhaps no shipwrecked sailors clinging to a
+raft ever cried "Land!" "Land!" with more joy than those Greeks who had
+climbed a hill-top shouted "The Sea!" "The Sea!"
+
+Thanks to their own bravery, to their able leader, and finally to
+Persian vacillation and cowardice, this little army had now reached a
+place of safety. It was long, however, before they got back to their
+native country, and when they did, they were not to arrive at its shores
+asleep, on shipboard, as the much wandering and storm-tossed Ulysses
+came to his beloved Ithaca.
+
+It is doubtful, indeed, how many of them ever got back to their Spartan
+or Athenian homes, for we know that most of them could not make up their
+minds to live quiet lives of peace again; but preferred fighting in
+behalf of the independence of the Ionian cities which Greece had planted
+on the coast of Asia Minor.
+
+Such was the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. If we may accept the judgment
+of Rollin, a once noted historian, it has never had a parallel in
+history. If we consider its results, it certainly merits all that Rollin
+claims for it, for it convinced the Greek people that the apparent power
+of the Persian empire was utterly unreal. They saw that, as Cyrus had
+said, its only strength was in "numbers and noise." This conviction
+grew, and two generations after Xenophon's return, it led to that grand
+invasion of Persia by Alexander the Great which was to revolutionize the
+ancient world.
+
+What, then, had the retreat of the Greeks accomplished? First, it proved
+that ten thousand men not afraid to die are worth more than a million
+who lack that courage; and next, though it was a retreat, yet it
+suggested that advance which eventually spread the Greek language, Greek
+culture and Greek civilization in countries where they were before
+unknown.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Tissaphernês was a satrap of Caria, a province of Asia Minor south
+of Lydia.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. FOR XENOPHON'S
+ANABASIS.]
+
+[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF EUROPE SHOWING PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF
+NAPOLEON.]
+
+
+
+
+RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.
+
+
+§ 1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+retreat.
+
+The first triumphant feeling of the Greek troops at Kunaxa[2] was
+exchanged, as soon as they learnt the death of Cyrus, for dismay and
+sorrow; accompanied by unavailing repentance for the venture into which
+he and Klearchus had seduced them. Probably Klearchus himself too
+repented, and with good reason, of having displayed, in his manner of
+fighting the battle, so little foresight, and so little regard either to
+the injunctions or to the safety of Cyrus. Nevertheless he still
+maintained the tone of a victor in the field, and after expressions of
+grief for the fate of the young prince, desired Proklês and Glûs to
+return to Ariæus, with the reply, that the Greeks on their side were
+conquerors without any enemy remaining; that they were about to march
+onward against Artaxerxês; and that if Ariæus would join them, they
+would place him on the throne which had been intended for Cyrus. While
+this reply was conveyed to Ariæus by his particular friend Menon along
+with the messengers, the Greeks procured a meal as well as they could,
+having no bread, by killing some of the baggage animals; and by kindling
+fire to cook their meat, from the arrows, the wooden Egyptian shields
+which had been thrown away on the field, and the baggage carts.
+
+Before any answer could be received from Ariæus, heralds[3] appeared
+coming from Artaxerxês; among them being Phalînus, a Greek from
+Zakynthus, and the Greek surgeon Ktesias of Knidus, who was in the
+service of the Persian king. Phalînus, an officer of some military
+experience and in the confidence of Tissaphernês, addressed himself to
+the Greek commanders; requiring them on the part of the King, since he
+was now victor and had slain Cyrus, to surrender their arms and appeal
+to his mercy. To this summons, painful in the extreme to a Grecian ear,
+Klearchus replied that it was not the practice for victorious men to lay
+down their arms. Being then called away to examine the sacrifice[4]
+which was going on, he left the interview to the other officers, who met
+the summons of Phalînus by an emphatic negative. "If the King thinks
+himself strong enough to ask for our arms unconditionally, let him come
+and try to seize them."--"The King (rejoined Phalînus) thinks that you
+are in his power, being in the midst of his territory, hemmed in by
+impassable rivers, and encompassed by his innumerable subjects."--"Our
+arms and our valor are all that remain to us (replied a young Athenian);
+we shall not be fools enough to hand over to you our only remaining
+treasures, but shall employ them still to have a fight for _your_
+treasure." But though several spoke in this resolute tone, there were
+not wanting others disposed to encourage a negotiation; saying that
+they had been faithful to Cyrus as long as he lived, and would now be
+faithful to Artaxerxês, if he wanted their services in Egypt or anywhere
+else. In the midst of this parley Klearchus returned, and was requested
+by Phalînus to return a final answer on behalf of all. He at first asked
+the advice of Phalînus himself; appealing to the common feeling of
+Hellenic[5] patriotism, and anticipating, with very little judgment,
+that the latter would encourage the Greeks in holding out. "If (replied
+Phalînus) I saw one chance out of ten thousand in your favor, in the
+event of a contest with the King, I should advise you to refuse the
+surrender of your arms. But as there is no chance of safety for you
+against the King's consent, I recommend you to look out for safety in
+the only quarter where it presents itself." Sensible of the mistake
+which he had made in asking the question, Klearchus rejoined--"That is
+_your_ opinion: now report our answer. We think we shall be better
+friends to the King, if we are to be his friends,--or more effective
+enemies, if we are to be his enemies,--with our arms, than without
+them." Phalînus, in retiring, said that the King proclaimed a truce so
+long as they remained in their present position--but war, if they moved,
+either onward or backward. And to this Klearchus acceded, without
+declaring which he intended to do.
+
+Shortly after the departure of Phalînus, the envoys despatched to Ariæus
+returned; communicating his reply that the Persian grandees would never
+tolerate any pretensions on his part to the crown, and that he intended
+to depart early the next morning on his return; if the Greeks wished to
+accompany him, they must join him during the night. In the evening,
+Klearchus, convening the generals and the captains, acquainted them that
+the morning sacrifice had been of a nature to forbid their marching
+against the King--a prohibition, of which he now understood the reason,
+from having since learnt that the King was on the other side of the
+Tigris, and therefore out of their reach--but that it was favorable for
+rejoining Ariæus. He gave directions accordingly for a night-march back
+along the Euphratês, to the station where they had passed the last night
+but one prior to the battle. The other Grecian generals, without any
+formal choice of Klearchus as chief, tacitly acquiesced in his orders,
+from a sense of his superior decision and experience, in an emergency
+when no one knew what to propose. The night-march was successfully
+accomplished, so that they joined Ariæus at the preceding station about
+midnight; not without the alarming symptom, however, that Miltokythês
+the Thracian deserted to the King at the head of 340 of his countrymen,
+partly horse, partly foot.
+
+The first proceeding of the Grecian generals was to exchange solemn
+oaths of reciprocal fidelity and fraternity with Ariæus. According to an
+ancient and impressive practice, a bull, a wolf, a boar, and a ram, were
+all slain, and their blood allowed to run into the hollow of a shield;
+in which the Greek generals dipped a sword, and Ariæus, with his chief
+companions, a spear. The latter, besides the promise of alliance,
+engaged also to guide the Greeks in good faith down to the Asiatic
+coast. Klearchus immediately began to ask what route he proposed to
+take; whether to return by that along which they had come up, or by any
+other. To this Ariæus replied, that the road along which they had
+marched was impracticable for retreat, from the utter want of
+provisions through seventeen days of desert; but that he intended to
+choose another road, which, though longer, would be sufficiently
+productive to furnish them with provisions. There was, however, a
+necessity (he added), that the first two or three days' marches should
+be of extreme length, in order that they might get out of the reach of
+the king's forces, who would hardly be able to overtake them afterwards
+with any considerable numbers.
+
+They had now come 93 days' march from Ephesus, or 90 from Sardis. The
+distance from Sardis to Kunaxa is 1464 miles. There had been at least 96
+days of rest, enjoyed at various places, so that the total of time
+elapsed must have at least been 189 days, or a little more than half a
+year: but it was probably greater, since some intervals of rest are not
+specified in number of days.
+
+How to retrace their steps was now the problem, apparently insoluble. As
+to the military force of Persia in the field, indeed, not merely the
+easy victory at Kunaxa, but still more the undisputed march throughout
+so long a space, left them no serious apprehension. In spite of this
+great extent, population, and riches, they had been allowed to pass
+through the most difficult and defensible country, and to ford the broad
+Euphratês, without a blow: nay, the King had shrunk from defending the
+long trench which he had specially caused to be dug for the protection
+of Babylonia. But the difficulties which stood between them and their
+homes were of a very different character. How were they to find their
+way back, or obtain provisions, in defiance of a numerous hostile
+cavalry, which, not without efficiency even in a pitched battle, would
+be most formidable in opposing their retreat? The line of their upward
+march had all been planned, with supplies furnished, by Cyrus:--yet
+even under such advantages, supplies had been on the point of failing,
+in one part of the march. They were now, for the first time, called upon
+to think and provide for themselves; without knowledge of either roads
+or distances--without trustworthy guides--without any one to furnish or
+even to indicate supplies--and with a territory all hostile, traversed
+by rivers which they had no means of crossing. Klearchus himself knew
+nothing of the country, nor of any other river except the Euphratês; nor
+does he indeed in his heart seem to have conceived retreat as
+practicable without the consent of the King. The reader who casts his
+eye on a map of Asia, and imagines the situation of this Greek division
+on the left bank of the Euphratês, near the parallel of latitude 33°
+30'--will hardly be surprised at any measure of despair, on the part
+either of general or soldiers. And we may add that Klearchus had not
+even the advantage of such a map, or probably of any map at all, to
+enable him to shape his course.
+
+In this dilemma, the first and most natural impulse was to consult
+Ariæus; who (as has been already stated) pronounced, with good reason,
+that return by the same road was impracticable; and promised to conduct
+them home by another road--longer indeed, yet better supplied.
+
+
+§ 2. Commencement of the Retreat.
+
+At daybreak on the ensuing morning, they began their march in an
+easterly direction, anticipating that before night they should reach
+some villages of the Babylonian territory, as in fact they did; yet not
+before they had been alarmed in the afternoon by the supposed approach
+of some of the enemy's horse, and by evidences that the enemy were not
+far off, which induced them to slacken their march for the purpose of
+more cautious array.[6] Hence they did not reach the first villages
+before dark; these too had been pillaged by the enemy while retreating
+before them, so that only the first-comers under Klearchus could obtain
+accommodation, while the succeeding troops, coming up in the dark,
+pitched as they could without any order. The whole camp was a scene of
+clamor, dispute, and even alarm, throughout the night. No provisions
+could be obtained. Early the next morning Klearchus ordered them under
+arms; and desiring to expose the groundless nature of the alarm, caused
+the herald[7] to proclaim, that whoever would denounce the person who
+had let the ass[8] into the camp on the preceding night, should be
+rewarded with a talent[9] of silver.
+
+What was the project of route entertained by Ariæus, we cannot
+ascertain; since it was not farther pursued. For the effect of the
+unexpected arrival of the Greeks as if to attack the enemy--and even the
+clamor and shouting of the camp during the night--so intimidated the
+Persian commanders, that they sent heralds the next morning to treat
+about a truce. The contrast between this message, and the haughty
+summons of the preceding day to lay down their arms, was sensibly felt
+by the Grecian officers, and taught them that the proper way of dealing
+with the Persians was by a bold and aggressive demeanor. When Klearchus
+was apprised of the arrival of the heralds, he desired them at first to
+wait at the outposts until he was at leisure: then, having put his
+troops into the best possible order, with a phalanx[10] compact on every
+side to the eye, and the unarmed persons out of sight, he desired the
+heralds to be admitted. He marched out to meet them with the most showy
+and best-armed soldiers immediately around him, and when they informed
+him that they had come from the King with instructions to propose a
+truce, and to report on what conditions the Greeks would agree to it,
+Klearchus replied abruptly--"Well then--go and tell the King, that our
+first business must be to fight; for we have nothing to eat, nor will
+any man presume to talk to Greeks about a truce, without first providing
+dinner for them." With this reply the heralds rode off, but returned
+very speedily; thus making it plain that the King, or the commanding
+officer, was near at hand. They brought word that the King thought their
+answer reasonable, and had sent guides to conduct them to a place where
+they would obtain provisions, if the truce should be concluded.
+
+After an affected delay and hesitation, in order to impose upon the
+Persians, Klearchus concluded the truce, and desired that the guides
+should conduct the army to those quarters where provisions could be had.
+He was most circumspect in maintaining exact order during the march,
+himself taking charge of the rear guard. The guides led them over many
+ditches and channels, full of water, and cut for the purpose of
+irrigation[11]; some so broad and deep that they could not be crossed
+without bridges. The army had to put together bridges for the occasion,
+from palm-trees either already fallen, or expressly cut down. This was a
+troublesome business, which Klearchus himself superintended with
+peculiar strictness. He carried his spear in the left hand, his stick in
+the right; employing the latter to chastise any soldier who seemed
+remiss--and even plunging into the mud and lending his own hands in aid
+wherever it was necessary. As it was not the usual season of irrigation
+for crops he suspected that the canals had been filled on this occasion
+expressly to intimidate the Greeks, by impressing them with the
+difficulties of their prospective march; and he was anxious to
+demonstrate to the Persians that these difficulties were no more than
+Grecian energy could easily surmount.
+
+At length they reached certain villages indicated by their guides for
+quarters and provisions; and here for the first time they had a sample
+of that unparalleled abundance of the Babylonian territory, which
+Herodotus is afraid to describe with numerical precision. Large
+quantities of corn,[12]--dates not only in great numbers, but of such
+beauty, freshness, size, and flavor, as no Greek had ever seen or
+tasted, insomuch that fruit like what was imported into Greece, was
+disregarded and left for the slaves--wine and vinegar, both also made
+from the date-palm; these are the luxuries which Xenophon is eloquent in
+describing, after his recent period of scanty fare and anxious
+apprehension; not without also noticing the headaches which such new and
+luscious food, in unlimited quantity, brought upon himself and others.
+
+
+§ 3. Negotiations with Tissaphernês.
+
+After three days passed in these restorative quarters, they were visited
+by Tissaphernês, accompanied by four Persian grandees and a suite of
+slaves. The satrap[13] began to open a negotiation with Klearchus and
+the other generals. Speaking through an interpreter, he stated to them
+that the vicinity of his province to Greece impressed him with a strong
+interest in favor of the Cyreian Greeks,[14] and made him anxious to
+rescue them out of their present desperate situation; that he had
+solicited the King's permission to save them, as a personal recompense
+to himself for having been the first to forewarn him of the schemes of
+Cyrus, and for having been the only Persian who had not fled before the
+Greeks at Kunaxa; that the King had promised to consider this point, and
+had sent him in the mean time to ask the Greeks what their purpose was
+in coming up to attack him; and that he trusted the Greeks would give
+him a conciliatory answer to carry back, in order that he might have
+less difficulty in realizing what he desired for their benefit. To this
+Klearchus, after first deliberating apart with the other officers,
+replied, that the army had come together, and had even commenced their
+march, without any purpose of hostility to the King; that Cyrus had
+brought them up the country under false pretences, but that they had
+been ashamed to desert him in the midst of danger, since he had always
+treated them generously; that since Cyrus was now dead, they had no
+purpose of hostility against the King, but were only anxious to return
+home; that they were prepared to repel hostility from all quarters, but
+would be not less prompt in requiting favor or assistance. With this
+answer Tissaphernês departed, and returned on the next day but one,
+informing them that he had obtained the King's permission to save the
+Grecian army--though not without great opposition, since many Persian
+counsellors contended that it was unworthy of the King's dignity to
+suffer those who had assailed him to escape. "I am now ready (said he)
+to conclude a covenant[15] and exchange oaths with you; engaging to
+conduct you safely back into Greece, with the country friendly, and with
+a regular market for you to purchase provisions. You must stipulate on
+your part always to pay for your provisions, and to do no damage to the
+country: if I do not furnish you with provisions to buy, you are then at
+liberty to take them where you can find them." Well were the Greeks
+content to enter into such a covenant, which was sworn, with hands given
+upon it, by Klearchus, the other generals, and the captains on their
+side--and by Tissaphernês with the King's brother-in-law on the other.
+Tissaphernês then left them, saying that he would go back to the King,
+make preparations, and return to reconduct the Greeks home; going
+himself to his own province.
+
+The statements of Ktesias, though known to us only indirectly, and not
+to be received without caution, afford ground for believing that Queen
+Parysatis decidedly wished success to her son Cyrus in his contest for
+the throne--that the first report conveyed to her of the battle of
+Kunaxa, announcing the victory of Cyrus, filled her with joy, which was
+exchanged for bitter sorrow when she was informed of his death,--that
+she caused to be slain with horrible tortures all those, who, though
+acting in the Persian army and for the defence of Artaxerxês, had any
+participation in the death of Cyrus--and that she showed favorable
+dispositions towards the Cyreian Greeks. It may seem probable, farther,
+that her influence may have been exerted to procure for them an
+unimpeded retreat, without anticipating the use afterwards made by
+Tissaphernês (as will soon appear) of the present convention.[16] And in
+one point of view the Persian king had an interest in facilitating their
+retreat. For the very circumstance which rendered retreat difficult,
+also rendered the Greeks dangerous to him in their actual position. They
+were in the heart of the Persian Empire, within seventy miles of
+Babylon; in a country not only teeming with fertility, but also
+extremely defensible; especially against cavalry, from the multiplicity
+of canals, as Herodotus observed respecting Lower Egypt. And Klearchus
+might say to his Grecian soldiers--what Xenophon was afterwards
+preparing to say to them at Kalpê on the Euxine Sea, and what Nikias
+also affirmed to the unhappy Athenian army whom he afterwards conducted
+away from Syracuse[17]--that wherever they sat down, they were
+sufficiently numerous and well-organized to become at once a city. A
+body of such troops might effectually assist, and would perhaps
+encourage, the Babylonian population to throw off the Persian yoke, and
+to relieve themselves from the prodigious tribute[18] which they now
+paid to the satrap. For these reasons, the advisers of Artaxerxês
+thought it advantageous to convey the Greeks across the Tigris out of
+Babylonia, beyond all possibility of returning thither. This was at any
+rate the primary object of the convention. And it was the more necessary
+to conciliate the goodwill of the Greeks, because there seems to have
+been but one bridge over the Tigris; which bridge could only be reached
+by inviting them to advance considerably farther into the interior of
+Babylonia.
+
+Such was the state of fears and hopes on both sides, at the time when
+Tissaphernês left the Greeks, after concluding his convention. For
+twenty days did they await his return, without receiving from him any
+communication; the Cyreian Persians[19] under Ariæus being encamped near
+them. Such prolonged and unexplained delay became, after a few days, the
+source of much uneasiness to the Greeks; the more so, as Ariæus received
+during this interval several visits from his Persian kinsmen, and
+friendly messages from the King, promising amnesty[20] for his recent
+services under Cyrus. Of these messages the effects were painfully felt,
+in manifest coldness of demeanor on the part of his Persian troops
+towards the Greeks. Impatient and suspicious, the Greek soldiers
+impressed upon Klearchus their fears, that the King had concluded the
+recent convention only to arrest their movements, until he should have
+assembled a larger army and blocked up more effectually the roads
+against their return. To this Klearchus replied--"I am aware of all that
+you say. Yet if we now strike our tents,[21] it will be a breach of the
+convention, and a declaration of war. No one will furnish us with
+provisions: we shall have no guides: Ariæus will desert us forthwith, so
+that we shall have his troops as enemies instead of friends. Whether
+there be any other river for us to cross, I know not; but we know that
+the Euphratês itself can never be crossed, if there be an enemy to
+resist us. Nor have we any cavalry,--while cavalry is the best and most
+numerous force of our enemies. If the King, having all these advantages,
+really wishes to destroy us, I do not know why he should falsely
+exchange all these oaths and solemnities, and thus make his own word
+worthless in the eyes both of Greeks and barbarians."[22]
+
+Such words from Klearchus are remarkable, as they testify his own
+complete despair of the situation--certainly a very natural
+despair--except by amicable dealing with the Persians; and also his
+ignorance of geography and the country to be traversed. This feeling
+helps to explain his imprudent confidence afterwards in Tissaphernês.
+
+That satrap, however, after twenty days, at last came back, with his
+army prepared to return to Ionia[23]--with the King's daughter, whom he
+had just received in marriage--and with another grandee named Orontas.
+Tissaphernês took the conduct of the march, providing supplies for the
+Greek troops to purchase; while Ariæus and his division now separated
+themselves altogether from the Greeks, and became intermingled with the
+other Persians. Klearchus and the Greeks followed them, at the distance
+of about three miles in the rear, with a separate guide for themselves;
+not without jealousy and mistrust, sometimes shown in individual
+conflicts, while collecting wood or forage, between them and the
+Persians of Ariæus. After three days' march (that is, apparently, three
+days, calculated from the moment when they began their retreat with
+Ariæus) they came to the Wall of Media,[24] and passed through it,
+prosecuting their march onward through the country on its other or
+interior side. It was of bricks cemented with bitumen,[25] 100 feet
+high, and 20 feet broad; it was said to extend a length of about 70
+miles, and to be not far distant from Babylon. Two days of farther
+march, computed at 28 miles, brought them to the Tigris. During these
+two days they crossed two great ship-canals, one of them over a
+permanent bridge, the other over a temporary bridge laid on seven boats.
+Canals of such magnitude must probably have been two among the four
+stated by Xenophon to be drawn from the river Tigris, each of them about
+three miles and a half distant from the other. They were 100 feet broad,
+and deep enough even for heavy vessels; they were distributed by means
+of numerous smaller channels and ditches for the irrigation of the soil;
+and they were said to fall into the Euphratês; or rather perhaps they
+terminated in one main larger canal cut directly from the Euphratês to
+the Tigris, each of them joining this larger canal at a different point
+of its course. Within less than two miles of the Tigris was a large and
+populous city named Sittakê, near which the Greeks pitched their camp,
+on the verge of a beautiful park or thick grove full of all kinds of
+trees; while the Persians all crossed the Tigris, at the neighboring
+bridge.
+
+As Proxenus and Xenophon were here walking in front of the camp after
+supper, a man was brought up who had asked for the former at the
+advanced posts. This man said that he came with instructions from
+Ariæus. He advised the Greeks to be on their guard, as there were troops
+concealed in the adjoining grove, for the purpose of attacking them
+during the night--and also to send and occupy the bridge over the
+Tigris, since Tissaphernês intended to break it down, in order that the
+Greeks might be caught without possibility of escape between the river
+and the canal. On discussing this information with Klearchus, who was
+much alarmed by it, a young Greek present remarked that the two matters
+stated by the informant contradicted each other; for that if
+Tissaphernês intended to attack the Greeks during the night, he would
+not break down the bridge, so as both to prevent his own troops on the
+other side from crossing to aid, and to deprive those on this side of
+all retreat if they were beaten,--while, if the Greeks were beaten,
+there was no escape open to them, whether the bridge continued or not.
+This remark induced Klearchus to ask the messenger, what was the extent
+of ground between the Tigris and the canal. The messenger replied that
+it was a great extent of country, comprising many large cities and
+villages. Reflecting on this communication, the Greek officers came to
+the conclusion that the message was a stratagem on the part of
+Tissaphernês to frighten them and hasten their passage across the
+Tigris; under the apprehension that they might conceive the plan of
+seizing or breaking the bridge and occupying a permanent position in the
+spot where they were; which was an island, fortified on one side by the
+Tigris,--on the other sides, by intersecting canals between the
+Euphratês and the Tigris. Such an island was a defensible position,
+having a most productive territory with numerous cultivators, so as to
+furnish shelter and means of hostility for all the King's enemies:
+Tissaphernês calculated that the message now delivered would induce the
+Greeks to become alarmed with their actual position, and to cross the
+Tigris with as little delay as possible. At least this was the
+interpretation which the Greek officers put upon his proceeding; an
+interpretation highly plausible, since, in order to reach the bridge
+over the Tigris, he had been obliged to conduct the Greek troops into a
+position sufficiently tempting for them to hold--and since he knew that
+his own purposes were purely treacherous. But the Greeks, officers as
+well as soldiers, were animated only by the wish of reaching home. They
+trusted, though not without misgivings, in the promise of Tissaphernês
+to conduct them; and never for a moment thought of taking permanent post
+in this fertile island. They did not however neglect the precaution of
+sending a guard during the night to the bridge over the Tigris, which no
+enemy came to assail. On the next morning they passed over it in a body,
+in cautious and mistrustful array, and found themselves on the eastern
+bank of the Tigris,--not only without attack, but even without sight of
+a single Persian, except Glûs the interpreter and a few others watching
+their motions.
+
+After having crossed by a bridge laid upon thirty-seven pontoons,[26]
+the Greeks continued their march to the northward upon the eastern side
+of the Tigris, for four days to the river Physkus; said to be seventy
+miles. The Physkus was 100 feet wide, with a bridge, and the large city
+of Opis near it. Here, at the frontier of Assyria and Media, the road
+from the eastern regions to Babylon joined the road northerly on which
+the Greeks were marching. An illegitimate brother of Artaxerxês was seen
+at the head of a numerous force, which he was conducting from Susa and
+Ekbatana as a reinforcement to the royal army. This great host halted to
+see the Greeks pass by; and Klearchus ordered the march in column of two
+abreast, employing himself actively to maintain an excellent array, and
+halting more than once. The army thus occupied so long a time in passing
+by the Persian host that their numbers appeared greater than the
+reality, even to themselves; while the effect upon the Persian
+spectators was very imposing. Here Assyria ended and Media began. They
+marched, still in a northerly direction, for six days through a portion
+of Media almost unpeopled, until they came to some flourishing villages
+which formed a portion of the domain of Queen Parysatis; probably these
+villages, forming so marked an exception to the desert character of the
+remaining march, were situated on the Lesser Zab, which flows into the
+Tigris, and which Xenophon must have crossed, though he makes no mention
+of it. According to the order of march stipulated between the Greeks and
+Tissaphernês, the latter only provided a supply of provisions for the
+former to purchase; but on the present halt, he allowed the Greeks to
+plunder the villages, which were rich and full of all sorts of
+subsistence--yet without carrying off the slaves. The wish of the satrap
+to put an insult on Cyrus, as his personal enemy, through Parysatis,
+thus proved a sentence of ruin to these unhappy villagers. Five more
+days' march, called seventy miles, brought them to the banks of the
+river Zabatus, or the Greater Zab, which flows into the Tigris near a
+town now called Senn. During the first of these five days, they saw on
+the opposite side of the Tigris a large town called Kænæ, from whence
+they received supplies of provisions, brought across by the inhabitants
+upon rafts supported by inflated skins.[27]
+
+
+§ 4. Treachery of Tissaphernês.
+
+On the banks of the Great Zab they halted three days--days of serious
+and tragical moment. Having been under feelings of mistrust, ever since
+the convention with Tissaphernês, they had followed throughout the whole
+march, with separate guides of their own, in the rear of his army,
+always maintaining their encampment apart. During their halt on the Zab,
+so many various manifestations occurred to aggravate the mistrust, that
+hostilities seemed on the point of breaking out between the two camps.
+To obviate this danger Klearchus demanded an interview with
+Tissaphernês, represented to him the threatening attitude of affairs,
+and insisted on the necessity of coming to a clear understanding. He
+impressed upon the satrap that, over and above the solemn oaths which
+had been interchanged, the Greeks on their side could have no
+conceivable motive to quarrel with him; that they had everything to hope
+from his friendship, and everything to fear, even to the loss of all
+chance of safe return, from his hostility; that Tissaphernês also could
+gain nothing by destroying them, but would find them, if he chose, the
+best and most faithful instruments for his own aggrandizement and for
+conquering the Mysians and Pisidians[28]--as Cyrus had experienced while
+he was alive. Klearchus concluded his protest by requesting to be
+informed, what malicious reporter had been filling the mind of
+Tissaphernês with causeless suspicions against the Greeks.
+
+"Klearchus (replied the satrap), I rejoice to hear such excellent sense
+from your lips. You remark truly, that if you were to meditate evil
+against me, it would recoil upon yourselves. I shall prove to you, in my
+turn, that you have no cause to mistrust either the King or me. If we
+had wished to destroy you, nothing would be easier. We have
+superabundant forces for the purpose: there are wide plains in which you
+would be starved--besides mountains and rivers which you would be unable
+to pass, without our help. Having thus the means of destroying you in
+our hands, and having nevertheless bound ourselves by solemn oaths to
+save you, we shall not be fools and knaves enough to attempt it now,
+when we should draw upon ourselves the just indignation of the gods. It
+is my peculiar affection for my neighbors the Greeks--and my wish to
+attach to my own person, by ties of gratitude, the Greek soldiers of
+Cyrus--which have made me eager to conduct you to Ionia[29] in safety.
+For I know that when you are in my service, though the King is the only
+man who can wear his tiara[30] erect _upon his head_, I shall be able to
+wear mine erect upon _my heart_, in full pride and confidence."
+
+So powerful was the impression made upon Klearchus by these assurances,
+that he exclaimed--"Surely those informers deserve the severest
+punishment, who try to put us at enmity, when we are such good friends
+to each other, and have so much reason to be so." "Yes (replied
+Tissaphernês), they deserve nothing less: and if you, with the other
+generals and captains, will come into my tent tomorrow, I will tell you
+who the calumniators are." "To-be-sure I will (rejoined Klearchus), and
+bring the other generals with me. I shall tell you at the same time who
+are the parties that seek to prejudice us against you." The conversation
+then ended, the satrap detaining Klearchus to dinner, and treating him
+in the most hospitable and confidential manner.
+
+On the next morning, Klearchus communicated what had passed to the
+Greeks, insisting on the necessity that all the generals should go to
+Tissaphernês pursuant to his invitation; in order to re-establish that
+confidence which unworthy calumniators had shaken, and to punish such of
+the calumniators as might be Greeks. So emphatically did he pledge
+himself for the good faith and philhellenic[31] dispositions of the
+satrap, that he overruled the opposition of many among the soldiers;
+who, still continuing to entertain their former suspicions, remonstrated
+especially against the extreme imprudence of putting all the generals at
+once into the power of Tissaphernês. The urgency of Klearchus prevailed.
+Himself with four other generals--Proxenus, Menon, Agias, and
+Sokratês--and twenty captains--went to visit the satrap in his tent;
+about 200 of the soldiers going along with them, to make purchases for
+their own account in the Persian camp-market.
+
+On reaching the quarters of Tissaphernês--distant nearly three miles
+from the Persian camp according to habit--the five generals were
+admitted into the interior, while the captains remained at the entrance.
+A purple flag, hoisted from the top of the tent, betrayed too late the
+purpose for which they had been invited to come. The captains, with the
+Grecian soldiers who had accompanied them, were surprised and cut down,
+while the generals in the interior were detained, put in chains, and
+carried up as prisoners to the Persian court. Here Klearchus, Proxenus,
+Agias, and Sokratês, were beheaded, after a short imprisonment. Queen
+Parysatis, indeed, from affection to Cyrus, not only furnished many
+comforts to Klearchus in the prison (by the hands of her surgeon
+Ktesias), but used all her influence with her son Artaxerxês to save
+his life; though her efforts were counteracted, on this occasion, by the
+superior influence of Queen Stateira, his wife. The rivalry between
+these two royal women, doubtless arising out of many other circumstances
+besides the death of Klearchus, became soon afterwards so furious, that
+Parysatis caused Stateira to be poisoned.
+
+Menon was not put to death along with the other generals. He appears to
+have taken credit at the Persian court for the treason of entrapping his
+colleagues into the hands of Tissaphernês. But his life was only
+prolonged to perish a year afterwards in disgrace and torture--probably
+by the requisition of Parysatis, who thus avenged the death of
+Klearchus. The queen-mother had always power enough to perpetrate
+cruelties, though not always to avert them. She had already brought to a
+miserable end every one, even faithful defenders of Artaxerxês,
+concerned in the death of her son Cyrus.
+
+Though Menon thought it convenient, when brought up to Babylon, to boast
+of having been the instrument through whom the generals were entrapped
+into the fatal tent, this boast is not to be treated as matter of fact.
+For not only does Xenophon explain the catastrophe differently, but in
+the delineation which he gives of Menon, dark and odious as it is in the
+extreme, he does not advance any such imputation; indirectly, indeed, he
+sets it aside.
+
+Unfortunately for the reputation of Klearchus, no such reasonable excuse
+can be offered for his credulity, which brought himself as well as his
+colleagues to so melancholy an end, and his whole army to the brink of
+ruin. It appears that the general sentiment of the Grecian army, taking
+just measure of the character of Tissaphernês, was disposed to greater
+circumspection in dealing with him. Upon that system Klearchus himself
+had hitherto acted; and the necessity of it might have been especially
+present to _his_ mind, since he had served with the Lacedæmonian fleet
+at Miletus[32] in 411 B.C., and had therefore had fuller experience than
+other men in the army, of the satrap's real character. On a sudden he
+now turns round, and on the faith of a few verbal declarations, puts all
+the military chiefs into the most defenceless posture and the most
+obvious peril, such as hardly the strongest grounds for confidence could
+have justified. Though the remark of Machiavel is justified by large
+experience--that from the short-sightedness of men and their obedience
+to present impulse, the most notorious deceiver will always find new
+persons to trust him--still such misjudgment on the part of an officer
+of age and experience is difficult to explain. Polyænus intimates that
+beautiful women, exhibited by the satrap at his first banquet to
+Klearchus alone, served as a lure to attract him with all his colleagues
+to the second; while Xenophon imputes the error to continuance of a
+jealous rivalry with Menon. The latter, it appears, having always been
+intimate with Ariæus; had been thus brought into previous communication
+with Tissaphernês, by whom he had been well received, and by whom he was
+also encouraged to lay plans for detaching the whole Grecian army from
+Klearchus so as to bring it all under his (Menon's) command into the
+services of the satrap. Such at least was the suspicion of Klearchus;
+who, jealous in the extreme of his own military authority, tried to
+defeat the scheme by bidding still higher himself for the favor of
+Tissaphernês. Imagining that Menon was the unknown calumniator who
+prejudiced the satrap against him, he hoped to prevail on the satrap to
+disclose his name and dismiss him. Such jealousy seems to have robbed
+Klearchus of his customary prudence. We must also allow for another
+impression deeply fixed in his mind; that the salvation of the army was
+hopeless without the consent of Tissaphernês, and therefore, since the
+latter had conducted them thus far in safety, when he might have
+destroyed them before, that his designs at the bottom could not be
+hostile.
+
+Notwithstanding these two great mistakes--one on the present occasion,
+one previously, at the battle of Kunaxa, in keeping the Greeks on the
+right contrary to the order of Cyrus--both committed by Klearchus, the
+loss of that officer was doubtless a great misfortune to the army;
+while, on the contrary, the removal of Menon was a signal
+benefit--perhaps a condition of ultimate safety. A man so treacherous
+and unprincipled as Xenophon depicts Menon, would probably have ended by
+really committing towards the army that treason, for which he falsely
+took credit at the Persian court in reference to the seizure of the
+generals.
+
+The impression entertained by Klearchus, respecting the hopeless
+position of the Greeks in the heart of the Persian territory after the
+death of Cyrus was perfectly natural in a military man who could
+appreciate all the means of attack and obstruction which the enemy had
+it in their power to employ. Nothing is so unaccountable in this
+expedition as the manner in which such means were thrown away--the
+spectacle of Persian impotence. First, the whole line of upward march,
+including the passage of the Euphratês, left undefended; next, the long
+trench dug across the frontier of Babylonia, with only a passage of
+twenty feet wide left near the Euphratês, abandoned without a guard;
+lastly, the line of the Wall of Media and the canals which offered such
+favorable positions for keeping the Greeks out of the cultivated
+territory of Babylonia, neglected in like manner, and a convention
+concluded whereby the Persians engaged to escort the invaders safe to
+the Ionian coast, beginning by conducting them through the heart of
+Babylonia, amidst canals affording inexpugnable defences if the Greeks
+had chosen to take up a position among them. The plan of Tissaphernês,
+as far as we can understand it, seems to have been, to draw the Greeks
+to some considerable distance from the heart of the Persian empire, and
+then to open his schemes of treasonable hostility, which the imprudence
+of Klearchus enabled him to do, on the banks of the Great Zab, with
+chances of success such as he could hardly have contemplated. We have
+here a fresh example of the wonderful impotence of the Persians. We
+should have expected that, after having committed so flagrant an act of
+perfidy, Tissaphernês would at least have tried to turn it to account;
+that he would have poured with all his forces and all his vigor on the
+Grecian camp, at the moment when it was unprepared, disorganized, and
+without commanders. Instead of which, when the generals (with those who
+accompanied them to the Persian camp) had been seized or slain, no
+attack whatever was made except by small detachments of Persian cavalry
+upon individual Greek stragglers in the plain. One of the companions of
+the generals, an Arcadian,[33] named Nikarchus, ran wounded into the
+Grecian camp, where the soldiers were looking from afar at the horsemen
+scouring the plain without knowing what they were about,--exclaiming
+that the Persians were massacring all the Greeks, officers as well as
+soldiers. Immediately the Greek soldiers hastened to put themselves in
+defence, expecting a general attack to be made upon their camp; but no
+more Persians came near than a body of about 300 horse, under Ariæus and
+Mithridatês (the confidential companions of the deceased Cyrus),
+accompanied by the brother of Tissaphernês. These men, approaching the
+Greek lines as friends, called for the Greek officers to come forth, as
+they had a message to deliver from the King. Accordingly, Kleanor and
+Sophænetus with an adequate guard, came to the front, accompanied by
+Xenophon, who was anxious to hear news about Proxenus. Ariæus then
+acquainted them that Klearchus, having been detected in a breach of the
+convention to which he had sworn, had been put to death; that Proxenus
+and Menon, who had divulged his treason, were in high honor at the
+Persian quarters. He concluded by saying--"The King calls upon you to
+surrender your arms, which now (he says) belong to him, since they
+formerly belonged to his slave Cyrus."
+
+The step here taken seems to testify a belief on the part of these
+Persians, that the generals being now in their power the Grecian
+soldiers had become defenceless, and might be required to surrender
+their arms, even to men who had just been guilty of the most deadly
+fraud and injury towards them. If Ariæus entertained such an
+expectation, he was at once undeceived by the language of Kleanor and
+Xenophon, which breathed nothing but indignant reproach; so that he soon
+retired and left the Greeks to their own reflections.
+
+While their camp yet remained unmolested, every man within it was a prey
+to the most agonizing apprehensions. Ruin appeared impending and
+inevitable, though no one could tell in what precise form it would come.
+The Greeks were in the midst of a hostile country, nearly 1200 miles
+from home, surrounded by enemies, blocked up by impassable mountains and
+rivers, without guides, without provisions, without cavalry to aid their
+retreat, without generals to give orders. A stupor of sorrow and
+conscious helplessness seized upon all. Few came to the evening muster;
+few lighted fires to cook their suppers; every man lay down to rest
+where he was; yet no man could sleep, for fear, anguish, and yearning
+after relatives whom he was never again to behold.
+
+Amidst the many causes of despondency which weighed down this forlorn
+army, there was none more serious than the fact, that not a single man
+among them had now either authority to command, or obligation to take
+the initiative. Nor was any ambitious candidate likely to volunteer his
+pretensions, at a moment when the post promised nothing but the maximum
+of difficulty as well as of hazard. A new, self-kindled light--and
+self-originated stimulus--was required, to vivify the embers of
+suspended hope and action, in a mass paralyzed for the moment, but every
+way capable of effort. And the inspiration now fell, happily for the
+army, upon one in whom a full measure of soldierly strength and courage
+was combined with the education of an Athenian, a democrat, and a
+philosopher.[34]
+
+
+§ 5. Xenophon's Dream and its Results.
+
+It is in true Homeric vein, and in something like Homeric language, that
+Xenophon (to whom we owe the whole narrative of the expedition)
+describes his dream, or the intervention of Oneirus,[35] sent by
+Zeus,[36] from which this renovating impulse took its rise. Lying
+mournful and restless like his comrades, he caught a short repose; when
+he dreamt that he heard thunder, and saw the burning thunderbolt fall
+upon his paternal house, which became forthwith encircled by flames.
+Awaking, full of terror, he instantly sprang up; upon which the dream
+began to fit on and blend itself with his waking thoughts, and with the
+cruel realities of his position. His pious and excited fancy generated a
+series of shadowy analogies. The dream was sent by Zeus the King, since
+it was from him that thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect,
+the sign was auspicious--that a great light had appeared to him from
+Zeus in the midst of peril and suffering. But on the other hand, it was
+alarming, that the house had appeared to be completely encircled by
+flames, preventing all egress, because this seemed to indicate that he
+would remain confined where he was in the Persian dominions, without
+being able to overcome the difficulties which hedged him in. Yet
+doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message of Zeus addressed
+to himself, serving as a stimulus to him to break through the common
+stupor and take the initiative movement. "Why am I lying here? Night is
+advancing; at daybreak the enemy will be on us, and we shall be put to
+death with tortures. Not a man is stirring to take measures of defence.
+Why do I wait for any man older than myself, or for any man of a
+different city, to begin?"
+
+With these reflections, interesting in themselves, and given with
+Homeric vivacity, he instantly went to convene the captains who had
+served under his late friend Proxenus. He impressed upon them
+emphatically the necessity of standing forward to put the army in a
+posture of defence. "I cannot sleep, fellow-soldiers; neither, I
+presume, can you, under our present perils. The enemy will be upon us at
+daybreak--prepared to kill us all with tortures, as his worst enemies.
+For my part, I rejoice that his villanous perjury has put an end to a
+truce by which we were the great losers; a truce, under which we,
+mindful of our oaths, have passed through all the rich possessions of
+the King, without touching anything except what we could purchase with
+our own scanty means. Now, we have our hands free: all these rich spoils
+stand between us and him, as prizes for the better man. The gods, who
+preside over the match, will assuredly be on the side of us, who have
+kept our oaths in spite of strong temptations, against these perjurers.
+Moreover, our bodies are more enduring, and our spirit more gallant,
+than theirs. They are easier to wound, and easier to kill, than we are,
+under the same favor of the gods as we experienced at Kunaxa.
+
+"Probably others also are feeling just as we feel. But let us not wait
+for any one else to come as monitors to us: let us take the lead, and
+communicate the stimulus of honor to others. Do you show yourselves now
+the best among the captains--more worthy of being generals than the
+generals themselves. Begin at once, and I desire only to follow you. But
+if you order me into the front rank, I shall obey without pleading my
+youth as an excuse--accounting myself to be of complete maturity, when
+the purpose is to save myself from ruin."
+
+All the captains who heard Xenophon cordially concurred in his
+suggestion, and desired him to take the lead in executing it. One captain
+alone--Apollonidês, speaking in the Boeotian dialect[37]--protested
+against it as insane; enlarging upon their desperate position, and
+insisting upon submission to the King as the only chance of safety. "How?
+(replied Xenophon). Have you forgotten the courteous treatment which we
+received from the Persians in Babylonia when we replied to their demand
+for the surrender of our arms by showing a bold front? Do not you see the
+miserable fate which has befallen Klearchus, when he trusted himself
+unarmed in their hands, in reliance on their oaths? And yet you scout our
+exhortations to resistance, again advising us to go and plead for
+indulgence! My friends, such a Greek as this man, disgraces not only his
+own city, but all Greece besides. Let us banish him from our councils,
+cashier[38] him, and make a slave of him to carry baggage." "Nay
+(observed Agasias of Stymphalus), the man has nothing to do with Greece:
+I myself have seen his ears bored, like a true Lydian."[39] Apollonidês
+was degraded accordingly.
+
+Xenophon with the rest then distributed themselves in order to bring
+together the chief remaining officers in the army, who were presently
+convened, to the number of about one hundred. The senior captain of the
+earlier body next desired Xenophon to repeat to this larger body the
+topics upon which he had just before been insisting. Xenophon obeyed,
+enlarging yet more emphatically on the situation, perilous, yet not
+without hope--on the proper measures to be taken--and especially on the
+necessity that they, the chief officers remaining, should put themselves
+forward prominently, first fix upon effective commanders, then
+afterwards submit the names to be confirmed by the army, accompanied
+with suitable exhortations and encouragement. His speech was applauded
+and welcomed, especially by the Lacedæmonian general Cheirisophus, who
+had joined Cyrus with a body of 700 heavy-armed foot-soldiers at Issus
+in Kilikia.[40] Cheirisophus urged the captains to retire forthwith, and
+agree upon their commanders instead of the five who had been seized;
+after which the herald must be summoned, and the entire body of soldiers
+convened without delay. Accordingly Timasion of Dardanus was chosen
+instead of Klearchus; Xanthiklês in place of Sokratês; Kleanor in place
+of Agias; Philesius in place of Menon; and Xenophon instead of
+Proxenus. The captains, who had served under each of the departed
+generals, separately chose a successor to the captain thus promoted. It
+is to be recollected that the five now chosen were not the only generals
+in the camp; thus for example, Cheirisophus had the command of his own
+separate division, and there may have been one or two others similarly
+placed. But it was now necessary for all the generals to form a Board
+and act in concert.
+
+At daybreak the newly-constituted Board of generals placed proper
+outposts in advance, and then convened the army in general assembly, in
+order that the new appointments might be submitted and confirmed. As
+soon as this had been done, probably on the proposition of Cheirisophus
+(who had been in command before), that general addressed a few words of
+exhortation and encouragement to the soldiers. He was followed by
+Kleanor, who delivered, with the like brevity, an earnest protest
+against the perfidy of Tissaphernês and Ariæus. Both of them left to
+Xenophon the task, alike important and arduous at this moment of
+despondency, of setting forth the case at length,--working up the
+feelings of the soldiers to that pitch of resolution which the emergency
+required,--and above all extinguishing all those inclinations to
+acquiesce in new treacherous proposals from the enemy, which the perils
+of the situation would be likely to suggest.
+
+Xenophon had equipped himself in his finest military costume at this his
+first official appearance before the army, when the scales seemed to
+tremble between life and death. Taking up the protest of Kleanor against
+the treachery of the Persians, he insisted that any attempt to enter
+into convention or trust with such liars, would be utter ruin--but that
+if energetic resolution were taken to deal with them only at the point
+of the sword, and punish their misdeeds, there was good hope of the
+favor of the gods and of ultimate preservation. As he pronounced this
+last word, one of the soldiers near him happened to sneeze.[41]
+Immediately the whole army around shouted with one accord the accustomed
+invocation to Zeus the Preserver; and Xenophon, taking up the accident,
+continued--"Since, fellow-soldiers, this omen from Zeus the Preserver
+has appeared at the instant when we were talking about preservation, let
+us here vow to offer the preserving sacrifice to that god, and at the
+same time to sacrifice to the remaining gods as well as we can, in the
+first friendly country which we may reach. Let every man who agrees with
+me hold up his hand." All held up their hands: all then joined in the
+vow, and shouted the pæan.[42]
+
+This accident, so dexterously turned to profit by the rhetorical skill
+of Xenophon, was eminently beneficial in raising the army out of the
+depression which weighed them down, and in disposing them to listen to
+his animating appeal. Repeating his assurances that the gods were on
+their side, and hostile to their perjured enemy, he recalled to their
+memory the great invasions of Greece by Darius and Xerxes,--how the vast
+hosts of Persia had been disgracefully repelled. The army had shown
+themselves on the field of Kunaxa worthy of such forefathers; and they
+would for the future be yet bolder, knowing by that battle of what
+stuff the Persians were made. As for Ariæus and his troops, alike
+traitors and cowards, their desertion was rather a gain than a loss. The
+enemy were superior in horsemen: but men on horseback were after all
+only men, half occupied in the fear of losing their seats--incapable of
+prevailing against infantry firm on the ground,--and only better able to
+run away. Now that the satrap refused to furnish them with provisions to
+buy, they on their side were released from their covenant, and would
+take provisions without buying. Then as to the rivers; those were indeed
+difficult to be crossed, in the middle of their course; but the army
+would march up to their sources, and could then pass them without
+wetting the knee. Or indeed, the Greeks might renounce the idea of
+retreat, and establish themselves permanently in the King's own country,
+defying all his force, like the Mysians and Pisidians.[43] "If (said
+Xenophon) we plant ourselves here at our ease in a rich country, with
+these tall, stately and beautiful Median and Persian women for our
+companions--we shall be only too ready, like the Lotos-eaters,[44] to
+forget our way home. We ought first to go back to Greece, and tell our
+countrymen that if they remain poor, it is their own fault, when there
+are rich settlements in this country awaiting all who choose to come,
+and who have courage to seize them. Let us burn our baggage wagons and
+tents, and carry with us nothing but what is of the strictest necessity.
+Above all things, let us maintain order, discipline, and obedience to
+the commanders, upon which our entire hope of safety depends. Let every
+man promise to lend his hand to the commanders in punishing any
+disobedient individuals; and let us thus show the enemy that we have ten
+thousand persons like Klearchus, instead of that one whom they have so
+perfidiously seized. Now is the time for action. If any man, however
+obscure, has anything better to suggest, let him come forward and state
+it; for we have all but one object--the common safety."
+
+It appears that no one else desired to say a word, and that the speech
+of Xenophon gave unqualified satisfaction; for when Cheirisophus put the
+question, that the meeting should sanction his recommendations, and
+finally elect the new generals proposed--every man held up his hand.
+Xenophon then moved that the army should break up immediately, and march
+to some well-stored villages, rather more than two miles distant; that
+the march should be in a hollow square, with the baggage in the centre;
+that Cheirisophus, as a Lacedæmonian, should lead the van; while
+Kleanor, and the other senior officers, would command on each
+flank,--and himself with Timasion, as the two youngest of the generals,
+would lead the rear guard.
+
+This proposition was at once adopted, and the assembly broke up;
+proceeding forthwith to destroy, or distribute among one another, every
+man's superfluous baggage--and then to take their morning meal previous
+to the march.
+
+The scene just described is interesting and illustrative in more than
+one point of view. It exhibits that susceptibility to the influence of
+persuasive discourse which formed so marked a feature in the Grecian
+character--a resurrection of the collective body out of the depth of
+despair, under the exhortation of one who had no established ascendency,
+nor anything to recommend him, except his intelligence, his oratorical
+power, and his community of interest with themselves. Next, it
+manifests, still more strikingly, the superiority of Athenian training
+as compared with that of other parts of Greece. Cheirisophus had not
+only been before in office as one of the generals, but was also a native
+of Sparta, whose supremacy and name was at that moment all-powerful;
+Kleanor had been before, not indeed a general, but a captain, or one in
+the second rank of officers:--he was an elderly man--and he was an
+Arcadian, while more than the numerical half of the army consisted of
+Arcadians and Achæans.[45] Either of these two therefore, and various
+others besides, enjoyed a sort of prerogative, or established
+starting-point, for taking the initiative in reference to the dispirited
+army. But Xenophon was comparatively a young man, with little military
+experience:--he was not an officer at all, either in the first or second
+grade, but simply a volunteer, companion of Proxenus:--he was moreover a
+native of Athens, a city at that time unpopular among the great body of
+Greeks, and especially of Peloponnesians,[46] with whom her recent long
+war had been carried on. Not only therefore he had no advantages
+compared with others, but he was under positive disadvantages. He had
+nothing to start with except his personal qualities and previous
+training; in spite of which we find him not merely the prime mover, but
+also the superior person for whom the others make way. In him are
+exemplified those peculiarities of Athens, attested not less by the
+denunciation of her enemies than by the panegyric of her own
+citizens,--spontaneous and forward impulse, as well in conception as in
+execution--confidence under circumstances which made others
+despair--persuasive discourse and publicity of discussion, made
+subservient to practical business, so as at once to appeal to the
+intelligence, and stimulate the active zeal, of the multitude. Such
+peculiarities stood out more remarkably from being contrasted with the
+opposite qualities in Spartans--mistrust in conception, slackness in
+execution, secrecy in counsel, silent and passive obedience. Though
+Spartans and Athenians formed the two extremities of the scale, other
+Greeks stood nearer on this point to the former than to the latter.
+
+If, even in that encouraging autumn which followed immediately upon the
+great Athenian catastrophe[47] before Syracuse, the inertia of Sparta
+could not be stirred into vigorous action without the vehemence of the
+Athenian Alkibiadês--much more was it necessary, under the depressing
+circumstances which now overclouded the unofficered Grecian army, that
+an Athenian bosom should be found as the source of new life and
+impulse. Nor would any one, probably, except an Athenian, either have
+felt or obeyed the promptings to stand forward as a volunteer at that
+moment, when there was every motive to decline responsibility, and no
+special duty to impel him. But if by chance a Spartan or an Arcadian had
+been found thus forward, he would have been destitute of such talents as
+would enable him to work on the minds of others--of that flexibility,
+resource, familiarity with the temper and movements of an assembled
+crowd, power of enforcing the essential views and touching the opportune
+chords, which Athenian democratical training imparted. Even Brasidas and
+Gylippus, individual Spartans of splendid merit, and equal or superior
+to Xenophon in military resource, would not have combined with it that
+political and rhetorical accomplishment which the position of the latter
+demanded. Obvious as the wisdom of his propositions appears, each of
+them is left to him not only to initiate, but to enforce: Cheirisophus
+and Kleanor, after a few words of introduction, consign to him the duty
+of working up the minds of the army to the proper pitch.
+
+How well he performed this, may be seen by his speech to the army, which
+bears in its general tenor a remarkable resemblance to that of
+Periklês[48] addressed to the Athenian public in the second year of the
+war,[49] at the moment when the miseries of the epidemic, combined with
+those of invasion, had driven them almost to despair. It breathes a
+strain of exaggerated confidence, and an undervaluing of real dangers,
+highly suitable for the occasion, but which neither Periklês nor
+Xenophon would have employed at any other moment. Throughout the whole
+of his speech, and especially in regard to the accidental sneeze near at
+hand which interrupted the beginning of it, Xenophon displayed that
+skill and practice in dealing with a numerous audience, and a given
+situation, which characterized more or less every educated Athenian.
+Other Greeks, Lacedæmonians or Arcadians, could act, with bravery and in
+concert; but the Athenian Xenophon was among the few who could think,
+speak, and act, with equal efficiency. It was this threefold
+accomplishment which an aspiring youth was compelled to set before
+himself as an aim, in the democracy of Athens; and which the
+Sophists[50] as well as the democratical institutions--both of them so
+hardly depreciated by most critics--helped and encouraged him to
+acquire. It was this threefold accomplishment, the exclusive possession
+of which, in spite of constant jealousy on the part of Boeotian officers
+and comrades of Proxenus, elevated Xenophon into the most ascendent
+person of the Cyreian army, from the present moment until the time when
+it broke up,--as will be seen in the subsequent history.
+
+I think it the more necessary to notice this fact,--that the
+accomplishments whereby Xenophon leaped on a sudden into such
+extraordinary ascendency, and rendered such eminent service to his army,
+were accomplishments belonging in an especial manner to the Athenian
+democracy and education--because Xenophon himself has throughout his
+writings treated Athens not merely without the attachment of a citizen,
+but with feelings more like the positive antipathy of an exile. His
+sympathies are all in favor of the perpetual drill, the mechanical
+obedience, the secret government proceedings, the narrow and prescribed
+range of ideas, the silent and deferential demeanor, the methodical,
+though tardy, action--of Sparta. Whatever may be the justice of his
+preference, certain it is, that the qualities whereby he was himself
+enabled to contribute so much both to the rescue of the Cyreian army,
+and to his own reputation--were Athenian far more than Spartan.
+
+While the Grecian army, after sanctioning the propositions of Xenophon,
+were taking their morning meal before they commenced their march,
+Mithridatês, one of the Persians previously attached to Cyrus, appeared
+with a few horsemen on a mission of pretended friendship. But it was
+soon found out that his purposes were treacherous, and that he came
+merely to seduce individual soldiers to desertion--with a few of whom he
+succeeded. Accordingly, the resolution was taken to admit no more
+heralds or envoys.
+
+
+§ 6. The Greeks cross the Zab.
+
+Disembarrassed of superfluous baggage, and refreshed, the army now
+crossed the Great Zab River, and pursued their march on the other side,
+having their baggage and attendants in the centre, and Cheirisophus
+leading the van, with a select body of 300 heavy-armed foot-soldiers. As
+no mention is made of a bridge, we are to presume that they forded the
+river,--which furnishes a ford still commonly used, at a place between
+thirty and forty miles from its junction with the Tigris. When they had
+got a little way forward, Mithridatês again appeared with a few hundred
+cavalry and bowmen. He approached them like a friend; but as soon as he
+was near enough, suddenly began to harass the rear with a shower of
+missiles. What surprises us most, is, that the Persians, with their very
+numerous force, made no attempt to hinder them from crossing so very
+considerable a river; for Xenophon estimates the Zab at 400 feet
+broad,--and this seems below the statement of modern travellers, who
+inform us that it contains not much less water than the Tigris; and
+though usually deeper and narrower, cannot be much narrower at any
+fordable place. It is to be recollected that the Persians, habitually
+marching in advance of the Greeks, must have reached the river first,
+and were therefore in possession of the crossing, whether bridge or
+ford. Though on the watch for every opportunity of perfidy, Tissaphernês
+did not dare to resist the Greeks, even in the most advantageous
+position, and ventured only upon sending Mithridatês to harass the rear;
+which he executed with considerable effect. The bowmen and darters of
+the Greeks, few in number, were at the same time inferior to those of
+the Persians; and when Xenophon employed his rear-guard, heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers and light-armed foot-soldiers, to charge and repel them,
+he not only could never overtake any one, but suffered much in getting
+back to rejoin his own main body. Even when retiring, the Persian
+horseman could discharge his arrow or cast his javelin[51] behind him
+with effect; a dexterity which the Parthians exhibited afterwards still
+more signally, and which the Persian horsemen of the present day
+parallel with their carbines.[52] This was the first experience which
+the Greeks had of marching under the harassing attack of cavalry. Even
+the small detachment of Mithridatês greatly delayed their progress; so
+that they accomplished little more than two miles, reaching the villages
+in the evening, with many wounded, and much discouragement.
+
+"Thank Heaven" (said Xenophon in the evening, when Cheirisophus
+reproached him for imprudence in quitting the main body to charge
+cavalry, whom yet he could not reach), "Thank Heaven, that our enemies
+attacked us with a small detachment only, and not with their great
+numbers. They have given us a valuable lesson, without doing us any
+serious harm." Profiting by the lesson, the Greek leaders organized
+during the night and during the halt of the next day, a small body of
+fifty cavalry; with 200 Rhodian[53] slingers, whose slings, furnished
+with leaden bullets, both carried farther and struck harder than those
+of the Persians hurling large stones. On the ensuing morning, they
+started before daybreak, since there lay in their way a ravine
+difficult to pass. They found the ravine undefended (according to the
+usual stupidity of Persian proceedings), but when they had got nearly a
+mile beyond it, Mithridatês reappeared in pursuit with a body of 4000
+horsemen and darters. Confident from his achievement of the preceding
+day, he had promised, with a body of that force, to deliver the Greeks
+into the hands of the satrap. But the latter were now better prepared.
+As soon as he began to attack them, the trumpet sounded,--and forthwith
+the horsemen, slingers, and darters, issued forth to charge the
+Persians, sustained by the heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the rear. So
+effective was the charge, that the Persians fled in dismay,
+notwithstanding their superiority in number; while the ravine so impeded
+their flight that many of them were slain, and eighteen prisoners made.
+The Greek soldiers of their own accord mutilated the dead bodies, in
+order to strike terror into the enemy. At the end of the day's march,
+they reached the Tigris, near the deserted city of Larissa, the vast,
+massive, and lofty brick walls of which (25 feet in thickness, 100 feet
+high, seven miles in circumference) attested its former grandeur. Near
+this place was a stone pyramid, 100 feet in breadth, and 200 feet high;
+the summit of which was crowded with fugitives out of the neighboring
+villages. Another day's march up the course of the Tigris brought the
+army to a second deserted city called Mespila, nearly opposite to the
+modern city of Mosul. Although these two cities, which seem to have
+formed the continuation of (or the substitute for) the once colossal
+Nineveh[54] or Ninus, were completely deserted,--yet the country around
+them was so well furnished with villages and population, that the Greeks
+not only obtained provisions, but also strings for the making of new
+bows, and lead for bullets to be used by the slingers.
+
+During the next day's march, in a course generally parallel with the
+Tigris, and ascending the stream, Tissaphernês, coming up along with
+some other grandees, and with a numerous army, enveloped the Greeks both
+in flanks and rear. In spite of his advantage of numbers, he did not
+venture upon any actual charge, but kept up a fire of arrows, darts, and
+stones. He was however so well answered by the newly-trained archers and
+slingers of the Greeks, that on the whole they had the advantage, in
+spite of the superior size of the Persian bows, many of which were taken
+and effectively employed on the Grecian side. Having passed the night in
+a well-stocked village, they halted there the next day in order to stock
+themselves with provisions, and then pursued their march for four
+successive days along a level country, until on the fifth day they
+reached hilly ground with the prospect of still higher hills beyond. All
+this march was made under unremitting annoyance from the enemy, insomuch
+that though the order of the Greeks was never broken, a considerable
+number of their men were wounded. Experience taught them, that it was
+inconvenient for the whole army to march in one inflexible, undivided,
+hollow square; and they accordingly constituted six regiments of 100 men
+each, subdivided into companies of 50, and smaller companies of 25, each
+with a special officer (conformably to the Spartan practice) to move
+separately on each flank, and either to fall back, or fall in, as might
+suit the fluctuations of the central mass, arising from impediments in
+the road or menaces of the enemy. On reaching the hills, in sight of an
+elevated citadel or palace, with several villages around it, the Greeks
+anticipated some remission of the Persian attack. But after having
+passed over one hill, they were proceeding to ascend the second, when
+they found themselves assailed with unwonted vigor by the Persian
+cavalry from the summit of it, whose leaders were seen flogging on the
+men to the attack. This charge was so efficacious, that the Greek light
+troops were driven in with loss, and forced to take shelter within the
+ranks of the heavy-armed foot-soldiers. After a march both slow and full
+of suffering, they could only reach their night-quarters by sending a
+detachment to get possession of some ground above the Persians, who thus
+became afraid of a double attack.
+
+The villages which they now reached were unusually rich in provisions;
+magazines of flour, barley, and wine, having been collected there for
+the Persian satrap. They reposed here three days, chiefly in order to
+tend the numerous wounded, for whose necessities, eight of the most
+competent persons were singled out to act as surgeons. On the fourth day
+they resumed their march, descending into the plain. But experience had
+now satisfied them that it was imprudent to continue in march under the
+attack of cavalry, so that when Tissaphernês appeared and began to
+harass them, they halted at the first village, and when thus in station,
+easily repelled him. As the afternoon advanced, the Persian assailants
+began to retire; for they were always in the habit of taking up their
+night-post at a distance of near seven miles from the Grecian position;
+being very apprehensive of nocturnal attack in their camp, when their
+horses were tied by the leg and without either saddle or bridle. As
+soon as they had departed, the Greeks resumed their march, and made so
+much advance during the night, that the Persians did not overtake them
+either on the next day or the day after.
+
+On the ensuing day, however, the Persians, having made a forced march by
+night, were seen not only in advance of the Greeks, but in occupation of
+a spur of high and precipitous ground overhanging immediately the road
+whereby the Greeks were to descend into the plain. When Cheirisophus
+approached, he at once saw that descent was impracticable in the face of
+an enemy thus posted. He therefore halted, sent for Xenophon from the
+rear, and desired him to bring forward the light-armed foot-soldiers to
+the van. But Xenophon, though he obeyed the summons in person and
+galloped his horse to the front, did not think it prudent to move the
+light-armed foot-soldiers from the rear, because he saw Tissaphernês,
+with another portion of the army, just coming up; so that the Grecian
+army was at once impeded in front, and threatened by the enemy closing
+upon them behind. The Persians on the high ground in front could not be
+directly assailed. But Xenophon observed, that on the right of the
+Grecian army, there was an accessible mountain summit yet higher, from
+whence a descent might be made for a flank attack upon the Persian
+position. Pointing out this summit to Cheirisophus, as affording the
+only means of dislodging the troops in front, he urged that one of them
+should immediately hasten with a detachment to take possession of it and
+offered to Cheirisophus the choice either of going, or staying with the
+army. "Choose for yourself," said Cheirisophus. "Well then (said
+Xenophon), I will go; since I am the younger of the two." Accordingly,
+at the head of a select detachment from the van and centre of the army,
+he immediately commenced his flank march up the steep ascent to this
+highest summit. So soon as the enemy saw their purpose, they also
+detached troops on their side, hoping to get to the summit first; and
+the two detachments were seen mounting at the same time, each struggling
+with the utmost efforts to get before the other,--each being encouraged
+by shouts and clamor from the two armies respectively.
+
+As Xenophon was riding by the side of his soldiers, cheering them on and
+reminding them that their chance of seeing their country and their
+families all depended upon success in the effort before them, a
+Sikyonian heavy-armed foot-soldier in the ranks, named Sotêridas, said
+to him--"You and I are not on an equal footing, Xenophon. You are on
+horseback:--I am painfully struggling upon foot, with my shield to
+carry." Stung with this taunt, Xenophon sprang from his horse, pushed
+Sotêridas out of his place in the ranks, took his shield as well as his
+place, and began to march forward afoot along with the rest. Though thus
+weighed down at once by the shield belonging to a heavy-armed
+foot-soldier, and by the heavy cuirass[55] of a horseman (who carried no
+shield), he nevertheless put forth all his strength to advance under
+such double incumbrance, and to continue his incitement to the rest. But
+the soldiers around him were so indignant at the proceeding of
+Sotêridas, that they reproached and even struck him, until they
+compelled him to resume his shield as well as his place in the ranks.
+Xenophon then remounted and ascended the hill on horseback as far as the
+ground permitted; but was obliged again to dismount presently, in
+consequence of the steepness of the uppermost portion. Such energetic
+efforts enabled him and his detachment to reach the summit first. As
+soon as the enemy saw this, they desisted from their ascent, and
+dispersed in all directions; leaving the forward march open to the main
+Grecian army, which Cheirisophus accordingly conducted safely down into
+the plain. Here he was rejoined by Xenophon on descending from the
+summit. All found themselves in comfortable quarters, amidst several
+well-stocked villages on the banks of the Tigris. They acquired moreover
+an additional booty of large droves of cattle, intercepted when on the
+point of being transported across the river; where a considerable body
+of horse was seen assembled on the opposite bank.
+
+Though here disturbed only by some desultory attacks on the part of the
+Persians, who burnt several of the villages which lay in their forward
+line of march, the Greeks became seriously embarrassed whither to direct
+their steps; for on their left flank was the Tigris, so deep that their
+spears found no bottom,--and on their right, mountains of exceeding
+height. As the generals and the captains were taking counsel, a Rhodian
+soldier came to them with a proposition for transporting the whole army
+across to the other bank of the river by means of inflated skins, which
+could be furnished in abundance by the animals in their possession. But
+this ingenious scheme, in itself feasible, was put out of the question
+by the view of the Persian cavalry on the opposite bank; and as the
+villages in their front had been burnt, the army had no choice except to
+return back one day's march to those in which they had before halted.
+Here the generals again deliberated, questioning all their prisoners as
+to the different bearings of the country. The road from the south was
+that in which they had already marched from Babylon and Media; that to
+the westward, going to Lydia and Ionia, was barred to them by the
+interposing Tigris; eastward (they were informed) was the way to
+Ekbatana and Susa; northward, lay the rugged and inhospitable mountains
+of the Karduchians,--fierce freemen who despised the Great King, and
+defied all his efforts to conquer them; having once destroyed a Persian
+invading army of 120,000 men. On the other side of Karduchia, however,
+lay the rich Persian satrapy of Armenia, wherein both the Euphratês and
+the Tigris could be crossed near their sources, and from whence they
+could choose their farther course easily towards Greece. Like Mysia,
+Pisidia, and other mountainous regions, Karduchia was a free territory
+surrounded on all sides by the dominions of the Great King, who reigned
+only in the cities and on the plains.
+
+
+§ 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian mountains.
+
+Determining to fight their way across these difficult mountains into
+Armenia, but refraining from any public announcement, for fear that the
+passes should be occupied beforehand--the generals sacrificed[56]
+forthwith, in order that they might be ready for breaking up at a
+moment's notice. They then began their march a little after midnight, so
+that soon after daybreak they reached the first of the Karduchian
+mountain-passes, which they found undefended. Cheirisophus, with his
+front division and all the light troops, made haste to ascend the pass,
+and having got over the first mountain, descended on the other side to
+some villages in the valley or nooks beneath; while Xenophon, with the
+heavy-armed and the baggage, followed at a slower pace,--not reaching
+the villages until dark, as the road was both steep and narrow. The
+Karduchians, taken completely by surprise, abandoned the villages as the
+Greeks approached, and took refuge on the mountains; leaving to the
+intruders plenty of provisions, comfortable houses, and especially,
+abundance of copper vessels. At first the Greeks were careful to do no
+damage, trying to invite the natives to amicable colloquy. But none of
+the latter would come near, and at length necessity drove the Greeks to
+take what was necessary for refreshment. It was just when Xenophon and
+the rear-guard were coming in at night, that some few Karduchians first
+set upon them; by surprise and with considerable success--so that if
+their numbers had been greater, serious mischief might have ensued.
+
+Many fires were discovered burning on the mountains, an indication of
+resistance during the next day; which satisfied the Greek generals that
+they must lighten the army, in order to ensure greater expedition as
+well as a fuller complement of available hands during the coming march.
+They therefore gave orders to burn all the baggage except what was
+indispensable, and to dismiss all the prisoners; planting themselves in
+a narrow strait, through which the army had to pass, in order to see
+that their directions were executed. The women, however, of whom there
+were many with the army, could not be abandoned; and it seems farther
+that a considerable stock of baggage was still retained: nor could the
+army make more than slow advance, from the narrowness of the road and
+the harassing attack of the Karduchians, who were now assembled in
+considerable numbers. Their attack was renewed with double vigor on the
+ensuing day, when the Greeks were forced, from want of provisions, to
+hasten forward their march, though in the midst of a terrible
+snow-storm. Both Cheirisophus in the front and Xenophon in the rear,
+were hard pressed by the Karduchian slingers and bowmen; the latter, men
+of consummate skill, having bows three cubits[57] in length, and arrows
+of more than two cubits, so strong that the Greeks when they took them
+could dart them as javelins. These archers, amidst the rugged ground and
+narrow paths, approached so near and drew the bow with such surprising
+force, resting one extremity of it on the ground, that several Greek
+warriors were mortally wounded even through both shield and corselet[58]
+into the reins,[59] and through the brazen helmet into their heads;
+among them especially, two distinguished men, a Lacedæmonian named
+Kleonymus and an Arcadian named Basias. The rear division, more roughly
+handled than the rest, was obliged continually to halt to repel the
+enemy, under all the difficulties of the ground, which made it scarcely
+possible to act against nimble mountaineers. On one occasion, however, a
+body of these latter were entrapped into an ambush, driven back with
+loss, and (what was still more fortunate) two of their number were made
+prisoners.
+
+Thus impeded, Xenophon sent frequent messages entreating Cheirisophus to
+slacken the march of the van division; but instead of obeying,
+Cheirisophus only hastened the faster, urging Xenophon to follow him.
+The march of the army became little better than a rout, so that the rear
+division reached the halting place in extreme confusion; upon which
+Xenophon proceeded to remonstrate with Cheirisophus for prematurely
+hurrying forward and neglecting his comrades behind. But the
+other--pointing out to his attention the hill before them, and the steep
+path ascending it, forming their future line of march, which was beset
+with numerous Karduchians--defended himself by saying that he had
+hastened forward in hopes of being able to reach this pass before the
+enemy, in which attempt however he had not succeeded.
+
+To advance farther on this road appeared hopeless; yet the guides
+declared that no other could be taken. Xenophon then bethought him of
+the two prisoners whom he had just captured, and proposed that these two
+should be questioned also. They were accordingly interrogated apart; and
+the first of them--having persisted in denying, notwithstanding all
+menaces, that there was any road except that before them--was put to
+death under the eyes of the second prisoner. This latter, on being then
+questioned, gave more comfortable intelligence; saying that he knew of a
+different road, more circuitous, but easier and practicable even for
+beasts of burden, whereby the pass before them and the occupying enemy
+might be turned; but that there was one particular high position
+commanding the road, which it was necessary to master beforehand by
+surprise, as the Karduchians were already on guard there. Two thousand
+Greeks, having the guide bound along with them, were accordingly
+despatched late in the afternoon, to surprise this post by a
+night-march; while Xenophon, in order to distract the attention of the
+Karduchians in front, made a feint of advancing as if about to force the
+direct pass. As soon as he was seen crossing the ravine which led to
+this mountain, the Karduchians on the top immediately began to roll down
+vast masses of rock, which bounded and dashed down the roadway in such a
+manner as to render it unapproachable. They continued to do this all
+night, and the Greeks heard the noise of the descending masses long
+after they had returned to their camp for supper and rest.
+
+Meanwhile the detachment of 2000, marching by the circuitous road, and
+reaching in the night the elevated position (though there was another
+above yet more commanding) held by the Karduchians, surprised and
+dispersed them, passing the night by their fires. At daybreak, and under
+favor of a mist, they stole silently towards the position occupied by
+the other Karduchians in front of the main Grecian army. On coming near
+they suddenly sounded their trumpets, shouted aloud, and commenced the
+attack, which proved completely successful. The defenders, taken
+unprepared, fled with little resistance, and scarcely any loss, from
+their activity and knowledge of the country; while Cheirisophus and the
+main Grecian force, on hearing the trumpet which had been previously
+concerted as the signal, rushed forward and stormed the height in front;
+some along the regular path; others climbing up as they could and
+pulling each other up by means of their spears. The two bodies of Greeks
+thus joined each other on the summit, so that the road became open for
+farther advance.
+
+Xenophon, however, with the rear-guard marched on the circuitous road
+taken by the 2000, as the most practicable for the baggage animals, whom
+he placed in the centre of his division--the whole array covering a
+great length of ground, since the road was very narrow. During this
+interval the dispersed Karduchians had rallied, and reoccupied two or
+three high peaks, commanding the road--from whence it was necessary to
+drive them. Xenophon's troops stormed successively these three
+positions, the Karduchians not daring to come to close combat, yet
+making destructive use of their missiles. A Grecian guard was left on
+the hindermost of the three peaks, until all the baggage train should
+have passed by. But the Karduchians, by a sudden and well-timed
+movement, contrived to surprise this guard, slew two out of the three
+leaders with several soldiers, and forced the rest to jump down the
+crags as they could, in order to join their comrades in the road.
+Encouraged by such success the assailants pressed nearer to the marching
+army, occupying a crag over against that lofty summit on which Xenophon
+was posted. As it was within speaking distance, he endeavored to open a
+negotiation with them in order to get back the bodies of the slain. To
+this demand the Karduchians at first acceded, on condition that their
+villages should not be burnt; but finding their numbers every moment
+increasing, they resumed the offensive. When Xenophon with the army had
+begun his descent from the last summit, they hurried onward in crowds to
+occupy it; beginning again to roll down masses of rock, and renew their
+fire of missiles, upon the Greeks. Xenophon himself was here in some
+danger, having been deserted by his shield-bearer; but he was rescued by
+an Arcadian heavy-armed foot-soldier named Eurylochus, who ran to give
+him the benefit of his own shield as a protection for both in the
+retreat.
+
+After a march thus painful and perilous, the rear division at length
+found themselves in safety among their comrades, in villages with
+well-stocked houses and abundance of corn and wine. So eager however
+were Xenophon and Cheirisophus to obtain the bodies of the slain for
+burial, that they consented to purchase them by surrendering the guide,
+and to march onward without any guide: a heavy sacrifice in this unknown
+country, attesting their great anxiety about the burial.[60]
+
+For three more days did they struggle and fight their way through the
+narrow and rugged paths of the Karduchian mountains, beset throughout by
+these formidable bowmen and slingers; whom they had to dislodge at every
+difficult turn, and against whom their own Kretan[61] bowmen were found
+inferior indeed, but still highly useful. Their seven days' march
+through this country, with its free and warlike inhabitants, were days
+of the utmost fatigue, suffering, and peril; far more intolerable than
+any thing which they had experienced from Tissaphernês and the Persians.
+Right glad were they once more to see a plain, and to find themselves
+near the banks of the river Kentritês, which divided these mountains
+from the hillocks and plains of Armenia--enjoying comfortable quarters
+in villages, with the satisfaction of talking over past miseries.
+
+Such were the apprehensions of Karduchian invasion, that the Armenian
+side of the Kentritês for a breadth of 15 miles was unpeopled and
+destitute of villages. But the approach of the Greeks having become
+known to Tiribazus, satrap of Armenia, the banks of the river were lined
+with his cavalry and infantry to oppose their passage; a precaution,
+which if Tissaphernês had taken at the Great Zab at the moment when he
+perfidiously seized Klearchus and his colleagues, the Greeks would
+hardly have reached the northern bank of that river. In the face of such
+obstacles, the Greeks nevertheless attempted the passage of the
+Kentritês, seeing a regular road on the other side. But the river was
+200 feet in breadth (only half the breadth of the Zab), above their
+breasts in depth, extremely rapid, and with a bottom full of slippery
+stones; insomuch that they could not hold their shields in the proper
+position, from the force of the stream; while if they lifted the shields
+above their heads, they were exposed defenceless to the arrows of the
+satrap's troops. After various trials, the passage was found
+impracticable, and they were obliged to resume their encampment on the
+left bank. To their great alarm, they saw the Karduchians assembling on
+the hills in their rear, so that their situation, during this day and
+night, appeared nearly desperate. In the night Xenophon had a dream--the
+first which he has told us since his dream on the terrific night after
+the seizure of the generals--but on this occasion, of augury[62] more
+unequivocally good. He dreamt that he was bound in chains, but that his
+chains on a sudden dropt off spontaneously; on the faith of which, he
+told Cheirisophus at daybreak that he had good hopes of preservation;
+and when the generals offered sacrifice, the victims were at once
+favorable. As the army were taking their morning meal, two young Greeks
+ran to Xenophon with the auspicious news that they had accidentally
+found another ford near half a mile up the river, where the water was
+not even up to their middle, and where the rocks came so close on the
+right bank that the enemy's horse could offer no opposition. Xenophon,
+starting from his meal in delight, immediately offered libations[63] to
+those gods who had revealed both the dream to himself in the night, and
+the unexpected ford afterwards to these youths; two revelations which he
+ascribed to the same gods.
+
+Presently they marched in their usual order, Cheirisophus commanding the
+van and Xenophon the rear, along the river to the newly-discovered ford;
+the enemy marching parallel with them on the opposite bank. Having
+reached the ford, halted, and grounded arms, Cheirisophus placed a
+wreath on his head, took off his clothes, and then resumed his arms,
+ordering all the rest to resume their arms also. Each company of 100 men
+was then arranged in column or single file, with Cheirisophus himself in
+the centre. Meanwhile the prophets were offering sacrifice to the river.
+So soon as the signs were pronounced to be favorable, all the soldiers
+shouted the pæan, and all the women joined in chorus with their feminine
+yell. Cheirisophus then, at the head of the army, entered the river and
+began to ford it; while Xenophon, with a large portion of the rear
+division, made a feint of hastening back to the original ford, as if he
+were about to attempt the passage there. This distracted the attention
+of the enemy's horse; who became afraid of being attacked on both sides,
+galloped off to guard the passage at the other point, and opposed no
+serious resistance to Cheirisophus. As soon as the latter had reached
+the other side, and put his division into order, he marched up to
+attack the Armenian infantry, who were on the high banks a little way
+above; but this infantry, deserted by its cavalry, dispersed without
+awaiting his approach. The handful of Grecian cavalry, attached to the
+division of Cheirisophus, pursued and took some valuable spoils.
+
+As soon as Xenophon saw his colleague successfully established on the
+opposite bank, he brought back his detachment to the ford over which the
+baggage and attendants were still passing, and proceeded to take
+precautions against the Karduchians on his own side who were assembling
+in the rear. He found some difficulty in keeping his rear division
+together, for many of them, in spite of orders, quitted their ranks and
+went to look after the women or their baggage in the crossing of the
+water. The light-armed foot-soldiers and bowmen, who had gone over with
+Cheirisophus, but whom that general now no longer needed, were directed
+to hold themselves prepared on both flanks of the army crossing, and to
+advance a little way in the water in the attitude of men just about to
+recross. When Xenophon was left with only the diminished rear-guard, the
+rest having got over,--the Karduchians rushed upon him, and began to
+shoot and sling. But on a sudden, the Grecian heavy-armed foot-soldiers
+charged with their accustomed pæan, upon which the Karduchians took to
+flight--having no arms for close combat on the plain. The trumpet now
+being heard to sound, they ran away so much the faster; while this was
+the signal, according to orders before given by Xenophon, for the Greeks
+to suspend their charge, to turn back, and to cross the river as
+speedily as possible. By favor of this able manoeuvre, the passage was
+accomplished by the whole army with little or no loss, about midday.
+
+
+§ 8. March through Armenia. Great suffering from cold and hunger.
+
+They now found themselves in Armenia; a country of even, undulating
+surface, but very high above the level of the sea, and extremely cold at
+the season when they entered it--December. Though the strip of land
+bordering on Karduchia furnished no supplies, one long march brought
+them to a village, containing abundance of provisions, together with a
+residence of the satrap Tiribazus; after which, in two farther marches
+they reached the river Teleboas, with many villages on its banks. Here
+Tiribazus himself, appearing with a division of cavalry, sent forward
+his interpreter to request a conference with the leaders; which being
+held, it was agreed that the Greeks should proceed unmolested through
+his territory, taking such supplies as they required,--but should
+neither burn nor damage the villages. They accordingly advanced onward
+for three days, computed at about 52 miles, or three pretty full days'
+march; without any hostility from the satrap, though he was hovering
+within less than two miles of them. They then found themselves amidst
+several villages, wherein were regal or satrapical residences with a
+plentiful stock of bread, meat, wine, and all sorts of vegetables. Here,
+during their nightly bivouac,[64] they were overtaken by so heavy a fall
+of snow that the generals on the next day distributed the troops into
+separate quarters among the villages. No enemy appeared near, while the
+snow seemed to forbid any rapid surprise. Yet at night, the scouts
+reported that many fires were discernible, together with traces of
+military movements around; insomuch that the generals thought it prudent
+to put themselves on their guard, and again collected the army into one
+bivouac. Here in the night they were overwhelmed by a second fall of
+snow still heavier than the preceding; sufficient to cover over the
+sleeping men and their arms, and to benumb the cattle. The men however
+lay warm under the snow and were unwilling to rise, until Xenophon
+himself set the example of rising and employing himself without his arms
+in cutting wood and kindling a fire. Others followed his example, and
+great comfort was found in rubbing themselves with pork-fat, oil of
+almonds or of sesame,[65] or turpentine. Having sent out a clever scout
+named Demokratês, who captured a native prisoner, they learned that
+Tiribazus was laying plans to intercept them in a lofty mountain pass
+lying farther on in their route; upon which they immediately set forth,
+and by two days of forced march, surprising in their way the camp of
+Tiribazus, got over the difficult pass in safety. Three days of
+additional march brought them to the Euphratês river--that is, to its
+eastern branch, now called Murad. They found a ford and crossed it,
+without having the water higher than the waist; and they were informed
+that its sources were not far off.
+
+Their four days of march, next on the other side of the Euphratês, were
+toilsome and distressing in the extreme; through a plain covered with
+deep snow (in some places six feet deep), and at times in the face of a
+north wind so intolerably chilling and piercing, that at length one of
+the prophets urged the necessity of offering sacrifices to Boreas[66];
+upon which (says Xenophon), the severity of the wind abated
+conspicuously, to the evident consciousness of all. Many of the slaves
+and beasts of burthen, and a few even of the soldiers, perished: some
+had their feet frost-bitten, others became blinded by the snow, others
+again were exhausted by hunger. Several of these unhappy men were
+unavoidably left behind; others lay down to perish, near a warm spring
+which had melted the snow around, from extremity of fatigue and sheer
+wretchedness, though the enemy were close upon the rear. It was in vain
+that Xenophon, who commanded the rear-guard, employed his earnest
+exhortations, prayers, and threats, to induce them to move forward. The
+sufferers, miserable and motionless, answered only by entreating him to
+kill them at once. So greatly was the army disorganized by wretchedness,
+that we hear of one case in which a soldier, ordered to carry a disabled
+comrade, disobeyed the order, and was about to bury him alive. Xenophon
+made a sally, with loud shouts and clatter of spear with shield, in
+which even the exhausted men joined,--against the pursuing enemy. He was
+fortunate enough to frighten them away, and drive them to take shelter
+in a neighboring wood. He then left the sufferers lying down, with
+assurance that relief should be sent to them on the next day,--and went
+forward; seeing all along the line of march the exhausted soldiers lying
+on the snow, without even the protection of a watch. He and his
+rear-guard as well as the rest were obliged thus to pass the night
+without either food or fire, distributing scouts in the best way that
+the case admitted. Meanwhile Cheirisophus with the van division had got
+into a village, which they reached so unexpectedly, that they found the
+women fetching water from a fountain outside the wall, and the head-man
+of the village in his house within. This division here obtained rest and
+refreshment, and at daybreak some of their soldiers were sent to look
+after the rear. It was with delight that Xenophon saw them approach, and
+sent them back to bring up in their arms, into the neighboring village,
+those exhausted soldiers who had been left behind.
+
+Repose was now indispensable after the recent sufferings. There were
+several villages near at hand, and the generals, thinking it no longer
+dangerous to divide the army, quartered the different divisions among
+them according to lot. Polykratês an Athenian, one of the captains in
+the division of Xenophon, requested his permission to go at once and
+take possession of the village assigned to him, before any of the
+inhabitants could escape. Accordingly, running at speed with a few of
+the swiftest soldiers, he came upon the village so suddenly as to seize
+the head-man with his newly-married daughter, and several young horses
+intended as a tribute for the king. This village, as well as the rest,
+was found to consist of houses excavated in the ground (as the Armenian
+villages are at the present day), spacious within, but with a narrow
+mouth like a well, entered by a descending ladder. A separate entrance
+was dug for conveniently admitting the cattle. All of them were found
+amply stocked with live cattle of every kind, wintered upon hay; as well
+as with wheat, barley, vegetables, and a sort of barley-wine or beer in
+tubs, with the grains of barley on the surface. Reeds or straws without
+any joint in them, were lying near, through which they sucked the
+liquid: Xenophon did his utmost to conciliate the head-man (who spoke
+Persian, and with whom he communicated through the Perso-Grecian
+interpreter of the army), promising him that not one of his relations
+should be maltreated, and that he should be fully remunerated if he
+would conduct the army safely out of the country, into that of the
+Chalybes which he described as being adjacent. By such treatment the
+head-man was won over, promised his aid, and even revealed to the Greeks
+the subterranean cellars wherein the wine was deposited; while Xenophon,
+though he kept him constantly under watch, and placed his youthful son
+as a hostage under the care of Episthenês, yet continued to treat him
+with studied attention and kindness. For seven days did the fatigued
+soldiers remain in these comfortable quarters, refreshing themselves and
+regaining strength. They were waited upon by the native youths, with
+whom they communicated by means of signs. The uncommon happiness which
+all of them enjoyed after their recent sufferings, stands depicted in
+the lively details given by Xenophon, who left here his own exhausted
+horse, and took young horses in exchange, for himself and the other
+officers.
+
+After this week of repose, the army resumed its march through the snow.
+The head-man, whose house they had replenished as well as they could,
+accompanied Cheirisophus in the van as guide, but was not put in chains
+or under guard: his son remained as an hostage with Episthenês, but his
+other relations were left unmolested at home. As they marched for three
+days, without reaching a village, Cheirisophus began to suspect his
+fidelity, and even became so out of humor, though the man affirmed that
+there were no villages in the track, as to beat him--yet without the
+precaution of putting him afterwards in fetters. The next night,
+accordingly, this head-man made his escape; much to the displeasure of
+Xenophon, who severely reproached Cheirisophus first for his harshness,
+and next for his neglect. This was the only point of difference between
+the two (says Xenophon) during the whole march; a fact very honorable to
+both, considering the numberless difficulties against which they had to
+contend. Episthenês retained the head-man's youthful son, carried him
+home in safety, and became much attached to him.
+
+Condemned thus to march without a guide, they could do no better than
+march up the course of the river; and thus, from the villages which had
+proved so cheering and restorative, they proceeded seven days' march all
+through snow, up the river Phasis; a river not verifiable, but certainly
+not the same as is commonly known under that name by Grecian
+geographers: it was 100 feet in breadth. Two more days' march brought
+them from this river to the foot of a range of mountains near a pass
+occupied by an armed body of Chalybes, Taochi, and Phasiani.
+
+Observing the enemy in possession of this lofty ground, Cheirisophus
+halted until all the army came up, in order that the generals might take
+counsel. Here Kleanor began by advising that they should storm the pass
+with no greater delay than was necessary to refresh the soldiers. But
+Xenophon suggested that it was far better to avoid the loss of life
+which must be incurred, and to amuse the enemy by feigned attack, while
+a detachment should be sent by stealth at night to ascend the mountain
+at another point and turn the position. "However (continued he, turning
+to Cheirisophus), stealing a march upon the enemy is more your trade
+than mine. For I understand that you the full citizens and peers at
+Sparta, practise stealing from your boyhood upward; and that it is held
+noway base, but even honorable, to steal such things as the law does not
+distinctly forbid. And to the end that you may steal with the greatest
+effect, and take pains to do it in secret, the custom is, to flog you if
+you are found out. Here then, you have an excellent opportunity of
+displaying your training. Take good care that we be not found out in
+stealing an occupation of the mountain now before us; for if we _are_
+found out, we shall be well beaten."
+
+"Why, as for that (replied Cheirisophus), you Athenians also, as I
+learn, are capital hands at stealing the public money--and that too in
+spite of prodigious peril to the thief: nay, your most powerful men
+steal most of all--at least if it be the most powerful men among you who
+are raised to official command. So that this is a time for _you_ to
+exhibit _your_ training, as well as for me to exhibit mine."
+
+We have here an interchange of raillery between the two Grecian
+officers, which is not an uninteresting feature in the history of the
+expedition. The remark of Cheirisophus, especially, illustrates that
+which I noted in a former chapter as true both of Sparta and Athens--the
+readiness to take bribes, so general in individuals clothed with
+official power; and the readiness, in official Athenians, to commit such
+peculation, in spite of serious risk of punishment. Now this chance of
+punishment proceeded altogether from those accusing orators commonly
+called demagogues,[67] and from the popular judicature whom they
+addressed. The joint working of both greatly abated the evil, yet was
+incompetent to suppress it. But according to the pictures commonly
+drawn of Athens, we are instructed to believe that the crying public
+evil was,--too great a license of accusation, and too much judicial
+trial. Assuredly such was not the conception of Cheirisophus; nor shall
+we find it borne out by any fair appreciation of the general evidence.
+When the peculation of official persons was thus notorious in spite of
+serious risks, what would it have become if the door had been barred to
+accusing demagogues, and if the numerous popular judges[68] had been
+exchanged for a select few judges of the same stamp and class as the
+official men themselves?
+
+Enforcing his proposition, Xenophon now informed his colleagues that he
+had just captured a few guides, by laying an ambush for certain native
+plunderers who beset the rear; and that these guides acquainted him that
+the mountain was not inaccessible, but pastured by goats and oxen. He
+farther offered himself to take command of the marching detachment. But
+this being overruled by Cheirisophus, some of the best among the
+captains, Aristonymus, Aristeas, and Nikomachus, volunteered their
+services and were accepted. After refreshing the soldiers, the generals
+marched with the main army near to the foot of the pass, and there took
+up their night-station, making demonstrations of a purpose to storm it
+the next morning. But as soon as it was dark, Aristonymus and his
+detachment started, and ascending the mountain at another point,
+obtained without resistance a high position on the flank of the enemy,
+who soon however saw them and despatched a force to keep guard on that
+side. At daybreak those two detachments came to conflict on the heights,
+in which the Greeks were completely victorious; while Cheirisophus was
+marching up the pass to attack the main body. His light troops,
+encouraged by seeing this victory of their comrades, hastened on to the
+charge faster than their heavy-armed foot-soldiers could follow. But the
+enemy were so dispirited by seeing themselves turned, that they fled
+with little or no resistance. Though only a few were slain, many threw
+away their light shields of wicker or woodwork, which became the prey of
+the conquerors.
+
+Thus masters of the pass, the Greeks descended to the level ground on
+the other side, where they found themselves in some villages
+well-stocked with provisions and comforts; the first in the country of
+the Taochi. Probably they halted here some days; for they had seen no
+villages, either for rest or for refreshment, during the last nine days'
+march, since leaving those Armenian villages in which they had passed a
+week so eminently restorative, and which apparently had furnished them
+with a stock of provisions for the onward journey. Such halt gave time
+to the Taochi to carry up their families and provisions into
+inaccessible strongholds, so that the Greeks found no supplies, during
+five days' march through the territory. Their provisions were completely
+exhausted, when they arrived before one of these strongholds, a rock on
+which were seen the families and the cattle of the Taochi; without
+houses or fortification, but nearly surrounded by a river, so as to
+leave only one narrow ascent, rendered unapproachable by vast rocks
+which the defenders hurled or rolled from the summit. By an ingenious
+combination of bravery and stratagem, in which some of the captains much
+distinguished themselves, the Greeks overcame this difficulty, and took
+the height. The scene which then ensued was awful. The Taochian women
+seized their children, flung them over the precipice, and then cast
+themselves headlong also, followed by the men. Almost every soul thus
+perished, very few surviving to become prisoners. An Arcadian captain
+named Æneas, seeing one of them in a fine dress about to precipitate
+himself with the rest, seized him with a view to prevent it. But the man
+in return grasped him firmly, dragged him to the edge of the rock, and
+leaped down to the destruction of both. Though scarcely any prisoners
+were taken, however, the Greeks obtained abundance of oxen, asses, and
+sheep, which fully supplied their wants.
+
+They now entered into the territory of the Chalybes, which they were
+seven days in passing through. These were the bravest warriors whom they
+had seen in Asia. Their equipment was a spear of fifteen cubits long,
+with only one end pointed--a helmet, greaves,[69] stuffed corselet, with
+a kilt or dependent flaps--a short sword which they employed to cut off
+the head of a slain enemy, displaying the head in sight of their
+surviving enemies with triumphant dance and song. They carried no
+shield; perhaps because the excessive length of the spear required the
+constant employment of both hands--yet they did not shrink from meeting
+the Greeks occasionally in regular, stand-up fight. As they had carried
+off all their provisions into hill-forts, the Greeks could obtain no
+supplies, but lived all the time upon the cattle which they had acquired
+from the Taochi. After seven days of march and combat--the Chalybes
+perpetually attacking their rear--they reached the river Harpasus (400
+feet broad), where they passed into the territory of the Skythini. It
+rather seems that the territory of the Chalybes was mountainous; that of
+the Skythini was level, and contained villages, wherein they remained
+three days, refreshing themselves, and stocking themselves with
+provisions.
+
+
+§ 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea.
+
+Four days of additional march brought them to a sight, the like of which
+they had not seen since Opis and Sittakê on the Tigris in Babylonia--a
+large and flourishing city called Gymnias; an indication of the
+neighborhood of the sea, of commerce, and of civilization. The chief of
+this city received them in a friendly manner, and furnished them with a
+guide, who engaged to conduct them, after five days' march, to a hill
+from whence they would have a view of the sea. This was by no means
+their nearest way to the sea, for the chief of Gymnias wished to send
+them through the territory of some neighbors to whom he was hostile;
+which territory, as soon as they reached it, the guide desired them to
+burn and destroy. However, the promise was kept, and on the fifth day,
+marching still apparently through the territory of the Skythini, they
+reached the summit of a mountain called Thêchês, from whence the Euxine
+Sea was visible.
+
+An animated shout from the soldiers who formed the van-guard testified
+the impressive effect of this long-deferred spectacle, assuring, as it
+seemed to do, their safety and their return home. To Xenophon and to the
+rear-guard--engaged in repelling the attack of natives who had come
+forward to revenge the plunder of their territory--the shout was
+unintelligible. They at first imagined that the natives had commenced
+attack in front as well as in the rear, and that the van-guard was
+engaged in battle. But every moment the shout became louder, as fresh
+men came to the summit and gave vent to their feelings; so that Xenophon
+grew anxious, and galloped up to the van with his handful of cavalry to
+see what had happened. As he approached, the voice of the overjoyed
+crowd was heard distinctly crying out _Thalatta! Thalatta!_ (The sea!
+the sea!), and congratulating each other in ecstasy. The main body, the
+rear-guard, the baggage-soldiers driving up their horses and cattle
+before them, became all excited by the sound, and hurried up breathless
+to the summit. The whole army, officers and soldiers, were thus
+assembled, manifesting their joyous emotions by tears, embraces, and
+outpourings of enthusiastic sympathy. With spontaneous impulse they
+heaped up stones to decorate the spot by a monument and commemorative
+trophy; putting on the stones such homely offerings as their means
+afforded--sticks, hides, and a few of the wicker shields just taken from
+the natives. To the guide, who had performed his engagement of bringing
+them in five days within sight of the sea, their gratitude was
+unbounded. They presented him with a horse, a silver bowl, a Persian
+costume, and ten darics[70] in money; besides several of the soldiers'
+rings, which he especially asked for. Thus loaded with presents, he left
+them, having first shown them a village wherein they could find
+quarters--as well as the road which they were to take through the
+territory of the Makrônes.
+
+When they reached the river which divided the land of the Makrônes from
+that of the Skythini, they perceived the former assembled in arms on
+the opposite side to resist their passage. The river not being fordable,
+they cut down some neighboring trees to provide the means of crossing.
+While these Makrônes were shouting and encouraging each other aloud, a
+light-armed foot-soldier in the Grecian army came to Xenophon, saying
+that he knew their language, and that he believed this to be his
+country. He had been a slave at Athens, exported from home during his
+boyhood--he had then made his escape (probably during the Peloponnesian
+War, to the garrison of Dekeleia), and afterwards taken military
+service. By this fortunate accident, the generals were enabled to open
+negotiations with the Makrônes, and to assure them that the army would
+do them no harm, desiring nothing more than a free passage and a market
+to buy provisions. The Makrônes, on receiving such assurances in their
+own language from a countryman, exchanged pledges of friendship with the
+Greeks, assisted them to pass the river, and furnished the best market
+in their power during the three days' march across their territory.
+
+The army now reached the borders of the Kolchians, who were found in
+hostile array, occupying the summit of a considerable mountain which
+formed their frontier. Here Xenophon, having marshalled the soldiers for
+attack, with each company of 100 men in single file, instead of marching
+up the hill in phalanx, or continuous front with only a scanty
+depth--addressed to them the following pithy encouragement--"Now,
+fellow-soldiers, these enemies before us are the only impediment that
+keeps us away from reaching the point at which we have been so long
+aiming. We must even eat them raw, if in any way we can do so."
+
+Eighty of these formidable companies of heavy-armed foot-soldiers, each
+in single file, now began to ascend the hill; the light-armed
+foot-soldiers and bowmen being partly distributed among them, partly
+placed on the flanks. Cheirisophus and Xenophon, each commanding on one
+wing, spread their light-armed foot-soldiers in such a way as to
+outflank the Kolchians, who accordingly weakened their centre in order
+to strengthen their wings. Hence the Arcadian light-armed foot-soldiers
+and heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the Greek centre were enabled to attack
+and disperse the centre with little resistance; and all the Kolchians
+presently fled, leaving the Greeks in possession of their camp, as well
+as of several well-stocked villages in their rear. Amidst these villages
+the army remained to refresh themselves for several days. It was here
+that they tasted the grateful, but unwholesome honey, which this region
+still continues to produce--unaware of its peculiar properties. Those
+soldiers who ate little of it were like men greatly intoxicated with
+wine; those who ate much, were seized with the most violent vomiting and
+diarrhoea, lying down like madmen in a state of delirium. From this
+terrible distemper some recovered on the ensuing day, others two or
+three days afterwards. It does not appear that any one actually died.
+
+Two more days' march brought them to the sea, at the Greek maritime city
+of Trapezus or Trebizond, founded by the inhabitants of Sinôpê on the
+coast of the Kolchian territory. Here the Trapezuntines received them
+with kindness and hospitality, sending them presents of bullocks,
+barley-meal, and wine. Taking up their quarters in some Kolchian
+villages near the town, they now enjoyed, for the first time since
+leaving Tarsus, a safe and undisturbed repose during thirty days, and
+were enabled to recover in some degree from the severe hardships which
+they had undergone. While the Trapezuntines brought produce for sale
+into the camp, the Greeks provided the means of purchasing it by
+predatory incursions against the Kolchians on the hills. Those Kolchians
+who dwelt under the hills and on the plain were in a state of
+semi-dependence upon Trapezus; so that the Trapezuntines mediated on
+their behalf and prevailed on the Greeks to leave them unmolested, on
+condition of a contribution of bullocks.
+
+These bullocks enabled the Greeks to discharge the vow which they had
+made, on the proposition of Xenophon, to Zeus the Preserver, during that
+moment of dismay and despair which succeeded immediately on the massacre
+of their generals by Tissaphernês. To Zeus the Preserver, to
+Heraklês[71] the Conductor, and to various other gods, they offered an
+abundant sacrifice on their mountain camp overhanging the sea; and after
+the festival ensuing, the skins of the victims were given as prizes to
+competitors in running, wrestling, boxing, and other contests. The
+superintendence of such festival games, so fully accordant with Grecian
+usage and highly interesting to the army, was committed to a Spartan
+named Drakontius; a man whose destiny recalls that of Patroklus and
+other Homeric heroes--for he had been exiled as a boy, having
+unintentionally killed another boy with a short sword. Various
+departures from Grecian customs however were admitted. The matches took
+place on the steep and stony hill-side overhanging the sea, instead of
+on a smooth plain; and the numerous hard falls of the competitors
+afforded increased interest to the by-standers. The captive non-Hellenic
+boys were admitted to run for the prize, since otherwise a boy-race
+could not have been obtained. ["Horses also ran; and they had to gallop
+down the steep, and, turning round in the sea, to come up again to the
+altar.[72] In the descent, many rolled down; but in the ascent, against
+the exceedingly steep ground, the horses could scarcely get up at a
+walking pace. There was consequently great shouting, and laughter, and
+cheering from the people."[73]] Lastly, the animation of the scene, as
+well as the ardor of the competitors, was much enhanced by the number of
+the women present.
+
+
+§ 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten
+Thousand.
+
+We now commence a third act in the history of this memorable body of
+men. After having followed them from Sardis to Kunaxa as mercenaries[74]
+to procure the throne for Cyrus--then from Kunaxa to Trapezus as men
+anxious only for escape, and purchasing their safety by marvellous
+bravery, endurance, and organization--we shall now track their
+proceedings among the Greek colonies on the Euxine and at the Bosphorus
+of Thrace, succeeded by their struggles against the meanness of the
+Thracian prince Seuthês, as well as against the treachery and arbitrary
+harshness of the Lacedæmonian commanders Anaxibius and Aristarchus.
+
+Trapezus, now Trebizond, where the army had recently found repose, was a
+colony from Sinôpê, as were also Kerasus and Kotyôra farther westward;
+each of them receiving a governor from the mother-city, and paying to
+her an annual tribute. All these three cities were planted on the narrow
+strip of land dividing the Euxine from the elevated mountain range
+which so closely borders on its southern coast. At Sinôpê itself, the
+land stretches out into a defensible peninsula, with a secure harbor,
+and a large breadth of adjacent fertile soil. So tempting a site invited
+the Milesians,[75] even before the year 600 B.C., to plant a colony
+there, and enabled Sinôpê to attain much prosperity and power. Farther
+westward, not more than a long day's journey for a rowing vessel from
+Byzantium, was situated the Megarian[76] colony of Herakleia, in the
+territory of the Mariandyni.
+
+The native tenants of this line of coast, upon which the Greek settlers
+intruded themselves (reckoning from the westward), were the Bythynian
+Thracians, the Mariandyni, the Paphlagonians, the Tibarêni, Chalybes,
+Mosynoeki, Drilæ, and Kolchians. Here as elsewhere, these natives found
+the Greek seaports useful, in giving a new value to inland produce, and
+in furnishing the great men with ornaments and luxuries to which they
+would otherwise have had no access. The citizens of Herakleia had
+reduced into dependence a considerable portion of the neighboring
+Mariandyni, and held them in a relation resembling that of the natives
+of Esthonia and Lavonia to the German colonies in the Baltic. Some of
+the Kolchian villages were also subject in the same manner to the
+Trapezuntines; and Sinôpê doubtless possessed a similar inland dominion
+of greater or less extent. But the principal wealth of this important
+city arose from her navy and maritime commerce; from the rich thunny
+fishery[77] attached to her promontory; from the olives in her
+immediate neighborhood, which was a cultivation not indigenous, but only
+naturalized by the Greeks on the seaboard; from the varied produce of
+the interior, comprising abundant herds of cattle, mines of silver,
+iron, and copper, in the neighboring mountains, wood for ship-building,
+as well as for house-furniture, and native slaves. The case was similar
+with the three colonies of Sinôpê, more to the eastward--Kotyôra,
+Kerasus, and Trapezus; except that the mountains which border on the
+Euxine, gradually approaching nearer and nearer to the shore, left to
+each of them a more confined strip of cultivable land. For these cities
+the time had not yet arrived to be conquered and absorbed by the inland
+monarchies around them, as Miletus and the cities on the western coast
+of Asia Minor had been. The Paphlagonians were at this time the only
+native people in those regions who formed a considerable aggregated
+force, under a prince named Korylas; a prince tributary to Persia, yet
+half independent--since he had disobeyed the summons of Artaxerxês to
+come up and help in repelling Cyrus--and now on terms of established
+alliance with Sinôpê, though not without secret designs, which he wanted
+only force to execute, against that city. The other native tribes to the
+eastward were mountaineers both ruder and more divided; warlike on their
+own heights, but little capable of any aggressive combinations.
+
+Though we are told that Periklês had once despatched a detachment of
+Athenian colonists to Sinôpê, and had expelled from thence the despot
+Timesilaus,--yet neither that city nor any of her neighbors appear to
+have taken part in the Peloponnesian war, either for or against Athens;
+nor were they among the number of tributaries to Persia. They doubtless
+were acquainted with the upward march of Cyrus, which had disturbed all
+Asia; and probably were not ignorant of the perils and critical state of
+his Grecian army. But it was with a feeling of mingled surprise,
+admiration, and alarm, that they saw that army descend from the
+mountainous region, hitherto only recognized as the abode of Kolchians,
+Makrônes, and other analogous tribes, among whom was perched the mining
+city of Gymnias.
+
+Even after all the losses and extreme sufferings of the retreat the
+Greeks still numbered, when mustered at Kerasus, 8600 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, with light-armed foot-soldiers, bowmen, and slingers,
+making a total of above 10,000 military persons. Such a force had never
+before been seen in the Euxine. Considering both the numbers and the
+now-acquired discipline and self-confidence of the Cyreians, even Sinôpê
+herself could have raised no force capable of meeting them in the field.
+Yet they did not belong to any city, nor receive orders from any
+established government. They were like those mercenary armies which
+marched about in Italy during the fourteenth century, under the generals
+called Condottieri, taking service sometimes with one city, sometimes
+with another. No one could predict what schemes they might conceive, or
+in what manner they might deal with the established communities on the
+shores of the Euxine. If we imagine that such an army had suddenly
+appeared in Sicily, a little time before the Athenian expedition against
+Syracuse, it would have been probably enlisted by Leontini and Katana in
+their war against Syracuse. If the inhabitants of Trapezus had wished to
+throw off the dominion of Sinôpê,--or if Korylas the Paphlagonian were
+meditating war against that city--here were formidable auxiliaries to
+second their wishes. Moreover there were various tempting sites, open to
+the formation of a new colony, which, with so numerous a body of
+original Greek settlers, would probably have overtopped Sinôpê herself.
+There was no restraining cause to reckon upon, except the general
+Hellenic sympathies and education of the Cyreian army; and what was of
+not less importance, the fact that they were not mercenary soldiers by
+permanent profession, such as became so formidably multiplied in Greece
+during the next generation--but established citizens who had come out on
+a special service under Cyrus, with the full intention, after a year of
+lucrative enterprise, to return to their homes and families. We shall
+find such gravitation towards home steadily operative throughout the
+future proceedings of the army. But at the moment when they first
+emerged from the mountains, no one could be sure that it would be so.
+There was ample ground for uneasiness among the Euxine Greeks,
+especially the Sinopians, whose supremacy had never before been
+endangered.
+
+
+§ 11. Plans of the army for the future.
+
+An undisturbed repose of thirty days enabled the Cyreians to recover
+from their fatigues, to talk over their past dangers, and to take pride
+in the anticipated effect which their unparalleled achievement could not
+fail to produce in Greece. Having discharged their vows and celebrated
+their festival to the gods, they held an assembly to discuss their
+future proceedings; when a Thurian[78] soldier named Antileon
+exclaimed--"Comrades, I am already tired of packing up, marching,
+running, carrying arms, falling into line, keeping watch, and fighting.
+Now that we have the sea here before us, I desire to be relieved from
+all these toils, to sail the rest of the way, and to arrive in Greece
+outstretched and asleep, like Odysseus."[79] This pithy address being
+received with vehement acclamations, and warmly responded to by all,
+Cheirisophus offered, if the army chose to empower him, to sail
+forthwith to Byzantium,[80] where he thought he could obtain from his
+friend the Lacedæmonian admiral Anaxibius, sufficient vessels for
+transport. His proposition was gladly accepted; and he departed to
+execute the project.
+
+Xenophon then urged upon the army various resolutions and measures,
+proper for the regulation of affairs during the absence of Cheirisophus.
+The army would be forced to maintain itself by marauding expeditions
+among the hostile tribes in the mountains. Such expeditions accordingly
+must be put under regulation: neither individual soldiers, nor small
+companies, must be allowed to go out at pleasure, without giving notice
+to the generals; moreover, the camp must be kept under constant guard
+and scouts, in the event of surprise from a retaliating enemy. It was
+prudent also to take the best measures in their power for procuring
+vessels; since, after all, Cheirisophus might possibly fail in bringing
+an adequate number. They ought to borrow a few ships of war from the
+Trapezuntines, and detain all the merchant ships[81] which they saw;
+unshipping the rudders, placing the cargoes under guard, and
+maintaining the crew during all the time that the ships might be
+required for transport of the army. Many such merchant vessels were
+often sailing by; so that they would thus acquire the means of
+transport, even though Cheirisophus should bring few or none from
+Byzantium. Lastly, Xenophon proposed to require the Grecian cities to
+repair and put in order the road along the coast, for a land-march;
+since, perhaps, with all their efforts, it would be found impossible to
+get together a sufficient stock of transports.
+
+All the propositions of Xenophon were readily adopted by the army,
+except the last. But the mere mention of a renewed land-march excited
+such universal murmurs of repugnance, that he did not venture to put
+that question to the vote. He took upon himself however to send messages
+to the Grecian cities, on his own responsibility; urging them to repair
+the roads, in order that the departure of the army might be facilitated.
+And he found the cities ready enough to carry his wishes into effect, as
+far as Kotyôra.
+
+The wisdom of these precautionary suggestions of Xenophon soon appeared;
+for Cheirisophus not only failed in his object, but was compelled to
+stay away for a considerable time. An armed ship with fifty oars was
+borrowed from the Trapezuntines, and committed to the charge of a
+Lacedæmonian provincial, named Dexippus, for the purpose of detaining
+the merchant vessels passing by. This man having violated his trust, and
+employed the ship to make his own escape out of the Euxine, a second was
+obtained and confided to an Athenian, Polykratês; who brought in
+successively several merchant vessels. These the Greeks did not
+plunder, but secured the cargoes under adequate guard, and only reserved
+the vessels for transports. It became however gradually more and more
+difficult to supply the camp with provisions. Though the army was
+distributed into suitable detachments for plundering the Kolchian
+villages on the hills, and seizing cattle and prisoners for sale, yet
+these expeditions did not always succeed; indeed on one occasion, two
+Grecian companies got entangled in such difficult ground, that they were
+destroyed to a man. The Kolchians united on the hills in increased and
+menacing numbers, insomuch that a larger guard became necessary for the
+camp; while the Trapezuntines--tired of the protracted stay of the army,
+as well as desirous of exempting from pillage the natives in their own
+immediate neighborhood--conducted the detachments only to villages alike
+remote and difficult of access. It was in this manner that a large force
+under Xenophon himself, attacked the lofty and rugged stronghold of the
+Drilæ--the most warlike nation of mountaineers in the neighborhood of
+the Euxine, well-armed, and troublesome to Trapezus by their incursions.
+After a difficult march and attack, which Xenophon describes in
+interesting detail, and wherein the Greeks encountered no small hazard
+of ruinous defeat--they returned, in the end completely successful, and
+with a plentiful booty.
+
+
+§ 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward.
+
+At length, after long awaiting in vain the reappearance of Cheirisophus,
+increasing scarcity and weariness determined them to leave Trapezus. A
+sufficient number of vessels had been collected to serve for the
+transport of the women, of the sick and wounded, and of the baggage. All
+these were accordingly placed on board under the command of Philesius
+and Sophænetus, the two oldest generals; while the remaining army
+marched by land, along a road which had been just made good under the
+representations of Xenophon. In three days they reached Kerasus,[82]
+another maritime colony of the Sinopians, still in the territory called
+Kolchian; there they halted ten days, mustered and numbered the army,
+and divided the money acquired by the sale of their prisoners. Eight
+thousand six hundred heavy-armed foot-soldiers, out of a total probably
+greater than eleven thousand, were found still remaining; besides
+targeteers[83] and various light troops.
+
+During the halt at Kerasus, the declining discipline of the army became
+manifest as they approached home. Various acts of outrage occurred,
+originating now, as afterwards, in the intrigues of treacherous
+officers. A captain named Klearetus persuaded his company to attempt the
+plunder of a Kolchian village near Kerasus, which had furnished a
+friendly market to the Greeks, and which rested secure on the faith of
+peaceful relations. He intended to make off separately with the booty in
+one of the vessels: but his attack was repelled, and he himself slain.
+The injured villagers despatched three elders as heralds, to remonstrate
+with the Grecian authorities; but these heralds, being seen in Kerasus
+by some of the repulsed plunderers, were slain. A partial tumult then
+ensued, in which even the magistrates of Kerasus were in great danger,
+and only escaped the pursuing soldiers by running into the sea. This
+enormity, though it occurred under the eyes of the generals, immediately
+before their departure from Kerasus, remained without inquiry or
+punishment, from the numbers concerned in it.
+
+Between Kerasus and Kotyôra, there was not then (nor is there now) any
+regular road. This march cost the Cyreian army not less than ten days,
+by an inland track departing from the seashore, and through the
+mountains inhabited by the native tribes Mosynoeki and Chalybes. The
+latter, celebrated for their iron works, were under dependence to the
+former. As the Mosynoeki refused to grant a friendly passage across
+their territory, the army were compelled to fight their way through it
+as enemies, with the aid of one section of these people themselves;
+which alliance was procured for them by the Trapezuntine Timesitheus,
+who was consul or agent of the Mosynoeki and understood their language.
+The Greeks took the mountain fastnesses of this people, and plundered
+the wooden turrets[84] which formed their abodes. Of their peculiar
+fashions Xenophon gives an interesting description which I have not
+space to copy. The territory of the Tibarêni was more easy and
+accessible. This people met the Greeks with presents, and tendered a
+friendly passage. But the generals at first declined the presents,
+preferring to treat them as enemies and plunder them; which in fact they
+would have done, had they not been deterred by unfavorable sacrifices.
+
+Near Kotyôra, which was situated on the coast of the Tibarêni, yet on
+the borders of Paphlagonia, they remained forty-five days, still
+awaiting the appearance of Cheirisophus with the transports to carry
+them away by sea. The Sinopian governor did not permit them to be
+welcomed in so friendly a manner as at Trapezus. No market was provided
+for them, nor were their sick admitted within the walls. But the
+fortifications of the town were not so constructed as to resist a Greek
+force, the like of which had never before been seen in those regions.
+The Greek generals found a weak point, made their way in, and took
+possession of a few houses for the accommodation of their sick; keeping
+a guard at the gate to secure free egress, but doing no farther violence
+to the citizens. They obtained their victuals partly from the Kotyôrite
+villages, partly from the neighboring territory of Paphlagonia, until at
+length envoys arrived from Sinôpê to remonstrate against their
+proceedings.
+
+These envoys presented themselves before the assembled soldiers in the
+camp, when Hekatonymus, the chief and most eloquent among them, began by
+complimenting the army upon their gallant exploits and retreat. He then
+complained of the injury which Kotyôra, and Sinôpê as the mother-city of
+Kotyôra, had suffered at their hands, in violation of common Hellenic
+kinship. If such proceedings were continued, he intimated that Sinôpê
+would be compelled in her own defence to seek alliance with the
+Paphlagonian prince Korylas, or any other barbaric auxiliary who would
+lend them aid against the Greeks. Xenophon replied that if the
+Kotyôrites had sustained any damage, it was owing to their own ill-will
+and to the Sinopian governor in the place; that the generals were under
+the necessity of procuring subsistence for the soldiers, with house-room
+for the sick, and that they had taken nothing more; that the sick men
+were lying within the town, but at their own cost, while the other
+soldiers were all encamped without; that they had maintained cordial
+friendship with the Trapezuntines, and requited all their good offices;
+that they sought no enemies except through necessity, being anxious only
+again to reach Greece; and that as for the threat respecting Korylas,
+they knew well enough that that prince was eager to become master of the
+wealthy city of Sinôpê, and would speedily attempt some such enterprise
+if he could obtain the Cyreian army as his auxiliaries.
+
+This judicious reply shamed the colleagues of Hekatonymus so much, that
+they went the length of protesting against what he had said, and of
+affirming that they had come with propositions of sympathy and
+friendship to the army, as well as with promises to give them an
+hospitable reception at Sinôpê, if they should visit that town on their
+way home. Presents were at once sent to the army by the inhabitants of
+Kotyôra, and a good understanding established.
+
+Such an interchange of goodwill with the powerful city of Sinôpê was an
+unspeakable advantage to the army--indeed an essential condition to
+their power of reaching home. If they continued their march by land, it
+was only through Sinopian guidance and mediation that they could obtain
+or force a passage through Paphlagonia; while for a voyage by sea, there
+was no chance of procuring a sufficient number of vessels except from
+Sinôpê, since no news had been received of Cheirisophus. On the other
+hand, that city had also a strong interest in facilitating their transit
+homeward, and thus removing formidable neighbors, for whose ulterior
+purposes there could be no guarantee. After some preliminary
+conversation with the Sinopian envoys, the generals convoked the army in
+assembly, and entreated Hekatonymus and his companions to advise them
+as to the best mode of proceeding westward to the Bosphorus.
+Hekatonymus, after apologizing for the menacing insinuations of his
+former speech, and protesting that he had no other object in view except
+to point out the safest and easiest plan of route for the army, began to
+unfold the insuperable difficulties of a march through Paphlagonia. The
+very entrance into the country must be achieved through a narrow
+aperture in the mountains, which it was impossible to force if occupied
+by the enemy. Even assuming this difficulty to be surmounted, there were
+spacious plains to be passed over, wherein the Paphlagonian horse,[85]
+the most numerous and bravest in Asia, would be found almost
+irresistible. There were also three or four great rivers, which the army
+would be unable to pass--the Thermôdôn and the Iris, each 300 feet in
+breadth--the Halys, nearly a quarter of a mile in breadth--the
+Parthenius, also very considerable. Such an array of obstacles (he
+affirmed) rendered the project of marching through Paphlagonia
+impracticable; whereas the voyage by sea from Kotyôra to Sinôpê, and
+from Sinôpê to Herakleia, was easy; and the transit from the latter
+place either by sea to Byzantium, or by land across Thrace, yet easier.
+
+Difficulties like these, apparently quite real, were more than
+sufficient to determine the vote of the army, already sick of marching
+and fighting, in favor of the sea voyage; though there were not wanting
+suspicions of the sincerity of Hekatonymus. But Xenophon, in
+communicating to the latter the decision of the army, distinctly
+apprised him that they would on no account permit themselves to be
+divided; that they would either depart or remain all in a body; and
+that vessels must be provided sufficient for the transport of all.
+Hekatonymus desired them to send envoys of their own to Sinôpê to make
+the necessary arrangements. Three envoys were accordingly sent--Ariston,
+an Athenian, Kallimachus, an Arcadian, and Samolas, an Achæan; the
+Athenian, probably, as possessing the talent of speaking in the Sinopian
+senate or assembly.
+
+During the absence of the envoys, the army still continued near Kotyôra,
+with a market provided by the town, and with traders from Sinôpê and
+Herakleia in the camp. Such soldiers as had no money wherewith to
+purchase, subsisted by pillaging the neighboring frontier of
+Paphlagonia. But they were receiving no pay; every man was living on his
+own resources; and instead of carrying back a handsome purse to Greece,
+as each soldier had hoped when he first took service under Cyrus, there
+seemed every prospect of their returning poorer than when they left
+home. Moreover, the army was now moving onward without any definite
+purpose, with increasing dissatisfaction and decreasing discipline;
+insomuch that Xenophon foresaw the difficulties which would beset the
+responsible commanders when they should come within the stricter
+restraints and obligations of the Grecian world.
+
+
+§ 13. Plans of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea.
+
+It was these considerations which helped to suggest to him the idea of
+employing the army on some enterprise of conquest and colonization on
+the Euxine itself; an idea highly flattering to his personal ambition,
+especially as the army was of unrivalled efficiency against an enemy,
+and no such second force could ever be got together in those distant
+regions. His patriotism as a Greek was inflamed with the thoughts of
+procuring for Hellas[86] a new self-governing city, occupied by a
+considerable Hellenic population, possessing a spacious territory, and
+exercising dominion over many neighboring natives. He seems to have
+thought first of attacking and conquering some established non-Hellenic
+city; an act which his ideas of international morality did not forbid,
+in a case where he had contracted no special convention with the
+inhabitants--though he (as well as Cheirisophus) strenuously protested
+against doing wrong to any innocent Hellenic community. He contemplated
+the employment of the entire force in capturing Phasis or some other
+native city; after which, when the establishment was once safely
+effected, those soldiers who preferred going home to remaining as
+settlers, might do so without emperiling those who stayed, and probably
+with their own purses filled by plunder and conquest in the
+neighborhood. To settle as one of the richest proprietors and
+chiefs,--perhaps even the recognized founder, like Agnon at
+Amphipolis,--of a new Hellenic city such as could hardly fail to become
+rich, powerful, and important--was a tempting prospect for one who had
+now acquired the habits of command. Moreover, the sequel will prove how
+correctly Xenophon appreciated the discomfort of leading the army back
+to Greece without pay and without certain employment.
+
+It was the practice of Xenophon, and the advice of his master,
+Sokratês,[87] in grave and doubtful cases where the most careful
+reflection was at fault, to recur to the inspired authority of an oracle
+or a prophet, and to offer sacrifice, in full confidence that the gods
+would vouchsafe to communicate a special revelation to such persons as
+they favored. Accordingly Xenophon, previous to any communication with
+the soldiers respecting his new project, was anxious to ascertain the
+will of the gods by a special sacrifice; for which he invoked the
+presence of Silanus, the chief prophet in the army. This prophet (as I
+have already mentioned), before the battle of Kunaxa, had assured Cyrus
+that Artaxerxês would not fight for ten days--and the prophecy came to
+pass; which made such an impression on Cyrus, that he rewarded him with
+the prodigious present of 3000 darics or ten Attic talents. While others
+were returning poor, Silanus, having contrived to preserve this sum
+through all the hardships of the retreat, was extremely rich, and
+anxious only to hasten home with his treasure in safety. He heard with
+strong repugnance the project of remaining on the Euxine, and determined
+to traverse[88] it by intrigue. As far as concerned the sacrifices,
+indeed, which he offered apart with Xenophon he was obliged to admit
+that the indications of the victims were favorable; Xenophon himself
+being too familiar with the process to be imposed upon. But he at the
+same time tried to create alarm by declaring that a nice inspection
+disclosed evidence of treacherous snares laid for Xenophon; which latter
+indications he himself began to realize by spreading reports among the
+army that the Athenian general was laying clandestine plans for keeping
+them away from Greece without their own concurrence.[89]
+
+Thus prematurely and insidiously divulged, the scheme found some
+supporters, but a far larger number of opponents; especially among those
+officers who were jealous of the ascendency of Xenophon. Timasion and
+Thorax employed it as a means of alarming the Herakleotic and Sinopian
+traders in the camp; telling them that unless they provided not merely
+transports, but also pay for the soldiers, Xenophon would find means to
+detain the army in the Euxine, and would employ the transports when they
+arrived not for the homeward voyage, but for his own projects of
+acquisition. This news spread so much terror both at Sinôpê and
+Herakleia that large offers of money were made from both cities to
+Timasion, on condition that he would ensure the departure of the army,
+as soon as the vessels should be assembled at Kotyôra. Accordingly these
+officers, convening an assembly of the soldiers, protested against the
+duplicity of Xenophon in thus preparing momentous schemes without any
+public debate or decision. And Timasion, seconded by Thorax, not only
+strenuously urged the army to return, but went so far as to promise to
+them, on the faith of the assurances from Herakleia and Sinôpê, future
+pay on a liberal scale, to commence from the first new moon after their
+departure; together with a hospitable reception in his native city of
+Dardanus on the Hellespont, from whence they could make incursions on
+the rich neighboring satrapy of Pharnabazus.
+
+It was not, however, until these attacks were repeated from more than
+one quarter--until the Achæans Philesius and Lykon had loudly accused
+Xenophon of underhand manoeuvring to cheat the army into remaining
+against their will--that the latter rose to repel the imputation; saying
+that all he had done was, to consult the gods whether it would be better
+to lay his project before the army or keep it in his own bosom. The
+encouraging answer of the gods, as conveyed through the victims and
+testified even by Silanus himself, proved that the scheme was not
+ill-conceived; nevertheless (he remarked) Silanus had begun to lay
+snares for him, obtaining by his own proceedings a collateral indication
+which he had announced to be visible in the victims. "If (added
+Xenophon) you had continued as destitute and unprovided, as you were
+just now--I should still have looked out for a resource in the capture
+of some city which would have enabled such of you as chose, to return at
+once; while the rest stay behind to enrich themselves. But now there is
+no longer any necessity; since Herakleia and Sinôpê are sending
+transports, and Timasion promises pay to you from the next new moon.
+Nothing can be better; you will go back safely to Greece, and will
+receive pay for going thither. I desist at once from my scheme, and call
+upon all who were favorable to it to desist also. Only let us all keep
+together until we are on safe ground; and let the man who lags behind
+or runs off, be condemned as a wrongdoer."
+
+Xenophon immediately put this question to the vote, and every hand was
+held up in its favor. There was no man more disconcerted with the vote
+than the prophet Silanus, who loudly exclaimed against the injustice of
+detaining any one desirous to depart. But the soldiers put him down with
+vehement disapprobation, threatening that they would assuredly punish
+him if they caught him running off. His intrigue against Xenophon thus
+recoiled upon himself, for the moment. But shortly afterwards, when the
+army reached Herakleia, he took his opportunity for clandestine flight,
+and found his way back to Greece with the 3000 darics.
+
+If Silanus gained little by his manoeuvre, Timasion and his partners
+gained still less. For so soon as it became known that the army had
+taken a formal resolution to go back to Greece, and that Xenophon
+himself had made the proposition, the Sinopians and the Herakleots felt
+at their ease. They sent the transport vessels, but withheld the money
+which they had promised to Timasion and Thorax. Hence these officers
+were exposed to dishonor and peril; for having positively engaged to
+find pay for the army, they were now unable to keep their word. So keen
+were their apprehensions, that they came to Xenophon and told him that
+they had altered their views, and that they now thought it best to
+employ the newly-arrived transports in conveying the army, not to
+Greece, but against the town and territory of Phasis[90] at the eastern
+extremity of the Euxine. Xenophon replied, that they might convene the
+soldiers and make the proposition, if they chose; but that he would have
+nothing to say to it. To make the very proposition themselves, for which
+they had so much inveighed against Xenophon, was impossible without some
+preparation; so that each of them began individually to sound his
+captains, and get the scheme suggested by them. During this interval,
+the soldiery obtained information of the manoeuvre, much to their
+discontent and indignation; of which Neon (the lieutenant of the absent
+Cheirisophus) took advantage, to throw the whole blame upon Xenophon;
+alleging that it was he who had converted the other officers to his
+original project, and that he intended, as soon as the soldiers were on
+shipboard, to convey them fraudulently to Phasis instead of to Greece.
+There was something so plausible in this glaring falsehood, which
+represented Xenophon as the author of the renewed project, once his
+own--and something so improbable in the fact that the other officers
+should spontaneously have renounced their own strong opinions to take up
+his--that we can hardly be surprised at the ready credence which Neon's
+calumny found among the army. Their exasperation against Xenophon became
+so intense, that they collected in fierce groups; and there was even a
+fear that they would break out into mutinous violence, as they had
+before done against the magistrates of Kerasus.
+
+Well knowing the danger of such spontaneous and informal assemblages,
+and the importance of the habitual solemnities of convocation and
+arrangement, to ensure either discussion or legitimate defence--Xenophon
+immediately sent round the herald to summon the army into the regular
+place of assembly with customary method and ceremony. The summons was
+obeyed with unusual alacrity, and Xenophon then addressed
+them--refraining, with equal generosity and prudence, from saying
+anything about the last proposition which Timasion and others had made
+to him. Had he mentioned it, the question would have become one of life
+and death between him and those other officers.
+
+
+§ 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations.
+
+"Soldiers (said he), I understand that there are some men here
+calumniating me, as if I were intending to cheat you and carry you to
+Phasis. Hear me then, in the name of the gods. If I am shown to be doing
+wrong, let me not go from hence unpunished; but if, on the contrary, my
+calumniators are proved to be the wrong-doers, deal with them as they
+deserve. You surely well know where the sun rises and where he sets; you
+know that if a man wishes to reach Greece, he must go westward--if to
+the barbaric territories, he must go eastward. Can any one hope to
+deceive you on this point, and persuade you that the sun rises on _this_
+side, and sets on _that_? Can any one cheat you into going on shipboard
+with a wind which blows you away from Greece? Suppose even that I put
+you aboard when there is no wind at all. How am I to force you to sail
+with me against your own consent--I being only in one ship, you in a
+hundred and more? Imagine however that I could even succeed in deluding
+you to Phasis. When we land there, you will know at once that we are not
+in Greece; and what fate can I then expect--a detected impostor in the
+midst of ten thousand men with arms in their hands? No--these stories
+all proceed from foolish men, who are jealous of my influence with you;
+jealous, too, without reason--for I neither hinder _them_ from
+out-stripping me in your favor, if they can render you greater
+service--nor _you_ from electing them commanders, if you think fit.
+Enough of this now: I challenge any one to come forward and say how it
+is possible either to cheat, or to be cheated, in the manner laid to my
+charge."
+
+Having thus grappled directly with the calumnies of his enemies, and
+dissipated them in such manner as doubtless to create a reaction in his
+own favor, Xenophon made use of the opportunity to denounce the growing
+disorders in the army; which he depicted as such, that if no corrective
+were applied, disgrace and contempt must fall upon all. As he paused
+after this general remonstrance, the soldiers loudly called upon him to
+go into particulars; upon which he proceeded to recall, with lucid and
+impressive simplicity, the outrages which had been committed at and near
+Kerasus--the unauthorized and unprovoked attack made by Klearetus and
+his company on a neighboring village which was in friendly commerce with
+the army--the murder of the three elders of the village, who had come as
+heralds to complain to the generals about such wrong--the mutinous
+attack made by disorderly soldiers even upon the magistrates of Kerasus,
+at the very moment when they were remonstrating with the generals on
+what had occurred; exposing these magistrates to the utmost peril, and
+putting the generals themselves to ignominy. "If such are to be our
+proceedings (continued Xenophon), look you well into what condition the
+army will fall. You, the aggregate body, will no longer be the sovereign
+authority to make war or peace with whom you please; each individual
+among you will conduct the army against any point which he may choose.
+And even if men should come to you as envoys, either for peace or for
+other purposes, they may be slain by any single enemy; so that you will
+be debarred from all public communications whatever. Next, those whom
+your universal suffrage shall have chosen commanders, will have no
+authority; while any self-elected general who chooses to give the word,
+Cast, Cast (_i.e._ darts or stones), may put to death without trial
+either officer or soldier as it suits him; that is, if he finds you
+ready to obey him, as it happened near Kerasus. Look now what these
+self-elected leaders have done for you. The magistrate of Kerasus, if he
+was really guilty of wrong towards you, has been enabled to escape with
+impunity; if he was innocent, he has been obliged to run away from you,
+as the only means of avoiding death without pretence of trial. Those who
+stoned the heralds to death have brought matters to such a pass, that
+you alone, of all Greeks, cannot enter the town of Kerasus in safety,
+unless in commanding force; and that we cannot even send in a herald to
+take up our dead (Klearetus and those who were slain in the attack on
+the Kerasuntine village) for burial; though at first those who had slain
+them in self-defence were anxious to give up the bodies to us. For who
+will take the risk of going in as herald, from those who have set the
+example of putting heralds to death? We generals were obliged to entreat
+the Kerasuntines to bury the bodies for us."
+
+Continuing in this emphatic protest against the recent disorders and
+outrages, Xenophon at length succeeded in impressing his own sentiment,
+heartily and unanimously, upon the soldiers. They passed a vote that the
+ringleaders of the mutiny at Kerasus should be punished; that if any one
+was guilty of similar outrages in future, he should be put upon his
+trial by the generals, before the captains as judges, and if condemned
+by them, put to death; and that trial should be had before the same
+persons, for any other wrong committed since the death of Cyrus. A
+suitable religious ceremony was also directed to be performed, at the
+instance of Xenophon and the prophets, to purify the army.
+
+This speech affords an interesting specimen of the political morality
+universal throughout the Grecian world, though deeper and more
+predominant among its better sections. In the miscellaneous aggregate,
+and temporary society, now mustered at Kotyôra, Xenophon insists on the
+universal suffrage of the whole body, as the legitimate sovereign
+authority for the guidance of every individual will; the decision of the
+majority, fairly and formally collected, as carrying a title to prevail
+over every dissentient minority; the generals chosen by the majority of
+votes, as the only persons entitled to obedience. This is the cardinal
+principle to which he appeals, as the anchorage of political obligation
+in the mind of each separate man or fraction; as the condition of all
+success, all safety, and all conjoint action; as the only condition
+either for punishing wrong or protecting right; as indispensable to keep
+up their sympathies with the Hellenic communities, and their dignity
+either as soldiers or as citizens. The complete success of his speech
+proves that he knew how to touch the right chord of Grecian feeling. No
+serious acts of individual insubordination occurred afterwards, though
+the army collectively went wrong on more than one occasion. And what is
+not less important to notice--the influence of Xenophon himself, after
+his unreserved and courageous remonstrance, seems to have been sensibly
+augmented--certainly noway diminished.
+
+The circumstances which immediately followed were indeed well
+calculated to augment it. For it was resolved, on the proposition of
+Xenophon himself, that the generals themselves should be tried before
+the newly-constituted tribunal of the captains, in case anyone had
+complaint to make against them for past matters; agreeably to the
+Athenian habit of subjecting every magistrate to a trial of
+accountability on laying down his office. In the course of this
+investigation, Philesius and Xanthiklês were fined twenty minæ,[91] to
+make good an assignable deficiency of that amount, in the cargoes of
+those merchantmen which had been detained at Trapezus for the transport
+of the army: Sophænetus, who had the general superintendence of this
+property, but had been negligent in that duty, was fined ten minæ. Next,
+the name of Xenophon was put up, when various persons stood forward to
+accuse him of having beaten and ill-used them. As commander of the
+rear-guard, his duty was by far the severest and most difficult,
+especially during the intense cold and deep snow; since the sick and
+wounded, as well as the laggards and plunderers, all fell under his
+inspection. One man especially was loud in complaints against him, and
+Xenophon questioned him, as to the details of his case, before the
+assembled army. It turned out that he had given him blows, because the
+man, having been entrusted with the task of carrying a sick soldier, was
+about to evade the duty by burying the dying man alive. This interesting
+debate ended by a full approbation on the part of the army of Xenophon's
+conduct, accompanied with regret that he had not handled the man yet
+more severely.
+
+The statements of Xenophon himself give us a vivid idea of the internal
+discipline of the army, even as managed by a discreet and well-tempered
+officer. "I acknowledge (said he to the soldiers) to have struck many
+men for disorderly conduct; men who were content to owe their
+preservation to your orderly march and constant fighting, while they
+themselves ran about to plunder and enrich themselves at your cost. Had
+we all acted as they did, we should have perished to a man. Sometimes
+too I struck men who were lagging behind with cold and fatigue, or were
+stopping the way so as to hinder others from getting forward: I struck
+them with my fist, in order to save them from the spear of the enemy.
+You yourselves stood by and saw me: you had arms in your hands, yet none
+of you interfered to prevent me. I did it for their good as well as for
+yours, not from any insolence of disposition; for it was a time when we
+were all alike suffering from cold, hunger, and fatigue; whereas I now
+live comparatively well, drink more wine and pass easy days--and yet I
+strike no one. You will find that the men who failed most in those times
+of hardship, are now the most outrageous offenders in the army. There is
+Boïskus, the Thessalian pugilist, who pretended sickness during the
+march, in order to evade the burden of carrying his shield--and now, as
+I am informed, he has stripped several citizens of Kotyôra of their
+clothes. If (he concluded) the blows which I have occasionally given, in
+cases of necessity, are now brought in evidence--I call upon those among
+you also, to whom I have rendered aid and protection, to stand up and
+testify in my favor."
+
+Many individuals responded to this appeal, insomuch that Xenophon was
+not merely acquitted, but stood higher than before in the opinion of the
+army. We learn from his defence that for a commanding officer to strike
+a soldier with his fist, if wanting in duty, was not considered
+improper; at least under such circumstances as those of the retreat. But
+what deserves notice still more, is, the extraordinary influence which
+Xenophon's powers of speaking gave him over the minds of the army. He
+stood distinguished from the other generals, Lacedæmonian, Arcadian,
+Achæan, and the rest, by his power of working on the minds of the
+soldiers collectively; and we see that he had the good sense, as well as
+the spirit, not to shrink from telling them unpleasant truths. In spite
+of such frankness--or rather, partly by means of such frankness--his
+ascendency as commander not only remained unabated, as compared with
+that of the others, but went on increasing. For whatever may be said
+about the flattery of orators as a means of influence over the
+people,--it will be found that though particular points may be gained in
+this way, yet wherever the influence of an orator has been steady and
+long-continued (like that of Periklês or Demosthenês) it is owing in
+part to the fact that he has an opinion of his own, and is not willing
+to accommodate himself constantly to the prepossessions of his hearers.
+Without the oratory of Xenophon, there would have existed no engine for
+kindling or sustaining the common sense or feeling of the ten thousand
+Cyreians assembled at Kotyôra, or for keeping up the moral authority of
+the aggregate over the individual members and fractions. The other
+officers could doubtless speak well enough to address short
+encouragements, or give simple explanations, to the soldiers: without
+this faculty, no man was fit for military command over Greeks. But the
+oratory of Xenophon was something of a higher order. Whoever will study
+the discourse pronounced by him at Kotyôra will perceive a dexterity in
+dealing with assembled multitudes--a discriminating use sometimes of the
+plainest and most direct appeal, sometimes of indirect insinuation or
+circuitous transitions to work round the minds of the hearers--a command
+of those fundamental political convictions which lay deep in the Grecian
+mind, but were often so overlaid by the fresh impulses arising out of
+each successive situation, as to require some positive friction to draw
+them out from their latent state--lastly, a power of expansion and
+varied repetition--such as would be naturally imparted both by the
+education and the practice of an intelligent Athenian, but would rarely
+be found in any other Grecian city. The energy and judgment displayed by
+Xenophon in the retreat were doubtless not less essential to his
+influence than his power of speaking; but in these points we may be sure
+that other officers were more nearly his equals.
+
+The important public proceedings above described not only restored the
+influence of Xenophon, but also cleared off a great amount of bad
+feeling, and sensibly abated the bad habits, which had grown up in the
+army. A scene which speedily followed was not without effect in
+promoting cheerful and amicable sympathies. The Paphlagonian prince
+Korylas, weary of the desultory warfare carried on between the Greeks
+and the border inhabitants, sent envoys to the Greek camp with presents
+of horses and fine robes, and with expressions of a wish to conclude
+peace. The Greek generals accepted the presents, and promised to submit
+the proposition to the army. But first, they entertained the envoys at a
+banquet, providing at the same time games and dances, with other
+recreations amusing not only to them but also to the soldiers generally.
+[Xenophon thus describes them--"As soon as the libations were over, and
+they had sung the pæan, two Thracians rose up and danced in full armor,
+to the sound of a pipe;[92] they leaped very high, and with great
+agility, and wielded their swords; and at last one struck the other, in
+such a manner that every one thought he had killed him. He fell,
+however, artfully, and the Paphlagonians cried out; the other having
+stripped him of his arms, went out singing; while other Thracians
+carried off the man as if he had been dead; though indeed he had
+suffered no hurt. Afterward some others stood up and danced what they
+called the Carpæan dance[93] in heavy arms. The nature of the dance was
+as follows: one man having laid aside his arms, sows, and drives a yoke
+of oxen, frequently turning to look back as if he were afraid. A robber
+then approaches, and the plowman when he perceives him, snatches up his
+arms and runs to meet him, and fights with him in defence of his oxen
+(and the dancers acted all this, keeping time to the music); but at last
+the robber binding the ox driver, leads him off with his oxen.
+Sometimes, however, the plowman binds the robber, and then having
+fastened him to his oxen, drives him off with his hands tied behind him.
+
+"Next came forward a man with a light shield in each hand, and danced,
+sometimes acting as if two adversaries were attacking him; sometimes he
+used his shields as if engaged with only one; sometimes he whirled
+about, and threw a somersault, still keeping the shields in his hands,
+presenting an interesting spectacle. At last he danced the Persian
+dance (frequently bending the knee), clashing his shields together,
+sinking on his knees, and rising again; and all this he performed in
+time to the pipe.
+
+"After him some of the Arcadians coming forward and taking their stand,
+armed as handsomely as they could equip themselves, moved along in time,
+accompanied by a pipe tuned for the war-movement, and sung the pæan, and
+danced in the same manner as in the procession to the gods. The
+Paphlagonians, looking on, testified their astonishment that all the
+dances were performed in armor. The Mysian,[94] observing that they were
+surprised at the exhibition, and prevailing on one of the Arcadians, who
+had a female dancer, to let her come in, brought her forward, equipping
+her as handsomely as he could, and giving her a light shield. She danced
+the Pyrrhic[95] dance with great agility, and a general clapping of
+hands followed; and the Paphlagonians asked whether the women fought
+along with the men; when they replied that it was the women who had
+driven the King from his camp.[96] This was the conclusion of the
+entertainment for that night."[97]] They were followed on the next day
+by an amicable convention concluded between the army and the
+Paphlagonians.
+
+
+§ 15. The army passes by sea to Sinôpê.
+
+Not long afterwards--a number of transports, sufficient for the whole
+army, having been assembled from Herakleia and Sinôpê--all the soldiers
+were conveyed by sea to the latter place, passing by the mouth of the
+rivers Thermôdôn, Iris, and Halys, which they would have found
+impracticable to cross in a land-march through Paphlagonia. Having
+reached Sinôpê after a day and a night of sailing with a fair wind, they
+were hospitably received, and lodged in the neighboring seaport of
+Armênê, where the Sinopians sent to them a large present of barley-meal
+and wine, and where they remained for five days.
+
+It was here that they were joined by Cheirisophus, whose absence had
+been so unexpectedly prolonged. But he came with only a single
+trireme,[98] bringing nothing except a message from Anaxibius, the
+Lacedæmonian general in the Bosphorus; who complimented the army, and
+promised that they should be taken into pay as soon as they were out of
+the Euxine. The soldiers, severely disappointed on seeing him arrive
+thus empty-handed, became the more strongly bent on striking some blow
+to fill their own purses before they reached Greece. Feeling that it was
+necessary to the success of any such project that it should be prepared
+not only skilfully, but secretly, they resolved to elect a single
+general in place of that board of six (or perhaps more) who were still
+in function. Such was now the ascendency of Xenophon, that the general
+sentiment of the army at once turned towards him; and the captains,
+communicating to him what was in contemplation, intimated to him their
+own anxious hopes that he would not decline the offer. Tempted by so
+flattering a proposition, he hesitated at first what answer he should
+give. But at length the uncertainty of being able to satisfy the
+exigencies of the army, and the fear of thus compromising the
+reputation which he had already realized, outweighed the opposite
+inducements. As in other cases of doubt, so in this--he offered
+sacrifice to Zeus the King; and the answer returned by the victims was
+such as to determine him to refusal. Accordingly, when the army
+assembled, with predetermination to choose a single chief, and proceeded
+to nominate him--he respectfully and thankfully declined, on the ground
+that Cheirisophus was a Lacedæmonian, and that he himself was not;
+adding that he should cheerfully serve under any one whom they might
+name. His excuse however was repudiated; especially by the captains.
+Several of these latter were Arcadians; and one of them, Agasias, cried
+out, with full sympathy of the soldiers, that, if that principle were
+admitted, he as an Arcadian ought to resign his command. Finding that
+his former reason was not approved, Xenophon acquainted the army that he
+had sacrificed to know whether he ought to accept the command, and that
+the gods had peremptorily forbidden him to do so.
+
+Cheirisophus was then elected sole commander, and undertook the duty;
+saying that he would have willingly served under Xenophon, if the latter
+had accepted the office, but that it was a good thing for Xenophon
+himself to have declined--since Dexippus had already poisoned the mind
+of Anaxibius against him, though he (Cheirisophus) had emphatically
+contradicted the calumnies.
+
+On the next day, the army sailed forward under the command of
+Cheirisophus, to Herakleia; near which town they were hospitably
+entertained, and gratified with a present of meal, wine, and bullocks,
+even greater than they had received at Sinôpê. It now appeared that
+Xenophon had acted wisely in declining the sole command; and also that
+Cheirisophus, though elected commander, yet having been very long
+absent, was not really of so much importance in the eyes of the soldiers
+as Xenophon. In the camp near Herakleia, the soldiers became impatient
+that their generals (for the habit of looking upon Xenophon as one of
+them still continued) took no measures to procure money for them. The
+Achæan Lykon proposed that they should extort a contribution of no less
+than 3000 staters[99] of Kyzikus from the inhabitants of Herakleia:
+another man immediately outbid this proposition, and proposed that they
+should require 10,000 staters[99]--a full month's pay for the army. It
+was moved that Cheirisophus and Xenophon should go to the Herakleots as
+envoys with this demand. But both of them indignantly refused to be
+concerned in so unjust an extortion, from a Grecian city which had just
+received the army kindly and sent handsome presents. Accordingly Lykon
+with two Arcadian officers undertook the mission, and intimated the
+demand, not without threats in case of non-compliance, to the
+Herakleots. The latter replied that they would take it into
+consideration. But they waited only for the departure of the envoys, and
+then immediately closed their gates, manned their walls, and brought in
+their outlying property.
+
+The project being thus baffled, Lykon and the rest turned their
+displeasure upon Cheirisophus and Xenophon, whom they accused of having
+occasioned its miscarriage. And they now began to exclaim that it was
+disgraceful to the Arcadians and Achæans, who formed more than one
+numerical half of the army and endured all the toil--to obey as well as
+to enrich generals from other Hellenic cities; especially a single
+Athenian who furnished no contingent to the army. Here again it is
+remarkable that the personal importance of Xenophon caused him to be
+still regarded as a general, though the sole command had been vested by
+formal vote in Cheirisophus. So vehement was the dissatisfaction, that
+all the Arcadian and Achæan soldiers in the army, more than 4500
+heavy-armed foot-soldiers in number, renounced the authority of
+Cheirisophus, formed themselves into a distinct division, and chose ten
+commanders from out of their own numbers. The whole army thus became
+divided, into three portions--first the Arcadians and Achæans: secondly,
+1400 heavy-armed foot-soldiers and 700 Thracian light-armed
+foot-soldiers, who adhered to Cheirisophus: lastly, 1700 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, 300 light-armed foot-soldiers, and 40 horsemen (all the
+horsemen in the army), attaching themselves to Xenophon; who however was
+taking measures to sail away individually from Herakleia and quit the
+army altogether, which he would have done had he not been restrained by
+unfavorable sacrifices.
+
+The Arcadian division, departing first, in vessels from Herakleia,
+landed at Kalpê; an untenanted promontory of the Bithynian or Asiatic
+Thrace, midway between Herakleia and Byzantium. From thence they marched
+at once into the interior of Bithynia, with the view of surprising the
+villages and acquiring plunder. But through rashness and bad management,
+they first sustained several partial losses, and ultimately became
+surrounded upon an eminence, by a large muster of the native Bithynians
+from all the territory around. They were only rescued from destruction
+by the unexpected appearance of Xenophon with his division; who had left
+Herakleia somewhat later, but heard by accident, during their march, of
+the danger of their comrades. The whole army thus became re-assembled at
+Kalpê, where the Arcadians and Achæans, disgusted at the ill-success of
+their separate expedition, again established the old union and the old
+generals. They chose Neon in place of Cheirisophus, who--afflicted by
+the humiliation put upon him, in having been first named sole commander
+and next deposed within a week--had fallen sick of a fever and died. The
+elder Arcadian captains farther moved a resolution, that if any one
+henceforward should propose to separate the army into fractions, he
+should be put to death.
+
+The locality of Kalpê was well-suited for the foundation of a colony,
+which Xenophon evidently would have been glad to bring about, though he
+took no direct measures tending towards it; while the soldiers were so
+bent on returning to Greece, and so jealous lest Xenophon should entrap
+them into remaining, that they almost shunned the encampment. It so
+happened that they were detained there for some days without being able
+to march forth even in quest of provisions, because the sacrifices were
+not favorable. Xenophon refused to lead them out, against the warning of
+the sacrifices--although the army suspected him of a deliberate
+manoeuvre for the purpose of detention. Neon however, less scrupulous,
+led out a body of 2000 men who chose to follow him, under severe
+distress for want of provisions. But being surprised by the native
+Bithynians, with the aid of some troops of the Persian satrap
+Pharnabazus, he was defeated with the loss of no less than 500 men; a
+misfortune which Xenophon regards as the natural retribution for
+contempt of the sacrificial warning. The dangerous position of Neon with
+the remainder of the detachment was rapidly made known at the camp: upon
+which Xenophon, unharnessing a wagon-bullock as the only animal near at
+hand, immediately offered sacrifice. On this occasion the victim was at
+once favorable; so that he led out without delay the greater part of the
+force, to the rescue of the exposed detachment, which was brought back
+in safety to the camp. So bold had the enemy become, that in the night
+the camp was attacked. The Greeks were obliged on the next day to
+retreat into stronger ground, surrounding themselves with a ditch and a
+palisade. Fortunately a vessel arrived from Herakleia, bringing to the
+camp at Kalpê a supply of barley-meal, cattle, and wine; which restored
+the spirits of the army, enabling them to go forth on the ensuing
+morning and assume the aggressive against the Bithynians, and the troops
+of Pharnabazus. These troops were completely defeated and dispersed, so
+that the Greeks returned to their camp at Kalpê in the evening both safe
+and masters of the country.
+
+At Kalpê they remained some time awaiting the arrival of Kleander from
+Byzantium, who was said to be about to bring vessels for their
+transport. They were now abundantly provided with supplies, not merely
+from the undisturbed plunder of the neighboring villages, but also from
+the visits of traders who came with cargoes. Indeed the impression--that
+they were preparing, at the instance of Xenophon, to found a new city at
+Kalpê--became so strong that several of the neighboring native villages
+sent envoys to ask on what terms alliance would be granted to them. At
+length Kleander came, but with two triremes only.
+
+Kleander was the Lacedæmonian governor of Byzantium. His appearance
+opens to us a new phase in the eventful history of this gallant army, as
+well as an insight into the state of the Grecian world under the
+Lacedæmonian empire. He came attended by the Lacedæmonian Dexippus, who
+had served in the Cyreian army until their arrival at Trapezus, and who
+had there been entrusted with an armed vessel for the purpose of
+detaining transports to convey the troops home but had abused the
+confidence reposed in him, by running away with the ship to Byzantium.
+
+It so happened that at the moment when Kleander arrived, the whole army
+was out on a marauding excursion. Orders had already been promulgated,
+that whatever was captured by every one when the whole army was out,
+should be brought in and dealt with as public property; though on days
+when the army was collectively at rest, any soldier might go out
+individually and take to himself whatever he could pillage. On the day
+when Kleander arrived, and found the whole army out, some soldiers were
+just coming back with a lot of sheep which they had seized. By right,
+the sheep ought to have been handed into the public store. But these
+soldiers, desirous to appropriate them wrongfully, addressed themselves
+to Dexippus, and promised him a portion if he would enable them to
+retain the rest. Accordingly the latter interfered, drove away those who
+claimed the sheep as public property, and denounced them as thieves to
+Kleander; who desired him to bring them before him. Dexippus arrested
+one of them, a soldier belonging to the company of one of the best
+friends of Xenophon--the Arcadian Agasias. The latter took the man under
+his protection; while the soldiers around incensed not less at the past
+than at the present conduct of Dexippus, broke out into violent
+manifestations, called him a traitor, and pelted him with stones. Such
+was their wrath, that not Dexippus alone, but the crew of the triremes
+also, and even Kleander himself fled, in alarm; in spite of the
+intervention of Xenophon, and the other generals, who on the one hand
+explained to Kleander, that it was an established army-order which these
+soldiers were seeking to enforce--and on the other hand controlled the
+mutineers. But the Lacedæmonian governor was so incensed as well by his
+own fright as by the calumnies of Dexippus, that he threatened to sail
+away at once, and proclaim the Cyreian army enemies to Sparta, so that
+every Hellenic city should be interdicted from giving them reception. It
+was in vain that the generals, well knowing the formidable consequences
+of such an interdict, entreated him to relent. He would consent only on
+condition that the soldiers who had begun to throw stones as well as
+Agasias the interfering officer, should be delivered up to him. This
+latter demand was especially insisted upon by Dexippus, who hating
+Xenophon, had already tried to prejudice Anaxibius against him, and
+believed that Agasias had acted by his order.
+
+The situation now became extremely critical; since the soldiers would
+not easily be brought to surrender their comrades--who had a perfectly
+righteous cause, though they had supported it by undue violence--to the
+vengeance of a traitor like Dexippus. When the army was convened in
+assembly, several of them went so far as to treat the menace of Kleander
+with contempt. But Xenophon took pains to set them right upon this
+point. "Soldiers (said he) it will be no slight misfortune if Kleander
+shall depart as he threatens to do, in his present temper toward us. We
+are here close upon the cities of Greece: now the Lacedæmonians are the
+imperial power in Greece, and not merely their authorized officers, but
+even each one of their individual citizens, can accomplish what he
+pleases in the various cities. If then Kleander begins by shutting us
+out from Byzantium, and next enjoins the Lacedæmonian governors in the
+other cities[100] to do the same, proclaiming us lawless and disobedient
+to Sparta--if, besides, the same representation should be conveyed to
+the Lacedæmonian admiral of the fleet, Anaxibius--we shall be hard
+pressed either to remain or to sail away; for the Lacedæmonians are at
+present masters both on land and at sea. We must not, for the sake of
+any one or two men, suffer the whole army to be excluded from Greece. We
+must obey whatever the Lacedæmonians command, especially as our cities,
+to which we respectively belong, now obey them. As to what concerns
+myself, I understand that Dexippus has told Kleander that Agasias would
+never have taken such a step except by my orders. Now, if Agasias
+himself states this, I am ready to exonerate both him and all of you,
+and to give myself up to any extremity of punishment. I maintain too
+that any other man whom Kleander arraigns ought in like manner to give
+himself up for trial, in order that you collectively may be discharged
+from the imputation. It will be hard indeed, if just as we are reaching
+Greece, we should not only be debarred from the praise and honor which
+we anticipated, but should be degraded even below the level of others,
+and shut out from the Grecian cities."
+
+After this speech from the philo-Laconian[101] Xenophon--so significant
+a testimony of the unmeasured ascendency and interference of the
+Lacedæmonians throughout Greece--Agasias rose, and proclaimed, that what
+he had done was neither under the orders, nor with the privity, of
+Xenophon; that he had acted on a personal impulse of wrath, at seeing
+his own honest and innocent soldier dragged away by the traitor
+Dexippus; but that he now willingly gave himself up as a victim, to
+avert from the army the displeasure of the Lacedæmonians. This generous
+self-sacrifice, which at the moment promised nothing less than a fatal
+result to Agasias, was accepted by the army: and the generals conducted
+both him and the soldier whom he had rescued, as prisoners to Kleander.
+Presenting himself as the responsible party, Agasias at the same time
+explained to Kleander the infamous behavior of Dexippus to the army, and
+said that towards no one else would he have acted in the same manner;
+while the soldier whom he had rescued, and who was given up at the same
+time, also affirmed that he had interfered merely to prevent Dexippus
+and some others from overruling, for their own individual benefit, a
+proclaimed order of the entire army. Kleander, having observed that if
+Dexippus had done what was affirmed, he would be the last to defend him,
+but that no one ought to have been stoned without trial--desired that
+the persons surrendered might be left for his consideration, and at the
+same time retracted his expressions of displeasure as regarded all the
+others.
+
+The generals then retired, leaving Kleander in possession of the
+prisoners, and on the point of taking his dinner. But they retired with
+mournful feelings, and Xenophon presently convened the army to propose
+that a general deputation should be sent to Kleander to implore his
+lenity towards their two comrades. This being cordially adopted,
+Xenophon, at the head of a deputation comprising Drakontius the Spartan
+as well as the chief officers, addressed an earnest appeal to Kleander,
+representing that his honor had been satisfied with the unconditional
+surrender of the two persons required; that the army, deeply concerned
+for two meritorious comrades, entreated him now to show mercy and spare
+their lives; that they promised him in return the most explicit
+obedience, and entreated him to take the command of them, in order that
+he might have personal cognizance of their exact discipline, and compare
+their worth with that of Dexippus. Kleander was not merely soothed, but
+completely won over, by this address; and said in reply that the conduct
+of the generals belied altogether the representations made to him
+(doubtless by Dexippus), that they were seeking to alienate the army
+from the Lacedæmonians. He not only restored the two men in his power,
+but also accepted the command of the army, and promised to conduct them
+back into Greece.
+
+The prospects of the army appeared thus greatly improved; the more so,
+as Kleander, on entering upon his new functions as commander, found the
+soldiers so cheerful and orderly, that he was highly gratified, and
+exchanged personal tokens of friendship and hospitality with Xenophon.
+But when sacrifices came to be offered, for beginning the march
+homeward, the signs were so unpropitious, for three successive days,
+that Kleander could not bring himself to brave such auguries at the
+outset of his career. Accordingly, he told the generals, that the gods
+plainly forbade him, and reserved it for them, to conduct the army into
+Greece; that he should therefore sail back to Byzantium, and would
+receive the army in the best way he could, when they reached the
+Bosphorus. After an interchange of presents with the soldiers, he then
+departed with his two triremes.
+
+The favorable sentiment now established in the bosom of Kleander will be
+found very serviceable hereafter to the Cyreians at Byzantium; but they
+had cause for deeply regretting the unpropitious sacrifices which had
+deterred him from assuming the actual command at Kalpê. In the request
+preferred to him by them that he would march as their commander to the
+Bosphorus, we may recognize a scheme, and a very well-contrived scheme,
+of Xenophon; who had before desired to leave the army at Herakleia, and
+who saw plainly that the difficulties of a commander, unless he were a
+Lacedæmonian of station and influence, would increase with every step of
+their approach to Greece. Had Kleander accepted the command, the
+soldiers would have been better treated, while Xenophon himself might
+either have remained as his adviser, or might have gone home. He would
+probably have chosen the latter course.
+
+
+§ 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises of
+Anaxibius and their results.
+
+Under the command of their own officers, the Cyreians now marched from
+Kalpê across Bithynia to Chrysopolis (in the territory of Chalkêdon on
+the Asiatic edge of the Bosphorus, immediately opposite to
+Byzantium,[102] as Scutari now is to Constantinople), where they
+remained seven days, turning into money the slaves and plunder which
+they had collected. Unhappily for them, the Lacedæmonian admiral
+Anaxibius was now at Byzantium, so that their friend Kleander was under
+his superior command. And Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of the
+northwestern regions of Asia Minor, becoming much alarmed lest they
+should invade his satrapy, despatched a private message to Anaxibius;
+whom he prevailed upon, by promise of large presents, to transport the
+army forthwith across to the European side of the Bosphorus.
+Accordingly, Anaxibius, sending for the generals and the captains across
+to Byzantium, invited the army to cross, and gave them his assurance
+that as soon as the soldiers should be in Europe, he would provide pay
+for them. The other officers told him that they would return with this
+message and take the sense of the army; but Xenophon on his own account
+said that he should not return; that he should now retire from the army,
+and sail away from Byzantium. It was only on the pressing instance of
+Anaxibius that he was induced to go back to Chrysopolis and conduct the
+army across; on the understanding that he should depart immediately
+afterwards.
+
+Here at Byzantium, he received his first communication from the Thracian
+prince Seuthês; who sent Medosadês to offer him a reward if he would
+bring the army across. Xenophon replied that the army would cross; that
+no reward from Seuthês was needful to bring about that movement; but
+that he himself was about to depart, leaving the command in other hands.
+In point of fact, the whole army crossed with little delay, landed in
+Europe, and found themselves within the walls of Byzantium. Xenophon,
+who had come along with them, paid a visit shortly afterwards to his
+friend the governor Kleander, and took leave of him as about to depart
+immediately. But Kleander told him that he must not think of departing
+until the army was out of the city, and that he would be held
+responsible if they stayed. In truth Kleander was very uneasy so long as
+the soldiers were within the walls, and was well aware that it might be
+no easy matter to induce them to go away. For Anaxibius had practised a
+gross fraud in promising them pay, which he had neither the ability nor
+the inclination to provide. Without handing to them either pay or even
+means of purchasing supplies, he issued orders that they must go forth
+with arms and baggage, and muster outside of the gates, there to be
+numbered for an immediate march; any one who stayed behind being held as
+punishable. This proclamation was alike unexpected and offensive to the
+soldiers, who felt that they had been deluded, and were very backward in
+obeying. Hence Kleander, while urgent with Xenophon to defer his
+departure until he had conducted the army outside of the walls,
+added--"Go forth as if you were about to march along with them; when you
+are once outside, you may depart as soon as you please;" Xenophon
+replied that this matter must be settled with Anaxibius, to whom
+accordingly both of them went, and who repeated the same directions, in
+a manner yet more peremptory. Though it was plain to Xenophon that he
+was here making himself a sort of instrument to the fraud which
+Anaxibius had practised upon the army, yet he had no choice but to obey.
+Accordingly, he as well as the other generals put themselves at the head
+of the troops, who followed, however reluctantly, and arrived most of
+them outside of the gates. Eteonikus (a Lacedæmonian officer of
+consideration, noticed more than once in preceding Grecian history)
+commanding at the gate, stood close to it in person; in order that when
+all the Cyreians had gone forth, he might immediately shut it and fasten
+it with the bar.
+
+Anaxibius knew well what he was doing. He fully anticipated that the
+communication of the final orders would occasion an outbreak among the
+Cyreians, and was anxious to defer it until they were outside. But when
+there remained only the rearmost companies still in the inside and on
+their march, all the rest having got out--he thought the danger was
+over, and summoned to him the generals and captains, all of whom were
+probably near the gates superintending the march through. It seems that
+Xenophon, having given notice that he intended to depart, did not answer
+to this summons as one of the generals, but remained outside among the
+soldiers. "Take what supplies you want (said Anaxibius) from the
+neighboring Thracian villages, which are well furnished with wheat,
+barley, and other necessaries. After thus providing yourselves, march
+forward to the Chersonesus,[103] and there Kyniskus will give you pay."
+
+This was the first distinct intimation given by Anaxibius that he did
+not intend to perform his promise of finding pay for the soldiers. Who
+Kyniskus was we do not know, nor was he probably known to the Cyreians;
+but the march here enjoined was at least 150 miles, and might be much
+longer. The route was not indicated, and the generals had to inquire
+from Anaxibius whether they were to go by what was called the Holy
+Mountain (that is, by the shorter line, skirting the northern coast of
+the Propontis), or by a more inland and circuitous road through
+Thrace;--also whether they were to regard the Thracian prince, Seuthês,
+as a friend or an enemy.
+
+
+§ 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium.
+
+Instead of the pay which had been formally promised to them by Anaxibius
+if they would cross over from Asia to Byzantium, the Cyreians thus found
+themselves sent away empty-handed to a long march--through another
+barbarous country, with chance-supplies to be obtained only by their own
+efforts,--and at the end of it a lot unknown and uncertain; while, had
+they remained in Asia, they would have had at any rate the rich satrapy
+of Pharnabazus within their reach. To perfidy of dealing was now added a
+brutal ejectment from Byzantium, without even the commonest
+manifestations of hospitality; contrasting pointedly with the treatment
+which the army had recently experienced at Trapezus, Sinôpê, and
+Herakleia; where they had been welcomed not only by compliments on their
+past achievements, but also by an ample present of flour, meat, and
+wine. Such behavior could not fail to provoke the most violent
+indignation in the bosoms of the soldiery; and Anaxibius had therefore
+delayed giving the order until the last soldiers were marching out,
+thinking that the army would hear nothing of it until the generals came
+out of the gates to inform them; so that the gates would be closed, and
+the walls manned to resist an assault from without. But his calculations
+were not realized. Either one of the soldiers passing by heard him give
+the order, or one of the captains forming his audience stole away from
+the rest, and hastened forward to acquaint his comrades on the outside.
+The bulk of the army, already irritated by the inhospitable way in which
+they had been thrust out, needed nothing farther to inflame them into
+spontaneous mutiny and aggression. While the generals within (who either
+took the communication more patiently, or at least, looking farther
+forward, felt that any attempt to resent or resist the ill-usage of the
+Spartan admiral would only make their position worse) were discussing
+with Anaxibius the details of the march just enjoined--the soldiers
+without, bursting into spontaneous movement, with a simultaneous and
+fiery impulse, made a rush back to get possession of the gate. But
+Eteonikus, seeing their movement, closed it without a moment's delay,
+and fastened the bar. The soldiers on reaching the gate and finding it
+barred, clamored loudly to get it opened, threatened to break it down,
+and even began to knock violently against it. Some ran down to the
+sea-coast, and made their way into the city round the line of stones at
+the base of the city wall, which protected it against the sea; while the
+rearmost soldiers who had not yet marched out, seeing what was passing,
+and fearful of being cut off from their comrades, assaulted the gate
+from the inside, severed the fastenings with axes, and threw it wide
+open to the army. All the soldiers then rushed up, and were soon again
+in Byzantium.
+
+Nothing could exceed the terror of the Lacedæmonians as well as of the
+native Byzantines, when they saw the excited Cyreians again within the
+walls. The town seemed already taken and on the point of being
+plundered. Neither Anaxibius nor Eteonikus took the smallest means of
+resistance, nor stayed to brave the approach of the soldiers, whose
+wrath they were fully conscious of having deserved. Both fled to the
+citadel--the former first running to the seashore, and jumping into a
+fishing-boat to go thither by sea. He even thought the citadel not
+tenable with its existing garrison, and sent over to Chalkêdon for a
+reinforcement. Still more terrified were the citizens of the town. Every
+man in the market-place instantly fled; some to their houses, others to
+the merchant vessels in the harbor, others to the triremes or ships of
+war, which they hauled down to the water, and thus put to sea.
+
+To the deception and harshness of the Spartan admiral, there was thus
+added a want of precaution in the manner of execution, which threatened
+to prove the utter ruin of Byzantium. For it was but too probable that
+the Cyreian soldiers, under the keen sense of recent injury, would
+satiate their revenge, and reimburse themselves for the want of
+hospitality towards them, without distinguishing the Lacedæmonian
+garrison from the Byzantine citizens; and that too from mere impulse,
+not merely without orders, but in spite of prohibitions, from their
+generals. Such was the aspect of the case, when they became again
+assembled in a mass within the gates; and such would probably have been
+the reality, had Xenophon executed his design of retiring earlier, so as
+to leave the other generals acting without him. Being on the outside
+along with the soldiers, Xenophon felt at once, as soon as he saw the
+gates forced open and the army again within the town, the terrific
+emergency which was impending: first, the sack of Byzantium--next,
+horror and antipathy, throughout all Greece, towards the Cyreian
+officers and soldiers indiscriminately--lastly, unsparing retribution
+inflicted upon all by the power of Sparta. Overwhelmed with these
+anxieties, he rushed into the town along with the multitude, using
+every effort to pacify them and bring them into order. They on their
+parts, delighted to see him along with them, and conscious of their own
+force, were eager to excite him to the same pitch as themselves, and to
+prevail on him to second and methodize their present triumph. "Now is
+your time, Xenophon (they exclaimed), to make yourself a man. You have
+here a city--you have triremes--you have money--you have plenty of
+soldiers. Now then, if you choose, you can enrich us; and we in return
+can make you powerful."--"You speak well (replied he); I shall do as you
+propose; but if you want to accomplish anything, you must fall into
+military array forthwith." He knew that this was the first condition of
+returning to anything like tranquillity; and by great good fortune, the
+space called the Thrakion,[104] immediately adjoining the gate inside,
+was level, open, and clear of houses; presenting an excellent place of
+arms or locality for a review. The whole army,--partly from their long
+military practice, partly under the impression that Xenophon was really
+about to second their wishes and direct some aggressive operation--threw
+themselves almost of their own accord into regular array on the
+Thrakion; the heavy-armed foot-soldiers eight deep, the light-armed
+foot-soldiers on each flank. It was in this position that Xenophon
+addressed them as follows.
+
+
+§ 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers.
+
+"Soldiers, I am not surprised that you are incensed, and that you think
+yourselves scandalously cheated and ill-used. But if we give way to our
+wrath--if we punish these Lacedæmonians now before us for their
+treachery, and plunder this innocent city--reflect what will be the
+consequence. We shall stand proclaimed forthwith as enemies to the
+Lacedæmonians and their allies, and what sort of a war that will be,
+those who have witnessed and who still recollect recent matters of
+history may easily fancy. We Athenians entered into the war against
+Sparta with a powerful army and fleet, an abundant revenue, and numerous
+tributary cities in Asia as well as Europe--among them this very
+Byzantium in which we now stand. We have been vanquished in the way that
+all of you know. And what then will be the fate of us soldiers, when we
+shall have as united enemies, Sparta with all her old allies and Athens
+besides,--Tissaphernês and the barbaric forces on the coast--and most of
+all the Great King[105] whom we marched up to dethrone and slay, if we
+were able? Is any man fool enough to think that we have a chance of
+making head against so many combined enemies? Let us not plunge madly
+into dishonor and ruin, nor incur the enmity of our own fathers and
+friends: who are in the cities which will take arms against us--and will
+take arms justly, if we, who abstained from seizing any barbaric city,
+even when we were in force sufficient, shall nevertheless now plunder
+the first Grecian city into which we have been admitted. As far as I am
+concerned, may I be buried ten thousand fathoms deep in the earth rather
+than see you do such things! and I exhort _you_ too, as Greeks, to obey
+the leaders of Greece. Endeavor while thus obedient, to obtain your just
+rights; but if you should fail in this, rather submit to injustice than
+cut yourselves off from the Grecian world. Send to inform Anaxibius,
+that we have entered the city, not with a view to commit any violence,
+but in the hope, if possible, of obtaining from him the advantages which
+he promised us. If we fail, we shall at least prove to him that we quit
+the city not under his fraudulent manoeuvres, but under our own sense of
+the duty of obedience."
+
+This speech completely arrested the impetuous impulse of the army,
+brought them to a true sense of their situation, and induced them to
+adopt the proposition of Xenophon. They remained unmoved in their
+position on the Thrakion, while three of the captains were sent to
+communicate with Anaxibius. While they were thus waiting, a Theban named
+Koeratadas approached, who had once commanded in Byzantium under the
+Lacedæmonians during the previous war. He had now become a sort of
+professional general looking out for an army to command wherever he
+could find one, and offering his services to any city which would engage
+him. He addressed the assembled Cyreians, and offered, if they would
+accept him for their general, to conduct them against the Delta[106] of
+Thrace (the space included between the northwest corner of the
+Propontis[107] and the southwest corner of the Euxine), which he
+asserted to be a rich territory presenting great opportunity of plunder:
+he further promised to furnish them with ample subsistence during the
+march. Presently the envoys returned, bearing the reply of Anaxibius;
+who received the message favorably, promising that not only the army
+should have no cause to regret their obedience, but that he would both
+report their good conduct to the authorities at home, and do everything
+in his own power to promote their comfort. He said nothing farther about
+taking them into pay; that delusion having now answered its purpose. The
+soldiers, on hearing his communication, adopted a resolution to accept
+Koeratadas as their future commander, and then marched out of the town.
+As soon as they were on the outside, Anaxibius, not content with closing
+the gates against them, made public proclamation that if any one of them
+were found in the town, he should be sold forthwith into slavery.
+
+There are few cases throughout Grecian history in which an able
+discourse has been the means of averting so much evil, as was averted by
+this speech of Xenophon to the army in Byzantium. Nor did he ever,
+throughout the whole period of his command, render to them a more signal
+service. The miserable consequences, which would have ensued, had the
+army persisted in their aggressive impulse--first, to the citizens of
+the town, ultimately to themselves, while Anaxibius, the only guilty
+person, had the means of escaping by sea, even under the worst
+circumstances--are stated by Xenophon rather under than above the
+reality. At the same time no orator ever undertook a more difficult
+case, or achieved a fuller triumph over unpromising conditions. If we
+consider the feelings and position of the army at the instant of their
+breaking into the town, we shall be astonished that any commander could
+have arrested their movements. Though fresh from all the glory of their
+retreat, they had been first treacherously entrapped over from Asia,
+next roughly ejected by Anaxibius; and although it may be said truly
+that the citizens of Byzantium had no concern either in the one or the
+other, yet little heed is commonly taken, in military operations, to
+the distinction between garrison and citizens in an assailed town.
+Having arms in their hands, with consciousness of force arising out of
+their exploits in Asia, the Cyreians were at the same time inflamed by
+the opportunity both of avenging a gross recent injury, and enriching
+themselves in the process of execution; to which we may add, the
+excitement of that rush whereby they had obtained re-entry, and the
+farther fact that, without the gates they had nothing to expect except
+poor, hard, uninviting service in Thrace. With soldiers already
+possessed by an overpowering impulse of this nature, what chance was
+there that a retiring general, on the point of quitting the army, could
+so work upon their minds as to induce them to renounce the prey before
+them? Xenophon had nothing to invoke except distant considerations,
+partly of Hellenic reputation, chiefly of prudence; considerations
+indeed of unquestionable reality and prodigious magnitude, yet belonging
+all to a distant future, and therefore of little comparative force,
+except when set forth in magnified characters by the orator. How
+powerfully he worked upon the minds of his hearers, so as to draw forth
+these far-removed dangers from the cloud of present sentiment by which
+they were overlaid--how skilfully he employed in illustration the
+example of his own native city--will be seen by all who study his
+speech. Never did his Athenian accomplishments--his talent for giving
+words to important thoughts--his promptitude in seizing a present
+situation and managing the sentiments of an impetuous multitude--appear
+to greater advantage than when he was thus suddenly called forth to meet
+a terrible emergency. His pre-established reputation and the habit of
+obeying his orders, were doubtless essential conditions of success. But
+none of his colleagues in command would have been able to accomplish the
+like memorable change on the minds of the soldiers, or to procure
+obedience for any simple authoritative restraint; nay, it is probable,
+that if Xenophon had not been at hand, the other generals would have
+followed the passionate movement, even though they had been
+reluctant--from simple inability to repress it. Again--whatever might
+have been the accomplishments of Xenophon, it is certain that even _he_
+would not have been able to work upon the minds of these excited
+soldiers, had they not been Greeks and citizens as well as
+soldiers,--bred in Hellenic sympathies and accustomed to Hellenic order,
+with authority operating in part through voice and persuasion, and not
+through the Persian whip and instruments of torture. The memorable
+discourse on the Thrakion at Byzantium illustrates the working of that
+persuasive agency which formed one of the permanent forces and
+conspicuous charms of Hellenism. It teaches us that if the orator could
+sometimes accuse innocent defendants and pervert well-disposed
+assemblies--a part of the case which historians of Greece often present
+as if it were the whole--he could also, and that in the most trying
+emergencies, combat the strongest force of present passion, and bring
+into vivid presence the half-obscured lineaments of long-sighted reason
+and duty.
+
+
+§ 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthês offers to hire them.
+
+After conducting the army out of the city, Xenophon sent, through
+Kleander, a message to Anaxibius, requesting that he himself might be
+allowed to come in again singly, in order to take his departure by sea.
+His request was granted, though not without much difficulty; upon which
+he took leave of the army under the strongest expressions of affection
+and gratitude on their part and went into Byzantium along with Kleander;
+while on the next day Koeratadas came to assume the command according to
+agreement, bringing with him a prophet, and beasts to be offered in
+sacrifice. There followed in his train twenty men carrying sacks of
+barley-meal, twenty more with jars of wine, three bearing olives, and
+one man with a bundle of garlic and onions. All these provisions being
+laid down, Koeratadas proceeded to offer sacrifice, as a preliminary to
+the distribution of them among the soldiers. On the first day, the
+sacrifices being unfavorable, no distribution took place; on the second
+day, Koeratadas was standing with the wreath on his head at the altar,
+and with the victims beside him, about to renew his sacrifice--when
+Timasion and the other officers interfered, desired him to abstain, and
+dismissed him from the command. Perhaps the first unfavorable sacrifices
+may have partly impelled them to this proceeding. But the main reason
+was, the scanty store, inadequate even to one day's subsistence for the
+army, brought by Koeratadas--and the obvious insufficiency of his means.
+
+On the departure of Koeratadas, the army marched to take up its quarters
+in some Thracian villages not far from Byzantium, under its former
+officers; who however could not agree as to their future order of march.
+Kleanor and Phryniskus, who had received presents from Seuthês, urged
+the expediency of accepting the service of that Thracian prince: Neon
+insisted on going to Chersonese, to be under the Lacedæmonian officers
+in that peninsula (as Anaxibius had projected); in the idea that he, as
+a Lacedæmonian, would there obtain the command of the whole army; while
+Timasion, with the view of re-establishing himself in his native city of
+Dardanus, proposed returning to the Asiatic side of the strait.
+
+Though this last plan met with decided favor among the army, it could
+not be executed without vessels. These Timasion had little or no means
+of procuring; so that considerable delay took place, during which the
+soldiers, receiving no pay, fell into much distress. Many of them were
+even compelled to sell their arms in order to get subsistence; while
+others got permission to settle in some of the neighboring towns, on
+condition of being disarmed. The whole army was thus gradually melting
+away, much to the satisfaction of Anaxibius, who was anxious to see the
+purposes of Pharnabazus accomplished. By degrees, it would probably have
+been dissolved altogether, had not a change of interest on the part of
+Anaxibius induced him to promote its reorganization. He sailed from
+Byzantium to the Asiatic coast, to acquaint Pharnabazus that the
+Cyreians could no longer cause uneasiness, and to require his own
+promised reward. It seems moreover that Xenophon himself departed from
+Byzantium by the same opportunity. When they reached Kyzikus, they met
+the Lacedæmonian Aristarchus; who was coming out as a newly-appointed
+governor of Byzantium, to supersede Kleander, and who acquainted
+Anaxibius that Polus was on the point of arriving to supersede him as
+admiral. Anxious to meet Pharnabazus and make sure of his bribe,
+Anaxibius impressed his parting injunction upon Aristarchus to sell for
+slaves all the Cyreians whom he might find at Byzantium on his arrival,
+and then pursued his voyage along the southern coast of the Propontis to
+Parium. But Pharnabazus, having already received intimation of the
+change of admirals, knew that the friendship of Anaxibius was no longer
+of any value, and took no farther heed of him; while he at the same time
+sent to Byzantium to make the like compact with Aristarchus against the
+Cyreian army.
+
+Anaxibius was stung to the quick at this combination of disappointment
+and insult on the part of the satrap. To avenge it, he resolved to
+employ those very soldiers whom he had first corruptly and fraudulently
+brought across to Europe, cast out from Byzantium, and lastly, ordered
+to be sold into slavery, so far as any might yet be found in that town.
+He now resolved to bring them back into Asia for the purpose of acting
+against Pharnabazus. Accordingly he addressed himself to Xenophon, and
+ordered him without a moment's delay to rejoin the army, for the purpose
+of keeping it together, of recalling the soldiers who had departed, and
+transporting the whole body across into Asia. He provided him with an
+armed vessel of thirty oars to cross over from Parium to Perinthus,
+sending over a peremptory order to the Perinthians to furnish him with
+horses in order that he might reach the army with the greatest speed.
+Perhaps it would not have been safe for Xenophon to disobey this order,
+under any circumstances. But the idea of acting with the army in Asia
+against Pharnabazus, under Lacedæmonian sanction, was probably very
+acceptable to him. He hastened across to the army, who welcomed his
+return with joy, and gladly embraced the proposal of crossing to Asia,
+which was a great improvement upon their forlorn and destitute
+condition. He accordingly conducted them to Perinthus, and encamped
+under the walls of the town; refusing, in his way through Selymbria, a
+second proposition from Seuthês to engage the services of the army.
+
+While Xenophon was exerting himself to procure transports for the
+passage of the army at Perinthus, Aristarchus, the new governor, arrived
+there with two triremes from Byzantium. It seems that not only
+Byzantium, but also both Perinthus and Selymbria, were comprised in his
+government as governor. On first reaching Byzantium to supersede
+Kleander, he found there no less than 400 of the Cyreians chiefly sick
+and wounded; whom Kleander, in spite of the ill-will of Anaxibius, had
+not only refused to sell into slavery, but had billeted[108] upon the
+citizens, and tended with solicitude; so much did his good feeling
+towards Xenophon and towards the army now come into play. We read with
+indignation that Aristarchus, immediately on reaching Byzantium to
+supersede him, was not even contented with sending these 400 men out of
+the town; but seized them,--Greeks, citizens, and soldiers as they
+were--and sold them all into slavery. Apprised of the movements of
+Xenophon with the army, he now came to Perinthus to prevent their
+transit into Asia; laying an embargo on the transports in the harbor,
+and presenting himself personally before the assembled army to prohibit
+the soldiers from crossing. When Xenophon informed him that Anaxibius
+had given them orders to cross, and had sent him expressly to conduct
+them--Aristarchus replied, "Anaxibius is no longer in functions as
+admiral, and I am governor in this town. If I catch any of you at sea, I
+will sink you." On the next day, he sent to invite the generals and the
+captains to a conference within the walls. They were just about to enter
+the gates, when Xenophon, who was among them, received a private
+warning, that if he went in, Aristarchus would seize him, and either put
+him to death or send him prisoner to Pharnabazus. Accordingly Xenophon
+sent forward the others, and remained himself with the army, alleging
+the obligation of sacrificing. The behavior of Aristarchus--who, when he
+saw the others without Xenophon, sent them away, and desired that they
+would all come again in the afternoon--confirmed the justice of his
+suspicions, as to the imminent danger from which he had been preserved
+by this accidental warning. It need hardly be added that Xenophon
+disregarded the second invitation no less than the first; moreover, a
+third invitation, which Aristarchus afterwards sent, was disregarded by
+all.
+
+We have here a Lacedæmonian governor, not scrupling to lay a snare of
+treachery, as flagrant as that which Tissaphernês had practised on the
+banks of the Zab, to entrap Klearchus and his colleagues--and that too
+against a Greek, and an officer of the highest station and merit, who
+had just saved Byzantium from pillage, and was now actually in execution
+of orders received from the Lacedæmonian admiral Anaxibius. Assuredly,
+had the accidental warning been withheld, Xenophon would not have
+escaped falling into this snare; nor could we reasonably have charged
+him with imprudence--so fully was he entitled to count upon
+straightforward conduct under the circumstances. But the same cannot be
+said of Klearchus, who manifested lamentable credulity, nefarious as was
+the fraud to which he fell a victim.
+
+At the second interview with the other officers, Aristarchus, while he
+forbade the army to cross the water, directed them to force their way by
+land through the Thracians who occupied the Holy Mountain, and thus to
+arrive at the Chersonese; where (he said) they should receive pay. Neon
+the Lacedæmonian, with about 800 heavy-armed foot-soldiers who adhered
+to his separate command, advocated this plan as the best. To be set
+against it, however, there was the proposition of Seuthês to take the
+army into pay; which Xenophon was inclined to prefer, uneasy at the
+thoughts of being cooped up in the narrow peninsula of the Chersonese,
+under the absolute command of the Lacedæmonian governor, with great
+uncertainty both as to pay and as to provisions. Moreover it was
+imperiously necessary for these disappointed troops to make some
+immediate movement: for they had been brought to the gates of Perinthus
+in hopes of passing immediately on shipboard; it was midwinter--they
+were encamped in the open field, under the severe cold of Thrace--they
+had neither assured supplies, nor even money to purchase, if a market
+had been near. Xenophon, who had brought them to the neighborhood of
+Perinthus, was now again responsible for extricating them from this
+untenable situation; and began to offer sacrifices, according to his
+wont, to ascertain whether the gods would encourage him to recommend a
+covenant with Seuthês. The sacrifices were so favorable, that he
+himself, together with a confidential officer from each of the generals,
+went by night and paid a visit to Seuthês, for the purpose of
+understanding distinctly his offers and purposes.
+
+Mæsadês, the father of Seuthês, had been apparently a dependent prince
+under the great monarchy of the Odrysian[109] Thracians; so formidable
+in the early years of the Peloponnesian war. But political commotions
+had robbed him of his principality over three Thracian tribes; which it
+was now the ambition of Seuthês to recover, by the aid of the Cyreian
+army. He offered to each soldier one stater of Kyzikus (or nearly the
+same as that which they originally received from Cyrus) as pay per
+month; twice as much to each captain--four times as much to each of the
+generals. In case they should incur the enmity of the Lacedæmonians by
+joining him, he guaranteed to them all the right of settlement and
+fraternal protection in his territory. To each of the generals, over and
+above pay, he engaged to assign a fort on the sea-coast, with a lot of
+land around it, and oxen for cultivation. And to Xenophon in particular,
+he offered the possession of Bisanthê, his best point on the coast. "I
+will also (he added, addressing Xenophon) give you my daughter in
+marriage; and if you have any daughter, I will buy her from you in
+marriage according to the custom of Thrace." Seuthês farther engaged
+never on any occasion to lead them more than seven days' journey from
+the sea, at farthest.
+
+
+§ 20. The army enters the service of Seuthês.
+
+These offers were as liberal as the army could possibly expect; and
+Xenophon himself, mistrusting the Lacedæmonians as well as mistrusted by
+them, seems to have looked forward to the acquisition of a Thracian
+coast-fortress and territory (such as Miltiadês, Alkibiadês, and other
+Athenian leaders had obtained before him) as a valuable refuge in case
+of need. But even if the promise had been less favorable, the Cyreians
+had no alternative; for they had not even present supplies--still less
+any means of subsistence throughout the winter; while departure by sea
+was rendered impossible by the Lacedæmonians. On the next day, Seuthês
+was introduced by Xenophon and the other generals to the army, who
+accepted his offers and concluded the bargain.
+
+They remained for two months in his service, engaged in warfare against
+various Thracian tribes, whom they enabled him to conquer and despoil;
+so that at the end of that period, he was in possession of an extensive
+dominion, a large native force, and a considerable tribute. Though the
+suffering from cold was extreme, during these two months of full winter
+and amidst the snowy mountains of Thrace, the army were nevertheless
+enabled by their expeditions along with Seuthês to procure plentiful
+subsistence; which they could hardly have done in any other manner. But
+the pay which he had offered was never liquidated; at least, in requital
+of their two months of service, they received pay only for twenty days
+and a little more. And Xenophon himself, far from obtaining fulfilment
+of those splendid promises which Seuthês had made to him personally,
+seems not even to have received his pay as one of the generals. For him,
+the result was singularly unhappy; since he forfeited the goodwill of
+Seuthês by importunate demand and complaint for the purpose of obtaining
+the pay due to the soldiers; while they on their side, imputing to his
+connivance the non-fulfilment of the promise, became thus in part
+alienated from him. Much of his mischief was brought about by the
+treacherous intrigues and calumny of a corrupt Greek from Maroneia,
+named Herakleidês; who acted as minister and treasurer to Seuthês.
+
+Want of space compels me to omit the narrative given by Xenophon, both
+of the relations of the army with Seuthês, and of the warfare carried on
+against the hostile Thracian tribes--interesting as it is from the
+juxtaposition of Greek and Thracian manners. It seems to have been
+composed by Xenophon under feelings of acute personal disappointment,
+and probably in refutation of calumnies against himself as if he had
+wronged the army. Hence we may trace in it a tone of exaggerated
+querulousness, and complaint that the soldiers were ungrateful to him.
+It is true that a portion of the army, under the belief that he had been
+richly rewarded by Seuthês while they had not obtained their stipulated
+pay, expressed virulent sentiments and falsehoods against him. Until
+such suspicions were refuted, it is no wonder that the army were
+alienated; but they were perfectly willing to hear both sides--and
+Xenophon triumphantly disproved the accusation. That in the end, their
+feelings towards him were those of esteem and favor, stands confessed in
+his own words, proving that the ingratitude of which he complains was
+the feeling of some indeed, but not of all.
+
+It is hard to say however what would have been the fate of this gallant
+army, when Seuthês, having obtained from their arms in two months all
+that he desired, had become only anxious to send them off without
+pay--had they not been extricated by a change of interest and policy on
+the part of all-powerful Sparta. The Lacedæmonians had just declared war
+against Tissaphernês and Pharnabazus; sending Thimbron into Asia to
+commence military operations. They then became extremely anxious to
+transport the Cyreians across to Asia, which their governor Aristarchus
+had hitherto prohibited--and to take them into permanent pay; for which
+purpose two Lacedæmonians, Charmînus and Polynîkus, were commissioned by
+Thimbron to offer to the army the same pay as he had promised, though
+not paid, by Seuthês; and as had been originally paid by Cyrus. Seuthês
+and Herakleidês, eager to hasten the departure of the soldiers,
+endeavored to take credit with the Lacedæmonians for assisting their
+views. Joyfully did the army accept this offer, though complaining
+loudly of the fraud practised upon them by Seuthês; which Charmînus, at
+the instance of Xenophon, vainly pressed the Thracian prince to redress.
+He even sent Xenophon to demand the arrear of pay in the name of the
+Lacedæmonians, which afforded to the Athenian an opportunity of
+administering a severe lecture to Seuthês. But the latter was not found
+so accessible to the workings of eloquence as the Cyreian assembled
+soldiers. Nor did Xenophon obtain anything beyond a miserable dividend
+upon the sum due:--together with evil expressions towards himself
+personally--an invitation to remain in his service with 1000 heavy-armed
+soldiers instead of going to Asia with the army--and renewed promises,
+not likely now to find much credit, of a fort and a grant of lands.
+
+
+§ 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia.
+
+When the army, now reduced by losses and dispersions, to 6000 men, was
+prepared to cross into Asia, Xenophon was desirous of going back to
+Athens, but was persuaded to remain with them until the junction with
+Thimbron. He was at this time so poor, having scarcely enough to pay for
+his journey home, that he was obliged to sell his horse at Lampsakus,
+the Asiatic town where the army landed. Here he found Eukleidês, a
+Phliasian[110] prophet with whom he had been wont to hold intercourse
+and offer sacrifice at Athens. This man, having asked Xenophon how much
+he had acquired in the expedition, could not believe him when he
+affirmed his poverty. But when they proceeded to offer sacrifice
+together, from some animals sent by the Lampsakenes as a present to
+Xenophon, Eukleidês had no sooner inspected the entrails of the victims,
+than he told Xenophon that he fully credited the statement. "I see (he
+said) that even if money shall be ever on its way to come to you, you
+yourself will be a hindrance to it, even if there be no other (here
+Xenophon acquiesced): Zeus (the Gracious[111]) is the real bar. Have you
+ever sacrificed to him, with entire burnt-offerings, as we used to do
+together at Athens?" "Never (replied Xenophon), throughout the whole
+march." "Do so now, then (said Eukleidês), and it will be for your
+advantage." The next day, on reaching Ophrynium, Xenophon obeyed the
+injunction; sacrificing little pigs entire to Zeus the Gracious, as was
+the custom at Athens during the public festival called Diasia.[112] And
+on the very same day he felt the beneficial effects of the proceeding;
+for Biton and another envoy came from the Lacedæmonians with an advance
+of pay to the army, and dispositions so favorable to himself, that they
+bought back for him his horse, which he had just sold at Lampsakus for
+fifty darics. This was equivalent to giving him more than one year's pay
+in hand (the pay which he would have received as general being four
+darics per month, or four times that of the soldier), at a time when he
+was known to be on the point of departure, and therefore would not stay
+to earn it. The shortcomings of Seuthês were now made up with immense
+interest, so that Xenophon became better off than any man in the army;
+though he himself slurs over the magnitude of the present, by
+representing it as a delicate compliment to restore to him a favorite
+horse.
+
+Thus gratefully and instantaneously did Zeus the Gracious respond to the
+sacrifice which Xenophon, after a long omission, had been admonished by
+Eukleidês to offer. And doubtless Xenophon was more than ever confirmed
+in the belief, which manifests itself throughout all his writings, that
+sacrifice not only indicates, by the interior aspect of the immolated
+victims, the tenor of coming events--but also, according as it is
+rendered to the right god and at the right season, determines his will,
+and therefore the course of events, for dispensations favorable or
+unfavorable.
+
+But the favors of Zeus the Gracious, though begun, were not yet ended.
+Xenophon conducted the army through the Troad,[113] and across Mount
+Ida, to Antandrus; from thence along the coast of Lydia, through the
+plain of Thêbê and the town Adramyttium, leaving Atarneus on the right
+hand, to Pergamus[114] in Mysia; a hill town overhanging the river and
+plain of Kaikus. This district was occupied by the descendants of the
+Eretrian[115] Gongylus, who, having been banished, for embracing the
+cause of the Persians when Xerxes invaded Greece, had been rewarded
+(like the Spartan king Demaratus) with this sort of principality under
+the Persian empire. His descendant, another Gongylus, now occupied
+Pergamus, with his wife Hellas and his sons Gorgion and Gongylus.
+Xenophon was here received with great hospitality. Hellas acquainted
+him, that a powerful Persian, named Asidatês, was now dwelling, with his
+wife, family, and property, in a tower not far off on the plain; and
+that a sudden night march, with 300 men, would suffice for the capture
+of this valuable booty, to which her own cousin should guide him.
+Accordingly, having sacrificed and ascertained that the victims were
+favorable, Xenophon communicated his plan after the evening meal to
+those captains who had been most attached to him throughout the
+expedition, wishing to make them partners in the profit. As soon as it
+became known, many volunteers, to the number of 600, pressed to be
+allowed to join. But the captains repelled them, declining to take more
+than 300, in order that the booty might afford an ampler dividend to
+each partner.
+
+Beginning their march in the evening, Xenophon and his detachment of 300
+reached about midnight the tower of Asidatês. It was large, lofty,
+thickly built, and contained a considerable garrison. It served for
+protection to his cattle and cultivating slaves around, like a baronial
+castle in the Middle Ages; but the assailants neglected this outlying
+plunder, in order to be more sure of taking the castle itself. Its walls
+however were found much stronger than was expected; and although a
+breach was made by force about daybreak, yet so vigorous was the defence
+of the garrison, that no entrance could be effected. Signals and shouts
+of every kind were made by Asidatês to procure aid from the Persian
+forces in the neighborhood; numbers of whom soon began to arrive, so
+that Xenophon and his company were obliged to retreat. And their retreat
+was at last only accomplished, after severe suffering and wounds to
+nearly half of them, through the aid of Gongylus with his forces from
+Pergamus, and of Proklês (the descendant of Demaratus) from Halisarna, a
+little farther off seaward.
+
+Though his first enterprise thus miscarried, Xenophon soon laid plans
+for a second, employing the whole army; and succeeded in bringing
+Asidatês prisoner to Pergamus, with his wife, children, horses, and all
+his personal property. Thus (says he, anxious above all things for the
+credit of sacrificial prophecy) the "previous sacrifices (those which
+had promised favorably before the first unsuccessful attempt) now came
+true." The persons of this family were doubtless redeemed by their
+Persian friends for a large ransom; which, together with the booty
+brought in, made up a prodigious total to be divided.
+
+In making the division, a general tribute of sympathy and admiration was
+paid to Xenophon, in which all the army--generals, captains, and
+soldiers--and the Lacedæmonians besides--unanimously concurred. Like
+Agamemnon at Troy, he was allowed to select for himself the picked lots
+of horses, mules, oxen, and other items of booty; insomuch that he
+became possessor of a share valuable enough to enrich him at once, in
+addition to the fifty darics which he had before received. "Here then
+Xenophon (to use his own language) had no reason to complain of the god"
+(Zeus the Gracious). We may add--what he himself ought to have added,
+considering the accusations which he had before put forth--that neither
+had he any reason to complain of the ingratitude of the army.
+
+
+§ 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion.
+
+As soon as Thimbron arrived with his own forces, and the Cyreians became
+a part of his army, Xenophon took his leave of them. Having deposited in
+the temple at Ephesus[116] that portion which had been confided to him
+as general, of the tenth set apart by the army at Kerasus for the
+Ephesian Artemis, he seems to have executed his intention of returning
+to Athens. He must have arrived there, after an absence of about two
+years and a half, within a few weeks, at farthest, after the death of
+his friend and preceptor Sokratês,[117] whose trial and condemnation
+have been recorded in my last volume. That melancholy event certainly
+occurred during his absence from Athens; but whether it had come to his
+knowledge before he reached the city, we do not know. How much grief and
+indignation it excited in his mind, we may see by his collection of
+memoranda respecting the life and conversations of Sokratês, known by
+the name of Memorabilia, and probably put together shortly after his
+arrival.
+
+That he was again in Asia three years afterwards, on military service
+under the Lacedæmonian king Agesilaus, is a fact attested by himself;
+but at what precise moment he quitted Athens for his second visit to
+Asia, we are left to conjecture. I incline to believe that he did not
+remain many months at home, but that he went out again in the next
+spring to rejoin the Cyreians in Asia--became again their commander--and
+served for two years under the Spartan general Derkyllidas before the
+arrival of Agesilaus. Such military service would doubtless be very much
+to his taste; while a residence at Athens, then subject and quiescent,
+would probably be distasteful to him; both from the habits of command
+which he had contracted during the previous two years, and from feelings
+arising out of the death of Sokratês. After a certain interval of
+repose, he would be disposed to enter again upon the war against his old
+enemy Tissaphernês; and his service went on when Agesilaus arrived to
+take the command.
+
+But during the two years after this latter event, Athens became a party
+to the war against Sparta, and entered into conjunction with the king of
+Persia as well as with the Thebans and others; while Xenophon,
+continuing his service as commander of the Cyreians, and accompanying
+Agesilaus from Asia back into Greece, became engaged against the
+Athenian troops and their Boeotian allies at the bloody battle of
+Korôneia. Under these circumstances, we cannot wonder that the Athenians
+passed sentence of banishment against him;[118] not because he had
+originally taken part in aid of Cyrus against Artaxerxês--nor because
+his political sentiments were unfriendly to democracy, as has been
+sometimes erroneously affirmed--but because he was now openly in arms,
+and in conspicuous command, against his own country. Having thus become
+an exile, Xenophon was allowed by the Lacedæmonians to settle at
+Skillûs, one of the villages of Triphylia, near Olympia in Peloponnesus,
+which they had recently emancipated from the Eleians. At one of the
+ensuing Olympic festivals,[119] Megabyzus, the superintendent of the
+temple of Artemis at Ephesus, came over as a spectator; bringing with
+him the money which Xenophon had dedicated therein to the Ephesian
+Artemis. This money Xenophon invested in the purchase of lands at
+Skillûs, to be consecrated in permanence to the goddess; having
+previously consulted her by sacrifice to ascertain her approval of the
+site contemplated, which site was recommended to him by its resemblance
+in certain points to that of the Ephesian temple. Thus, there was near
+each of them a river called by the same name Selinûs, having in it fish
+and a shelly bottom. Xenophon constructed a chapel, an altar, and a
+statue of the goddess made of cypress-wood: all exact copies, on a
+reduced scale, of the temple and golden statue at Ephesus. A column
+placed near them was inscribed with the following words--"This spot is
+sacred to Artemis. Whoever possesses the property and gathers its
+fruits, must sacrifice to her the tenth every year, and keep the chapel
+in repair out of the remainder. Should any one omit this duty, the
+goddess herself will take the omission in hand."
+
+Immediately near the chapel was an orchard of every description of
+fruit-trees, while the estate around comprised an extensive range of
+meadow, woodland, and mountain--with the still loftier mountain called
+Pholoê adjoining. There was thus abundant pasture for horses, oxen,
+sheep, and also excellent hunting-ground near, for deer and other game;
+advantages not to be found near the Artemision[120] at Ephesus. Residing
+hard by on his own property, allotted to him by the Lacedæmonians,
+Xenophon superintended this estate as steward for the goddess; looking
+perhaps to the sanctity of her name for protection from disturbance by
+the Eleians, who viewed with a jealous eye the Lacedæmonians at Skillûs,
+and protested against the peace and convention promoted by Athens after
+the battle of Leuktra, because it recognized that place, along with the
+townships of Triphylia, as having the right of self-government. Every
+year he made a splendid sacrifice, from the tenth of all the fruits of
+the property; to which solemnity not only all the Skilluntines, but also
+all the neighboring villages, were invited. Booths were erected for the
+visitors, to whom the goddess furnished (this is the language of
+Xenophon) an ample dinner of barley-meal, wheaten loaves, meat, game,
+and sweetmeats; the game being provided by a general hunt, which the
+sons of Xenophon conducted, and in which all the neighbors took part if
+they chose. The produce of the estate, saving this tithe or tenth and
+subject to the obligation of keeping the holy building in repair, was
+enjoyed by Xenophon himself. He had a keen relish for both hunting and
+horsemanship, and was among the first authors, so far as we know, who
+ever made these pursuits, with the management of horses and dogs, the
+subject of rational study and description.
+
+Such was the use to which Xenophon applied the tithe voted by the army
+at Kerasus to the Ephesian Artemis; the other tithe, voted at the same
+time to Apollo, he dedicated at Delphi in the treasure-chamber of the
+Athenians, inscribing upon the offering his own name and that of
+Proxenus. His residence being only at a distance of a little more than
+two miles from the great temple of Olympia,[121] he was enabled to enjoy
+society with every variety of Greeks--and to obtain copious information
+about Grecian politics, chiefly from philo-Laconian informants, and with
+the Lacedæmonian point of view predominant in his own mind; while he had
+also leisure for the composition of his various works. The interesting
+description which he himself gives of his residence at Skillûs implies a
+state of things not present and continuing, but past and gone; other
+testimonies too, though confused and contradictory, seem to show that
+the Lacedæmonian settlement at Skillûs lasted no longer than the power
+of Lacedæmon was adequate to maintain it. During the misfortunes which
+befell that city after the battle of Leuktra (371 B.C.), Xenophon, with
+his family and his fellow-settlers, was expelled by the Eleians, and is
+then said to have found shelter at Corinth. But as Athens soon came to
+be not only at peace, but in intimate alliance, with Sparta--the
+sentence of banishment against Xenophon was revoked; so that the latter
+part of his life was again passed in the enjoyment of his birthright as
+an Athenian citizen and Knight.[122] Two of his sons, Gryllus and
+Diodorus, fought among the Athenian horsemen at the cavalry combat which
+preceded the battle of Mantineia, where the former was slain, after
+manifesting distinguished bravery; while his grandson Xenophon became in
+the next generation the subject of a pleading before the Athenian court
+of justice, composed by the orator Deinarchus.
+
+On bringing this accomplished and eminent leader to the close of that
+arduous retreat which he had conducted with so much honor, I have
+thought it necessary to anticipate a little on the future in order to
+take a glance at his subsequent destiny. To his exile (in this point of
+view not less useful than that of Thucydidês) we probably owe many of
+those compositions from which so much of our knowledge of Grecian
+affairs is derived. But to the contemporary world, the retreat, which
+Xenophon so successfully conducted, afforded a far more impressive
+lesson than any of his literary compositions. It taught in the most
+striking manner the impotence of the Persian land-force, manifested not
+less in the generals than in the soldiers. It proved that the Persian
+leaders were unfit for any systematic operations, even under the
+greatest possible advantages, against a small number of disciplined
+warriors resolutely bent on resistance; that they were too stupid and
+reckless even to obstruct the passage of rivers, or destroy roads, or
+cut off supplies. It more than confirmed the contemptuous language
+applied to them by Cyrus himself, before the battle of Kunaxa; when he
+proclaimed that he envied the Greeks their freedom, and that he was
+ashamed of the worthlessness of his own countrymen. Against such perfect
+weakness and disorganization, nothing prevented the success of the
+Greeks along with Cyrus, except his own paroxysm of fraternal antipathy.
+And we shall perceive hereafter the military and political leaders of
+Greece--Agesilaus, Jason of Pheræ, and others down to Philip and
+Alexander[123]--firmly persuaded that with a tolerably numerous and
+well-appointed Grecian force, combined with exemption from Grecian
+enemies, they could succeed in overthrowing or dismembering the Persian
+empire. This conviction, so important in the subsequent history of
+Greece, takes its date from the retreat of the Ten Thousand. We shall
+indeed find Persia exercising an important influence, for two
+generations to come--and at the peace of Antalkidas an influence
+stronger than ever--over the destinies of Greece. But this will be seen
+to arise from the treason of Sparta, the chief of the Hellenic world,
+who abandons the Asiatic Greeks, and even arms herself with the name and
+the force of Persia, for purposes of aggrandizement and dominion to
+herself. Persia is strong by being enabled to employ Hellenic strength
+against the Hellenic cause; by lending money or a fleet to one side or
+the other of the Grecian parties, and thus becoming artificially
+strengthened against both. But the Xenophontic Anabasis[124] betrays her
+real weakness against any vigorous attack; while it at the same time
+exemplifies the discipline, the endurance, the power of self-action and
+adaptation, the susceptibility of influence from speech and discussion,
+the combination of the reflecting obedience of citizens with the
+mechanical regularity of soldiers--which confer such immortal
+distinction on the Hellenic character. The importance of this expedition
+and retreat, as an illustration of the Hellenic qualities and
+excellence, will justify the large space which has been devoted to it in
+this History.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] =Kunaxa=: see Introduction.
+
+[3] =Heralds=: officers who proclaimed war or peace, challenged to
+battle, and were bearers of messages from the commander-in-chief or
+king; here, messengers.
+
+[4] =Sacrifice=: it was the custom of the Greeks to examine the entrails
+of the animals they sacrificed, in order that from their appearance they
+might learn the will of the gods; and next, that they might gain a
+knowledge of coming events.
+
+In all important undertakings these signs were carefully consulted,
+before any decisive action was taken.
+
+[5] =Hellenic=: pertaining to the Hellenes, or Greeks; Grecian.
+
+[6] =Array=: disposition of forces with reference to defence or attack.
+
+[7] =Herald=: here used apparently in the sense of a public crier.
+
+[8] This seems to have been a standing military jest, to make the
+soldiers laugh at their past panic.
+
+[9] =Talent=: about 57 pounds avoirdupois; or, taking silver at its
+present value, about $1250.
+
+[10] =Phalanx=: a body of troops in compact array, with their shields
+joined and their pikes or spears crossing each other, so as to present a
+firm, unbroken front to the foe.
+
+[11] =Irrigation=: during the long dry summer the crops in this region
+would have perished from drought if the fields had not been watered.
+This was done by a system of canals, in which the supply of water, drawn
+from the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates during the spring floods,
+was stored up to be used when needed. So abundant was the growth of
+grain on this rich soil that Herodotus did not dare state the amount for
+fear that he would be thought guilty of exaggeration.
+
+[12] =Corn=: any kind of grain used for food.
+
+[13] =Satrap=: the governor of a Persian province.
+
+[14] =Cyreian Greeks=: those Greeks who had engaged in the expedition of
+Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne of Persia. See Introduction.
+
+[15] =Covenant=: a solemn agreement or treaty which both parties bound
+themselves to keep by oath, calling on their respective gods to punish
+them if they violated the compact.
+
+[16] =Convention=: treaty or agreement.
+
+[17] See note on p. 38.
+
+[18] =Tribute=: this was an annual tax so heavy and so cruelly extorted
+that it kept the great body of the people in a state little better than
+that of slavery.
+
+[19] =Cyreian Persians=: those Persians who had espoused the cause of
+Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne.
+
+[20] =Amnesty=: pardon.
+
+[21] =Strike our tents=: take down our tents.
+
+[22] =Barbarians=: the Greeks called all foreigners "barbarians." This
+word, however, did not generally express contempt, or necessarily imply
+lack of civilization, but was used to designate those who spoke another
+language than Greek.
+
+[23] =Ionia=: see note on p. 21.
+
+[24] =Wall of Media=: a wall supposed to have extended from the
+Euphrates to the Tigris. It cannot now be traced with certainty.
+
+[25] =Bitumen=: mineral pitch or asphalt. It is now much used for
+cement, for making pavements, and for covering flat roofs.
+
+[26] =Pontoons=: light framework or floats on which a platform or
+roadway is laid for a temporary bridge. Boats or canoes, placed side by
+side, and covered with planks, are not infrequently so used.
+
+[27] =Inflated skins=: bags or vessels made of the skins of sheep and
+other animals. They are quite commonly used in the East for carrying
+wine and other liquids. When inflated they are also employed as above
+mentioned.
+
+[28] =Mysians and Pisidians=: see note on p. 35.
+
+[29] =Ionia=: the central part of the western coast of Asia Minor. Here,
+at a very early period, flourishing Greek colonies were planted, and
+Ionia became celebrated for its art, its literature, and its cities,
+such as Ephesus and Miletus. But the country could not maintain its
+independence against the Eastern kings, and was at this period tributary
+to Persia. If the Ten Thousand could reach Ionia they would be among
+fellow-countrymen and friends, and within easy sail of all parts of
+Greece.
+
+[30] =Tiara=: a flexible cap worn by the Persians. The king alone had
+the right to wear it erect and high, as a badge of royal authority. Some
+suppose that when Tissaphernês says that though he cannot openly place
+the high tiara on his head, but shall wear it on his heart (feeling like
+a king if not looking like one), that he purposely uses the language
+"the better to blind Klearchus," and make him think that if the Greeks
+will aid him with their arms, he will revolt and aspire to become king
+in fact.
+
+[31] =Philhellenic=: Greek-loving.
+
+[32] =Miletus=: a city of Ionia, subject in a measure to Athens,
+revolted in 412 B.C. The next year the Lacedæmonians, or Spartans, who
+were the enemies of Athens, sent over a fleet to aid the people of
+Miletus. Tissaphernês, the Persian satrap, desiring to see the power of
+Athens completely overthrown, promised to pay the Spartan soldiers (of
+whom Klearchus was one), but afterwards made up his mind not to do so,
+and left them to fight at their own expense.
+
+[33] =Arcadian=: an inhabitant of Arcadia, a district of the
+Peloponnesian peninsula, Greece.
+
+[34] =Democrat and philosopher=: Xenophon (431?-355 B.C.) belonged to
+that party in Athens that maintained the principle of government "of the
+people, by the people, and for the people," in opposition to the party
+that, like the Spartans, believed that all political power should be
+monopolized by a favored few. Xenophon was also the disciple and friend
+of Socrates the philosopher, of whom some account will be given later
+on.
+
+[35] =Oneirus=: the god of dreams and messenger of Zeus (Jupiter),
+father of gods and men, sometimes called Zeus the Preserver, Saviour, or
+Deliverer.
+
+[36] =Zeus=: see note above on Oneirus.
+
+[37] =Boeotian dialect=: the inhabitants of the Greek province of
+Boeotia were considered by the Athenians to be a dull and unprogressive
+people. They spoke a broad, coarse dialect.
+
+[38] =Cashier=: to dismiss from service.
+
+[39] =Ears bored=: this was an Eastern (Lydian) custom, which the Greeks
+despised as only befitting slaves, since with them it was a mark of
+servitude. Agasias intimates that Apollonidês either had been a slave or
+at least ought to be one.
+
+[40] =Kilikia= (also spelled Cilicia): Asia Minor.
+
+[41] =Sneeze=: any sudden, involuntary outburst, like sneezing, was
+considered a sign of the divine will for good or evil. As it occurred
+here just as Xenophon pronounced the auspicious word "preservation," it
+was regarded as a favorable omen sent by Zeus himself. The accustomed
+invocation was like the old English custom of crying "God bless you"
+when one sneezed.
+
+[42] =Pæan=: war-song, song of triumph; originally addressed to the god
+Apollo.
+
+[43] =Mysians and Pisidians=: rude tribes inhabiting mountainous
+districts of Asia Minor, and maintaining their independence in spite of
+the efforts of the Persian kings to subjugate them.
+
+[44] =Lotos-eaters=: the lotos is a date-like fruit, fabled by Homer in
+the "Odyssey" to be so delicious and possessed of such marvellous
+properties that those who once tasted it forgot home and friends and
+wished only to remain where they might continue to eat it forever. See
+"Odyssey," Book IX., and compare Tennyson's poem of the "Lotos-Eaters."
+
+[45] =Achæans=: inhabitants of Achaia, in the Peloponnesian peninsula.
+
+[46] =Peloponnesians=: inhabitants of the Greek peninsula of the
+Peloponnesus (or so-called Island of Pelops), now known as the Morea.
+They were considered the best soldiers in Greece. Sparta, the rival and
+enemy of Athens, was the ruling city of this district.
+
+[47] =Athenian catastrophe=: in 415 B.C. the Athenians sent out a
+powerful expedition to conquer Syracuse in Sicily. They met with a
+disastrous defeat, both by land and sea, many thousands being taken
+captive and sold as slaves. Alkibiadês, an Athenian who had taken refuge
+in Sparta, now urged the Spartans to attack Athens, their old rival and
+enemy. His vehement eloquence was eventually successful.
+
+[48] =Periklês=: leader of the party of the people in Athens, and for a
+long time governor of the city; he was perhaps the greatest statesman
+that Greece produced.
+
+[49] =The war=: the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C. This was a desperate
+struggle for supremacy between the two chief powers of Greece, Sparta
+and Athens. The Spartans were a rough, military people, despising all
+intellectual culture and maintaining a narrow and tyrannical form of
+government from which the body of the people was wholly excluded. The
+Athenians, on the contrary, wished to maintain a republic in which all
+citizens should take part; they represented the highest civilization of
+Greece, and were in one sense the schoolmasters of the world.
+
+[50] =Sophists=: a class of philosophers or teachers who gave
+instruction in rhetoric and the art of disputation. They went about from
+city to city, and, contrary to the general custom of Greek philosophers,
+took fees from their pupils. "What the Sophists, among other things
+conducive to success in life, really taught the people, was the art of
+conducting their own cases before the great citizen-juries, where every
+man was forced to be his own advocate." [See Myers's "Outlines of
+Ancient History."]
+
+[51] =Javelin=: a light spear.
+
+[52] =Carbines=: short muskets, or rifles.
+
+[53] =Rhodian=: pertaining to the island of Rhodes, off the southwest
+coast of Asia Minor.
+
+[54] =Nineveh=: "an exceeding great city" (Jonah iii. 3), larger, says
+Strabo, than Babylon, having walls with 1500 towers 200 feet high.
+(Diodorus.)
+
+[55] =Cuirass=: defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the
+girdle.
+
+[56] =Sacrificed=: not only to propitiate the gods, but to obtain omens
+or signs for their future guidance.
+
+[57] =Cubit=: a measure of length; the distance from the elbow to the
+end of the middle finger, or about eighteen inches.
+
+[58] =Corselet=: armor covering the front of the upper part of the body.
+
+[59] =Reins=: the small of the back, or the kidneys.
+
+[60] =Burial=: the Greeks believed that so long as the corpse remained
+unburied the spirit would roam about restlessly in the dreary
+under-world or common abode of departed souls.
+
+[61] =Kretan=: or Cretan (from Crete).
+
+[62] =Augury=: omen or sign.
+
+[63] =Libations=: wine or liquor poured out on the ground or on a victim
+in honor of the gods.
+
+[64] =Bivouac= (biv-wak'): an encampment without tents or shelter, or
+one in which the whole army is on guard against surprise; here, the
+former is probably meant.
+
+[65] =Sesame=: an Eastern plant from whose seeds an oil is obtained,
+which is used for food and other purposes.
+
+[66] =Boreas=: the god of the north wind.
+
+[67] =Demagogues=: leaders of the people, popular orators. (The word now
+means those who mislead the people or who pretend to be interested in
+public affairs and reforms merely to gain their own ends.) In Greece
+these orators usually addressed assemblies or bodies of citizens who
+acted as judges.
+
+[68] =Judges= (dicasts): these sometimes, as in the case of the trial of
+Socrates, numbered five and six hundred persons, who acted as judge and
+jury combined.
+
+[69] =Greaves=: armor for the front of the lower part of the leg.
+
+[70] =Daric=: a Persian gold coin worth about $5.00.
+
+[71] =Heraklês= (Hercules): the exploits of this god in his numerous
+encounters with wild beasts and robbers led to his worship on perilous
+journeys.
+
+[72] =The altar=: probably that where they had been sacrificing.
+
+[73] Xenophon.
+
+[74] =Mercenaries=: hired soldiers.
+
+[75] =Milesians=: inhabitants of Miletus, Asia Minor.
+
+[76] =Megarian=: pertaining to Megara, a district of Greece northwest of
+Athens. It was famous for its commerce.
+
+[77] =Thunny fishery=: the thunny, or tunny, a large fish abundant in
+the Mediterranean and highly esteemed both for food and for the oil
+which it yields.
+
+[78] =Thurian=: an inhabitant of Thurii, a city of Lower Italy, founded
+by a colony from Athens.
+
+[79] =Odysseus=: as Homer in the "Odyssey" represents Odysseus, or
+Ulysses, to have done.
+
+[80] =Byzantium=: the modern Constantinople.
+
+[81] =Merchant ships=: small, one-masted vessels, not larger than our
+fishing-smacks.
+
+[82] =Kerasus=: this place is the native home of the cherry, and the
+origin of its name. The fruit was introduced into Italy from Kerasus
+about 70 B.C., and thence to England, France, and other countries
+conquered by the Romans.
+
+[83] =Targeteers=: troops carrying a light target, or shield.
+
+[84] =Turrets= (or small towers): the name of the
+people--Mosynoeki--means the "tower-dwellers."
+
+[85] =Paphlagonian horse=: meaning the Paphlagonian cavalry.
+
+[86] =Hellas=: Greece.
+
+[87] "The gods (says Euripidês, in the Sokratic vein) have given us
+wisdom to understand and appropriate to ourselves the ordinary comforts
+of life: in obscure or unintelligible cases we are enabled to inform
+ourselves by looking at the blaze of the fire, or by consulting prophets
+who understand the livers of sacrificial victims and the flight of
+birds. When they have thus furnished so excellent a provision for life,
+who but spoilt children can be discontented and ask for more? Yet still
+human prudence, full of self-conceit, will struggle to be more powerful,
+and will presume itself to be wiser, than the gods."
+
+It will be observed that this constant outpouring of special
+revelations, through prophets, omens, &c., was (in view of these
+Sokratic thinkers) an essential part of divine government; indispensable
+to satisfy their ideas of the benevolence of the gods; since rational
+and scientific prediction was so habitually at fault and unable to
+fathom the phenomena of the future. (Grote.)
+
+[88] =Traverse=: thwart.
+
+[89] Though Xenophon accounted sacrifice to be an essential preliminary
+to any action of dubious result, and placed great faith in the
+indications which the victims offered, as signs of the future purposes
+of the gods,--he nevertheless had very little confidence in the
+professional prophets. He thought them quite capable of gross deceit.
+(Grote.) Thus Silanus (see p. 92) pretends to find some unfavorable
+indications in sacrifices which supported Xenophon.
+
+[90] =Phasis=: on the Euxine; means the town of that name, not the
+river. (Grote.)
+
+[91] =Minæ=: the Mina was about one pound by weight of silver, or $20.
+Twenty minæ would be therefore $400.
+
+[92] =Pipe=: a fife or flute-like instrument.
+
+[93] =Carpæan dance=: perhaps because one of the dancers represented a
+sower of grain (from _karpos_, fruit), or possibly from _karpos_, wrist,
+the wrists of one being bound.
+
+[94] =Mysian=: from Mysia, Asia Minor.
+
+[95] =Pyrrhic dance=: a kind of dance accompanied with every gesture of
+the body used in giving and avoiding blows.
+
+[96] This appears to have been said jocosely in reference to the Persian
+King.
+
+[97] Xenophon.
+
+[98] =Trireme=: a war-vessel propelled by three ranks of rowers placed
+one above the other.
+
+[99] =Three thousand staters=: about $11,500; ten thousand staters would
+be in round numbers about $38,000. The stater was a Greek gold coin; its
+value is usually given at about $5.00, but Grote here makes it
+considerably less.
+
+[100] =Cities=: cities then were generally built with walls and gates,
+so that it was easy to exclude any whom they did not wish should enter.
+
+[101] =Philo-Laconian=: Sparta-loving (Sparta being in the district of
+Laconia). Compare what is said of Xenophon on p. 41.
+
+[102] =Byzantium=: this city (the modern Constantinople) was founded by
+a Greek colony B.C. 657. It had a mixed population, and was at this time
+under the rule of a Lacedæmonian or Spartan governor.
+
+[103] =The Chersonesus= (the peninsula): a peninsula of Southern Thrace,
+opposite Asia Minor, having numerous Greek cities, and noted for its
+abundance of grain, much of which was exported to Athens.
+
+[104] =Thrakion=: probably an open space or square near the Thracian
+Gate of the city.
+
+[105] =The Great King=: the King of Persia.
+
+[106] =Delta=: so named because it resembled the Greek capital letter
+Delta, [Greek: D], corresponding to the English D; hence a
+triangular-shaped piece of land.
+
+[107] =Propontis= (now, the Sea of Marmora): between Asia and Europe.
+
+[108] =Billeted upon the citizens=: assigned them quarters among the
+citizens, who were thus bound to provide for them.
+
+[109] =Odrysian=: from Odrysæ, a numerous and powerful people of Thrace.
+
+[110] =Phliasian=: from Phliûs, a city of Peloponnesus
+
+[111] It appears that the epithet (the Gracious) is here applied to Zeus
+in the same conciliatory sense as the denomination _Eumenides_ (Well or
+Kindly-disposed) to the avenging goddesses. Zeus is conceived as having
+actually inflicted, or being in a disposition to inflict, evil: the
+sacrifice to him under this surname represents a sentiment of fear, and
+is one of atonement, expiation, or purification, destined to avert his
+displeasure; but the surname itself is to be interpreted so as to
+designate, not the actual disposition of Zeus (or of other gods), but
+that disposition which the sacrifice is intended to bring about in him.
+(Grote.)
+
+[112] =Diasia=: a Greek festival, celebrated in honor of Zeus (Jupiter)
+the Gracious.
+
+[113] =Troad=: the plain around Troy, the scene of the famous Trojan
+war, celebrated in Homer's Iliad.
+
+[114] =Pergamus=: a city noted for its library of over 200,000
+manuscript rolls, which were eventually removed to Alexandria, Egypt.
+Parchment, a name derived from this place, was invented here.
+
+[115] =Eretrian=: pertaining to Eretria, a city of Ionia, Asia Minor.
+
+[116] =Temple of Ephesus=: sacred to the goddess Artemis, or Diana, twin
+sister of Apollo. This temple ranked among the Seven Wonders of the
+world. It was held so sacred that it was used as a "safe-deposit" for
+treasures, which were secure here against robbery or war. See the
+interesting reference to it in Acts xix. 24-41.
+
+[117] =Sokratês=: the philosopher and moralist, and the friend and
+instructor of Xenophon, had publicly taught, in the streets of Athens,
+for thirty years. His method was to convince people how little they
+really knew, by asking a series of searching questions which eventually
+led those whom he interrogated to confess their ignorance. "He taught
+that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong; and that the gods
+wished men to know them, not by beliefs and observances, but by doing
+good." This teaching, which was misunderstood by many, together with the
+dislike--not to say hatred--which such a "cross-examining missionary"
+would inevitably excite, caused his trial for impiety or rejection of
+the popular deities. He was then over seventy. When asked whether he had
+prepared his defence, he replied "that his whole life had been a
+preparation, since he had spent it in studying what was right and
+endeavoring to do it." Condemned by the judges to drink poison, he spent
+the last hours of his life conversing with his friends on the
+immortality of the soul. Xenophon has left an entertaining and valuable
+sketch of his beloved master.
+
+[118] =Banished=: Xenophon was banished for attachment to Sparta against
+his country--Athens. (Grote.)
+
+[119] =Olympic festivals=: the greatest of the religious festivals among
+the Greeks. It was held at Olympia every four years in honor of Zeus
+(Olympian Jove), and was celebrated by games and contests lasting
+several weeks. All Greece sent delegations to attend and take part in
+the festival.
+
+[120] =Artemision=: the temple of Artemis or Diana.
+
+[121] =Temple of Olympia=: the magnificent temple of Zeus (Olympian
+Jove). It contained a colossal statue of the god, seated, and holding
+the globe and the sceptre as emblems of his power. The work was by the
+celebrated sculptor Phidias, and was carved in gold and ivory.
+
+[122] =Knight=: originally one of an upper class of citizens ranking
+second in point of wealth and political power.
+
+[123] Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers before the battle of
+Issus by referring to the bravery of the Greeks in the "Retreat of the
+Ten Thousand."
+
+[124] =Anabasis= (The March Up-country): the name given by Xenophon to
+his account of the expedition of Cyrus the younger in his march from the
+shore of the Mediterranean against the King of Persia at Babylon. The
+narrative of the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" forms part of the
+"Anabasis." Strictly speaking, this portion of the work should be called
+the Katabasis, or "The March Down"; that is, from Babylonia to the Black
+Sea.
+
+
+
+
+SKETCH OF NAPOLEON.
+
+(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.)
+
+
+Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica (then recently ceded to
+France), in 1769. He was of Italian descent, and up to the age of ten
+could speak no French. In 1779 he was sent to the military school of
+Brienne, in France, and there began his education for the army. As a
+lieutenant of artillery he did good service in behalf of the French
+revolutionary government at the siege of Toulon, which had revolted in
+1793.
+
+Two years later that government was threatened by the rising of the
+people of Paris, headed by the National Guard. General Barras gave
+Napoleon an opportunity of showing his military skill in defence of the
+authorities, and the young officer, with his well-directed volleys of
+grape-shot, speedily quelled the insurrection. From that time Napoleon's
+name became familiar to the French people.
+
+In 1796 he married Madame Josephine Beauharnais, a West Indian lady,
+whose husband had been guillotined during the Revolution. About the same
+time Napoleon received the command of the French army of Italy, and with
+his successful Italian campaign against Austria his reputation as a
+general began.
+
+From that date until his final abdication in 1815, he was almost
+constantly engaged in active war, or in preparations for it. During that
+period of twenty years he fought nearly the whole of Europe; and up to
+his fatal Russian campaign in 1812, he was victorious in every great
+battle which he personally directed in the open field. This constant
+success inspired him with the belief that he was invincible. As one of
+his friends said, "He appeared like a man walking in a halo of glory";
+and as an eminent statesman declared, "France gave herself to him,
+absorbed herself in him, and seemed, at one time, no longer to think,
+except through him." From a simple artillery officer Napoleon had risen
+to be the greatest military commander in the world. His adopted country
+had placed him at the head of the government, and ended by making him
+Emperor. By his conquests he had enlarged France so that his imperial
+dominions extended to the Baltic on the north, and beyond Rome on the
+southeast.
+
+To increase his glory and strengthen his power, he established a circle
+of dependent thrones and principalities, occupied by his brothers and
+his favorites, who were bound to obey his will and extend his sway.
+
+Of all the nations of Europe, England alone had been able to withstand
+him; and in 1812 London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were the only
+leading capitals whose streets his triumphant armies had not entered.
+
+It was when he was at the apparent summit of his power that Napoleon
+divorced his faithful Josephine, in order that he might marry the
+Princess Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of Austria. His object
+was to found a reigning family allied by blood with one of the oldest
+and proudest dynasties of Europe. In this, as in all other things, he
+seemed to accomplish his purpose, for from this union a son was born
+who, under the title of the "King of Rome," promised to perpetuate his
+father's name and power.
+
+Having secured an heir to his crown Napoleon now determined to
+rigorously carry out his "continental policy" of humbling England by
+shutting out her trade from every port of Europe. If this could be done
+effectually, as he believed was possible, he might hope to starve his
+old enemy into submission.
+
+The attempt to accomplish this design was the chief cause of the
+campaign against Russia, and of Napoleon's ultimate downfall. The Czar,
+contrary to the provisions of the treaty of Tilsit, made in 1807, was
+now opposed to continuing the blockade which excluded English commerce
+from the Baltic. Not only did the Russian sovereign refuse to yield on
+this point, but he went so far as to form an alliance with Sweden, in
+order to resist the French Emperor's demands more effectually.
+
+Napoleon accordingly declared war, and in the spring of 1812 began
+gathering a force of over 600,000 men for the invasion of Russia. The
+Grand Army was chiefly French; but the Emperor compelled his
+allies--Austria, Prussia, Italy, and the German States--to furnish large
+numbers of troops; and he also received help from Poland. Besides the
+Imperial Guard, a body of picked men over 50,000 strong, under the
+command of Marshals Lefebvre, Mortier, and Bessières, there were 13
+corps. The French were led by Marshals Davoust, Oudinot, Ney, Murat,
+King of Naples; the Italians by Prince Eugene; the Poles by Poniatowski;
+the Austrians by General Schwartzenberg; the Germans and Prussians by
+St. Cyr, Regnier, Vandamme, Victor, Macdonald, and Augereau.
+
+The Poles fought for Napoleon in the belief that, if successful, he
+would secure their independence against the power of Russian oppression;
+the other nations because they dared not refuse.
+
+This enormous force, which was double that of the Czar's, gradually
+collected on the banks of the Niemen, a river emptying into the Baltic,
+and forming part of the western boundary of Russia. The army crossed it
+in three divisions, at a considerable distance from each other.[125] All
+were to meet at Wilna, a Polish city which Russia had seized in the
+dismemberment of that country, and which was about fifty miles southeast
+of the Niemen.
+
+Napoleon himself, at the head of one of the three divisions, with a
+force of over two hundred thousand, crossed the river at Kowno on the
+23d of June, and began his march for Wilna.[126] The weather was
+intensely hot, and in the course of a few weeks many thousand men fell
+out of the ranks through sickness and fatigue, and great numbers of
+horses died. The French hoped to encounter the Russian forces in a
+decisive battle before advancing far into the country. But it was the
+policy of the Czar not to fight, but to keep falling back, destroying
+all supplies as fast as he retreated, and so compelling the French to
+depend wholly upon their own resources.
+
+Napoleon himself confessed that the Russians had the advantage. They, he
+said, would be animated by love of their native land to repel invasion,
+and all private and public interests would unite them. The French, on
+the other hand, had nothing to urge them on but the love of conquest and
+of glory, without even the hope of plunder, for in those desolate
+regions there was nothing they could seize.
+
+The first real encounter was at Smolensk, a walled city on the Dnieper,
+about half way between Wilna and the ancient capital of Russia. After a
+day of hard fighting, the Russians fired the city and abandoned it. The
+French entered the smoking ruins. They were victors, but such a victory
+was almost as disheartening as a defeat. From that place a weary
+seven-days march brought the Grand Army to the village of Borodino, on
+the banks of the Kologa, a tributary of the Moskwa.[127] Here the
+Russian general, Kutusoff, had determined to make a stand in defence of
+that holy city of Moscow, not many leagues distant, for which every
+peasant stood ready to lay down his life. The result of the battle was
+in favor of Napoleon, but it cost him the lives of thirty thousand men
+to gain it; and though the Russians lost double that number, they knew
+that the time was coming when the elements and the great barren spaces
+of their country would fight for them. This was the 7th of September.
+From that date the Russians resumed their old tactics and continued to
+slowly retreat, burning the villages and the crops as they fell back. At
+length, at noon of the 14th, the French emperor came in sight of "the
+city of the Czars."
+
+What followed from that time until Napoleon, baffled and beaten, reached
+Paris, leaving the wreck of the Grand Army behind him, may best be
+learned from the ensuing narrative of Count Ségur,[128] who was one of
+the generals in that army, an officer of the imperial staff, and an
+eye-witness of what he describes.[129]
+
+His faithful history of that terrible disaster must necessarily be
+painful. It is in most respects the very opposite of Xenophon's account
+of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, which precedes it. But the reader
+should reflect that the dark and sorrowful scenes of history may have
+lessons as salutary as the brighter ones; and that the story of a great
+failure, involving the ruin and death of thousands, may be as
+instructive and as helpful as the story of a great success. In
+Xenophon's case, we have the spectacle of a man of more than ordinary
+ability, stimulated by difficulty and peril until he rises to real
+greatness of achievement. In Napoleon's career we see a naturally "great
+mind dragged to ruin by its own faults"; but such a man could not fall
+alone, and it was inevitable that a multitude should suffer with him and
+for him.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+
+§ 1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar.
+
+The ancient capital of Russia, appropriately denominated by its poets
+"_Moscow[130] with the gilded cupolas_," was a vast and fantastic
+assemblage of two hundred and ninety-five churches, and fifteen hundred
+palaces, with their gardens and dependencies. These larger mansions of
+brick, and their parks, intermixed with neat houses of wood, and even
+thatched cottages, were spread over several square leagues of irregular
+ground. They were grouped round the Kremlin, a lofty triangular
+fortress. The vast double enclosure in which this was situated was about
+two miles in circuit. It contained, first, several palaces, some
+churches, and rocky and uncultivated spots, and secondly, a prodigious
+bazaar,--the town of the merchants and shopkeepers,--where was displayed
+the collected wealth of the four quarters of the globe.
+
+These palaces, these edifices, nay, the very shops themselves, were all
+covered with burnished and painted iron. The churches, each surmounted
+by a balcony and several steeples, terminating in golden balls, then the
+crescent, and lastly the cross, reminded the spectator of the history of
+this nation: it was Asia and its religion, at first victorious,
+subsequently vanquished, so that finally the cross of Christ surmounted
+the crescent of Mohammed.
+
+A ray of sunshine caused this splendid city to glisten with a thousand
+varied colors. At sight of it the traveller paused, delighted and
+astonished. It reminded him of the prodigies with which the Eastern
+poets had amused his childhood. On entering it, a nearer view served but
+to heighten his astonishment: he recognized the nobles by the manners,
+the habits, and the different languages of modern Europe, and by the
+rich and airy elegance of their dress. He beheld, with surprise, the
+luxury and the Asiatic form of that of the traders, the peculiar
+costumes of the common people, and their long beards. He was struck by
+the same variety in the edifices; and all this was tinged with a local
+and sometimes harsh coloring, such as befitted the country of which
+Moscow was the ancient capital.
+
+When, lastly, he observed the grandeur and magnificence of the numerous
+palaces, the wealth which they displayed, the luxury of the equipages,
+the multitude of slaves and of obsequious menials, the splendor of all
+these gorgeous spectacles, and heard the noise of those sumptuous
+festivities, entertainments, and rejoicings which incessantly resounded
+within its walls, he fancied himself transported to a city of
+kings--into the midst of an assemblage of princes, who had brought with
+them their manners, customs, and attendants from every quarter of the
+world.
+
+These princes were nevertheless but subjects, still opulent and powerful
+subjects: grandees, vain of their ancient nobility, strong in their
+collected numbers and in the general ties of blood contracted during the
+seven centuries which this capital had existed. They were also landed
+proprietors, proud of their vast possessions; for almost the whole
+territory of the government of Moscow belonged to them, and they there
+reigned over a million of serfs.[131] Finally, they were nobles, resting
+with a patriotic and religious pride upon "the cradle and the tomb of
+their nobility"; for such is the appellation they give to Moscow.
+
+To this ancient capital necessity brought the Czar[132] Alexander. His
+first appearance was in the midst of the assembled nobles. There
+everything was great: the circumstances, the assembly, the speaker, and
+the resolutions which he inspired. His voice betrayed emotion: no sooner
+did he cease speaking, than one simultaneous cry burst from all hearts:
+"Sire, ask what you please! we offer you everything! take our all!"
+
+One of the nobles then proposed the levy of a militia, and for its
+formation, the gift of one peasant or serf in twenty-five. But a hundred
+voices interrupted him, exclaiming that "the country required a greater
+sacrifice; that they should grant one serf in ten, ready armed,
+equipped, and supplied with provisions for three months." This was
+offering, for the single government of Moscow, 80,000 men, and a great
+quantity of warlike stores.
+
+The latter proposition was immediately voted without discussion; some
+say with enthusiasm; and that it was executed in like manner, so long as
+the danger was at hand. Others attribute the consent of the assembly to
+a sentiment of submission alone; which, indeed, in the presence of
+absolute power, is apt to absorb every other.
+
+They add, that on the breaking up of the meeting, the principal nobles
+were heard to murmur among themselves against the extravagance of such a
+measure. "Was the danger, then, so pressing? Did the Russian army,
+which, as they were told, still numbered 400,000 men, no longer exist?
+Why deprive them of so many peasants? The service of these men would be,
+it is said, only temporary; but who could ever hope for their return?
+and was not even this an event to be dreaded? Would these serfs,
+habituated to the irregularities of war, bring back their former habits
+of submission? Undoubtedly not; they would return full of new sentiments
+and new ideas, with which they would infect the villages; they would
+there propagate a refractory spirit, which would give infinite trouble
+to the master by spoiling the slave."
+
+Be this as it may, the resolution of the assembly was generous, and
+worthy of so great a nation. The details are of little consequence. We
+well know that it is the same everywhere; that everything in the world
+loses by being seen too near; and, lastly, that nations should be judged
+by the general mass and by results.
+
+Alexander then addressed the merchants, but more briefly: he ordered the
+proclamation to be read to them, in which Napoleon was represented as "a
+perfidious wretch; a Moloch, who, with treachery in his heart and
+loyalty on his lips, was striving to blot out Russia from the face of
+the earth."
+
+It is said that, at these words, his auditors, to whose strongly-marked
+and flushed faces their long beards imparted a look at once antique,
+majestic, and wild, were inflamed with rage. Their eyes flashed fire;
+they were seized with a convulsive fury, of which their stiffened arms,
+their clenched fists, the gnashing of their teeth, and their subdued
+execrations, expressed the vehemence. The effect was correspondent.
+Their chief, whom they elect themselves, proved himself worthy of his
+station: he put down his name at once for 50,000 rubles.[133] It was
+two-thirds of his fortune, and he paid it the next day.
+
+These merchants were divided into three classes, and they proceeded to
+fix the contribution for each; but one of the assembly, who was included
+in the lowest class, declared that his patriotism would brook no limit,
+and he immediately subscribed a sum far surpassing the standard
+proposed: the others all followed his example more or less closely.
+Advantage was taken of their first emotions. Everything was at hand that
+was requisite to bind them irrevocably while they were yet together,
+excited by one another and by the words of their sovereign.
+
+The patriotic donation amounted, it is said, to two millions of rubles.
+The other governments repeated, like so many echoes, the national cry of
+Moscow. The emperor accepted all; but all could not be given
+immediately; and when, in order to complete his work, he claimed the
+rest of the promised succor, he was obliged to have recourse to
+constraint, the danger which had alarmed some and inflamed others having
+by that time ceased to exist.
+
+
+§ 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army; preparations for
+destroying the city.
+
+After the reduction of Smolensk,[134] and when Napoleon reached Viazma,
+a town about one hundred and seventy miles from Moscow, consternation
+reigned in Moscow. The great battle had not yet been lost, and already
+people began to abandon that capital.
+
+In his proclamation, the governor-general, Count Rostopchin,[135] told
+the women that "he should not detain them, as the less fear there was,
+the less danger there would be; but that their brothers and husbands
+must stay, or they would cover themselves with infamy." He then added
+encouraging particulars concerning the hostile force, which consisted,
+according to his statement, of "one hundred and fifty thousand men, who
+were reduced to the necessity of feeding on horseflesh. The emperor
+Alexander was about to return to his faithful capital; eighty-three
+thousand Russians, recruits and militia, with eighty pieces of cannon
+were marching towards Borodino, to join Kutusoff."[136]
+
+He thus concluded: "If these forces are not sufficient, I will say to
+you, 'Come, my Muscovite[137] friends, let us march also! We will
+assemble one hundred thousand men; we will take the image of the Blessed
+Virgin, and one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and put an end to
+the business at once!'"
+
+It has been remarked, as a purely local singularity, that most of these
+proclamations were in the scriptural style, and highly poetical in their
+character.
+
+At the same time, a sort of balloon of prodigious size was constructed
+by command of Alexander, not far from Moscow, under the direction of a
+German artificer. The destination of this aerial machine was to hover
+over the French army, to single out its chief, and destroy him by a
+shower of balls and fire. Several attempts were made to raise it, but
+without success, the springs by which the wings were to be worked always
+breaking.
+
+Rostopchin, nevertheless, affecting to persevere in the plan, is said to
+have caused a great quantity of rockets and other combustibles to be
+prepared. Moscow itself was destined to be the great infernal machine,
+the sudden nocturnal explosion of which was to destroy the emperor and
+his army. Should the enemy escape this danger, he would at least no
+longer have an asylum or resources; and the horror of this tremendous
+calamity, charged to his account, as had been the disasters of Smolensk,
+Viazma, and other towns, would not fail to rouse the whole of
+Russia.[138]
+
+Adverse, therefore, to any treaty, this governor foresaw that in the
+populous capital, which the Russians themselves style the oracle, the
+exemplar of the whole empire, Napoleon would have recourse to the weapon
+of revolution, the only one that would be left him to accomplish his
+purpose. For this reason he resolved to raise a barrier of fire between
+that great captain and all weaknesses, from whatever quarter they might
+proceed, whether from the throne or from his countrymen, either nobles
+or senators; and more especially between a population of serfs and the
+soldiers of a free nation; in short, between the latter and that mass of
+artisans and tradesmen who form in Moscow the commencement of an
+intermediate class; a class for which the French Revolution was
+especially brought about.
+
+All the preparations were made in silence, without the knowledge either
+of the people, the proprietors of all classes, or perhaps of their
+emperor. The nation was ignorant that it was sacrificing itself. This is
+so strictly true, that, when the moment for execution arrived, we heard
+the inhabitants who had fled to the churches execrating this
+destruction. Those who beheld it from a distance, the most opulent of
+the nobles, deceived like their peasants, charged us with it: and, in
+short, those by whom it was ordered threw the odium of it upon us,
+having engaged in the work of destruction in order to render us objects
+of detestation, and caring but little about the maledictions of so many
+unfortunate creatures, provided they could throw upon us the weight of
+them.
+
+The silence of Alexander leaves room to doubt whether he approved this
+dreadful determination or not. What part he took in the catastrophe is
+still a mystery to the Russians: either they are ignorant on the
+subject, or they make a secret of the matter: the effect of despotism,
+which enjoins ignorance or silence.
+
+Some think that no individual in the empire, excepting the sovereign,
+would have dared to take on himself so heavy a responsibility. His
+subsequent conduct disavowed without disproving it. Others are of
+opinion that this was one of the causes of his absence from the army,
+and that, not wishing to appear either to order or to forbid it, he
+would not stay to be a witness of the catastrophe.
+
+As to the general abandonment of the houses all the way from Smolensk,
+it was compulsory, the Russian army defending them till they were
+carried sword in hand, and describing us everywhere as destructive
+monsters. The country suffered but little from this emigration. The
+peasants residing near the high-road escaped through byways to other
+villages belonging to their lords, where they found accommodation.
+
+The forsaking of their huts, made of trunks of trees laid one upon
+another, which a hatchet suffices for building, and of which a bench, a
+table, and an image constitute the whole furniture, was scarcely any
+sacrifice for serfs who had nothing of their own, whose persons did not
+even belong to themselves, and whose masters were obliged to provide for
+them, since they were their property and the source of all their income.
+
+These peasants, moreover, in removing their carts, their implements, and
+their cattle, carried everything with them, most of them being able with
+their own hands to supply themselves with habitation, clothing, and all
+other necessaries: for these people are still in but the first stage of
+civilization, and far from that division of labor which denotes the
+extension and high improvement of commerce and of society.
+
+But in the towns, and especially in the great capital, how could they be
+expected to quit so many establishments, to resign so many conveniences
+and enjoyments, so much wealth, movable and immovable? and yet it cost
+little or no more to obtain the total abandonment of Moscow than that of
+the meanest village. There, as at Vienna, Berlin, and Madrid, the
+principal nobles hesitated not to retire on our approach; for, with
+them, to remain would seem to be the same as to betray. But here,
+tradesmen, artisans, day-laborers, all thought it their duty to flee as
+well as the most powerful of the grandees. There was no occasion to
+command: these people have not yet ideas sufficient to judge for
+themselves, to distinguish and to weigh differences; the example of the
+nobles was sufficient. The few foreigners remaining at Moscow might have
+enlightened them; some of these were exiled, and terror hindered the
+rest.
+
+It was, besides, an easy task to excite apprehensions of profanation,
+pillage, and devastation in the minds of people so cut off from other
+nations, and in the inhabitants of a city which had been so often
+plundered and burned by the Tartars. With these examples before their
+eyes, they could not await an impious and ferocious enemy but for the
+purpose of fighting him: the rest must necessarily shun his approach
+with horror, if they would save themselves in this life or in the next.
+Thus obedience, honor, religion, fear, everything, in short, enjoined
+them to flee, with all that they could carry with them.
+
+A fortnight before our arrival, the departure of the records, the public
+chests and treasure, and that of the nobles and of the principal
+merchants, together with their most valuable effects, indicated to the
+rest of the inhabitants what course they should pursue. The governor,
+already impatient to see Moscow evacuated, appointed superintendents to
+expedite the emigration.
+
+On the 3d of September, a French woman, living in the city, ventured to
+leave her hiding-place, at the risk of being torn in pieces by the
+furious Muscovites. She wandered a long time through extensive quarters,
+the solitude of which astonished her, when a distant and doleful sound
+thrilled her with terror. It was like the funeral dirge of this vast
+city: fixed in motionless suspense, she beheld an immense multitude of
+persons, of both sexes, in deep affliction, carrying their effects and
+their sacred images, and leading their children along with them. Their
+priests, laden with the sacred symbols of religion, headed the
+procession. They were invoking Heaven in hymns of lamentation, in which
+all of them joined with tears.
+
+On reaching the gates of the city, this crowd of unfortunate creatures
+passed through them with painful hesitation: turning their eyes once
+more towards Moscow, they seemed to be bidding a last farewell to their
+holy city; but, by degrees, their sobs and the doleful tones of their
+hymns died away in the vast plains by which it is surrounded.
+
+
+§ 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow.
+
+Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in masses. The roads
+were covered to the distance of forty leagues by fugitives on foot, and
+several unbroken files of vehicles of every kind. At the same time, the
+measures of Rostopchin to prevent dejection and preserve order detained
+many of these unfortunate people till the very last moment.
+
+To this must be added the appointment of Kutusoff, which had revived
+their hopes, the false intelligence of a victory at Borodino, and, for
+those of moderate means, the hesitation natural at the moment of
+abandoning the only home which they possessed. Lastly, the inadequacy of
+the means of transport, either because at this time heavy requisitions
+for the exigencies of the army had reduced the number of vehicles, or
+because they were too small, as it is customary to make the carriages in
+this country very light, on account of the sandy soil, and of the roads,
+which may be said to be rather marked out than constructed.
+
+Kutusoff, although defeated at Borodino, had sent letters to all
+quarters announcing that he was victorious. He deceived Moscow, St.
+Petersburg, and even the commanders of the other Russian armies.
+Alexander communicated this false intelligence to his allies. In the
+first transports of his joy he hastened to the altars, loaded the army
+and the family of his general with honors and money, gave directions for
+rejoicings, returned thanks to Heaven, and appointed Kutusoff a
+field-marshal of the empire.
+
+Most of the Russians affirm that their emperor was grossly imposed upon
+by this report. They are still unacquainted with the motives of such a
+deception, which at first procured Kutusoff unbounded favors, that were
+not withdrawn from him, and afterward, it is said, dreadful menaces,
+that were not put in execution.
+
+If we may credit several of his countrymen, who were perhaps his
+enemies, it would appear that he had two motives. In the first place, he
+wished not to shake by disastrous intelligence the little firmness
+which, in Russia, Alexander was generally, though erroneously, thought
+to possess. In the second, as his despatch would probably arrive on the
+very birthday of his sovereign, it is added that his object was to
+obtain from him the rewards for which this kind of anniversaries affords
+occasion.
+
+But at Moscow the delusive impression was of short continuance. The
+rumor of the destruction of half his army was almost immediately
+propagated in that city, from the singular commotion produced by
+extraordinary events, which is known frequently to spread almost
+instantaneously to prodigious distances. Still, however, the language of
+the chiefs, the only persons who dared to speak, continued haughty and
+threatening: many of the inhabitants, trusting to it, remained; but they
+were every day more and more tormented by a painful anxiety. At nearly
+one and the same moment, they were transported with rage, elevated by
+hope, and overwhelmed with fear.
+
+During one of these periods of dejection and dismay, while, prostrate
+before the altars, or in their own houses before the images of their
+saints, they had abandoned all hope but in Heaven, shouts of joy were
+suddenly heard: the people instantly thronged the streets and the public
+places to learn the cause. Intoxicated with delight, their eyes were
+fixed on the cross of the principal church. A vulture had entangled
+himself in the chains which supported it, and was held suspended by
+them. This was a certain presage to minds whose natural superstition was
+heightened by extraordinary anxiety: it was thus that their God would
+seize and deliver Napoleon into their power.
+
+Rostopchin took advantage of all these movements, which he excited or
+checked according as they were favorable to him or otherwise. He caused
+the most diminutive to be selected from the prisoners taken from the
+French, and exhibited them to the people, that the latter might derive
+courage from the sight of their weakness; and yet he emptied Moscow of
+every kind of supplies, in order to feed the vanquished and to famish
+the conquerors. This measure was easily carried into effect, as Moscow
+was provisioned in spring and autumn by water only, and in winter by
+sledges.
+
+He was still attempting to preserve, with a remnant of hope, the order
+that was necessary, especially in such a flight, when the effects of the
+disaster at Borodino were fully manifested. The long train of wounded,
+their groans, their garments and linen dyed with blood; their most
+powerful nobles struck and overthrown like the rest: all this was a
+novel and alarming sight to a city which had for such a length of time
+been exempt from the horrors of war. The police redoubled their
+activity; but the terror which they excited could not long make head
+against a still greater terror.
+
+Rostopchin once more addressed the people. He declared that "he would
+defend Moscow to the last extremity; that the courts were already
+closed, but that was of no consequence; that there was no occasion for
+tribunals to try the guilty": he added that "in two days he would give
+the signal." He recommended to the people to "arm themselves with
+hatchets, and especially with three-pronged forks, as the French were
+not heavier than a sheaf of wheat." As for the wounded, he said he
+should cause "masses to be said, and the water to be blessed, in order
+to their speedy recovery. The next day," he added, "he should repair to
+Kutusoff, to take final measures for exterminating the enemy."
+
+The Russian army, in their position in front of Moscow, numbered
+ninety-one thousand men, six thousand of whom were Cossacks,[139]
+sixty-five thousand veteran troops (the remnant of one hundred and
+twenty-one thousand engaged at the Moskwa),[140] and twenty thousand
+recruits, armed half with muskets and half with pikes.
+
+The French army, one hundred and thirty thousand strong the day before
+the great battle, had lost about forty thousand men at Borodino, and
+still consisted of ninety thousand. Some regiments on the march, and the
+divisions of Laborde and Pino, had just joined it: so that, on its
+arrival before Moscow, it still amounted to nearly one hundred thousand
+men. Its march was retarded by six hundred and seven pieces of cannon,
+two thousand five hundred artillery carriages, and five thousand
+baggage-wagons: it had no more ammunition than would suffice for one
+engagement. Kutusoff perhaps calculated the disproportion between his
+effective force and ours. On this point, however, nothing but conjecture
+can be advanced, for he assigned purely military motives for his
+retreat.
+
+Thus much is certain, that Kutusoff deceived Rostopchin to the very last
+moment. He even swore to him "by his gray hair that he would perish with
+him before Moscow," when all at once the governor was informed that, in
+a council of war held at night in the camp, it had been determined to
+abandon the capital without a battle.
+
+Rostopchin was incensed at this intelligence, but his resolution
+remained unshaken. There was now no time to be lost; no farther pains
+were taken to conceal from Moscow the fate that was destined for it;
+indeed it was not worth while to dissemble for the sake of the few
+inhabitants who were left; and, besides, it was necessary to induce them
+to seek their safety in flight.
+
+At night, therefore, emissaries went round, knocking at every door and
+announcing the conflagration. Fuses were introduced at every favorable
+aperture, especially into the shops covered with iron, in the
+tradesmen's quarter, and the fire-engines were carried off. The
+desolation had now attained its highest pitch, and each individual,
+according to his disposition, was either overwhelmed with despair or
+urged to a decision. Most of those who were left formed groups in the
+public places; they crowded together, questioned each other, and asked
+each other's advice; while many wandered about at random, some depressed
+by terror, others in a frightful state of exasperation. At length the
+army, their last hope, deserted them: the troops began to traverse the
+city, and in their retreat they hurried along with them the still
+considerable remnant of its population.
+
+They departed by the Kolomna gate,[141] surrounded by a multitude of
+women, children, and aged persons, in the deepest affliction. The fields
+were covered with them. They fled in all directions, by every path,
+across the country, without provisions, and laden with such of their
+effects as, in their agitation, they had first laid their hands on.
+Some, for want of horses, had harnessed themselves to carts, and in this
+manner dragged along their infant children, a sick wife, or an infirm
+father; in short, whatever they held most dear. The woods afforded them
+shelter, and they subsisted on the charity of their countrymen.
+
+On that day a terrific scene terminated this melancholy drama. This, the
+last day of Moscow, having arrived, Rostopchin collected together all
+whom he had been able to retain and arm. The prisons were thrown open. A
+squalid and disgusting crew tumultuously issued from them. These
+wretches rushed into the streets with ferocious joy. Two men, a Russian
+and a Frenchman, the one accused of treason, the other of political
+indiscretion, were selected from among this horde, and dragged before
+Rostopchin, who fiercely reproached the Russian with his crime. He was
+the son of a tradesman, and had been apprehended while exciting the
+people to insurrection. A circumstance which occasioned alarm was the
+discovery that he belonged to a sect of German religious and political
+fanatics. His audacity had never failed him in prison. It was imagined,
+for a moment, that the spirit of equality had penetrated into Russia. He
+did not, however, disclose any accomplices.
+
+At this crisis his father arrived. It was expected that he would
+intercede for his son; but, on the contrary, he insisted on his death.
+The governor granted him a few moments, that he might once more speak to
+and bless him. "What, I! I bless a traitor!" exclaimed the enraged
+Russian, and, turning to his son, with a horrid voice and gesture he
+pronounced a curse upon him.
+
+This was the signal for his execution. The poor wretch was struck down
+by an ill-directed blow of a sabre. He fell, but wounded only, and
+perhaps the arrival of the French might have saved him, had not the
+people perceived that he was yet alive. They forced the barrier, fell
+upon him, and tore him to pieces.
+
+The Frenchman, during this scene, was petrified with terror. "As for
+thee," said Rostopchin, turning towards him, "being a Frenchman, thou
+canst not but wish for the arrival of the French army: be free, then,
+and go and tell thy countrymen that Russia had but one traitor, and that
+he has been punished." Then, addressing himself to the wretches who
+surrounded him, he called them sons of Russia, and exhorted them to make
+atonement for their crimes by serving their country. He was the last to
+quit the doomed city, and he then rejoined the Russian army.
+
+From that moment the mighty Moscow belonged neither to the Russians nor
+to the French, but to that guilty horde whose fury was directed by a few
+officers and soldiers of the police. They were organized, and each had
+his post allotted to him, in order that pillage, fire, and devastation
+might commence everywhere at once.
+
+
+§ 4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city.
+
+That very day (September the 14th), Napoleon, being at length satisfied
+that Kutusoff had not thrown himself on his right flank, rejoined his
+advanced guard. He mounted his horse a few leagues from Moscow. He
+marched slowly and cautiously, sending scouts before him to examine the
+woods and the ravines, and to ascend all the eminences to look out for
+the enemy's army. A battle was expected, and the ground favored the
+opinion: works also had been begun, but they had all been abandoned, and
+we experienced not the slightest resistance.
+
+At length the last eminence only remained to be passed: it is contiguous
+to Moscow, which it commands. It is called _The Hill of Salvation_,
+because on its summit the inhabitants, at sight of their holy city,
+cross and prostrate themselves. Our scouts soon gained the top of this
+hill. It was two o'clock: the sun caused this great city to glisten with
+a thousand colors. Struck with astonishment at the sight, they paused,
+exclaiming, "Moscow! Moscow!" Every one quickened his pace; the troops
+hurried on in disorder; and the whole army, clapping their hands,
+repeated with transport, "Moscow! Moscow!" just as sailors shout "Land!
+land!" at the conclusion of a long and toilsome voyage.
+
+At the sight of this gilded city, of this splendid capital, uniting
+Europe and Asia, of this magnificent emporium of the luxury and arts of
+the two fairest divisions of the globe, we stood still, in proud
+contemplation. What a glorious day had now arrived! It would furnish the
+grandest, the most brilliant recollection of our whole lives. We felt at
+this moment that all our actions would engage the attention of the
+astonished world, and that every movement we made, however trivial,
+would be recorded by history.
+
+At that moment dangers and sufferings were all forgotten: was it
+possible to purchase too dearly the proud felicity of being able to say
+during the rest of life, "I belonged to the army of Moscow!"
+
+Napoleon himself hastened up. He paused in transport: an exclamation of
+delight escaped his lips. Ever since the great battle, the discontented
+marshals had shunned him; but at the sight of captive Moscow, at the
+intelligence of the arrival of a flag of truce, struck with so important
+a result, and intoxicated with all the enthusiasm of glory, they forgot
+their grievances. They pressed around the emperor, paying homage to his
+good fortune, and already tempted to attribute to the foresight of his
+genius the little pains he had taken on the 7th to complete his victory.
+
+But in Napoleon, first emotions were of short duration. He had too much
+to think of to indulge his sensations for any length of time. His first
+exclamation was, "There at last is that famous city!" and the second,
+"It was high time!"
+
+His eyes fixed on this capital, already expressed nothing but
+impatience: in it he beheld in imagination the whole Russian empire. Its
+walls enclosed all his hopes, peace, the expenses of the war, immortal
+glory: his eager looks, therefore, intently watched all its outlets.
+When would its gates at length open? When should he see that deputation
+come forth, which would place its wealth, its population, its senate,
+and the principal of the Russian nobility at his disposal? Henceforth
+that enterprise in which he had so rashly engaged, brought to a
+successful termination by dint of boldness, would pass for the result of
+a deep combination; his imprudence for greatness: henceforth his victory
+at the Moskwa, incomplete as it was, would be deemed his greatest
+achievement. Thus all that might have turned to his ruin would begin to
+decide whether he was the greatest man in the world, or the most rash;
+in short, whether he had raised himself an altar or dug for himself a
+grave.
+
+Anxiety, however, soon began to take possession of his mind. On his left
+and right he beheld Prince Eugene and Poniatowski approaching the
+hostile city; Murat, with his scouts, had already reached the entrance
+of the suburbs, and yet no deputation appeared: an officer sent by
+Miloradovitch[142] merely came to declare that his general would set
+fire to the city if his rear was not allowed time to evacuate it.
+
+Napoleon granted every demand. The troops of the two armies were for a
+short time intermingled. Murat was recognized by the Cossacks, who, with
+the familiarity of the wandering tribes, and curious and ardent as the
+people of the south, thronged around him: then by their gestures and
+exclamations they extolled his valor and intoxicated him with their
+admiration. Murat took the watches of his officers, and distributed them
+among these barbarous warriors. One of them called him his chief.
+
+Murat was tempted to believe that among them he should find a new
+Mazeppa,[143] or that he himself might become one: he imagined that he
+had completely gained them over. This momentary armistice, under the
+actual circumstances, sustained the hopes of Napoleon, such need had he
+of self-delusion. He was amused in this way for two hours.
+
+Meanwhile the day was declining, and Moscow continued dull, silent, and
+seemingly inanimate. The anxiety of the emperor increased, and the
+impatience of the soldiers could scarcely be repressed. Some officers
+ventured within the walls of the city. Moscow was deserted!
+
+At this intelligence, which he angrily refused to credit, Napoleon
+ascended the Hill of Salvation, and approached the Moskwa and the
+Dorogomilow gate.[144] He paused once more, but in vain, at the entrance
+of that barrier. Murat pressed him to permit his soldiers to occupy the
+city. "Well!" he replied, "let them enter, then, since they wish it!" He
+recommended the strictest discipline: he still indulged hopes. "Perhaps
+these inhabitants," he said, "do not even know how to surrender, for
+here everything is new; they to us, and we to them."
+
+Reports now began rapidly to succeed each other: they all agreed. Some
+Frenchmen, residents of Moscow, ventured to quit the hiding-places which
+for some days had concealed them from the fury of the populace, and
+confirmed the fatal tidings. The emperor called Daru.[145] "Moscow
+deserted!" he exclaimed: "what an improbable story! We must know the
+truth of it. Go and bring me the boyars."[146] He imagined that those
+men, stiff with pride or paralyzed by terror, remained motionless in
+their houses; and he, who had hitherto been always met by the submission
+of the vanquished, would encourage their confidence and anticipate their
+prayers.
+
+How, indeed, was it possible for him to persuade himself that so many
+magnificent palaces, so many splendid temples, so many rich mercantile
+establishments, had been forsaken by their owners, like the paltry
+hamlets through which he had recently passed? Daru's mission, however,
+was fruitless. Not a Muscovite was to be seen; not a particle of smoke
+arose from a single chimney; not the slightest noise issued from this
+vast and populous city: its three hundred thousand inhabitants seemed to
+be struck dumb and motionless by enchantment: it was the silence of the
+desert!
+
+But such was the incredulity of Napoleon that he was not yet convinced,
+and waited for further information. At length an officer, wishing to
+gratify him, or persuaded that whatever he willed must necessarily be
+accomplished, entered the city, seized five or six vagabonds, drove them
+before his horse to the emperor, and presented them to him as a
+deputation. From the first words they uttered, however, Napoleon
+detected the imposture, and perceived that they were only poor laborers.
+
+It was not till then that he ceased to doubt the entire evacuation of
+Moscow, and gave up all the hopes that he had built upon it. He shrugged
+his shoulders, and with that contemptuous look with which he met
+everything that crossed his wishes, he exclaimed, "Ah! the Russians do
+not know yet the effect which the taking of their capital will produce
+upon them!"
+
+It was now an hour since Murat and the long and close column of his
+cavalry had entered Moscow: they penetrated to the centre of that
+gigantic body, as yet untouched, but inanimate. Struck with profound
+astonishment at finding a solitude so complete, they replied to the
+stillness of this modern Thebes by a silence equally solemn. These
+warriors listened, with a secret shuddering, to the sound of their
+horses' steps among these deserted palaces. They were amazed to hear
+nothing but the noise they themselves made amid such numerous
+habitations. No one thought of stopping or of plundering, either from
+prudence, or because highly civilized nations respect themselves in
+enemies' capitals.
+
+Meanwhile they were silently observing this mighty city, which would
+have been truly remarkable had they met with it in a flourishing and
+populous country, but which was here in these deserts still more
+astonishing. It was like a rich and beautiful oasis. They had at first
+been struck by the sudden view of so many magnificent palaces, but they
+now perceived that they were intermingled with mean cottages: a
+circumstance which indicated the want of gradation among the classes,
+and that luxury had not been generated there, as in other countries, by
+industry, but had preceded it; whereas, in the natural order, it ought
+to be more or less its proper consequence.
+
+Amid these reflections, which were favored by the slowness of our march,
+the report of firearms was all at once heard: the column halted. Its
+last horses were still crossing the fields; its centre was in one of
+the longest streets of the city; its head had reached the Kremlin. The
+gates of that citadel appeared to be closed; ferocious cries issued from
+within it; men and women, of savage and disgusting aspect, appeared
+fully armed upon its walls. In a state of drunken fury, they uttered the
+most horrible imprecations. Murat sent them amicable proposals, but to
+no purpose. It was found necessary to employ cannon to break open the
+gate.
+
+We penetrated, partly without opposition, partly by force, among these
+wretches. One of them rushed close to Murat and endeavored to kill one
+of his officers. It was thought sufficient to disarm him; but he again
+fell upon his victim, threw him to the ground, and attempted to
+suffocate him; and even after his arms were seized and held, he strove
+to tear him with his teeth. These were the only Muscovites who had
+waited our coming! and who seemed to have been left behind as a savage
+and frightful emblem of the national hatred.
+
+It was easy to perceive, however, that there was no unison in this
+patriotic fury. Five hundred recruits, who had been forgotten in the
+Kremlin, took no part in this scene: at the first summons they
+dispersed; and farther on we overtook a convoy of provisions, the escort
+of which immediately threw down its arms. Several thousand stragglers
+and deserters from the enemy voluntarily remained in the power of our
+advance guard. The latter left to the corps which followed the task of
+picking them up; these, again, to others, and so on; and thus they
+remained at liberty in the midst of us, till the conflagration and
+pillage of the city reminding them of their duty, and rallying in them
+one general feeling of antipathy, they went and rejoined Kutusoff.
+
+Murat, who had been stopped but a few moments by the Kremlin, dispersed
+this despicable crew. Ardent and indefatigable as in Italy and Egypt,
+after a march of twenty-seven hundred miles, and sixty battles fought to
+reach Moscow, he traversed that proud city without deigning to halt in
+it, and pursuing the Russian rear guard, he boldly and without
+hesitation took the road for Vladimir and Asia.
+
+Several thousand Cossacks, with four pieces of cannon, were retreating
+in that direction: the armistice was at an end; and Murat, tired of this
+peace of half a day, immediately ordered it to be broken by a discharge
+of carbines. But our cavalry considered the war as finished; Moscow
+appeared to them to be the goal of it; and the advanced posts of the two
+empires seemed unwilling to renew hostilities. A fresh order arrived,
+but the same hesitation prevailed. At length Murat, incensed at this
+disobedience, gave his commands in person; and the firing, with which he
+seemed to threaten Asia, but which was not destined to cease till we had
+retreated to the banks of the Seine, was renewed.
+
+
+§ 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city discovered
+to be on fire.
+
+Napoleon did not enter Moscow till after dark. He stopped in one of the
+first houses of the Dorogomilow suburb. There he appointed Marshal
+Mortier governor of that capital. "Above all," he said to him, "no
+pillage. For this you shall be answerable to me with your life. Defend
+Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."
+
+That was a gloomy night: sinister reports rapidly followed each other.
+Some Frenchmen, resident in the country, and even a Russian officer of
+police, came to give intelligence respecting the conflagration. He
+related all the particulars of the preparations that had been made for
+it. The emperor, alarmed by these accounts, strove in vain to compose
+himself to rest. He called every moment, and fatal tidings were repeated
+to him. Still he persisted in his incredulity till about two in the
+morning, when news was brought to him that the fire had actually broken
+out.
+
+It was at the Exchange, in the centre of the city, in its richest
+quarter. Instantly he issued orders upon orders. As soon as it was
+light, he himself hastened to the spot and threatened the Young Guard
+and Mortier. The marshal pointed out to him some houses covered with
+iron; they were closely shut up, still untouched and uninjured without,
+and yet a black smoke was already issuing from them. Napoleon dejectedly
+entered the Kremlin.
+
+At the sight of this half-Gothic, half-modern palace of the Ruricks and
+the Romanoffs, of their throne still standing, of the cross of the great
+Ivan, and of the finest part of the city, which is overlooked by the
+Kremlin, and which the flames, as yet confined to the bazaar, seemed
+disposed to spare, his former hopes revived. His ambition was flattered
+by this great conquest. "At length, then," he exclaimed, "I am in
+Moscow, in the ancient palace of the Czars, in the Kremlin!" He examined
+every part of it with pride, curiosity, and gratification.
+
+He required a statement of the resources of the city; and, in this brief
+moment given to hope, sent proposals of peace to the Emperor Alexander.
+A superior officer of the enemy had just been found in the great
+hospital: he was charged with the delivery of this letter. It was by
+the baleful light of the flames of the bazaar that Napoleon finished
+it, and the Russian departed. He was to be the bearer of the news of the
+disaster to his sovereign, whose only answer was the conflagration of
+his capital.
+
+Daylight favored the efforts of the Duke of Treviso to subdue the
+flames. The incendiaries kept themselves concealed. Doubts even were
+entertained of their existence. At length, strict injunctions being
+issued, order restored, and alarm for a moment suspended, each took
+possession of a commodious house or sumptuous palace, under the idea of
+finding comforts that had been dearly purchased by long and excessive
+privations.
+
+Two officers had taken up their quarters in one of the buildings of the
+Kremlin. The view from thence embraced the north and west of the city.
+About midnight they were awakened by an extraordinary light. They looked
+out and beheld palaces filled with flames, which at first merely
+illuminated, but ere long totally consumed these superb and noble
+structures. They observed that the north wind drove these flames
+directly towards the Kremlin, and they became alarmed for the safety of
+that fortress, in which the flower of their army and its commander
+reposed. They were apprehensive also for the surrounding houses, where
+our soldiers, attendants, and horses, weary and exhausted, were
+doubtless buried in profound sleep. Sparks and burning fragments were
+already flying over the roofs of the Kremlin, when the wind, shifting
+from north to west, blew them in another direction.
+
+One of these officers, relieved from apprehension respecting his own
+corps, then composed himself again to sleep, exclaiming, "Let others
+look to it; 'tis no affair of ours"; for such was the unconcern
+produced by the multiplicity of events and misfortunes, such the
+selfishness arising from excessive suffering and fatigue, that they left
+to each only just strength and feeling sufficient for his personal
+service and preservation.
+
+But it was not long before fresh and more vivid lights again awoke them.
+They beheld other flames rising in the direction which the wind had
+again taken towards the Kremlin, and they cursed French imprudence and
+want of discipline, to which they imputed this disaster. Three times did
+the wind thus change from west to north, and three times did these
+hostile fires, as if obstinately bent on the destruction of the imperial
+quarters, appear eager to follow its course.
+
+At this sight a strong suspicion seized their minds. Could the
+Muscovites, aware of our rash and thoughtless negligence, have conceived
+the hope of burning, with Moscow, our soldiers, heavy with wine,
+fatigue, and sleep; or, rather, had they dared to imagine that they
+should involve Napoleon in this catastrophe, believing that the loss of
+such a man would be a full equivalent for that of their capital; that it
+was a result of sufficient importance to justify the sacrifice of all
+Moscow to obtain it; that Heaven, perhaps, in order to grant them so
+signal a triumph, had decreed so great a sacrifice?
+
+Whether this was actually their plan we cannot tell; but nothing less
+than the emperor's good fortune was required to prevent its being
+realized. In fact, not only did the Kremlin contain, unknown to us, a
+magazine of powder, but that very night, the guards, asleep and
+carelessly posted, suffered a whole park of artillery to enter and draw
+up under the windows of Napoleon.
+
+It was at this moment that the flames were driven from all quarters,
+with the greatest violence, towards the Kremlin; for the wind, drawn
+towards this vast conflagration, increased every moment in strength. The
+flower of the army and the emperor himself would have been destroyed, if
+but one of the brands that flew over our heads had alighted on one of
+the powder-wagons. Thus upon a single spark out of the multitudes that
+were for several hours floating in the air, depended the fate of the
+whole army.
+
+At length the day, a dismal day it was, appeared; it came only to add to
+the horrors of the scene, and to take from it all its brilliancy. Many
+of the officers sought refuge in the halls of the palace. The chiefs,
+and Mortier himself, who had been contending for thirty-six hours
+against the fire, there dropped down from fatigue, and in despair.
+
+They said nothing, and we accused ourselves. Most of us supposed that
+want of discipline on the part of our troops and drunkenness had begun
+the disaster, and that the high wind had completed it. We viewed
+ourselves with feelings of disgust. The cry of horror which all Europe
+would not fail to set up, terrified us. Filled with consternation at so
+tremendous a catastrophe, we accosted each other with downcast looks. We
+were roused only by our eagerness to obtain intelligence; and every
+account now began to accuse the Russians alone of the disaster.
+
+In fact, officers arrived from all quarters, and they all agreed on this
+point. The very first night, that of the 14th, a fire-balloon had
+settled on the palace of Prince Trubetskoi, and consumed it: this had
+been the signal. Fire was now immediately set to the Exchange; and
+Russian police soldiers had been seen stirring it up with tarred lances.
+In some places, shells, perfidiously placed in the stoves of the
+houses, had exploded and wounded the military who crowded around them.
+Retiring to other quarters still standing, they sought there for fresh
+retreats; but when on the point of entering houses that were closely
+shut up and uninhabited, they had heard faint explosions within; these
+were succeeded by a light smoke, which immediately became thick and
+black, then reddish, lastly fire was seen, and presently the whole
+edifice was involved in flames.
+
+All had seen hideous-looking men, covered with rags, and women
+resembling furies, wandering among these flames. These wretches,
+intoxicated with wine and with the success of their crimes, no longer
+took any pains to conceal themselves: they proceeded in triumph through
+the blazing streets; they were caught, armed with torches, striving to
+spread the conflagration; and it was necessary to strike down their
+hands with sabres to oblige them to loose their hold. It was said that
+these banditti had been let loose from the prisons by the Russian
+generals for the express purpose of burning the city; and that, in fact,
+a resolution so extreme could only have been conceived by patriotism,
+and executed by guilt.
+
+Orders were immediately issued to shoot all the incendiaries on the
+spot. The army was on foot. The Old Guard, which exclusively occupied
+one part of the Kremlin, was under arms: the baggage, and the horses
+ready loaded, filled the courts; we were struck dumb with astonishment,
+surprise, and disappointment at witnessing the destruction of such
+admirable quarters. Though masters of Moscow, we were forced to go and
+bivouac,[147] without provisions, outside its gates.
+
+While our troops were yet struggling with the conflagration, and
+disputing their prey with the flames, Napoleon, whose sleep none had
+dared to disturb during the night, was awakened by the twofold light of
+day and of the burning city. His first feeling was that of irritation,
+and he would have stayed the devouring element by the breath of his
+command; but he soon paused, and yielded to impossibility. Surprised
+that when he had struck at the heart of an empire he should find there
+any other sentiment than that of abject submission, he felt himself
+vanquished, and surpassed in heroic determination.
+
+This conquest, for which he had sacrificed everything, was like a
+phantom which he had eagerly pursued, and, at the moment when he
+imagined he had grasped it, he saw it vanish from him in a mingled mass
+of smoke and flame. He was then seized with extreme agitation: he
+seemed, as it were, consumed by the fires which were around him. He rose
+every moment from his seat, paced to and fro, and again sat abruptly
+down. He traversed his apartments with hurried steps: his sudden and
+vehement gestures betrayed a painful uneasiness; he quitted, resumed,
+and again as suddenly abandoned an urgent occupation, to hasten to the
+windows and watch the progress of the flames. Short and incoherent
+exclamations burst from his laboring bosom! "What a tremendous
+spectacle! It is their own work! So many palaces! What extraordinary
+resolution! What men! These are indeed Scythians!"[148]
+
+Between the fire and his quarters there was an extensive vacant space,
+then the Moskwa and its two quays; and yet the panes of the windows
+against which he leaned felt already burning to the touch, and the
+constant exertions of sweepers, placed on the iron roofs of the palace,
+were not sufficient to keep them clear of the numerous flakes of fire
+which were continually lighting upon them.
+
+At this moment a rumor was spread that the Kremlin had been mined; and
+the fact, it was said, was confirmed later by the declarations of the
+Russians, and by written documents. Some of his attendants were beside
+themselves with fear, while the military awaited unmoved what the orders
+of the emperor and fate should decree; but he replied to their alarm
+only with a smile of incredulity.
+
+Still, he continued to walk about in the utmost agitation: he stopped at
+every window, to gaze on the terrible, the victorious element that was
+furiously consuming his brilliant conquest; seizing on all the bridges,
+on all the avenues to his fortress, enclosing, and, as it were,
+besieging him in it; spreading every moment wider and wider; constantly
+reducing him within narrower limits, and confining him at length to the
+site of the Kremlin alone.
+
+We breathed already nothing but smoke and ashes: night approached, and
+was about to add darkness to our other dangers; while the equinoctial
+gales, as if in alliance with the Russians, increased in violence. Then
+Murat and Prince Eugene hastened to the emperor's quarters: in company
+with the Prince of Neufchâtel they made their way to him, and urged him
+by their entreaties, and on their knees, to remove from this scene of
+desolation. All was in vain.
+
+Master, after so many sacrifices, of the palace of the Czars, he was
+bent on not yielding that conquest even to the conflagration, when all
+at once the shout of "the Kremlin is on fire!" passed from mouth to
+mouth, and roused us from the contemplative stupor into which we had
+been plunged. The emperor went out to ascertain the danger. Twice had
+the fire communicated to the building in which he was and twice had it
+been extinguished; but the tower of the arsenal was still burning. A
+soldier of the police had been found in it. He was brought in, and
+Napoleon caused him to be interrogated in his presence. This man was the
+incendiary; he had executed his commission at the signal given by his
+chief. It was now evident that everything was devoted to destruction,
+the ancient and sacred Kremlin not excepted.
+
+The gestures of the emperor bespoke disdain and vexation: the wretch was
+hurried into the first court, and there the enraged soldiers despatched
+him with their bayonets.
+
+
+§ 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city.
+
+This occurrence decided Napoleon. He hastily descended the northern
+staircase, famous for the massacre of the Strelitzes,[149] and requested
+to be conducted out of the city, to the distance of a league on the road
+to St. Petersburg, towards the imperial palace of Petrowski.
+
+But we were besieged by an ocean of fire, which blocked up all the gates
+of the citadel, and frustrated our first attempts to escape. After some
+search, we discovered a postern-gate[150] leading between the rocks to
+the Moskwa. It was by this narrow pass that Napoleon, his officers and
+guard, made their way from the Kremlin. But what had they gained by this
+movement? They had approached nearer to the fire, and could neither
+retreat nor remain where they were; and how were they to advance? how
+force a passage through the billows of this sea of flame? Those who had
+traversed the city, stunned by the tempest and blinded by the ashes,
+could no longer find their way, since the streets themselves were not
+distinguishable amid smoke and ruins.
+
+There was no time to be lost. The roaring of the flames around us became
+every moment more terrific. A single narrow winding street, completely
+enveloped in fire on either side, appeared rather the entrance than the
+outlet of this hell. The emperor, however, on foot, and without
+hesitation, rushed into this frightful passage. He advanced amid the
+crackling of the flames, the crash of floors, and the fall of burning
+timbers, and of fragments of red-hot iron roofs which tumbled around
+him. These ruins impeded his progress. The flames, while with impetuous
+roar they consumed the edifices between which we were proceeding,
+spreading beyond the walls, were blown out by the wind, and formed an
+arch over our heads. We walked on a ground of fire, beneath a fiery
+canopy and between two walls of fire. The intense heat burned our eyes,
+which we were nevertheless obliged to keep open and fixed on the danger.
+A consuming atmosphere parched our throats, and rendered our respiration
+short and difficult; and we were already almost suffocated by the smoke.
+Our hands were burned, either in endeavoring to protect our faces from
+the insupportable heat, or in brushing off the sparks which every moment
+fell upon our garments. In this inexpressible distress, and when a rapid
+advance seemed to be our only means of safety, our guide stopped in
+uncertainty and agitation. Here probably would have terminated our
+adventurous career, had not some pillagers of the first corps recognized
+the emperor amid the whirling flames: they ran up and guided him towards
+the smoking ruins of a quarter which had been reduced to ashes in the
+morning.
+
+It was there that we met the Prince of Eckmühl. This marshal, who had
+been wounded at the Moskwa, had desired to be carried back among the
+flames to rescue Napoleon, or to perish with him. He threw himself into
+his arms with transport; the emperor received him kindly, but with that
+composure which in danger he never lost for a moment.
+
+To escape from this vast region of desolation, it was farther necessary
+to pass a long convoy of powder which was defiling amid the fire. This
+was not the least of his dangers, but it was the last, and by nightfall
+he arrived at Petrowski.
+
+The next morning, the 17th of September, Napoleon cast his first look
+towards Moscow, hoping to see that the conflagration had subsided. But
+he beheld it again raging with the utmost violence: the city appeared
+like one vast column of fire, rising in whirling eddies to the sky,
+which it deeply colored. Absorbed by this melancholy contemplation, he
+maintained a long and gloomy silence, which he broke only by the
+exclamation, "This forebodes to us great misfortunes!"
+
+The effort which he had made to reach Moscow had expended all his means
+of warfare. Moscow had been the limit of his projects, the aim of all
+his hopes, and Moscow was no more! What was now to be done? Here this
+decisive genius was forced to hesitate. He who in 1805 had ordered the
+sudden and total abandonment of the expedition prepared at an immense
+expense, for the invasion of England; and determined at Boulogne on the
+surprise and annihilation of the Austrian army, in short, on all the
+operations of the campaign between Ulm and Munich exactly as they were
+executed; this same man, who in the following year dictated at Paris
+with like infallibility all the movements of his army as far as Berlin,
+the day of his entrance into that capital, and the appointment of the
+governor whom he destined for it; he it was who, astonished in his turn,
+was now in perplexity what course to pursue. Never had he communicated
+his most daring projects to the most confidential of his ministers but
+in order for their execution; he was now, however, constrained to
+consult and put to the proof those who were around him.
+
+But, in doing this, he still preserved the same show of confidence and
+of determination. He declared that he would march for St. Petersburg.
+This conquest was already marked out on his maps, hitherto so prophetic:
+orders were even issued to the different corps to hold themselves in
+readiness. But this was all only a feint: it was but a better face that
+he strove to assume, or an expedient for diverting his grief at the loss
+of Moscow; so that Berthier, and more especially Bessières, soon
+convinced him that he had neither time, provisions, roads, nor a single
+requisite for so distant an expedition.
+
+At this moment he was apprised that Kutusoff, after having fled towards
+the east, had suddenly turned to the south, and thrown himself between
+Moscow and Kaluga. This was an additional circumstance against the
+expedition to St. Petersburg. There was a threefold reason for marching
+upon the beaten army, and endeavoring to extinguish it: to secure his
+right flank and his line of operation; to possess himself of Kaluga and
+of Tula, the one the granary, the other the arsenal of Russia; and,
+lastly, to open safe, short, new, and untouched retreat to Smolensk and
+Lithuania.[151]
+
+Some one proposed to return upon Wittgenstein and Witepsk.[152]
+Napoleon, however, remained undecided between these different plans.
+That for the conquest of St. Petersburg alone flattered him: the others
+appeared but as ways of retreat, as acknowledgments of error; and
+whether from pride, or policy which would not admit itself to be in the
+wrong, he rejected them.
+
+Besides, where was he to halt in case of a retreat? He had so fully
+calculated on concluding a peace at Moscow, that he had no
+winter-quarters provided in Lithuania. Kaluga had no temptations for
+him. Wherefore lay waste fresh provinces? It would be wiser only to
+threaten them, and thus leave the Russians something to lose, in order
+to induce them to conclude a peace by which they might be preserved.
+Would it be possible to march to another battle, to fresh conquests,
+without exposing a line of operation covered with sick, stragglers,
+wounded, and convoys of all sorts? Moscow was the general rallying
+point: how could it be changed? What other name would have any
+attraction?
+
+Lastly, and above all, how could he relinquish a hope to which he had
+made so many sacrifices, when he knew that his letter to Alexander had
+just passed the Russian advanced posts; when eight days would be
+sufficient for receiving an answer, so ardently desired; when he
+required that time to rally and reorganize his army, to collect the
+relics of Moscow, the conflagration of which had but too strongly
+sanctioned pillage, and to draw his soldiers away from that vast
+infirmary.
+
+Meanwhile, scarcely a third of that army and of that capital now
+existed. But himself and the Kremlin were still standing: his renown was
+still entire, and he persuaded himself that those two great names,
+Napoleon and Moscow, combined, would be sufficient to accomplish
+everything. He determined, therefore, to return to the Kremlin, which a
+battalion of his guard had unfortunately preserved.
+
+
+§ 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city.
+
+The camps which he traversed on his way thither presented an
+extraordinary sight. In the fields, in the midst of the mud, were large
+fires, kept up with mahogany furniture, windows and gilded doors. Around
+these fires, on litters of damp straw, imperfectly sheltered by a few
+boards, were seen the soldiers and their officers, splashed all over
+with mud, and blackened with smoke, seated in arm-chairs or reclining on
+silken couches. At their feet were spread, or heaped together, Cashmere
+shawls, the rarest furs of Siberia, the gold stuffs of Persia, and
+silver dishes, off which they had nothing to eat but black dough baked
+in the ashes, and half broiled and bloody horseflesh. Strange
+combination of abundance and want, of riches and filth, of luxury and
+wretchedness!
+
+Between the camp and the city were met troops of soldiers dragging along
+their booty, or driving before them, like beasts of burden, Muscovites
+bending under the weight of the pillage of their capital: for the fire
+brought to light nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, previously
+concealed in that immense city. Some of these, of both sexes, were well
+dressed: they were tradespeople. They came with the wreck of their
+property, to seek refuge at our fires. They lived pell-mell with our
+soldiers, protected by some, and tolerated, or, rather, scarcely
+remarked by others.
+
+About ten thousand of the enemy's troops were in the same predicament.
+For several days they wandered about among us, free, and some of them
+even still armed. Our soldiers met these vanquished Russians without the
+slightest animosity, and without thinking of making them prisoners;
+either that they considered the war at an end, or from thoughtlessness
+or pity, or because, when not in battle, the French delight in having no
+enemies. They suffered them to share their fires; nay, more, they
+allowed them to pillage in their company. But when some degree of order
+was restored, or, rather, when the officers had organized this marauding
+as a regular system of forage, the great number of these Russian
+stragglers attracted notice, and orders were given to secure them; but
+seven or eight thousand had already escaped. It was not long before we
+had to fight them.
+
+On entering the city the emperor was struck by a sight still more
+extraordinary: a few houses scattered here and there among the ruins
+were all that was left of the mighty Moscow. The smell issuing from this
+vast city, overthrown, burned, and calcined, was horrible. Heaps of
+ashes, and, at intervals, fragments of walls or half-demolished pillars,
+were now the only vestiges that marked the sites of streets.
+
+In the suburbs were found a few Russians of both sexes, covered with
+garments scorched and blackened by the fire. They flitted like spectres
+among the ruins; some of them were scratching up the earth in gardens in
+quest of vegetables, while others were disputing with the crows for the
+relics of the dead animals which their army had left behind. Farther on,
+others again were seen plunging into the Moskwa to bring out some of the
+grain which had been thrown into it by command of Rostopchin, and which
+they devoured without preparation, soured and spoiled as it was.
+
+Meanwhile the sight of the booty in the camps, where everything was yet
+wanting, inflamed the soldiers, whom a sense of duty or stricter
+officers had hitherto kept with their colors. They murmured. "Why were
+they to be kept back? Why were they to perish by famine and want, when
+everything was within their reach? Was it right to allow the enemy's
+fires to destroy what might be saved? Why was such respect to be paid to
+the conflagration?" They added, that "as the inhabitants of Moscow had
+not only abandoned, but even endeavored utterly to destroy it, all that
+they could save would be fairly gained; that the remains of that city,
+like the arms of the conquered, belonged by right to the victors, as the
+Muscovites had turned their capital into a vast machine of war for the
+purpose of annihilating us."
+
+The best principled, and the best disciplined were those who argued
+thus, and it was impossible to reply satisfactorily to them. Exaggerated
+scruples, however, at first preventing the issuing of orders for
+pillage, it was permitted, unrestrained by regulations. Then it was,
+urged by the most imperious wants, that all hurried to share the spoil,
+soldiers of the highest class, and even officers. Their chiefs were
+obliged to shut their eyes: only such guards as were absolutely
+indispensable remained with the colors and the piled arms.
+
+The emperor saw his whole army dispersed over the city. His progress was
+obstructed by long files of marauders going in quest of booty or
+returning with it; by tumultuous assemblages of soldiers grouped around
+the entrances of cellars, or the doors of palaces, shops, and churches,
+which the fire had nearly reached, and which they were endeavoring to
+break into.
+
+His steps were impeded by the fragments of furniture of every kind which
+had been thrown out of the windows to save them from the flames, or by
+rich pillage which had been abandoned from caprice for other booty, for
+such is the way with soldiers; they are incessantly beginning their
+fortunes afresh, taking everything indiscriminately, loading themselves
+beyond measure, as if they could carry all that they find; then, after
+they have gone a few steps, compelled by fatigue to throw away
+successively the greatest part of their burden.
+
+The roads were obstructed by these accumulations; and the open places,
+like the camp, were turned into markets, whither every one repaired to
+exchange superfluities for necessaries. There the rarest articles, the
+value of which was not known to their possessors, were sold for the
+merest pittance; while others of little worth, but more showy
+appearance, were purchased at the most exorbitant prices. Gold, from
+being most portable, was bought at an immense loss with silver that the
+knapsacks were incapable of holding. Everywhere soldiers were seen
+seated on bales of merchandise, on heaps of sugar and coffee, amid
+wines and the most exquisite liquors, all of which they were offering
+in exchange for a morsel of bread. Many, in a state of intoxication
+aggravated by hunger, had fallen near the flames, which, reaching them,
+put a miserable end to their lives.
+
+The houses and palaces which had escaped the fire served as quarters for
+the officers, who respected whatever was found in them. They beheld with
+pain this vast destruction, and the pillage which was its necessary
+consequence. Some of our best men were reproached with being too greedy
+in collecting whatever they could rescue from the flames; but their
+number was so small that they were all mentioned by name. In these
+ardent men war was a passion which presupposed the existence of many
+others. It was not covetousness, for they did not hoard; they spent
+lavishly what they had thus picked up, taking in order to give,
+believing that one hand washed the other, and that they paid for
+everything with the danger they encountered in acquiring it.
+
+It was amid this confusion that Napoleon again entered Moscow. He had
+allowed the pillage, hoping that his army, scattered over the ruins,
+would find much that was valuable; but when he learned that the disorder
+increased; that the Old Guard[153] itself had yielded to the temptation;
+that the Russian peasants, who were at length allured thither with
+provisions, for which he caused them to be liberally paid, that they
+might induce others to come, were robbed of what they brought to us by
+our famished soldiers; when he was informed that the different corps,
+destitute of everything, were ready to fight each other for the relics
+of Moscow; that, finally, all our existing resources were wasted by this
+lawless freebooting, he then issued severe orders, and forbade his guard
+to leave their quarters. The churches in which our cavalry had sheltered
+themselves, were evacuated, and restored to their religious uses.[154]
+The business of plunder was ordered to be taken in turn by the different
+corps, like any other duty, and directions were at length given for
+securing the Russian stragglers.
+
+But it was too late. These soldiers had fled; the affrighted peasants
+returned no more; and great quantities of provisions were wasted. The
+French army have sometimes fallen into these faults, but on the present
+occasion the fire must plead their excuse; no time was to be lost in
+anticipating the flames. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that at the
+first command of the emperor perfect order was restored.
+
+Most of our men behaved generously, considering the small number of
+inhabitants who remained, and the great number of enemies they met with.
+But if, in the first moments of pillage, some excesses were perpetrated,
+ought this to appear surprising in an army exasperated by such urgent
+wants, such severe sufferings, and composed of so many different
+nations?
+
+Misfortunes having since overwhelmed these warriors, reproaches, as in
+such circumstances is ever the case, have been raised against them. Who
+can be ignorant that similar disorders have always been the bad side of
+great wars, or, so to speak, the inglorious part of glory; that the
+renown of conquerors casts its shadow like everything else in this
+world? Does there exist a creature however diminutive, on every side of
+which the sun can shine at once? It is a law of nature, therefore, that
+great bodies shall cast great shadows.
+
+
+§ 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon at
+not hearing from the Czar.
+
+Meanwhile Kutusoff, on leaving Moscow, had drawn Murat towards Kolomna,
+the point where the Moskwa intersects the road. Here, under favor of the
+night, he suddenly turned to the south, proceeding by the way of Podol,
+to throw himself between Moscow and Kaluga. This night march of the
+Russians around Moscow, the ashes and flames of which were wafted to
+them by the violence of the wind, was gloomy in the extreme. They were
+lighted on their march by the baleful conflagration which was consuming
+the centre of their commerce, the sanctuary of their religion, the
+cradle of their empire! Filled with horror and indignation, they kept a
+sullen silence, which was unbroken save by the dull and monotonous sound
+of their footsteps, the roaring of the flames, and the howling of the
+blast. The dismal light was frequently varied by livid and sudden
+flashes. The brows of these warriors might then be seen contracted by
+intense and unutterable grief, and the fire of their sombre and
+threatening looks answered to these flames, which they regarded as our
+work; they already betrayed the ferocious revenge which was rankling in
+their hearts, which spread throughout the empire, and of which so many
+Frenchmen were the victims.
+
+At that solemn moment, Kutusoff, in a firm and impressive tone,
+addressed his sovereign, and informed him of the loss of his capital. He
+stated that, "in order to save the fertile provinces of the south, and
+to keep up his communications with Tormasoff and Tchitchakoff, he had
+been obliged to abandon Moscow, but emptied of its inhabitants, who were
+its life; and," said he, "as the people are the soul of every country,
+so where the Russian people are, there will be Moscow and the empire of
+Russia."
+
+It is said that on receiving this intelligence Alexander was
+thunderstruck. Napoleon, it was known, built hopes on the weakness of
+his rival, and the Russians themselves dreaded the effects of that
+weakness. But the Czar disappointed as well these hopes as fears. In his
+addresses to his subjects he exhibited himself no less great than his
+misfortune: "No pusillanimous dejection!" he exclaimed; "let us vow
+redoubled courage and perseverance! The enemy is in deserted Moscow as
+in a tomb, without means of domination or even of existence. He entered
+Russia with three hundred thousand men of all countries, without union
+or any national or religious bond: he has already lost half of them by
+the sword, by famine, and by desertion: he has but the wreck of this
+army in Moscow: he is in the heart of Russia, and not a single Russian
+is at his feet.
+
+"Meanwhile our forces are increasing and closing around him. He is in
+the midst of a mighty population, encompassed by armies which are
+waiting his movements and keeping him in check. To escape from famine,
+he will soon be obliged to direct his flight through the ranks of our
+brave soldiers. Shall we then recede, when all Europe is looking on and
+encouraging us? Let us, on the contrary, set it an example, and kiss
+the hand which has thus led us forth to be the first among the nations
+to vindicate the cause of independence and virtue." He concluded with an
+invocation to the Almighty.
+
+This circuitous march of Kutusoff, whether made from indecision or as a
+stratagem, was much in his favor. Murat lost all traces of him for three
+days. The Russian general employed all this interval in studying the
+ground and in intrenching himself. His advanced guard had nearly reached
+Woronowo, one of the finest domains belonging to Count Rostopchin, when
+that nobleman proceeded on before it. The Russians supposed that he had
+gone to take a last look at this splendid mansion, when all at once it
+was wrapped from their sight by clouds of smoke.
+
+They hurried on to extinguish the fire, but Rostopchin himself repelled
+their aid. They beheld him, amid the flames which he was encouraging,
+smiling at the demolition of this magnificent edifice, and then with a
+firm hand penning these words, which the French, shuddering with
+astonishment, afterwards read on the iron gate of a church which was
+left standing: "For eight years I have been embellishing this
+country-seat, where I have lived happily in the bosom of my family. The
+inhabitants of this estate, to the number of 1720, leave it on your
+approach, while I have set fire to my house, that it may not be polluted
+by your presence. Frenchmen, I have relinquished to you my two houses at
+Moscow, with their furniture, worth half a million of rubles. Here you
+will find nothing but ashes!"
+
+It was near this place that Murat came up with Kutusoff. On the 29th of
+September there was a smart engagement of cavalry and another on the 4th
+of October. Murat fought till nightfall, and repulsed the Russian
+force.
+
+Meanwhile, the conflagration at Moscow, which commenced in the night of
+the 14th of September, suspended through our exertions during the day of
+the 15th, revived the following night, and, raging with the utmost
+violence on the 16th, 17th, and 18th, abated on the 19th: it ceased
+altogether on the 20th, and on that day Napoleon returned to the
+Kremlin. To this point he attracted the looks of all Europe. There he
+awaited his convoys, his re-enforcements, and the stragglers of his
+army; certain that his soldiers would all be rallied by his victory, by
+the allurements of a rich booty, by the imposing sight of captive
+Moscow, and, above all, by his own glory, which, from the summit of this
+immense pile of ruins, still shone attractive like a beacon upon a rock.
+
+Twice, however, on the 22d and 28th of September, letters from Murat had
+wellnigh drawn him from this fatal abode. They announced a battle; and
+twice the orders for departure were written, and then burned. It seemed
+as though the war was finished for the emperor, and that he was only
+waiting for an answer from St. Petersburg. He nourished his hopes with
+the recollections of Tilsit and Erfurt.[155] Was it possible that at
+Moscow he should have less ascendancy over Alexander? Then, as is common
+with men who have long been the favorites of fortune, what he ardently
+wished he confidently expected.
+
+His genius possessed, besides, the extraordinary faculty of being able
+to throw aside the most important occupation whenever he pleased,
+either for the sake of variety or for rest; for in him the power of will
+surpassed that of imagination. In this respect he reigned over himself
+no less despotically than he did over others.
+
+Thus Paris diverted his attention from Petersburg. His accumulating
+affairs and the couriers, which in the first days succeeded each other
+without intermission, served to engage him. But the rapidity with which
+he transacted business soon left him again with nothing to do. His
+expresses,[156] which at first came from France in a fortnight, now
+ceased to arrive. A few military posts, placed in four towns reduced to
+ashes, and in wooden houses rudely palisaded, were wholly insufficient
+to guard a road of nearly two hundred and eighty miles; for we had been
+able to fix only these few steps, and at so great a distance apart, on
+so long a ladder. This too lengthened line of operation was consequently
+broken at every point where it was touched by the enemy: a few peasants,
+or a handful of Cossacks, were quite sufficient for the purpose.
+
+Still no answer was received from Alexander. The uneasiness of Napoleon
+increased, while his means of diverting his attention from it
+diminished. The activity of his genius, accustomed to the government of
+all Europe, had nothing with which to occupy itself but the management
+of one hundred thousand men; and then, the organization of his army was
+so perfect, that this was scarcely any occupation to him. Here
+everything was fixed: he held all the wires in his hand: he was
+surrounded by ministers who could tell him immediately, at any hour of
+the day, the position of each man in the morning or at night, whether
+with his colors, in the hospital, on leave of absence, or wherever else
+he might be, and that, from Moscow to Paris: to such a degree of
+perfection had the science of a concentrated administration been then
+brought, so experienced and well chosen were the officers, and so much
+was required by their commander.
+
+But eleven days had already elapsed: still Alexander was silent, and
+still did Napoleon hope to overcome his rival by obstinacy: thus losing
+the time which he ought to have gained, and which might have been made
+so serviceable against attack.
+
+From this period all his actions indicated to the Russians, still more
+strongly than at Witepsk, that their mighty foe was resolved to fix
+himself in the heart of their empire. Moscow, though in ashes, received
+a governor and municipal officers: orders also were issued to provision
+it for the winter: and a theatre was formed amid its ruins. The first
+actors of Paris, it is said, were sent for. An Italian singer strove to
+reproduce in the Kremlin the evening entertainments of the Tuileries. By
+such means Napoleon expected to dupe a government which the habit of
+reigning over ignorance and error had rendered an adept in all these
+delusions.
+
+He was himself sensible of the inadequacy of these means, and yet
+September was past, and October had begun. Alexander had not deigned to
+reply! it was an affront! he was exasperated. On the 3d of October,
+after a night of restlessness and irritation, he summoned his marshals.
+"Come in," said he, as soon as he perceived them; "hear the new plan
+which I have conceived: Prince Eugene, read it." They listened. "We must
+burn the remains of Moscow, and march by Twer to St. Petersburg, where
+we shall be joined by Macdonald. Murat and Davoust will form the rear
+guard." The emperor, all animation, fixed his sparkling eyes on his
+generals, whose rigid and silent countenances expressed nothing but
+astonishment.
+
+Then exalting himself in order to rouse them, "What!" said he, "and are
+_you_ not inflamed by this idea? Was there ever so great a military
+achievement? Henceforth this conquest is the only one that is worthy of
+us! With what glory shall we be covered, and what will the whole world
+say when it learns that in three months we have conquered the two great
+capitals of the North!"
+
+But Davoust, as well as Daru, objected to him "the season, the want of
+supplies, a sterile desert, and artificial road, that from Twer to St.
+Petersburg runs for a hundred leagues through morasses, and which three
+hundred peasants might in a single day render impassable. Why keep
+proceeding north? Why go to meet, to provoke, and to defy the winter? it
+was already too near; and what was to become of the six thousand wounded
+still in Moscow? Were they then to be left to the mercy of Kutusoff?
+That general would not fail to follow close at our heels. We should have
+at once to attack and to defend, thus marching to a conquest as though
+we were in flight."
+
+These officers have declared that they themselves then proposed various
+plans: a useless trouble with a prince whose genius outstripped all
+other imaginations, and whom their objections would not have stopped,
+had he been fully determined to march on St. Petersburg. But that idea
+was in him only a sally of anger, an inspiration of despair, on finding
+himself obliged in the face of Europe to give way, to relinquish his
+conquest and to fall back.
+
+It was more especially a threat to frighten his officers as well as the
+enemy, and to bring about and to promote a negotiation which
+Caulaincourt was to open. That officer had made himself agreeable to
+Alexander; he was the only one of the grandees of Napoleon's court who
+had acquired any influence over his rival; but for some months past
+Napoleon had kept him at a distance, because he had not been able to
+induce him to approve of his expedition.
+
+It was nevertheless to this very man that he was now obliged to have
+recourse, and to disclose his anxiety. He sent for him; but, when alone
+with him, he hesitated. Taking him by the arm, he walked to and fro for
+a long time in great agitation, his pride preventing him from breaking
+so painful a silence: at length he yielded, but in a threatening manner.
+Caulaincourt, who had formerly been minister to Russia, was to persuade
+the enemy to solicit peace of him, as if it were by his condescension
+that it was to be granted.
+
+After a few words, which were scarcely articulate, he said that "he was
+about to march to St. Petersburg. He knew that the destruction of that
+city would give pain to General Caulaincourt. Russia would then rise
+against the Emperor Alexander; there would at once be a conspiracy
+against that monarch; he would be assassinated, which would be a most
+unfortunate circumstance. He esteemed that prince, and should regret
+him, both for his own sake and that of France. His disposition," he
+added, "was suited to our interests: no prince could replace him with so
+much advantage to us. He had thought, therefore, of sending General
+Caulaincourt to him, to prevent such a catastrophe."
+
+General Caulaincourt, however, more obstinate than disposed to flattery,
+did not alter his tone. He maintained that "these overtures would be
+useless; that, unless the Russian territory was entirely evacuated,
+Alexander would listen to no proposals; that Russia was sensible of all
+her advantage at this season of the year; nay, more, that this step
+would be detrimental to himself, inasmuch as it would demonstrate the
+need which he had of peace, and betray all the embarrassment of our
+situation."
+
+He added, "that the more particular he was in the selection of his
+negotiator, the more clearly would he show his anxiety; that, therefore,
+he (Caulaincourt) would be more likely to fail than any other,
+especially as he would go with the certainty of failing." The emperor
+abruptly terminated the conversation by these words: "Well, then, I will
+send Lauriston."
+
+The latter asserts that he added fresh objections to the preceding, and
+that, being urged by the emperor, he recommended to him to begin his
+retreat that very day, by way of Kaluga. Napoleon, irritated at this,
+sharply replied, "that he liked simple plans, less circuitous routes,
+high roads, the road by which he had come, yet he would not retrace it
+but with peace." Then showing to him, as he had done to General
+Caulaincourt, the letter which he had written to Alexander, he ordered
+him to go and obtain of Kutusoff a safe conduct to St. Petersburg. The
+last words of the emperor to Lauriston were, "I want peace, I must have
+peace, I absolutely will have peace only save my honor."
+
+The general set out, and reached the advanced posts of the Russians on
+the 5th of October. Hostilities were instantly suspended, and an
+interview granted, at which Wolkonsky, aid-de-camp to Alexander, and
+Beningsen were present, without Kutusoff. Wilson asserts that the
+Russian generals and officers, suspicious of their commander, and
+accusing him of weakness, had raised a cry of treason, and that the
+latter had not dared to leave his camp.
+
+As Lauriston's instructions purported that he was to address himself to
+no one but Kutusoff, he peremptorily rejected any intermediate
+communication; and seizing, as he said, this occasion for breaking off a
+negotiation which he disapproved, he retired, in spite of all the
+solicitations of Wolkonsky, with the intention of returning to Moscow.
+Had he carried this into effect, no doubt Napoleon, exasperated, would
+have fallen upon Kutusoff, overthrown him and destroyed his army, as yet
+very incomplete, and forced him into a peace. In case of less decisive
+success, he would at least have been able to retire without loss upon
+his reinforcements.
+
+Unfortunately, Beningsen desired an interview with Murat. Lauriston
+waited. The chief of the Russian staff, an abler negotiator than
+soldier, strove to charm this monarch of yesterday by demonstrations of
+respect; to seduce him by praises; to deceive him with smooth words,
+breathing nothing but a weariness of war and the hope of peace; and
+Murat, tired of battles, anxious respecting their result, and, as it is
+said, regretting his throne, now that he had no hope of a better,
+suffered himself to be charmed, seduced, and deceived.
+
+It was soon demonstrated that the chief point in which they were all
+agreed was to deceive Murat and the emperor; and in this they succeeded.
+These details transported Napoleon with joy. Credulous from hope,
+perhaps from despair, he was for some moments dazzled by these
+appearances: eager to escape from the inward feeling which oppressed
+him, he seemed desirous to deaden it by resigning himself to an
+expansive joy. He therefore summoned all his generals, and triumphantly
+announced to them a speedy peace. "They had but to wait another
+fortnight. None but himself was acquainted with the Russian character.
+On the receipt of his letter St. Petersburg would be illuminated." But
+the armistice[157] proposed by Kutusoff was so unsatisfactory to him,
+that he ordered Murat to break it instantly; it nevertheless continued
+to be observed, the cause of which is not known.
+
+This armistice was a very singular one. If either party wished to break
+it, three hours' notice was to be sufficient. It was confined to the
+fronts of the two camps, but did not extend to their flanks: such, at
+least, was the interpretation put upon it by the Russians. Thus, we
+could not bring up a convoy, or send out a foraging party, without
+fighting; so that the war continued everywhere excepting where it could
+be favorable to us.
+
+As for the emperor, who was not so easily deceived, he had but a few
+moments of factitious joy. He soon complained "that an annoying warfare
+of partisans[158] hovered around him; that, notwithstanding all these
+pacific demonstrations, bodies of Cossacks were prowling on his flanks
+and in his rear. Had not one hundred and fifty dragoons of his Old Guard
+been surprised and routed by a number of these barbarians? And this two
+days after the armistice, on the road to Mojaisk, on his line of
+operation, that by which the army communicated with its magazines, its
+reinforcements, and he himself with Europe?"
+
+Our soldiers, and especially our cavalry, were obliged every morning to
+go to a great distance in quest of provisions for the evening and for
+the next day; and as the environs of Moscow and Vinkowo became gradually
+more and more drained, they were daily compelled to extend their
+excursions. Both men and horses returned worn out with fatigue, that is
+to say, such of them as returned at all; for we had to fight for every
+bushel of rye and for every truss of forage. It was a series of
+incessant surprises and skirmishes, and of continual losses. The
+peasantry took part in it. They punished with death such of their number
+as the prospect of gain had allured to our camp with provisions. Others
+set fire to their own villages to drive our foragers out of them, and to
+give them up to the Cossacks, whom they had previously summoned, and who
+kept us there in a state of siege.
+
+Thus the war was everywhere: in our front, on our flanks, and in our
+rear. Our army was constantly weakening, and the enemy becoming daily
+more enterprising. This conquest seemed destined to fare like many
+others, which are won in the mass, and lost piece-meal.
+
+Murat himself at length grew uneasy. In these daily skirmishes he had
+seen half the remnant of his cavalry melted away. At the advanced posts,
+the Russian officers, on meeting with ours, either from weariness,
+vanity, or military frankness carried to indiscretion, exaggerated the
+disasters which threatened us. Showing us those wild-looking horses,
+scarcely at all broken in, whose long manes swept the dust of the plain,
+they said, "Did not this tell us that a numerous cavalry was joining
+them from all quarters, while ours was gradually perishing? Did not the
+continual discharges of firearms within their line apprise us that a
+multitude of recruits were then training under favor of the armistice?"
+
+And, in fact, notwithstanding the long journeys which they had to make,
+all these recruits joined the army. There was no occasion to defer
+calling them together, as in other years, till deep snows, obstructing
+all the roads excepting the high road, rendered their desertion
+impossible. Not one failed to obey the national appeal; all Russia rose:
+mothers, it was said, wept for joy on learning that their sons had been
+selected for soldiers: they hastened to acquaint them with the glorious
+intelligence, and even accompanied them to see them marked with the sign
+of the Crusaders, to hear them cry, _'Tis the will of God!_
+
+The Russian officers added "that they were particularly astonished at
+our security on the approach of their frightful winter, which was their
+natural and most formidable ally, and which they expected every moment:
+they pitied us and urged us to fly. In a fortnight," said they, "your
+nails will drop off, and your muskets will fall from your benumbed and
+half-dead fingers."
+
+The language of some of the Cossack chiefs was also remarkable. They
+asked our officers "if they had not, in their own country, corn enough,
+air enough, and graves enough: in short, room enough to live and die?
+Why, then, did they come so far from home to throw away their lives, and
+to fatten a foreign soil with their blood?" They added that "this was a
+robbery of their native land, which while living it is our duty to
+cultivate, to defend, and to embellish; and to which, after our death,
+we owe our bodies, which we received from it, which it has fed, and
+which, in their turn, ought to feed it."
+
+The emperor was not ignorant of these warnings, but he would not suffer
+his resolution to be shaken by them. The uneasiness which had again
+seized him betrayed itself in angry orders. It was then that he caused
+the churches of the Kremlin to be stripped of everything that could
+serve for a trophy to the Grand Army. These objects, devoted to
+destruction by the Russians themselves, belonged, he said, to the
+conquerors, by the double right conferred by victory and by the
+conflagration.
+
+It required long efforts to remove the gigantic cross from the steeple
+of Ivan the Great, to the possession of which the Russians attached the
+salvation of their empire. The emperor determined that it should adorn
+the dome of the Invalides[159] at Paris. During the work it was remarked
+that a great number of ravens kept flying round this cross, and that
+Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, exclaimed that "it seemed as
+if these flocks of ill-omened birds meant to defend it." We cannot
+pretend to tell all that he thought in this critical situation, but it
+is well known that he was accessible to every kind of presentiment.
+
+His nights, in particular, became irksome to him. He passed part of them
+with Count Daru. It was then only that he admitted the danger of his
+situation. "From Wilna to Moscow, what submission, what point of
+support, of rest, or of retreat, marked his power? It was a vast, bare,
+and desert field of battle, in which his diminished army was
+imperceptible, insulated, and, as it were, lost in the horrors of an
+immense void. In this country of foreign manners and religion he had not
+conquered a single individual: he was, in fact, master only of the
+ground on which he stood. That which he had just quitted and left
+behind him was no more his than that which he had not reached.
+Insufficient for these vast deserts, he was lost, as it were, in their
+immense space."
+
+He then reviewed the different resolutions of which he still had the
+choice. "People imagined," he said, "that he had nothing to do but
+march, without considering that it would take a month to refit his army
+and to evacuate his hospitals; that if he relinquished his wounded, the
+Cossacks would daily be seen triumphing over his sick and his
+stragglers. He would appear to fly. All Europe would resound with the
+report! Europe, which envied him, which was seeking a rival under whom
+to rally, and would imagine that it had found such a rival in
+Alexander."
+
+The letter of which Lauriston was the bearer to the Czar had been
+despatched on the 6th of October, and the answer to it could scarcely
+arrive before the 20th: still, in spite of so many threatening
+demonstrations, the pride, the policy, and perhaps the health of
+Napoleon induced him to pursue the worst of all courses, that of waiting
+for this answer, and of trusting to time, which was destroying him.
+Daru, as well as his other officers, was astonished to find in him no
+longer that prompt decision, variable and rapid as the occurrences which
+called it forth: they asserted that his genius could no longer
+accommodate itself to circumstances; and they placed it to the account
+of his natural persistence, which had led to his elevation, and which
+seemed destined to cause his downfall.
+
+
+§ 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow.
+
+Napoleon, however, was completely aware of his situation. To him
+everything seemed lost if he receded in the face of astonished Europe,
+and everything saved if he could surpass Alexander in determination. He
+appreciated but too well the means that were left him to shake the
+constancy of his rival; he knew that the diminishing number of his
+effective troops, that his situation, the season, in short, everything,
+would become daily more and more unfavorable to him; but he reckoned
+upon that magic force which his renown gave him. Hitherto that had lent
+to him a real and never failing strength: he endeavored, therefore, to
+keep up, by specious arguments, the confidence of his army, and perhaps,
+also, the faint hope that was still left to himself.
+
+Moscow, empty of inhabitants, no longer furnished him with anything to
+lay hold of. "It is no doubt a misfortune," he said, "but this
+misfortune is not without its advantage. Had it been otherwise, he would
+not have been able to keep order in so large a city, to overawe a
+population of three hundred thousand souls, and to sleep in the Kremlin
+but at the hazard of assassination. They have left us nothing but ruins,
+but at least we are quiet among them. Millions have no doubt slipped
+through our hands, but how many thousand millions is Russia losing! Her
+commerce is ruined for a century to come. The nation is thrown back
+fifty years, which of itself is an important result; and when the first
+moment of enthusiasm is passed, this reflection will fill them with
+consternation." The conclusion which he drew was, "that so violent a
+shock would convulse the throne of Alexander, and force that prince to
+sue for peace."
+
+In reviewing his different corps, their reduced battalions now presented
+so narrow a front that he was but a moment in traversing it, and this
+palpable diminution of their numbers evidently vexed him; either,
+therefore, to deceive his enemies or his own soldiers, he declared that
+the practice hitherto pursued of ranging the men three deep was wrong,
+and that two were sufficient; and he ordered his infantry in future to
+be drawn up in two ranks only.
+
+Nay, more: he even insisted that the inflexibility of the regimental
+returns should give way to this illusion. He disputed their results; and
+the obstinacy of Count Lobau could not overcome his. He was desirous, no
+doubt, of making his aid-de-camp[160] understand what he wished others
+to believe, and that nothing could shake his resolution.
+
+Meanwhile the attitude of his army seconded his wishes. Most of the
+officers persevered in their confidence. The common soldiers, who saw
+their whole lives in the present, and expected but little from the
+future, were for the most part unconcerned about it, and still retained
+their thoughtlessness, the most valuable of their qualities. The
+rewards, however, which the emperor bestowed profusely upon them in the
+daily reviews, were received at best with a sedate joy, mingled with
+some degree of dejection. The vacant places about to be filled up were
+yet freshly dyed with blood: these favors were menacing.
+
+On the other hand, when leaving Wilna, many of them had thrown away
+their winter garments, that they might load themselves with provisions.
+Their shoes were worn out by the length of the march, and the rest of
+their apparel by the successive actions in which they had been engaged;
+but, in spite of all, their attitude was still lofty. They carefully
+concealed their wretched plight from the notice of the emperor, and
+appeared before him with their arms bright and in the best order. In
+this first court of the palace of the Czars, full sixteen hundred miles
+from their resources, and after so many battles and bivouacs, they were
+anxious to appear still clean, alert, and prompt, for herein consists
+the pride of the soldier; and here they piqued themselves upon it the
+more, on account of the difficulty, in order to astonish, and because
+man prides himself on whatever requires extraordinary effort.
+
+The emperor complaisantly affected to know no better, catching at
+everything to keep up his hopes; when all at once the first snows fell.
+With them fell all the illusions with which he had endeavored to
+surround himself. From that moment he thought of nothing but retreat,
+without, however, pronouncing the word, and yet no positive order for it
+could be obtained from him. He merely said that in twenty days the army
+must be in winter quarters, and he urged the departure of his wounded.
+On this as on other occasions, he would not consent to the voluntary
+relinquishment of anything, however trifling: there was a deficiency of
+horses for his artillery, now too numerous for an army so reduced; but
+it did not signify, and he flew into a passion at the proposal to leave
+part of it behind. "No; the enemy would make a trophy of it;" and he
+insisted that everything should go along with him.
+
+In this desert country he gave orders for the purchase of 20,000 horses,
+and he expected forage for two months to be provided on a tract where
+the most distant and dangerous excursions were not sufficient for the
+supply of the passing day. Some of his officers were astonished to hear
+orders which it was so impossible to execute; but we have already seen
+that he sometimes issued such orders to deceive his enemies, and more
+frequently to indicate to his own troops the extent of their
+necessities, and the exertions they were called on to make in order to
+supply them.
+
+His distress manifested itself only in paroxysms of ill-humor, and this
+most frequently in the morning, at his levee. There, amid his assembled
+chiefs, in whose anxious looks he imagined he could read disapprobation,
+he seemed desirous to awe them by the severity of his manner, by his
+sharp tone, and his abrupt language. From the paleness of his face,
+however, it was evident that Truth, whose best time for obtaining a
+hearing is in the stillness of night, had annoyed him grievously by her
+presence, and oppressed him with her unwelcome light. Sometimes, on
+these occasions, his bursting heart would overflow, and pour forth its
+sorrows without any restraint. His agitation was manifested at such
+times by movements of extreme impatience; but, so far from lightening
+his griefs, he only aggravated them by those acts of injustice for which
+he reproached himself, and which he was afterwards anxious to repair.
+
+It was only to Count Daru that he unbosomed himself frankly, but without
+any weakness. He said "he should march upon Kutusoff, crush or drive him
+back, and then turn suddenly towards Smolensk." Daru, who had before
+approved this course, replied that "it was now too late; that the
+Russian army was re-enforced, his own weakened, and his victory
+forgotten; that, the moment his troops turned their faces towards home,
+they would slip away from him by degrees; that each soldier, laden with
+booty, would try to get the start of the army, for the purpose of
+disposing of it in France." "What, then, is to be done?" exclaimed the
+emperor. "Remain here," replied Daru; "make one vast intrenched camp of
+Moscow, and pass the winter in it. He would answer for it that there
+would be no want of bread and salt: the rest foraging on a large scale
+would supply. Such of the horses as they could not procure food for
+might be salted down. As to lodgings, if there were not houses enough,
+the cellars might make up the deficiency. Here we might stay till the
+return of spring, when our re-enforcements and all Lithuania in arms
+would come to relieve, to join us, and to complete the conquest."
+
+After listening to this proposal the emperor was for some time silent
+and thoughtful: he then replied, "This is a lion's counsel! But what
+would Paris say? What would they do there? What have they been doing
+there for the last three weeks that they have not heard from me? Who
+knows what would be the effect of a suspension of communication for six
+months? No: France would not accustom itself to my absence, and Prussia
+and Austria would take advantage of it."
+
+Still Napoleon could not make up his mind either to stay or to depart.
+Though overcome in this struggle of pertinacity, he deferred from day to
+day the avowal of his defeat. Amid the threatening storm of men and
+elements which was gathering around him, his ministers and aids-de-camp
+saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits of some new verses
+which he had received, or the regulations for one of the French theatres
+at Paris, which he took three evenings to finish. As they were
+acquainted with his deep anxiety, they could not but admire the strength
+of his genius, and the facility with which he could take off the whole
+force of his attention from, or fix it on, whatever subject he pleased.
+
+It was merely remarked that he prolonged his meals, which had hitherto
+been so simple and so short. He seemed desirous of stifling thought by
+repletion. He would then pass whole hours half reclined, and as if
+torpid, awaiting with a novel in his hand the catastrophe of his
+terrible history. In contemplating this obstinate and inflexible
+character thus struggling with impossibility, his officers would observe
+to each other that, having arrived at the summit of his glory, he no
+doubt foresaw that from his first retrograde step would date its
+decline; that for this reason he continued immovable, clinging to, and
+lingering a few moments longer on, his proud elevation.
+
+Kutusoff, meanwhile, was gaining the time which we were losing. His
+letters to Alexander described "his army as being in the midst of
+plenty; his recruits arriving from all quarters, and being rapidly
+trained; his wounded recovering in the bosom of their families; the
+whole of the peasantry on foot, some in arms, some on the look-out from
+the tops of steeples or in our camp, while others were stealing into our
+habitations, and even into the Kremlin. Rostopchin received a daily
+report of what was passing at Moscow as regularly as before its capture.
+If they undertook to be our guides, it was for the purpose of delivering
+us into his hands. His partisans were every day bringing in some
+hundreds of prisoners. Everything concurred to destroy the enemy's army
+and to strengthen his own; to serve him and to betray us; in a word, the
+campaign, which was over for us, was but just about to begin for them."
+
+Kutusoff neglected no advantage. He made his camp ring with the news of
+the victory of Salamanca. "The French," said he, "are expelled from
+Madrid. The hand of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Moscow
+will be his prison, his grave, and that of the whole of his Grand Army.
+We shall soon subdue France in Russia!" It was in such language that
+the Russian general addressed his troops and his emperor; and still he
+kept up appearances with Murat. At once bold and crafty, he contrived
+gradually to prepare a sudden and impetuous warfare, and to cover his
+plans for our destruction with demonstrations of kindness and honeyed
+words.
+
+But at length, after so many days of illusion, the charm was all at once
+dispelled. A single Cossack dissolved it. This barbarian fired at Murat,
+at the moment when that prince came as usual to show himself at the
+advanced posts. Highly exasperated, the king immediately declared to
+Miloradovitch that an armistice which had been incessantly violated was
+now at an end, and that thenceforward each party must look only to
+itself.
+
+At the same time he apprised the emperor that the woody country on his
+left might favor the enemy's attempts against his flank and rear; that
+his first line, being backed against a ravine, might be precipitated
+into it; that, in short, the position which he then occupied, in advance
+of a defile, was dangerous, and rendered a retrograde movement
+absolutely necessary. But Napoleon would not consent to this step,
+though he had at first pointed out Woronowo as a more secure position.
+In this war, still in his view rather political than military, he
+dreaded above all things the appearance of receding. He preferred
+risking everything rather than acknowledge to his enemies the slightest
+irresolution.
+
+Amid these preparations, and at the moment when Napoleon was reviewing
+Ney's divisions in the first court of the Kremlin, a report was all at
+once circulated that the sound of cannon was heard towards Vinkowo. It
+was some time before any one dared to apprise him of the circumstance;
+some from incredulity or uncertainty, and dreading the first movement of
+his impatience; others from weakness, hesitating to provoke a terrible
+explosion or apprehensive of being sent to verify the assertion, and
+exposed to a fatiguing excursion.
+
+Duroc at length took courage to inform him. The emperor was at first
+agitated; but, quickly recovering himself, he continued the review. An
+aid-de-camp, young Béranger, arrived shortly after with intelligence
+that Murat's first line had been surprised and overthrown, his left
+turned by favor of the woods, his flank attacked, and his retreat cut
+off: that twelve pieces of cannon, twenty ammunition wagons, and thirty
+wagons belonging to the train were taken, two generals killed, three or
+four thousand men lost, as well as the baggage; and, lastly, that the
+king himself was wounded. He had not been able to rescue the relics of
+his advanced guard from the enemy but by repeatedly charging their
+numerous troops, which already occupied the high road in his rear, his
+only retreat.
+
+Our honor, however, had been saved. The attack in front, directed by
+Kutusoff, was feeble; Poniatowski, at some leagues' distance on the
+right, made a glorious resistance; Murat and his resolute men, by almost
+superhuman exertions, checked Bagawout, who was ready to penetrate our
+left flank, and restored the fortunes of the day; while Claparède and
+Latour-Maubourg cleared the defile of Spaskapli, two leagues in the rear
+of our line, which was already occupied by Platoff. Two Russian generals
+were killed, and others wounded: the loss of the enemy was considerable,
+but the advantage of the attack, our cannon, our position, the victory,
+in short, was theirs.
+
+As for Murat, he had no longer an advanced guard. The armistice had
+destroyed half the remnant of his cavalry. This engagement had finished
+it; the survivors, emaciated with hunger, were so few as scarcely to
+furnish a charge. Thus had the war in earnest recommenced; and it was
+now the 18th of October.
+
+At these tidings Napoleon recovered the fire of his youth. A thousand
+orders, general and particular, all differing, yet all in unison and all
+necessary, burst at once from his impetuous genius. Night had not yet
+arrived, and the whole army was already in motion. The emperor himself
+quitted Moscow before daylight on the 19th of October. "Let us march
+upon Kaluga," said he, "and woe be to those whom I meet with by the
+way!"
+
+
+§ 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle.
+
+On the southern side of Moscow, near one of its gates, is an extensive
+suburb, divided by two high roads; both run to Kaluga: that on the right
+is the more ancient, the other is quite new. It was on the first that
+Kutusoff had just beaten Murat. By the same road Napoleon left Moscow on
+the 19th of October, announcing to his officers his intention to return
+to the frontiers of Poland. One of them, Rapp, observed that "it was
+late, and that winter might overtake them by the way." The emperor
+replied "that he had been obliged to allow time to the soldiers to
+recruit themselves, and to the wounded collected at Moscow, and at other
+places, to move off towards Smolensk." Then, pointing to a still serene
+sky, he asked "if in that brilliant sun they did not recognize his
+star." But this appeal to his fortune, and the sinister expression of
+his looks, belied the security which he affected.
+
+Napoleon entered Moscow with ninety thousand fighting men, and twenty
+thousand sick and wounded, and quitted it with more than a hundred
+thousand combatants. He left there with only twelve hundred sick. His
+stay, therefore, notwithstanding daily losses, had served to rest his
+infantry, to complete his stores, to augment his force by ten thousand
+men, and to protect the recovery or the retreat of a great part of his
+wounded. But on this very first day he could perceive that his cavalry
+and artillery might be said rather to crawl than to march.
+
+A melancholy spectacle added to the gloomy presentiments of our chief.
+The army had, ever since the preceding day, been pouring out of Moscow
+without intermission. In this column of one hundred and forty thousand
+men and about fifty thousand horses of all kinds, the hundred thousand
+combatants marching at its head with their knapsacks and their arms,
+upward of five hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and two thousand
+artillery wagons, still exhibited a formidable appearance, worthy of
+soldiers who had conquered the world. But the rest, whose numbers were
+in an alarming proportion, resembled a horde of Tartars after a
+successful invasion. They formed three or four files of almost infinite
+length, in which there was a confused mixture of chaises, ammunition
+wagons, handsome carriages, and, in short, vehicles of every kind. Here
+trophies of Russian, Turkish, and Persian colors, and the gigantic cross
+of Ivan the Great; there, long-bearded Russian peasants carrying or
+driving along our booty, of which they constituted a part; and some
+dragging even wheelbarrows filled with whatever they could remove. The
+fools were not likely to proceed in this manner till the conclusion of
+the first day, and yet their senseless avidity made them think nothing
+of battles and a march of two hundred leagues.
+
+Among these followers of the army were particularly remarked a multitude
+of men of all nations, without uniform and without arms, and servants
+swearing in every language, and urging by dint of shouts and blows the
+progress of elegant carriages, drawn by pigmy horses harnessed with
+ropes. These were filled with provisions, or with booty saved from the
+flames. They carried, also, many French women with their children.
+Formerly these females had been happy inhabitants of Moscow; but they
+now fled from the hatred of the Muscovites, which the invasion had drawn
+upon their heads, and the army was their only asylum.
+
+A few Russian girls, voluntary captives, also followed. It looked like a
+caravan, a wandering nation, or, rather, one of those armies of
+antiquity returning loaded with slaves and with spoils after a great
+devastation. It was inconceivable how the head of this column could draw
+and protect such a prodigious mass of equipages in so long a route.
+
+Notwithstanding the width of the road and the shouts of his escort,
+Napoleon had great difficulty in obtaining a passage through this
+immense throng. No doubt the obstruction of a defile, a few forced
+marches, or a handful of Cossacks would have been sufficient to rid us
+all of this encumbrance; but fortune or the enemy had alone a right to
+lighten us in this manner. As for the emperor, he was fully sensible
+that he could neither deprive his soldiers of this fruit of so many
+toils, nor reproach them for securing it. Besides, provisions concealed
+the booty; and was it for him, who could not give his troops the
+subsistence he should have done, to forbid their carrying it along with
+them? Lastly, in case of the failure of military conveyances, these
+vehicles would be the only means of preservation for the sick and
+wounded.
+
+Napoleon therefore extricated himself in silence from the immense train
+which he drew after him, and advanced on the old road leading to Kaluga.
+He pushed on in this direction for some hours, declaring that he would
+go and beat Kutusoff on the very field of his victory. But all at once,
+about midday, opposite to the castle of Krasnopachra, where he halted,
+he suddenly turned to the right with his army, and in three marches
+across the country gained the new road to Kaluga.
+
+The rain, which overtook him in the midst of this manoeuvre, spoiled the
+cross-roads, and obliged him to halt in them. This was a most
+unfortunate circumstance. It was with difficulty that our cannon were
+drawn out of the sloughs.
+
+At any rate, the emperor had masked his movement by Ney's corps and the
+remnants of Murat's cavalry, which had remained behind the Motscha and
+at Woronowo. Kutusoff, deceived by this feint, was still waiting for the
+Grand Army on the old road, while, on the 23d of October, the whole of
+it had been transferred to the new one, and had but one march to make in
+order to pass quietly by him, and to get between him and Kaluga.
+
+On the first day of this flanking march, a letter was sent from Berthier
+to Kutusoff, as a last attempt at peace, or perhaps merely as a ruse. No
+satisfactory answer was returned to it.
+
+On the 23d the imperial quarters were at Borowsk. That night was an
+agreeable one for the emperor: he was informed that, at six in the
+evening, Delzons with his division, who was four leagues in advance of
+him, had found the town of Malo-jaroslavetz and the woods which command
+it unoccupied: this was a strong position within reach of Kutusoff, and
+the only point where he could cut us off from the new road to Kaluga.
+
+The emperor wished at first to secure that advantage by his presence:
+the order to march was even given, but shortly after withdrawn, we know
+not why. He passed the whole of that evening on horseback, not far from
+Borowsk, on the left of the road, the side on which he supposed Kutusoff
+to be. He reconnoitered the ground in the midst of a heavy rain, as if
+he anticipated that it might become a field of battle. Next day, the
+24th, he learned that the Russians had disputed the possession of the
+town with Delzons. Either from confidence or uncertainty in his plans,
+this intelligence appeared to give him very little concern.
+
+He quitted Borowsk, therefore, late and leisurely, when the noise of a
+very smart engagement reached where he was; he then became uneasy,
+hastened to an eminence and listened. "Had the Russians anticipated him?
+Was his manoeuvre thwarted? Had he not used sufficient expedition in
+that march, the object of which was to pass the left flank of Kutusoff?"
+
+The emperor was still listening: the noise increased. "Is it then a
+battle?" he exclaimed. Every discharge agitated him, for the chief point
+with him was no longer to conquer, but to preserve, and he urged on with
+all possible speed, Davoust accompanying him; but he and that marshal
+did not reach the field of battle till dark, when the firing was already
+subsiding, and the whole was over.
+
+The emperor saw the close of the battle, but without being able to
+assist the viceroy.[161] A band of Cossacks from Twer had nearly
+captured one of his officers, who was only a very short distance from
+him.
+
+At this time an officer, sent by Prince Eugene, came to him and
+explained the whole affair. "The troops had," he said, "in the first
+place, been obliged to cross the Louja at the foot of the town, at the
+bottom of an elbow which the river makes in its course, and then to
+climb a steep hill. It is on this precipitous declivity, broken by
+pointed crags, that the town is built. Beyond is an elevated plain,
+surrounded with woods, from which run three roads, one in front coming
+from Kaluga, and two on the left, from Lectazowo, the seat of the
+intrenched camp of Kutusoff."
+
+After crossing the Louja by a narrow bridge, the high road from Kaluga
+runs along the bottom of a ravine which ascends to the town, and then
+enters it. The enemy in mass occupied this hollow way; Delzons and his
+Frenchmen rushed upon them pell-mell; the Russians were broken and
+overthrown; they gave way, and presently our bayonets glistened on the
+heights.
+
+Delzons, conceiving himself sure of the victory, announced it as won. He
+had nothing but a pile of buildings to storm; but his soldiers
+hesitated. He himself advanced, and was encouraging them by his words,
+actions, and example, when a ball struck him in the forehead, and
+extended him on the ground. His brother threw himself upon him, covered
+him with his body, clasped him in his arms, and was striving to bear him
+out of the fire and the fray, when a second ball hit him also, and both
+expired together.
+
+This loss left a great void, which required to be filled. Guilleminot
+succeeded Delzons, and the first thing he did was to throw a hundred men
+into a church and the yard around it, in the walls of which they made
+loopholes. This church stood on the left of the high road, which it
+commanded, and to its possession we owed the victory. Five times during
+the day was this post passed by the Russian columns as they were
+pursuing ours, and five times did its fire, seasonably poured upon their
+flank and rear, harass them and retard their progress: afterward, when
+we resumed the offensive, this position placed them between two fires,
+and ensured the success of our attacks.
+
+Scarcely had that general made this disposition when he was assailed by
+a host of the enemy: he was driven back towards the bridge, where the
+viceroy had stationed himself in order to judge how to act and to
+prepare his reserves. At first the re-enforcements which he sent came up
+but slowly one after another; and, as is almost always the case where
+there is this tardy movement, being singly inadequate to any great
+effort, each was successively destroyed without result.
+
+At length the whole of the 14th division was engaged; and the combat was
+carried for the third time to the heights. But when the French had
+passed the houses, advanced beyond the central point from which they had
+set out, and reached the plain where they were exposed, and where the
+circle expanded, they could advance no farther; overwhelmed by the fire
+of a whole Russian army, they were daunted and shaken; fresh columns
+incessantly came up: our thinned ranks gave way and were broken; the
+obstacles of the ground increased their confusion; and at length they
+retired precipitately, and abandoned everything.
+
+Meanwhile, the shells having set fire to the wooden town behind them, in
+their retreat they were stopped by the conflagration: one fire drove
+them back upon another; the Russian recruits, wrought up to a pitch of
+fanatic fury, closely pursued them; our soldiers became enraged; they
+fought man to man; some were seen seizing each other with one hand and
+striking with the other, until both rolled down the precipices into the
+flames without quitting their hold. There the wounded expired, either
+suffocated by the smoke or consumed by the flames.
+
+The 15th division was still left. The viceroy summoned it: as it
+advanced, it threw a brigade into the suburb on the left, and another
+into the town on the right. It consisted of Italians, recruits, who had
+never before been in action. They ascended, shouting enthusiastically,
+ignorant of the danger or despising it, from that singular disposition
+which renders life less dear in its flower than in its decline, either
+because while young we fear death less from the feeling of its distance,
+or because at that age, rich in years and lavish of everything, we are
+prodigal of life as the wealthy are of their fortune.
+
+The shock was terrible: everything was reconquered for the fourth time,
+and speedily lost again in like manner. More eager to begin than their
+seniors, these young troops were sooner disheartened, and returned
+flying to the old battalions, which supported them, and were obliged to
+lead them back to danger.
+
+The Russians, imboldened by their constantly increasing numbers and by
+success, descended by their right to gain possession of the bridge and
+to cut off our retreat. Prince Eugene had nothing left but his last
+reserve: he and his guard, therefore, now took part in the combat. At
+this sight, and in obedience to his call, the remains of the 13th,
+14th, and 15th divisions resumed their courage: they made a last and
+desperate effort, and for the fifth time the combat was transferred to
+the heights.
+
+At the same time, Colonel Peraldi and the Italian troops overthrew with
+their bayonets the Russians who were already approaching the left of the
+bridge: infuriated by the smoke and the fire through which they had
+passed, and encouraged by their success and the havoc which they made,
+they pushed forward without stopping on the elevated plain, and
+endeavored to make themselves masters of the enemy's cannon; but one of
+those deep clefts with which the soil of Russia is intersected stopped
+them in the midst of a destructive fire, their ranks opened, the enemy's
+cavalry attacked them, and they were driven back to the very gardens of
+the suburb. There they paused and rallied: all, both French and
+Italians, obstinately defended the upper avenues of the town, and the
+Russians, being at length repulsed, drew back and concentrated
+themselves on the road to Kaluga, between the woods and
+Malo-jaroslavetz.
+
+In this manner did 18,000 Italians and French, crowded together at the
+bottom of a ravine, defeat 50,000 Russians, posted over their heads, and
+seconded by all the obstacles that a town built on a steep declivity is
+capable of presenting.
+
+The army, however, surveyed with sorrow this field of battle, where
+seven generals and 4000 French and Italians had been killed or wounded.
+The sight of the enemy's loss afforded no consolation; it was not twice
+the amount of ours, and their wounded would be saved. It was moreover
+recollected, that in a similar situation, Peter I., in sacrificing ten
+Russians for one Swede, thought that he was not sustaining merely an
+equal loss, but that he was gaining even by so terrible a bargain. But
+what caused the greatest pain was the reflection that this sanguinary
+conflict might have been spared.[162]
+
+
+§ 11. Napoleon holds a council of war and decides to retreat northward.
+
+Do you recollect, comrades, that fatal field? Can you still figure to
+yourselves the blood-stained ruins of that town, those deep ravines, and
+the woods which surround that elevated plain, and mark it, as it were,
+for a field of combat? On the one side were the French, quitting the
+north, from which they sought to fly; on the other, at the entrance of
+the wood, were the Russians, guarding the south, and striving to drive
+us back upon their all-subduing winter. In the midst of this plain,
+between the two armies, was Napoleon, his steps and his eyes wandering
+from south to west, along the roads to Kaluga and Medyn, both which were
+closed against him. On that to Kaluga were Kutusoff and one hundred and
+twenty thousand men, ready to dispute with him sixty miles of defiles;
+towards Medyn he beheld a numerous cavalry: it was Platoff and those
+same hordes which had just penetrated the flank of the army, traversed
+it through and through, and burst forth, laden with booty, to form again
+on his right flank, where re-enforcements and artillery were waiting for
+them. It was on that side that the eyes of the emperor were fixed the
+longest; it was principally in regard to it that he listened to reports
+of his officers, and consulted his maps: until, oppressed with regret
+and gloomy forebodings, he slowly returned to his headquarters.
+
+Murat, Prince Eugene, Berthier, Davoust and Bessières followed him. This
+miserable habitation of an obscure artisan contained within it an
+emperor, two kings, and three generals. Here they were about to decide
+the fate of Europe, and of the army which had conquered it. Smolensk was
+the goal. Should they march thither by Kaluga, Medyn, or Mojaisk?
+Napoleon was seated at a table, his head supported by his hands, which
+concealed his features, as well as the anguish which they no doubt
+expressed.
+
+A silence fraught with such imminent perils was for some time respected,
+until Murat, whose actions were always the result of impetuous feeling,
+became weary of this hesitation.
+
+"Give him but the remnant of his cavalry and that of the Guard," he
+said, "and he would force his way into Russian forests and the Russian
+battalions, overthrow all before him, and open anew to the army the road
+to Kaluga."
+
+Here Napoleon, raising his head, extinguished all his fire by saying
+that "we had exhibited temerity enough already; that we had done but too
+much for glory, and it was now high time to give up thinking of anything
+but how to save the rest of the army."
+
+Bessières, either because his pride revolted at the idea of being put
+under the command of the King of Naples, or from a desire to preserve
+uninjured the cavalry of the Guard, which he had formed, for which he
+was answerable to Napoleon, and which he exclusively commanded, finding
+himself supported, then ventured to add, that "neither the army nor even
+the Guard had sufficient spirit left for such efforts." The marshal
+concluded by giving his opinion in favor of retreat, which the emperor
+approved by his silence.
+
+The Prince of Eckmühl then immediately said that, "as a retreat seemed
+decided upon, he proposed that it should be by Medyn and Smolensk." But
+Murat here interrupted him; and, whether from enmity, or from that
+discouragement which usually succeeds the rejection of a rash measure,
+he declared himself astonished "that any one should dare propose so
+imprudent a step to the emperor. Had Davoust sworn the destruction of
+the army? Would he have so long and heavy a column trail along in utter
+uncertainty, without guides, and on an unknown track, within reach of
+Kutusoff, presenting its flank to all the attacks of the enemy? Would
+he, Davoust, defend it? When in our rear Borowsk and Vereïa would lead
+us without danger to Mojaisk, why reject that safe route? There
+provisions must have been already collected, there everything was known
+to us, and we could not be misled by any traitor."
+
+At these words, Davoust, burning with a rage which he could scarcely
+repress, replied that "he proposed a retreat through a fertile country,
+by an untouched, plentiful, and well supplied route, where the villages
+were still standing, and by the shortest road, that the enemy might not
+be able to cut us off, as on the route by Mojaisk to Smolensk,
+recommended by Murat. And what a route! a desert of sand and ashes,
+where convoys of wounded would increase our embarrassment, where we
+should meet with nothing but ruins, traces of blood, skeletons, and
+famine!
+
+"Moreover, though he deemed it his duty to give his opinion when it was
+asked, he was ready to obey orders contrary to it with the same zeal as
+if they were consonant with his suggestions; but that the emperor alone
+had a right to impose silence on him, and not Murat, who was not his
+sovereign, and never should be!"
+
+The quarrel growing warm, Bessières and Berthier interposed. As for the
+emperor, still absorbed and in the same attitude, he appeared insensible
+to what was passing. At length he broke up the council with the words,
+"Well, gentlemen, I will decide."
+
+He decided on retreat, and by that road which would carry him most
+speedily to a distance from the enemy; but it required another desperate
+effort before he could bring himself to give an order of march so new to
+him. So painful, indeed, was this effort, that in the inward struggle
+which it produced he lost the use of his senses.
+
+It is a remarkable fact, that he issued orders for this retreat
+northward at the very moment that Kutusoff and his Russians, dismayed at
+their defeat at Malo-jaroslavetz, were retiring towards the south.
+
+From that moment Napoleon had nothing in his view but Paris, just as on
+leaving Paris he saw nothing but Moscow. It was on the 26th of October
+that the fatal movement of our retreat commenced. Davoust, with
+twenty-five thousand men, remained as a rear-guard. While by advancing a
+few paces, without being aware of it, he was spreading consternation
+among the Russians, the Grand Army, in astonishment, was turning its
+back on them. It marched with downcast eyes, as if ashamed and humbled.
+In the midst of it, its commander, gloomy and silent, seemed to be
+anxiously measuring his line of communication with the fortresses on the
+Vistula.
+
+For the space of more than two hundred and fifty leagues it offered but
+two points where he could halt and rest, the first Smolensk, the second
+Minsk. He had made those towns his two great depôts, where immense
+magazines were established.
+
+Napoleon, however, reckoned upon the Duke of Belluno and his thirty-six
+thousand fresh troops. That corps had been at Smolensk ever since the
+beginning of September. He relied also upon detachments being sent from
+his depôts, on the sick and wounded who had recovered, and on the
+stragglers, who would be rallied and formed at Wilna into marching
+battalions. All these would successively come into line, and fill up the
+chasms made in his ranks by the sword, famine, and disease. He should
+therefore have time to regain that position on the Dwina and the
+Borysthenes, where he wished it to be believed that his presence, added
+to that of Victor, Saint-Cyr, and Macdonald, would overawe
+Wittgenstein,[163] check Kutusoff, and threaten the Czar Alexander even
+in his second capital.
+
+He accordingly announced that he was going to take post on the Dwina.
+But it was not in truth, upon that river and the Borysthenes that his
+thoughts rested: he was sensible that it was not with a harassed and
+reduced army that he could guard the interval between those two rivers
+and their courses, which the ice would speedily seal.
+
+It was therefore a hundred leagues beyond Smolensk, in a more compact
+position, behind the morasses of the Berezina--to Minsk, that it was
+necessary to repair in search of winter quarters, from which he was then
+forty marches distant.
+
+
+§ 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin: view of the
+battle-field of Borodino.
+
+Napoleon had arrived quite pensive at Vereïa,[164] when Mortier
+presented himself before him. But I here discover, that, hurried along
+in the relation just as we then were in reality, by the rapid succession
+of violent scenes and memorable events, my attention has been diverted
+from occurrences worthy of notice. On the 23d of October, at half past
+one in the morning, the air was shaken by a tremendous explosion, which
+for a moment startled both armies, though amid such mighty anticipations
+scarcely anything then much excited their astonishment.
+
+Mortier had obeyed his orders: the Kremlin was no more.[165] Barrels of
+powder had been placed in all the halls of the palaces of the Czars, and
+one hundred and eighty-three thousand pounds under the vaults which
+supported them. The marshal, with eight thousand men, had remained on
+this volcano, which a single Russian shell might have exploded. Here he
+covered the march of the army upon Kaluga, and the retreat of our
+different convoys towards Mojaisk.
+
+Among these eight thousand men there were scarcely two thousand on whom
+Mortier could rely; the others were dismounted cavalry, men of different
+countries and regiments, under new officers, with dissimilar habits,
+with no common recollections, in short, without any bond of union,
+forming a rabble rather than an organized body, and who could scarcely
+fail in a short time to disperse.
+
+This marshal, therefore, was looked upon as a doomed man. The other
+chiefs, his old companions in glory, had left him with tears in their
+eyes, as well as the emperor himself, who said to him "that he relied on
+his good fortune; but still, in war, we must sometimes make part of a
+sacrifice." Mortier resigned himself without hesitation to his fate. His
+orders were to defend the Kremlin, and on retreating to blow it up, and
+to burn what still remained of the city. It was on the 21st of October,
+that Napoleon sent him his last commands. After executing them, the
+marshal was to march upon Vereïa, and to form the rear guard of the
+army.
+
+In this letter Napoleon particularly recommended to him "to put the men
+still remaining in the hospitals into the carriages belonging to the
+young rear guard, those of the dismounted cavalry, and any others that
+he might find. The Romans," he added, "awarded a civic crown to him who
+had saved a citizen: so many soldiers as he should save, so many crowns
+would the Duke of Treviso deserve."
+
+At length, after four days' resistance, the French bade a final adieu to
+that fatal city. They carried with them four hundred wounded, and, on
+retiring, deposited in a safe and secret place a firework, skilfully
+prepared, which was already slowly consuming: the rate of its burning
+had been minutely calculated, so that it was known precisely at what
+hour the fire would reach the immense collection of powder buried among
+the foundations of these devoted palaces.
+
+Mortier hastened his flight; but as he was retiring, some greedy
+Cossacks and miserable-looking Muscovites, allured probably by the
+prospect of pillage, approached: they listened, and, imboldened by the
+apparent quiet which pervaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate
+into it: they ascended; and their greedy hands were already stretched
+forth to lay hold on their plunder, when in an instant they were all
+hurled into the air with the buildings they had come to pillage, and
+with thirty thousand stand of arms that had been left in them; and soon
+their mangled limbs, mingled with fragments of walls and shattered
+weapons, thrown to a great distance, descended in a horrible shower.
+
+The earth shook under the feet of Mortier: at Fominskoé, thirty miles
+off, the emperor heard the explosion; and in that indignant tone in
+which he sometimes addressed Europe, he published the following day a
+bulletin, at Borowsk, announcing that "the Kremlin, the arsenal, the
+magazines, were all destroyed; that that ancient citadel, which dated
+from the origin of the monarchy, and was the first palace of the Czars,
+no longer existed; that Moscow was now but a heap of ruins, without
+importance either political or military. He had abandoned it to Russian
+beggars and plunderers, in order to march against Kutusoff, to throw
+himself on the left wing of that general, to drive him back, and then to
+proceed quietly to the banks of the Dwina, where he should take up his
+winter quarters." Then, apprehensive lest he should appear to be
+retreating, he added that "there he should be within eighty leagues of
+Wilna and of St. Petersburg, a double advantage; that is to say, twenty
+marches nearer to his resources and his object." By this remark he hoped
+to give to his retreat the air of an offensive movement.
+
+It was on this occasion he declared that "he had refused to give orders
+for the entire destruction of the country which he was quitting: he felt
+a repugnance to aggravate the miseries of its inhabitants. To punish
+the Russian incendiary, and a few wretches who made war like Tartars, he
+would not ruin nine thousand proprietors, and leave two hundred thousand
+serfs, innocent of all these barbarities, absolutely destitute of
+resources."
+
+On the 28th of October we again beheld Mojaisk.[166] That town was still
+full of wounded: some were carried away, and the rest collected together
+and abandoned, as at Moscow, to the generosity of the Russians. Napoleon
+had proceeded but a short distance from that place when the winter
+began. Thus, after an obstinate combat, and ten days' marching and
+countermarching, the army, which had brought from Moscow only fifteen
+rations of flour per man, had advanced but three days' march on its
+retreat. It was in want of provisions, and now overtaken by the winter.
+
+Some leagues from Mojaisk we had to cross the Kologa. It was but a large
+rivulet: two trees, the same number of props, and a few planks were
+sufficient to ensure the passage; but such was the confusion and
+inattention that the emperor was detained there. Several pieces of
+cannon, which it was attempted to get across by fording, were lost. It
+seemed as if each corps was marching separately, as if there were no
+staff, no general order, no common tie, nothing, in short, that bound
+them together. In fact, the elevation of the chiefs rendered them too
+independent of each other. The emperor himself had become so exceedingly
+great, that he was at an immeasurable distance from the details of his
+army; while Berthier, holding an intermediate place between him and
+officers, all of whom were kings, princes, or marshals, was obliged to
+act with a great deal of caution. He was, besides, incompetent to his
+situation.
+
+The emperor, stopped by the frivolous obstacle of a broken bridge,
+confined himself to a gesture expressive of dissatisfaction and
+contempt, to which Berthier replied only by a look of resignation. On
+this particular point he had received no orders from the emperor: he
+therefore conceived that he was not to blame; for Berthier was a
+faithful echo, a mirror, and nothing more. Always ready, clear, and
+distinct, he, so to speak, exactly repeated the emperor, reflected him,
+but added nothing of his own; and what Napoleon forgot was never
+supplied.
+
+After passing the Kologa we marched on, absorbed in thought, when some
+of us, raising our eyes, uttered a cry of horror. Each one instantly
+looked about him, and there lay stretched before us a plain trampled,
+bare, and devastated, all the trees cut down within a few feet from the
+surface, and farther off craggy hills, the highest of which appeared
+misshapen, and bore a striking resemblance to an extinguished volcano.
+The ground around us was everywhere covered with fragments of helmets
+and cuirasses, with broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and
+standards dyed with blood.
+
+On this desolate spot[167] lay thirty thousand half-devoured corpses;
+while a pile of skeletons on the summit of one of the hills overlooked
+the whole. It seemed as though Death had here fixed his throne.
+Presently the cry was heard, "It is the field of the great battle!"
+forming a long and doleful murmur. The emperor passed quickly by. No one
+stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy were urging us on: we merely turned
+our faces as we marched along to take a last melancholy look at the vast
+grave of so many companions in arms, uselessly sacrificed, and whose
+remains we were obliged to leave behind, unheeded and uninterred.
+
+
+§ 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma. Battle near that place.
+
+At length the emperor reached Viazma.[168] He here halted to wait for
+Prince Eugene and Davoust, and to reconnoitre the road to Medyn and
+Yucknow, which at this place unites with the high road to Smolensk. It
+was this cross-road which might possibly bring the Russian army from
+Malo-jaroslavetz on his passage. But on the first of November, after
+waiting thirty-six hours and seeing no indications of that army, he
+again set out, wavering between the hope that Kutusoff had fallen
+asleep, and the fear lest he might have left Viazma on his right, and
+proceeded two marches farther to cut off his retreat. He left Ney,
+however, at Viazma to collect the first and fourth corps, and to
+relieve, by forming the rear guard, Davoust, whom he judged to be
+fatigued.
+
+He complained of the tardiness of the latter, and wrote to reproach him
+with being still five marches behind, when he ought to have been no more
+than three: the genius of that marshal he considered too methodical to
+direct, in a suitable manner, so irregular a march.
+
+But this delay was accounted for by the fact that Davoust had found a
+marsh without a bridge, and completely encumbered with wagons. He had
+dragged them out of the slough in sight of the enemy, and so near them
+that their fires lighted his labors, and the sound of their drums
+mingled with that of his own voice. For the marshal and his generals
+could not yet resolve on abandoning to the enemy so many trophies; nor
+did they make up their minds to it until after fruitless exertions, and
+in the last extremity.
+
+The road they were traversing was crossed at short intervals by marshy
+hollows. A slope, slippery as glass with the ice, hurried the carriages
+into them, and there they stuck fast: to draw them out it was necessary
+to climb on the opposite side a similar slope, where the horses, whose
+shoes were worn entirely smooth, could obtain no footing, and where
+every moment they and their drivers dropped down exhausted together. The
+famished soldiers immediately fell upon these luckless animals and tore
+them to pieces; then at fires, kindled with the remains of their
+carriages, they broiled the yet bleeding flesh, and devoured it.
+
+Meanwhile the artillerymen, a chosen corps, and their officers, all
+brought up in the first military school in the world, kept off these
+unfortunate wretches whenever they could, and took the horses from their
+own carriages and wagons, which they abandoned to save the guns. To
+these they harnessed their horses, nay, even themselves; while the
+Cossacks, observing their disasters from a distance, though they dared
+not attack, with their light pieces mounted on sledges, threw their
+balls among these disorderly groups, and increased the confusion.
+
+On the 3d of November, Prince Eugene was advancing towards Viazma,
+preceded by his equipages and his artillery, when the first light of day
+all at once discovered to him his retreat threatened by an army on his
+left, behind him his rear guard cut off, and on his left the plain
+covered with stragglers and scattered vehicles, fleeing before the
+lances of the enemy. At the same time, towards Viazma he heard Marshal
+Ney, who should have assisted him, fighting for his own preservation.
+
+At the same time, Compans, one of Davoust's generals, joined the Italian
+rear guard with his division. These cleared a passage for themselves,
+and while, united with the viceroy, they were warmly engaged, Davoust
+with his column passed rapidly behind them, along the left side of the
+high road, then crossing it, as soon as he had got beyond them, he
+claimed his place in the order of battle, took the right wing, and found
+himself between Viazma and the Russians. Prince Eugene gave up to him
+the ground which he had been defending, and crossed to the other side of
+the road. The enemy then began to extend himself in front of them, and
+endeavored to outflank their wings.
+
+Miloradovitch, the Russian general, left to himself, now tried to break
+the French line of battle; but he could penetrate it by his fire alone,
+which made dreadful havoc in our ranks. Eugene and Davoust were growing
+weak; and, as they heard another action in the rear of their right, they
+imagined that the rest of the Russian army was approaching Viazma by the
+Yuknof road, the outlet of which Ney was defending.
+
+It was only, however, an advanced guard: but they were alarmed at the
+noise of this engagement in the rear of their own, threatening their
+retreat. The action had now continued ever since seven in the morning,
+and night was approaching: the baggage must by this time have got away,
+and the French generals began to retire.
+
+This retrograde movement increased the ardor of the enemy, and but for a
+memorable effort of the 25th, 57th, and 85th regiments, and the
+protection of a ravine, Davoust's corps would have been broken, turned
+by its right, and destroyed. Prince Eugene, who was not so briskly
+attacked, was able to effect his retreat more rapidly through Viazma;
+but the Russians followed him thither, and had penetrated into the town
+at the very time when Davoust, pursued by 20,000 men, and overwhelmed by
+eighty pieces of cannon, in his turn attempted to pass.
+
+Morand's division first entered the place: it was marching on with
+confidence, under the idea that the action was over, when the Russians,
+who were concealed by the windings of the streets, suddenly fell upon
+it. The surprise was complete, and the confusion great: Morand
+nevertheless rallied and encouraged his men, retrieved matters, and
+fought his way through.
+
+It was Compans who put an end to the affair. He closed the march with
+his division. Finding himself too closely pressed by the bravest troops
+of Miloradovitch, he turned about, dashed in person at the most eager,
+overthrew them, and having thus made them fear him, he finished his
+retreat without farther molestation. This conflict, glorious to each,
+was in its result disastrous to all. It was, unhappily, without unity or
+order. There were troops enough to conquer had there not been too many
+commanders. It was not till near two o'clock that the latter met to
+concert their manoeuvres, and these were even then executed without
+harmony.
+
+When at length the river, the town of Viazma, night, mutual fatigue, and
+Marshal Ney had established a barrier between them and the enemy, the
+danger being adjourned and the bivouacs established, the numbers were
+counted. Several pieces of cannon which had been broken, the baggage,
+and four thousand killed or wounded were found missing. Many of the
+soldiers, too, had dispersed. Their honor had been saved, but there were
+immense gaps in their ranks. It was necessary to close them up, to bring
+everything within a narrower compass, to form what remained into a more
+compact whole. Each regiment scarcely composed a battalion, each
+battalion scarcely a platoon. The soldiers remaining had no longer their
+accustomed places, comrades, or officers.
+
+This sad reorganization took place by the light of the conflagration of
+Viazma, and during the successive discharges of the cannon of Ney and
+Miloradovitch, the thunders of which were prolonged amid the double
+gloom of the night and of the forests. Several times the remnants of
+these brave battalions, conceiving they were attacked, crawled to their
+arms. The next morning, when they again fell into their ranks, they were
+astonished at the smallness of their numbers.
+
+
+§ 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effects upon the
+troops.
+
+The spirits of the troops were nevertheless still supported by the
+example of their leaders, by the hopes of finding all their wants
+supplied at Smolensk, and still more by the aspect of a yet brilliant
+sun, that universal source of hope and life, which seemed to contradict
+and deny the spectacles of despair and death that already encompassed
+us.
+
+But on the 6th of November the heavens changed. Their azure disappeared.
+The army marched enveloped in a chilling mist. This mist became thicker,
+and presently a blinding storm of snow descended upon it. It seemed as
+if the sky itself were falling, and uniting with the earth and our
+enemies to complete our destruction. All objects rapidly changed their
+appearance, becoming utterly confounded, and not to be recognized any
+more: we proceeded without knowing where we were, without perceiving the
+point to which we were bound; everything was converted into an obstacle
+to stop our progress. While we were struggling with the tempest of wind
+and snow, the latter, driven by the storm, lodged and accumulated in
+every hollow, concealing unknown abysses, which perfidiously opened
+beneath our feet. There the soldiers were ingulfed, and the weakest,
+resigning themselves to their fate, found their grave in these
+treacherous pits.
+
+Those who followed turned aside; but the tempest, driving into their
+faces the snow that was descending from the sky and that which it raised
+from the earth, seemed resolved to arrest their farther progress. The
+Russian winter, in this new form, attacked them at every point: it
+penetrated through their light garments, and their rent and worn-out
+shoes. Their wet clothes froze to their bodies: an icy envelope encased
+them, and stiffened all their limbs. A piercing and violent wind almost
+prevented respiration; and, seizing their breath the moment it was
+exhaled, converted it into icicles, which hung from their beards all
+about their mouths.
+
+The miserable creatures still crawled shivering along, till the snow,
+gathering in balls on the soles of their shoes, or a fragment of some
+broken article, a branch of a tree, or the body of one of their
+comrades, encountered in the way, caused them to stumble and fall. There
+their groans were unheeded; the snow soon covered them; slight hillocks
+marked the spots where they lay: there was their only grave. The road,
+like a cemetery, was thickly studded with these elevations; the most
+intrepid and the most indifferent were affected; they passed quickly on
+with averted looks. But before them and around them there was nothing
+but snow; this immense and dismal uniformity extended farther than the
+eye could reach; the imagination was astounded: it seemed a vast
+winding-sheet which Nature had thrown over the army. The only objects
+not enveloped by it were some gloomy pines, trees of the tombs, with
+their funereal verdure and their gigantic and motionless trunks
+completing the solemnity of a general mourning, and of an army dying
+amid nature already dead.
+
+Everything, even to their very arms, still offensive at
+Malo-jaroslavetz, but since defensive only, now turned against our men.
+They seemed to their frozen limbs an insupportable weight. In the falls
+they experienced, they dropped almost unperceived from their hands, and
+were broken or buried in the snow. If they rose again it was without
+them: they had not thrown them away, but hunger and cold had wrested
+them from their grasp. The fingers of others were frozen to the muskets
+they still held, depriving them of the motion necessary to keep up some
+degree of warmth and of life.
+
+We soon met with numbers of men belonging to all the different corps,
+sometimes singly, sometimes in troops. They had not basely deserted
+their colors: it was cold and exhaustion which had separated them from
+them. In this mortal struggle, at once general and individual, they had
+parted from each other, and there they were, disarmed, vanquished,
+defenceless, without leaders, obeying nothing but the most urgent
+instinct of self-preservation.
+
+Most of them, attracted by the sight of by-paths, dispersed themselves
+over the country in hopes of finding bread and shelter for the coming
+night; but on their first passage all had been laid waste to the extent
+of seven or eight leagues: they met only with Cossacks and an armed
+population, which gathered around them, wounded and stripped them naked,
+and then left them, with bursts of savage laughter, to perish in the
+snow. These people, who had risen at the call of Alexander and Kutusoff,
+and who had not then learned, as they since have, to avenge nobly a
+country which they had been unable to defend, hovered on both flanks of
+the army under favor of the woods. Those whom they did not despatch with
+their pikes and hatchets, they drove back to the fatal and all-devouring
+high road.
+
+Night then came on: a night of sixteen hours! But on that snow, which
+covered everything, where were they to halt, where sit, where lie down,
+where find even a root to satisfy their hunger, or dry wood to kindle a
+fire? Fatigue, darkness, and repeated orders nevertheless stopped those
+whom their moral and physical strength and the efforts of their officers
+had still kept together. They strove to establish themselves; but the
+tempest, not yet subsided, dispersed the first preparations for
+bivouacs. The pines, laden with frost, obstinately resisted ignition;
+while the snow, which still continued to fall from the sky, and that on
+the ground, which melted with the effect of the first heat, extinguished
+their kindling fires, and, with them, the strength and spirits of the
+men.
+
+When at length the flames gained the ascendancy, the officers and
+soldiers around them commenced preparing their wretched repast: it
+consisted of lean and ragged pieces of flesh torn from the horses that
+had given out, and at most a few spoonfuls of rye flour mixed with
+snow-water. The next morning circular ranges of soldiers extended
+lifeless marked the sites of the bivouacs, and the ground about them was
+strewed with the bodies of several thousand horses.
+
+From that day we began to place less reliance on one another. In that
+vivacious army, susceptible of all impressions, and taught to reason by
+an advanced civilization, despondency and neglect of discipline rapidly
+spread, the imagination knowing no bounds in evil any more than in good.
+Henceforward, at every bivouac, at every difficult passage, nay, every
+moment, some portion separated from the yet organized lines and fell
+into disorder. There were some, however, who were proof against this
+widespread contagion of insubordination and despair. These were
+officers, non-commissioned officers, and the firmest among the soldiers.
+They were extraordinary men; they encouraged one another by repeating
+the name of Smolensk, which town they knew they were approaching, and
+where they had been promised that all their wants should be supplied.
+
+It was thus, after this deluge of snow, and the increase of cold which
+it foreboded, that each one, whether officer or soldier, either
+preserved or lost his fortitude, according to his disposition, age, or
+constitution; while he who of all our leaders had hitherto been the most
+strict in enforcing discipline, now paid but little attention to it.
+Thrown out of his established ideas of regularity, order, and method, he
+was seized with despair at the sight of such universal confusion: and
+conceiving, before the rest, that all was lost, he felt himself ready to
+abandon all.
+
+From this point for some distance, nothing remarkable occurred in the
+imperial column except that it was found necessary to throw the spoils
+of Moscow into the Lake of Semlewo; cannon, Gothic armor, the ornaments
+of the Kremlin, and the cross of Ivan the Great, were all buried in its
+waters. Trophies, glory, those acquisitions to which we had sacrificed
+everything, all now became a burden to us: our object was no longer to
+embellish life, but to preserve it. In this vast wreck, the army, which
+might be compared to a mighty ship tossed by the most tremendous of
+tempests, threw without hesitation into that sea of ice and snow
+everything that could burden or impede its progress.
+
+The attitude of Napoleon was the same that he retained throughout the
+whole of this dismal retreat. It was grave, silent, and resigned:
+suffering much less in body than others, but far more in mind, and
+brooding with speechless agony over his misfortunes. At that moment
+General Charpentier sent him from Smolensk a convoy of provisions.
+Bessières wished to take possession of them; but the emperor instantly
+ordered them to be forwarded to the Prince of Moskwa, saying that "those
+who were fighting must eat before the rest." At the same time, he sent
+word to Ney "to defend himself long enough to allow him some stay at
+Smolensk, where the army should eat, rest, and be reorganized."
+
+The Russians, however, advanced under favor of a wood and of our
+forsaken carriages, whence they kept up a fire of musketry on Ney's
+troops. Half of the latter, whose icy arms froze their stiffened
+fingers, became discouraged; they gave way, excusing themselves by their
+want of firmness on the preceding day, and fleeing because they had
+before fled, which but for this, they would have considered as
+impossible. But Ney, rushing in among them, seized one of their muskets,
+and led them back to action, which he was himself the first to renew;
+exposing his life like a private soldier, with a firelock in his hand,
+the same as though he had been neither possessed of wealth, nor power,
+nor consideration; in short, as if he had still everything to gain, when
+in fact he had everything to lose. But, though he had again turned
+soldier, he ceased not to be general: he took advantage of the ground,
+supported himself against a height, and covered his approach by
+occupying a palisaded house. His generals and colonels, among whom he
+particularly remarked Fezenzac, strenuously seconded him; and the enemy,
+who had expected to pursue, was obliged to retreat.
+
+By this action Ney afforded the army a respite of twenty-four hours; and
+it profited by it to proceed towards Smolensk. The next day, and every
+succeeding day, he displayed the same heroism. Between Viazma and
+Smolensk he fought ten whole days.
+
+
+§ 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at the
+passage of the Wop.
+
+On the 13th of November Ney was approaching that city, which he was not
+to enter till the ensuing day, and had faced about to beat off the
+enemy, when all at once the hills upon which he intended to support his
+left were seen covered with a multitude of fugitives. In their terror,
+these unfortunate wretches fell, and rolled down to where he was upon
+the frozen snow, which they stained with their blood. A band of
+Cossacks, which was soon perceived in the midst of them, sufficiently
+accounted for this disorder. The astonished marshal, having caused this
+horde of enemies to be dispersed, discovered behind it the army of
+Italy, returning completely stripped, without baggage and without
+cannon.
+
+Platoff had kept it besieged, as it were, all the way from
+Dorogobouje.[169] Near that town Prince Eugene had quitted the high
+road, and, in order to proceed towards Witepsk, had taken that which,
+two months before, had brought him from Smolensk; but the Wop, which,
+when he had crossed it before, was a mere brook, and had scarcely been
+noticed, he now found swollen into a river. It ran over a muddy bed, and
+was bounded by two steep banks. It was found necessary to cut a passage
+in these precipitous and frozen banks, and to give orders for the
+demolition of the neighboring houses during the night, for the purpose
+of building a bridge with the materials. But those who had taken shelter
+in them opposed their being destroyed; and, as the viceroy was more
+beloved than feared, his instructions were not obeyed. The
+bridge-builders became disheartened, and when daylight, with the
+Cossacks, appeared, the bridge, after being twice broken down, was at
+last abandoned.
+
+Five or six thousand soldiers still in order, twice the number of
+disbanded men, the sick and wounded, upward of a hundred pieces of
+cannon, ammunition-wagons, and a multitude of vehicles of every kind,
+lined the bank and covered a league of ground. An attempt was made to
+ford the river through the floating ice which was carried along by its
+current. The first guns that were attempted to be got over reached the
+opposite bank; but the water kept rising every moment, while at the same
+time the bed of the stream at the place of passage was continually
+deepened by the wheels and by the efforts of the horses. One carriage
+stuck fast, others did the same, and at length the stoppage became
+general.
+
+Meanwhile the day was advancing; the men were exhausting themselves in
+vain efforts: hunger, cold, and the Cossacks became pressing, and the
+viceroy finally found himself compelled to order his artillery and all
+his baggage to be left behind. A distressing spectacle ensued. The
+owners were allowed scarcely a moment to part from their effects: while
+they were selecting from them such articles as they most needed, and
+loading their horses with them, a multitude of soldiers came rushing up:
+they fell in preference upon the vehicles of luxury; these they broke in
+pieces and rummaged every part, avenging their poverty on the wealth,
+and their privations on the superfluities they here found, and snatching
+them from the Cossacks, who were in the meantime looking on at a
+distance.
+
+But it was provisions of which most of them were in quest. They threw
+aside embroidered clothes, pictures, ornaments of every kind, and gilt
+bronzes for a few handfuls of flour. In the evening it was a strange
+sight to behold the mingled riches of Paris and of Moscow, the luxuries
+of two of the largest cities in the world, lying scattered and despised
+on the snow of the desert.
+
+At the same time, most of the artillerymen spiked their guns in despair,
+and scattered their powder about. Others laid a train with it as far as
+some ammunition-wagons, which had been left at a considerable distance
+behind our baggage. They waited till the most eager of the Cossacks had
+come up to them, and when a great number, greedy of plunder, had
+collected about them, they threw a brand from a bivouac upon the train.
+The fire ran, and in a moment reached its destination; the wagons were
+blown up, the shells exploded, and such of the Cossacks as were not
+killed on the spot dispersed in dismay.
+
+The army of Italy, thus completely dismantled, soaked in the waters of
+the Wop, without food, without shelter, passed the night on the snow
+near a village where its officers expected to find lodgings for
+themselves. Their soldiers, however, beset its wooden houses. They
+rushed like madmen, and in swarms, on every habitation, profiting by the
+darkness, which prevented them from recognizing their officers or being
+known by them. They tore down everything, doors, windows, and even the
+woodwork of the roofs, feeling but little compunction in compelling
+others, be they who they might, to bivouac like themselves.
+
+Their generals attempted in vain to drive them off: they took their
+blows without a murmur or the least opposition, but without
+desisting--even the men of the royal and imperial guards; for,
+throughout the whole army, such were the scenes that occurred every
+night. The unfortunate fellows kept silently but actively at work on the
+wooden walls, which they pulled in pieces on every side at once, and
+which, after vain efforts, their officers were obliged to relinquish to
+them, for fear they would fall upon their own heads. It was an
+extraordinary mixture of perseverance in their design and of respect for
+the anger of their superiors.
+
+Having kindled good fires, they spent the night in drying themselves,
+amid the shouts, imprecations, and groans of those who were still
+crossing the torrent, or who, slipping from its banks, were precipitated
+into it and drowned.
+
+
+§ 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk.
+
+At length the army once more came in sight of Smolensk: it had reached
+the goal so often announced to it of all its sufferings. The soldiers
+exultingly pointed it out to each other. There was that land of promise
+where their hunger was to find abundance, their fatigue rest; where
+bivouacs in a cold of nineteen degrees would be forgotten in houses
+warmed by good fires. There they would enjoy refreshing sleep; there
+they might repair their apparel; there they would be furnished with new
+shoes, and clothing adapted to the climate.
+
+At this sight, the corps of picked men, the veteran regiments, and a few
+other soldiers alone kept their ranks; the rest ran forward with all
+possible speed. Thousands of men, chiefly unarmed, covered the two steep
+banks of the Borysthenes: they crowded in masses around the lofty walls
+and gates of the city; but this disorderly multitude, with their haggard
+faces begrimed with dirt and smoke, their tattered uniforms, and the
+grotesque habiliments which they had substituted in place of them: in
+short, with their strange, hideous looks, and their impetuous ardor,
+excited alarm. It was believed, that if the irruption of this crowd,
+maddened with hunger, were not repelled, that a general pillage would be
+the consequence, and the gates were closed against it.
+
+It was also hoped that by exercising this rigor these men would be
+forced again to rally about their standards. A horrible struggle between
+order and disorder now commenced in the remnant of this unfortunate
+army. In vain did they entreat, weep, threaten, strive to burst open the
+gates, and even drop down dead at the feet of their comrades placed to
+repel them; they found the latter inexorable, and were forced to wait
+the arrival of the first troops that were still officered and in order.
+
+These were the Old and the Young Guard; and it was not till after them
+that the disbanded men were allowed to enter: the latter, and the other
+corps which arrived in succession, from the 8th to the 14th, believed
+that their admission had been delayed merely to give more rest and more
+provisions to this favored guard. Their sufferings rendered them unjust:
+they execrated it. "Were they, then, to be forever sacrificed to this
+privileged class; fellows kept for mere parade, who were never foremost
+but at reviews, festivals, and distributions? Was the army to put up
+with their leavings, always to wait till they had glutted themselves?"
+It was useless to tell them in reply, that to attempt to save all was
+the way to lose all; that it was necessary to keep at least one corps
+entire, and to give the preference to that which in the last extremity
+would be capable of making the most powerful effort.
+
+At length these poor creatures were admitted into that Smolensk for
+which they had so long ardently wished, while the banks of the
+Borysthenes were strewed with their expiring companions, the weakest of
+whom impatience and several hours' waiting had brought to that state.
+Others, again, were left on the icy steep, which they had to climb to
+reach the upper town. The rest ran to the magazines, where many fell
+exhausted while they beset the doors; for here also they were repulsed.
+"Who were they?" it was asked. "To what corps did they belong? What had
+they to prove it? The persons appointed to distribute the provisions
+were responsible for them: they had orders to deliver them only to
+authorized officers bringing receipts, for which alone they could
+exchange the rations committed to their care." These poor famished
+creatures had no officers, nor could they tell where their regiments
+were: two-thirds of the army were in this predicament.
+
+These miserable men then dispersed themselves through the streets,
+having no longer any hope but in pillage. But horses dissected to the
+very bones everywhere denoted a famine; the doors and windows of the
+houses had been all broken and torn away to feed the fires of the
+bivouacs; they found no shelter in them, no winter quarters prepared, no
+wood. The sick and wounded were left in the streets, in the carts which
+had brought them. It was again, it was always the same fatal high road,
+passing through a town which was but an empty name: it was a new bivouac
+among deceitful ruins, colder even than the forests they had just
+quitted.
+
+Then only did these disorganized troops seek their colors: they rejoined
+them for a moment in order to obtain food; but all the bread that could
+be baked had been distributed; and there was no biscuit, no butcher's
+meat. Rye flour, dry vegetables, and spirits were dealt out to them. It
+required the most strenuous efforts to prevent the detachments of the
+different corps from murdering each other at the doors of the magazines;
+and when, after long formalities, their wretched fare was at last
+delivered to them, the soldiers refused to carry it to their regiments;
+they fell upon their sacks, snatched out of them a few pounds of flour,
+and ran to secrete themselves till they had devoured it. The same was
+the case with the spirits; and the next day the houses were found full
+of the bodies of these miserable creatures.
+
+In short, that Smolensk, which the army had looked forward to, as the
+term of their sufferings, marked, as it were, only their commencement.
+Inexpressible hardships still awaited us: we had yet to march forty days
+under that yoke of iron. Some, already borne down by present miseries,
+sank under the frightful prospect of those which were before them.
+Others sternly resolved to battle with their destiny; and, finding they
+had nothing to rely on but themselves, they determined to live at all
+hazards.
+
+Thenceforward, according as they found themselves the stronger or the
+weaker, by violence or stealth they plundered their companions of their
+subsistence, of their garments, and of the gold with which they had
+filled their knapsacks instead of provisions. These wretches, whom
+despair had thus made robbers, then threw away their arms to save their
+infamous booty, profiting by the general confusion, an obscure name, a
+uniform no longer distinguishable, and night: in short, by every kind of
+concealment favorable to cowardice and guilt. If works already published
+had not exaggerated these horrors, I should have passed over in silence
+such terrible details; for atrocities so extreme were, after all,
+comparatively rare, and justice was dealt to the most criminal.
+
+On the 9th of November the emperor arrived amid this scene of
+desolation. He shut himself up in one of the houses in the new square,
+and never quitted it till the 14th to resume his retreat. He had
+calculated upon fifteen days' provisions and forage for an army of one
+hundred thousand men; but there was not more than half this quantity of
+flour, rice, and spirits, and no meat at all. Cries of rage were now
+directed against the principal individual appointed to provide these
+supplies; and the commissary saved his life only by prostrating himself
+on his knees at the feet of Napoleon, and remaining in that posture for
+a long time. But the reasons which he assigned for his failure did more
+for him than his supplications.
+
+Many of these reasons were well founded. A chain of other magazines had
+been formed from Smolensk to Minsk and Wilna. These two towns were, in a
+still greater degree than Smolensk, centres of provisioning, of which
+the fortresses of the Vistula formed the first line. The total quantity
+of provisions, indeed, distributed over this space was incalculable; the
+efforts for transporting them thither had been gigantic; while the
+result was little better than nothing. Scattered over such a vast
+extent, immense as they were, they were found wholly insufficient.
+
+Thus great expeditions are crushed by their own weight. Human limits had
+been surpassed: the genius of Napoleon, in attempting to soar above
+time, climate, and distance, had, as it were, lost itself in space;
+great as was its measure, it had gone beyond it.
+
+Napoleon had been at Smolensk for five days. It was known that Ney had
+received orders to arrive there as late as possible, and Eugene to halt
+for two days at a point near Smolensk. Then it was not the necessity of
+waiting for the army of Italy which detained him! To what, then, must we
+attribute this delay, in the midst of famine, disease, and when the
+winter and three hostile armies were gradually surrounding us?
+
+The emperor no doubt fancied that by dating his despatches for five days
+from that city, he would give to his disorderly flight the appearance of
+a slow and glorious retreat. In the same spirit, no doubt, he had
+ordered the destruction of the towers which surrounded Smolensk, from
+the wish, as he expressed it, of not being again stopped short by its
+walls! as if there were any idea of our returning to a place which we
+were not even sure that we should ever get out of.
+
+The emperor, however, made an effort that was not altogether fruitless.
+This was to rally under one commander all that remained of the cavalry;
+when it was found that of this force, thirty-seven thousand strong at
+the passage of the Niemen, there now remained only eight hundred men on
+horseback. He gave the command of these to Latour-Maubourg; and, whether
+from the esteem felt for him, or from the general indifference, no one
+objected to it.
+
+This army, which left Moscow one hundred thousand strong, in
+five-and-twenty days had been reduced to thirty-six thousand men, while
+the artillery had lost three hundred and fifty of their cannon; and yet
+these feeble remains continued as before to be divided into eight
+armies, which were encumbered with sixty thousand unarmed stragglers,
+and a long train of cannon and baggage.
+
+Whether it was the encumbrance of so many men and carriages, or a
+mistaken sense of security, which led the emperor to order a day's
+interval between the departure of each marshal, is uncertain; but most
+probably it was the latter. Be that, however, as it may, he, Eugene,
+Davoust, and Ney, quitted Smolensk in succession; and Ney was not to
+leave it till the 16th or 17th. He had orders to make the artillery
+dismount the cannon left behind, and bury them; to destroy the
+ammunition, to drive all the stragglers before him, and to blow up the
+towers which surrounded the city.
+
+Kutusoff, meanwhile, was waiting for us at some leagues' distance,
+prepared to cut in pieces, one after the other, those remnants of corps
+thus extended and parcelled out.
+
+
+§ 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoë.
+
+It was on the 14th of November, about five in the morning, that the
+imperial column at last quitted Smolensk. Its march was still firm, but
+gloomy and silent as night, like the mute and sombre aspect of the
+country through which it was advancing.
+
+This stillness was only interrupted by the cracking of the whips applied
+to the horses, and by short and violent imprecations when they met with
+ravines, and when down these icy declivities, men, horses, and artillery
+were rolling in the darkness one over the other. The first day they
+advanced five leagues, and the artillery of the guard took twenty-two
+hours to get over that distance.
+
+Kutusoff, at the same time, with the bulk of his army, moved forward,
+and took a position in the rear of these advanced corps, within reach of
+them all, felicitating himself on the success of his manoeuvres, which,
+after all, would inevitably have failed, owing to his tardiness, had it
+not been for our want of foresight; for this was a contest of errors, in
+which, ours being the greatest, we narrowly escaped total destruction.
+Having made these dispositions, the Russian commander must have believed
+that the French army was entirely in his power; but this belief saved
+us. Kutusoff was wanting to himself at the moment of action; his old age
+executed only half, and that badly, the plans which it had wisely
+combined.
+
+During the time that all these masses were arranging themselves round
+Napoleon, he remained perfectly tranquil in a miserable hut, the only
+one left standing in Korythnia, apparently quite unconscious of all
+these movements of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, which were
+surrounding him in all directions; at least he sent no orders to the
+three corps which had halted at Smolensk, to expedite their march, and
+he himself waited for daylight to proceed.
+
+His column was advancing without precaution, preceded by a crowd of
+stragglers, all eager to reach Krasnoë, when, at two leagues from that
+place, a line of Cossacks, extending from the heights on our left across
+the great road, appeared before them. Seized with astonishment, these
+stragglers instantly halted: they had looked for nothing of the kind,
+and with their first impressions were led to believe that relentless
+fate had traced upon the snow between them and Europe that long, black,
+and motionless line as the fatal term assigned to their hopes.
+
+Suddenly a Russian battery began firing. Their balls crossed the road.
+The German corps became confused and made no attempt to meet this
+attack. But a wounded officer who chanced to be there assumed the
+command of the Germans, and the men obeyed him as if he had been their
+rightful leader. On seeing this advanced column of Germans march forward
+in such good order, the enemy confined himself to attacking it with his
+artillery, which it disregarded and soon left behind. When it came to
+the turn of the Old Guard to pass through this fire, they closed their
+ranks around Napoleon like a movable fortress, proud of the honor of
+protecting him. Their band of music expressed their satisfaction. When
+the danger was greatest, it played the well-known air, "_Where can one
+be happier than in the bosom of his family?_" But the emperor, whom
+nothing escaped, stopped them with the exclamation, "Rather play, '_Let
+us watch for the safety of the empire!_'" words much better suited to
+the feelings which then occupied him, and to the general condition of
+affairs.
+
+At the same time, the enemy's fire becoming troublesome, he gave orders
+to silence it, and in two hours he reached Krasnoë.
+
+On the 17th, before daylight, Napoleon issued his orders, armed himself,
+and going out on foot at the head of his Old Guard, began his march. But
+it was not towards Poland, his ally, that he directed it, nor towards
+France, where he would still be received as the head of a new dynasty,
+and the Emperor of the West. His words on grasping his sword on this
+occasion were, "I have sufficiently acted the emperor; it is time I
+should become the general." He turned back upon eighty thousand of the
+enemy, plunging into the thickest of them, in order to draw all their
+efforts against himself, to make a diversion in favor of Davoust and
+Ney, and to rescue them from a country, the gates of which were closed
+against them.
+
+Daylight at last appeared, exhibiting on the one part the Russian
+battalions and batteries, which on three sides, in front, on our right,
+and in our rear, bounded the horizon, and on the other Napoleon, with
+his six thousand guards, advancing with a firm step, and proceeding to
+take his place in the centre of that terrible circle. At the same time,
+Mortier, a few yards in front of the emperor, deployed,[170] in the face
+of the whole Russian army, with the five thousand men still remaining to
+him.
+
+Here, then, it was made evident that renown is something more than a
+vain shadow, that it is real strength, and doubly powerful from the
+inflexible pride which it imparts to its favorites, and the timid
+precautions it imposes on those who venture to attack it. The enemy had
+only to march forward without manoeuvring, or even firing; their mass
+alone was sufficient to crush Napoleon with all his feeble battalions;
+still they did not dare come to close quarters with him. They were awed
+at the presence of the conqueror of Egypt and of Europe. The Pyramids,
+Marengo, Austerlitz, Friedland, a host of victories seemed to rise
+between him and the astounded Russians. Might we not also fancy that, in
+the eyes of that passive and superstitious people, a renown so
+extraordinary appeared like something supernatural? that they regarded
+it as wholly beyond their power, or, at least, believed that they could
+safely assail it only from a distance? and, in short, that against that
+Old Guard, that living fortress, that column of granite, as it had been
+called by its leader, human efforts were impotent, or that cannon alone
+could demolish it?
+
+But every moment strengthened the enemy and weakened Napoleon. The noise
+of artillery, as well as Claparède, apprised him that in the rear of
+Krasnoë and his army Beningsen was proceeding to take possession of the
+road to Liady, and entirely cut off his retreat. The east, the west, and
+the south were flashing with the enemy's fires; one side alone remained
+open, that of the north and the Dnieper, towards an eminence, at the
+foot of which were the high road and the emperor. We fancied we saw the
+enemy already covering this eminence with his cannon. In that situation
+they would have been just over Napoleon's head, and might have crushed
+him at a few yards' distance. He was apprised of his danger, cast his
+eyes for an instant towards the height, and uttered merely these words,
+"Very well, let one of my battalions take possession of it." Immediately
+afterward, without giving farther heed to it, his whole attention was
+directed to the perilous situation of Mortier.
+
+Fortunately, some troops which Davoust had rallied and the appearance of
+another troop of his stragglers, attracted the enemy's attention.
+Mortier availed himself of it. He gave orders to the three thousand men
+he had still remaining to retreat slowly in the face of their fifty
+thousand enemies. "Do you hear, soldiers?" cried General Laborde, "the
+marshal orders ordinary time! Ordinary time, soldiers!" And this brave
+and unfortunate troop, dragging with them some of their wounded, under a
+shower of balls and grape-shot, retired as deliberately from this field
+of carnage as they would have done from a field of manoeuvre.
+
+
+§ 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a council.
+
+As soon as Mortier had succeeded in placing Krasnoë between him and
+Beningsen, he was in safety.
+
+The next day the march was resumed, though with reluctance. The
+impatient stragglers took the lead, and all of them got the start of
+Napoleon: he was on foot with a stick in his hand, walking slowly and
+hesitatingly, and halting every quarter of an hour, as if unwilling to
+tear himself away from that old Russia, whose frontier he was then
+passing, and in which he had left his unfortunate companions in arms.
+
+In the evening he reached Dombrowna,[171] a wooden town, and inhabited
+as well as Liady: a novel sight for an army, which had for three months
+seen nothing but ruins. At last, then, we had emerged from Russia
+proper, and her deserts of snow and ashes, and were entering into a
+friendly and inhabited country, whose language we understood. The
+weather just then became milder, a thaw began, and we received some
+provisions.
+
+Thus the winter, the enemy, solitude, and, with some, famine and
+bivouacs, all ceased at once; but it was too late. The emperor saw that
+his army was destroyed: every moment the name of Ney escaped from his
+lips, with expressions of the deepest grief. That night he was heard
+groaning and exclaiming "that the misery of his poor soldiers cut him to
+the heart, and yet that he could not succor them without establishing
+himself in some place: but where was it possible for him to stop without
+ammunition, provisions, or artillery? He was no longer strong enough to
+halt: he must reach Minsk as quickly as possible."
+
+He had scarcely spoken the words, when a Polish officer arrived with the
+news that Minsk itself, his magazine, his retreat, his only hope, had
+just fallen into the hands of the Russians, Tchitchakoff having entered
+it on the 16th. Napoleon at first was mute, and completely overpowered
+by this last blow; but immediately afterward, elevating himself in
+proportion to his danger, he coolly replied, "Very well! we have now
+nothing to do but to clear ourselves a passage with our bayonets."
+
+Napoleon then turned to his Old Guard, and, stopping in front of each
+battalion, "Grenadiers!"[172] said he, to them, "we are retreating
+without being conquered by the enemy; let us not be vanquished by
+ourselves! Set an example to the army. Several of you have already
+deserted your colors, and even thrown away your arms. I have no wish to
+have recourse to military laws to put a stop to this disorder, but
+appeal entirely to your sense of duty. Do justice to yourselves. To your
+own honor I commit the maintenance of your discipline!"
+
+The other troops he addressed in a similar style. These few words were
+quite sufficient to the old grenadiers, who probably had no occasion for
+them. The others received them with acclamations; but an hour afterward,
+when the march was resumed, they were entirely forgotten. As to his rear
+guard, throwing the blame of this wild alarm mostly upon it, he sent an
+angry message to Davoust on the subject.
+
+At Orcha we found rather an abundant supply of provisions, a bridge
+equipage of sixty boats, with all its appurtenances, which we burned,
+and thirty-six pieces of cannon, with their horses, which were
+distributed between Davoust, Eugene, and Latour-Maubourg.
+
+Napoleon entered Orcha with six thousand guards, the remains of
+thirty-five thousand! Eugene, with eighteen hundred soldiers, the
+remains of forty-two thousand! and Davoust, with four thousand, the
+remains of seventy thousand!
+
+This marshal had lost everything, was actually without linen, and
+emaciated with hunger. He seized upon a loaf, which was offered him by
+one of his comrades, and voraciously devoured it. A handkerchief was
+given him to wipe his face, which was white with frost. He exclaimed
+"that none but men with constitutions of iron could support such trials;
+that it was physically impossible to resist them; that there were limits
+to human strength, the utmost of which had been exceeded."
+
+The emperor made fruitless efforts to check this general despondency.
+When alone, he was heard compassionating the sufferings of his soldiers;
+but in their presence, even upon that point, he wished to appear
+inflexible. He issued a proclamation, "ordering all who had deserted
+their ranks to return to them: if they did not, he would strip the
+officers of their commissions, and the soldiers should be shot."
+
+A threat like this produced no impression whatever upon men who had
+become insensible, or were reduced to despair, fleeing not from danger,
+but from suffering, and caring as little for the death with which they
+were menaced as for the life that was offered them.
+
+But Napoleon's confidence increased with his perils: in his eyes, this
+handful of men, in these deserts of snow and ice, was still the Grand
+Army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! nor was there any affectation
+in this firmness: we were certain of it, when in this very town, we saw
+him burn, with his own hands, everything belonging to him that might
+serve as a trophy to the enemy, in the event of his fall.
+
+But everything was now changed: two hostile armies were opposing his
+retreat; and the question to be decided was, through which of them he
+should cut his way. As he knew nothing of the Lithuanian forests into
+which he was about penetrating, he summoned such of his officers as had
+been through them, in order to obtain information.
+
+The emperor began by remarking that "too great familiarity with victory
+was often the precursor of great disasters, but that recrimination was
+now out of the question." He then mentioned the capture of Minsk, and,
+admitting the skilfulness of Kutusoff's persevering manoeuvres on the
+right flank, he said that "it was his intention to abandon his line of
+operations on Minsk, unite with the Dukes of Belluno and Reggio, cut his
+way through Wittgenstein's army, and regain Wilna by turning the sources
+of the Berezina." Jomini combated this plan.
+
+Finally Napoleon decided upon Borizoff.[173] But he said, "that it was
+cruel to retreat without fighting, to present the appearance of flight.
+Had he only a magazine, some point of support which would allow him to
+halt, he would prove to Europe that he still knew how to fight and how
+to conquer."
+
+All these were mere illusions. At Smolensk, where he arrived first, and
+from which he was the first to depart, he had rather been informed of
+his disasters than witnessed them himself. At Krasnoë, where our
+miseries had been more fully unfolded before him, the peril by which we
+were surrounded had diverted his attention from them; but at Orcha he
+could contemplate, at one view and leisurely, the whole extent of his
+misfortunes.
+
+At Smolensk, thirty-six thousand combatants, one hundred and fifty
+cannon, the army-chest, and the hope of life, and of breathing at
+liberty on the other side of the Berezina, still remained; here there
+were scarcely ten thousand soldiers, almost without clothing or shoes,
+entangled amid a crowd of dying men, with but a few cannon, and a
+plundered army-chest.
+
+
+§ 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney.
+
+Being at length, on the 20th of November, compelled to quit Orcha, he
+left there Eugene, Mortier, and Davoust, and halted after a march of six
+miles from that place, still inquiring for Marshal Ney, who was
+advancing by a different route, and still expecting him. The same
+feeling of grief pervaded the portion of the army remaining at Orcha. As
+soon as the most pressing wants allowed a moment's rest, the thoughts
+and looks of every one were directed towards the Russian bank. They
+listened for any warlike sounds which might announce the arrival of Ney,
+or, rather, his last desperate struggle with the foe; but nothing was to
+be seen but parties of the enemy, who were already menacing the bridges
+of the Borysthenes.
+
+After exhausting all their conjectures, they had relapsed into a gloomy
+silence, when suddenly they heard the steps of horses, and then the
+joyful cry, "Marshal Ney is safe! here are some Polish cavalry come to
+announce his approach!" One of his officers now galloped in, and
+informed them that the marshal was advancing on the right bank of the
+Borysthenes, and had sent him to ask for assistance.
+
+When the two corps, Eugene's and Ney's, fairly recognized each other,
+they could no longer be kept in their ranks. Soldiers, officers,
+generals, all rushed forward together. The soldiers of Eugene, eagerly
+grasping the hands of those of Ney, held them with a joyful mixture of
+astonishment and curiosity, and embraced them with the tenderest
+sympathy. They lavished upon them the refreshments and brandy which they
+had just received, and overwhelmed them with questions. Then they
+proceeded in company towards Orcha, all burning with impatience,
+Eugene's soldiers to hear, and Ney's to relate, their story.
+
+The officers of Ney stated that on the 17th of November they had quitted
+Smolensk with twelve cannon, six thousand infantry, and three hundred
+cavalry, leaving there five thousand sick to the mercy of the enemy; and
+that, had it not been for the noise of Platoff's artillery and the
+explosion of the mines, their marshal would never have been able to draw
+from the ruins of that city seven thousand unarmed stragglers who had
+taken shelter among them. They dwelt upon the attentions which their
+leader had shown to the wounded, and to the women and their children,
+proving upon this occasion that the bravest are also the most humane.
+
+At the gates of the city an unnatural action struck them with a horror
+that they still felt in all its force. A mother abandoned her little
+son, only five years old: in spite of his cries and tears, she drove him
+away from her sledge, which was too heavily laden. She exclaimed, at the
+same time, with a distracted air, that "_he_ had never seen France! _he_
+would not regret it! but _she_ knew France! _she_ was resolved to see
+France once more!" Twice did Ney himself replace the unfortunate child
+in the arms of his mother, and twice did she cast him from her on the
+frozen snow.
+
+This solitary crime, amid a thousand instances of the most devoted and
+sublime tenderness, they did not leave unpunished. The unnatural parent
+was herself abandoned to the snow from which her infant was snatched,
+and intrusted to another mother: this little orphan was then in their
+ranks; he was afterward seen at the Berezina, then at Wilna, again at
+Kowno, and finally escaped from all the horrors of the retreat.
+
+Frustrated in his plans Ney instead of advancing to join Napoleon was
+compelled to order his men to return towards Smolensk. At these words
+they were struck motionless with astonishment. Even his aid-de-camp
+could not believe his ears: he remained silent, like one who does not
+comprehend what he hears, and looked at his general in amazement. But
+the marshal briefly repeating the same order in a still more imperative
+tone, they were no longer at any loss, but all recognized in it
+resolution taken, a resource discovered, that self-confidence which
+inspires others with the same feeling, and a spirit which rises superior
+to its situation, however perilous it may be. They instantly obeyed,
+and, without the slightest hesitation, turned their backs on their own
+army, on the emperor, and on France. Once more they returned into that
+fatal Russia. Their retrograde march had lasted an hour: again they came
+to the field of battle marked by the remains of the army of Italy; there
+they halted, and the marshal, who had remained with the rear guard, then
+joined them.
+
+Their eyes followed all his movements. What did he intend doing? and,
+whatever might be his plan, where would he direct his steps, without a
+guide, in an unknown country? But, while they were thus perplexing
+themselves, he, with his warlike instinct, had halted on the edge of a
+ravine of such depth as to make it evident that there was a stream at
+the bottom of it. By clearing away the snow and breaking the ice, this
+fact was soon established: and then, consulting his map, he exclaimed,
+"This is one of the streams which flow into the Dnieper: this must be
+our guide, and we must follow it; it will lead us to that river, which
+we must cross, and on the other side we shall be safe." Accordingly, he
+immediately proceeded in that direction.
+
+A lame peasant was the only inhabitant they could discover; but even
+this was an unlooked-for piece of good fortune. He told them that they
+were within the distance of a league from the Dnieper, but that it was
+not fordable there, and could not yet be frozen over. "It must be so,"
+the marshal remarked; but when he was reminded that a thaw had just
+commenced, he added, "it does not signify; we must pass, as there is no
+other resource."
+
+At last at about eight o'clock, after passing through a village, they
+soon came to the termination of the ravine, and the Russian, who walked
+before, halted and pointed out to them the river.
+
+Finally, about midnight, the passage began; but the first persons who
+ventured on the ice called out that it was bending under them, that it
+was sinking, that they were up to their knees in water; and immediately
+after that frail support was heard cracking and splitting, as in the
+breaking up of a frost. All halted in consternation.
+
+Ney ordered them to pass only one at a time: they proceeded with
+caution, not knowing sometimes in the dark whether they were placing
+their feet on the ice or into a chasm; for there were places where they
+were obliged to clear large fissures, and jump from one piece to
+another, at the risk of falling between them and disappearing forever.
+The first hesitated, but those who were behind kept calling to them to
+make more haste.
+
+When at last, after several of these dreadful panics, they reached the
+opposite bank and fancied themselves safe, a perpendicular steep,
+slippery as glass, opposed their landing, and many were again thrown
+back upon the ice, either bruised by it, or breaking it in their fall.
+It would seem, indeed, as though this Russian river and its banks had
+contributed with regret, by surprise, and by compulsion, as it were, to
+their escape.
+
+But what they spoke of as being the most painful of all, were the
+trouble and distraction of the females and of the sick, when it became
+necessary for them to abandon, along with the baggage, the remains of
+their fortune, their provisions, and, in short, all their resources both
+for the present and the future. They were seen stripping themselves,
+selecting, throwing away, taking up again, and falling at length through
+exhaustion and grief upon the frozen bank of the river. The narrators
+appeared to shudder again at the recollection of the horrible sight of
+so many men scattered over that abyss, of the continual noise of persons
+falling, of the cries of such as sank in, and, above all, of the wailing
+and despair of the wounded, who, from their carts, which could not be
+trusted to this weak support, stretched out their hands to their
+companions, and entreated them not to leave them behind.
+
+Their leader at length determined to attempt the passage of several
+wagons, loaded with these poor creatures; but in the middle of the
+stream the ice sank down and separated. Then were heard proceeding from
+the gulf, first cries of anguish long and piercing, then stifled and
+feeble groans, quickly succeeded by an awful silence. All had
+disappeared!
+
+But at length Ney had succeeded in reaching Orcha; from this time
+forward he was the hero of the retreat.
+
+When Napoleon, who was two leagues farther on, heard that Ney had again
+made his appearance, he leaped and shouted for joy, exclaiming, "Then I
+have saved my honor! I would have given three hundred millions from my
+exchequer sooner than have lost such a man."
+
+
+§ 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians.
+
+The army had thus for the third and last time repassed the Dnieper, a
+river half Russian and half Polish, but having its source in Russia. It
+runs from east to west as far as Orcha, where it appears as if it would
+penetrate into Poland; but there the high lands of Lithuania oppose its
+farther progress, and compel it to turn abruptly towards the south, and
+to become the frontier of the two countries.
+
+Kutusoff and his eighty thousand Russians halted before this feeble
+obstacle. Hitherto they had been rather the spectators than the authors
+of our calamities; but from this time we saw them no more, and were at
+last delivered from the punishment of their joy.
+
+On the 22d of November the army had a disagreeable march from Orcha to
+Borizoff, on a wide road skirted by a double row of large birch-trees,
+the snow having melted, and the mud being very deep. The weakest here
+found their graves; and those of our wounded who, in expectation of a
+continuance of the frost, had exchanged their wagons for sleighs, were
+left behind, and fell into the hands of the Cossacks.
+
+It was during the early part of the march to Borizoff that the news of
+the fall of Minsk[174] became generally known in the army. The leaders
+themselves now began to look around them with consternation; and, after
+witnessing such a succession of frightful spectacles their imagination
+depicted a still more fatal futurity. In their private conversation they
+did not hesitate to say that, "like Charles XII. in Russia, Napoleon had
+carried his army to Moscow only to destroy it."
+
+Deploring, then, the rash obstinacy of the stay at Moscow, and the fatal
+hesitation at Malo-jaroslavetz, they proceeded to reckon up their
+losses. Since their departure from Moscow they had lost all their
+baggage, five hundred cannon, thirty-one standards, twenty-seven
+generals, forty thousand prisoners, and sixty thousand dead: all that
+remained were forty thousand unarmed stragglers and eight thousand
+effective soldiers.
+
+With respect to the loss of Minsk the governor of that place had been
+negligently chosen. He was, it was said, one of those men who undertake
+everything, who promise everything, and who do nothing. On the 16th of
+November he lost that capital, and with it four thousand seven hundred
+sick, the warlike stores, and two million rations of provisions. It was
+five days since the news of this loss had reached Dombrowna, and the
+news of a still greater calamity came on the heels of it.
+
+This same governor had retreated towards Borizoff. There he neglected to
+inform Oudinot, who was only at the distance of two marches, to come to
+his assistance; and failed to support Dombrowski, who made a hasty march
+thither: the result was that the latter was overpowered by the fire of
+the Russian artillery, which took him in flank, and, attacked by a force
+more than double his own, he was driven across the river, and out of the
+town as far as the Moscow road.
+
+This disaster was wholly unexpected by Napoleon. Finally, when the
+emperor learned at Dombrowna the loss of Minsk, he had no suspicion that
+Borizoff was in such imminent danger, as when he passed the next day
+through Orcha he had the whole of his bridge-equipage burned.
+
+It was on the day immediately subsequent to that fatal catastrophe, at
+the distance of three marches from Borizoff, and upon the high road,
+that an officer arrived and announced to Napoleon this fresh disaster.
+The emperor, striking the ground with his stick, and casting a furious
+look to heaven, pronounced these words: "Is it, then, written above that
+we shall now commit nothing but faults?"
+
+Meanwhile Marshal Oudinot, who was already marching towards Minsk,
+totally ignorant of what had happened, halted on the 21st. In the middle
+of the night General Brownkowski arrived to announce to him his own
+defeat, as well as that of General Dombrowski;[175] that Borizoff was
+taken, and that the Russians were following close at his heels.
+
+In fact, every disaster which Napoleon could anticipate had occurred;
+the melancholy conformity, therefore, of his situation with that of the
+Swedish conqueror, threw his mind into such a state of agitation that
+his health became still more seriously affected than it had been at
+Malo-jaroslavetz. Among the expressions he made use of, loud enough to
+be overheard, was this: "See what happens when we heap faults on
+faults!"
+
+His orders, however, displayed decision. Oudinot had just sent to inform
+him of his determination to overthrow Lambert: this he approved of, and
+he also urged him to make himself master of a passage across the
+Berezina, either above or below Borizoff. He was desirous that by the
+24th the place for this passage should be fixed on and the preparations
+begun, and that he should be apprised of it, in order to make his march
+correspond. Far from thinking of making his escape through the midst of
+these three hostile armies, his only idea now was to beat Tchitchakoff
+and retake Minsk.
+
+It is true that, eight hours afterward, in a second letter to the Duke
+of Reggio, he resigned himself to crossing the Berezina near Veselowo,
+and by retreating directly upon Wilna, by Vileika, to avoid the Russian
+admiral.
+
+But on the 24th he learned that the passage could only be attempted near
+Studzianka; that at that spot the river was only fifty-four fathoms
+wide, and six feet deep; and that they would land on the opposite side
+in a marsh, under the fire of a commanding position strongly occupied by
+the enemy.
+
+
+§ 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina.
+
+All hope of passing between the Russian armies was thus lost: driven by
+the armies of Kutusoff and Wittgenstein upon the Berezina, there was no
+alternative but to cross that river in the teeth of the army of
+Tchitchakoff, which lined its banks.
+
+After having made his preparations, Napoleon plunged into the gloomy and
+immense forest of Minsk, in which there was only here and there an open
+spot surrounding some wretched hamlet or single habitation. The noise of
+Wittgenstein's artillery filled it with its echoes. The Russian general
+came rushing from the north upon the right flank of our expiring column,
+and he brought back with him the winter which had quitted us at the
+same time with Kutusoff. The news of his threatening march accelerated
+our steps, and our motley array of from forty to fifty thousand men,
+women, and children hurried through the forest as rapidly as their
+weakness and the slipperiness of the ground, from the frost again
+setting in, would allow.
+
+These forced marches, commenced before daylight, and not terminating
+until after its close, dispersed all who had previously been together.
+They lost themselves in the double darkness of the forest and of the
+night. They halted in the evening, and resumed their march in the
+morning, in obscurity, at random, and without hearing the signal: the
+dissolution of the remains of the corps was now completed; all were
+mixed and confounded together.
+
+In this last stage of helplessness and confusion, as we were approaching
+Borizoff, we heard loud cries before us. Some rushed forward, fancying
+it was an attack. It was Victor's army, which had been feebly driven
+back by Wittgenstein to the right side of our road, where it remained
+waiting for us. Still, quite complete and full of animation, it received
+the emperor, as soon as he made his appearance, with the customary but
+now long-forgotten acclamations.
+
+Of our disasters it had heard nothing: they had been carefully concealed
+even from its leaders. When, therefore, instead of that grand column
+which had conquered Moscow, its soldiers perceived behind Napoleon only
+a train of spectres covered with tattered vestments of every kind,
+women's pelisses, pieces of carpet, or dirty cloaks, half burned and
+riddled by the fires, and with nothing but rags on their feet, their
+consternation was extreme. They seemed terrified at the sight of those
+unfortunate soldiers, as they defiled before them, with emaciated
+frames, faces black with dirt, and hideous bristly beards, unarmed,
+shameless, marching confusedly, with their heads bent, and their eyes
+fixed on the ground and silent, like a troop of captives.
+
+But what astonished them more than all was to see the number of generals
+and officers of every grade, scattered about and insulated, seemingly
+only occupied about themselves, and thinking of nothing but to save the
+wrecks of their property or their persons: they were marching pell-mell
+with the soldiers, who did not notice them, to whom they had no longer
+any commands to give, and of whom they had nothing to expect, all ties
+between them being dissolved, and all distinctions of rank obliterated
+by the common misery.
+
+It was, indeed, merely the shadow of an army, but it was the shadow of
+the Grand Army. It felt conscious that nature alone had vanquished it.
+The presence of Napoleon animated it. To him it had long been accustomed
+to look, not for its means of support, but to lead it to victory. This
+was its first unfortunate campaign, and it had had so many fortunate
+ones: it only required to be able to follow him. He alone who had
+elevated his soldiers so high, and now sunk them so low, was yet able to
+save them. He was still, therefore, cherished in the heart of his army,
+like hope in the heart of man.
+
+Thus, amid so many beings who might have reproached him with their
+misfortunes, he marched on without the least fear, speaking to one and
+all without affectation, certain of being respected as long as glory
+could command respect. Knowing perfectly that he belonged to us as much
+as we to him, his renown being, as it were, common national property,
+we should have sooner turned our arms against ourselves (which was the
+case with many), as being a minor suicide, than against him.
+
+Some of the men fell and died at his feet; and, though they were in the
+most frightful delirium, their sufferings never gave its wanderings the
+turn of reproach, but of entreaty. And in fact, did not he share the
+common danger? Who of them all risked so much as he? Who had suffered
+the greatest loss in this disaster?
+
+If any imprecations were ever uttered, it was not in his presence; for
+it seemed that, of all misfortunes, that of incurring his displeasure
+was still the greatest: so rooted was their confidence in, and their
+submission to, that man who had subjected the world to them; whose
+genius, hitherto uniformly victorious and invincible, had assumed the
+place of their free-will; and who, having had so long in his hands the
+book of pensions, of rank, and of history, had found wherewithal to
+satisfy not only covetous spirits, but also every generous heart.
+
+At the close of the night of the 25th of November, Napoleon made them
+sink the first trestle in the muddy bed of the Berezina River. But to
+crown our misfortunes, the rising of the waters had made the traces of
+the ford entirely disappear. It required the most incredible efforts on
+the part of our unfortunate engineers, who were plunged in the water up
+to their mouths, and had to contend with the floating pieces of ice
+which were carried along by the stream. Many of them perished from the
+cold, or were drowned by the cakes of ice being violently driven against
+them by the current and wind.
+
+On the 27th, Napoleon, with about five thousand guards, and Ney's corps,
+now reduced to six hundred men, crossed the Berezina about two o'clock
+in the afternoon: he posted himself in reserve to Oudinot, and secured
+the outlet from the bridges against the efforts of the Russians.
+
+He had been preceded by a crowd of baggage and stragglers, and numbers
+of them continued to cross the river after him as long as daylight
+lasted.
+
+But Partouneaux with his division was not so fortunate. At every point
+where he attempted to pass, he encountered the enemy's fires, and was
+obliged to turn back: in this way he wandered about for several hours
+altogether at random, in plains covered with snow, in the midst of a
+violent tempest. At every step he saw his soldiers pierced through by
+the cold, and exhausted with hunger and fatigue, falling half dead into
+the hands of the Russian cavalry, who pursued him without intermission.
+
+This unfortunate general was still struggling with the heavens, with
+men, and with his own despair, when he felt even the ground giving way
+under his feet. In fact, deceived by the snow, he was marching upon a
+lake, which not being frozen sufficiently hard to bear him, he had
+fallen in and was on the point of being drowned, and then only did he
+yield and give up his arms.
+
+While this catastrophe was accomplishing, his other three brigades,
+being more and more hemmed in upon the road, lost all power of movement.
+They delayed their surrender, however, till the next morning, first by
+fighting, and then by parleying: at length they all fell, one after the
+other, and a common misfortune again united them with their general.
+
+Of the whole division, a single battalion only escaped.
+
+During the whole of that day, the 28th, the situation of the ninth corps
+under General Victor, was so much the more critical, as a weak and
+narrow bridge was its only means of retreat; in addition to which its
+avenues were obstructed by the baggage and the stragglers. By degrees,
+as the action became warmer, the terror of these poor wretches increased
+their disorder. First of all they had been alarmed by the rumors of a
+serious engagement; then their terror was increased by seeing the
+wounded returning from it; and, last of all, they were thrown into the
+utmost consternation by the batteries of the Russian left wing, some
+shot from which began to fall among them.
+
+They had been already crowding one upon the other, and the immense
+multitude heaped upon the bank pell-mell with the horses and carriages,
+formed there a most alarming encumbrance. It was about the middle of the
+day that the first Russian balls fell into the midst of this chaos, and
+they were the signal of universal despair.
+
+Then it was, as in all cases of extremity, that the real dispositions of
+men exhibited themselves without disguise, and actions were witnessed,
+some of them the most base, and others the most noble and even sublime.
+In accordance with their character, some furious and determined, with
+sword in hand, cleared for themselves a horrible passage. Others, still
+more cruel, opened a way for their wagons by driving them without mercy
+over the crowds of unfortunate persons who stood in their way, and
+crushed them to death. Their detestable avarice made them sacrifice
+their companions in misfortune to the preservation of their baggage.
+Others again, seized with a pusillanimous terror, wept, supplicated, and
+sank under the influence of a passion which completed the exhaustion of
+their strength. Some were observed (and these were principally the sick
+and wounded) who, renouncing life, went aside, and, resigned to their
+fate, sat themselves down, gazing with a fixed and motionless eye on the
+snow which was shortly to be their winding-sheet.
+
+Numbers of those who started first among this crowd of desperadoes,
+missing the bridge, attempted to scale it by the sides, but the greater
+part were pushed into the river. There were seen women in the midst of
+the stream and among the masses of floating ice, with their children in
+their arms, raising them by degrees as they felt themselves sinking, and
+when completely submerged, their stiffened arms still holding them above
+the water.
+
+In the midst of this horrible disorder, the artillery bridge gave way
+and broke down. The column entangled in this narrow passage in vain
+attempted to retrograde. The crowds which were following behind,
+ignorant of the calamity, and not hearing the cries of those before
+them, kept urging them on until they pushed them into the gulf, into
+which they in their turn were precipitated.
+
+Every one then attempted to pass by the other bridge. A great number of
+large ammunition wagons, heavy carriages and cannon crowded to it from
+all parts. Pressed on by their drivers and carried rapidly along over a
+rough and unequalled declivity, in the midst of masses of men, they
+ground to pieces the poor wretches who were unfortunate enough to get
+between them, until at length the greater part, furiously encountering
+each other, were overturned, killing in their fall those who were around
+them. Multitudes pressed against these obstacles, and becoming entangled
+among them, were thrown down, and crushed to pieces by other multitudes
+as they successively stumbled upon them.
+
+Thus these miserable creatures were rolling one upon the other, and
+nothing was heard but cries of rage and of anguish. In this frightful
+confusion, those who were trodden and crushed under the feet of their
+companions, struggling to lay hold of them with their nails and teeth,
+were, like so many enemies, trampled upon without mercy.
+
+Among them were wives and mothers, calling in tones of distraction upon
+their husbands and their children, from whom they had been separated but
+a moment before, never again to be united. Stretching out their arms,
+they entreated to be allowed to pass in order to rejoin them: but they
+were hurried backward and forward with the crowd, until at length,
+overcome by the pressure, they sank without being so much as noticed.
+Amid the howling of a violent tempest, the discharge of cannon, the
+whistling of balls, the explosion of shells, vociferations, groans, and
+frightful oaths, this infuriated crowd heard not the cries of the
+victims it was swallowing up.
+
+The more fortunate gained the bridge by scrambling over heaps of
+wounded, of women and children thrown down and half suffocated, whom
+they again trampled beneath their feet in their attempts to reach it.
+When at last they reached the narrow defile, they fancied that they were
+safe; but the fall of a horse, or the breaking or displacing of a plank,
+again arrested everything.
+
+There was also at the outlet of the bridge, on the other side, a morass,
+into which many horses and carriages had sunk, a circumstance which
+greatly embarrassed and retarded the entrance. Then it was that, in that
+infuriated column, crowded together, on a single plank of safety, there
+arose a terrible struggle, in which the weakest least fortunately
+situated were plunged into the river by their more powerful or more
+successful comrades. The latter, without so much as turning their
+heads, and hurried along by the instinct of self-preservation, pushed on
+towards the goal with unabated fury, regardless of the imprecations of
+rage and despair uttered by their companions or officers whom they had
+thus sacrificed.
+
+But, on the other hand, how many noble instances there were of devotion!
+and why are time and space denied me to relate them? Soldiers, and even
+officers, harnessed themselves to sledges, to snatch from that fatal
+bank their sick or wounded comrades. Farther off, and out of reach of
+the crowd, were seen soldiers, motionless and watching over their dying
+commanders, who had confided themselves to their care: in vain did the
+latter conjure them to think only of their own preservation; they
+refused; and sooner than abandon their expiring leaders, resolved to
+take their chance of slavery or death.
+
+Above the first passage, where young Lauriston had thrown himself into
+the river, in order more promptly to execute the orders of Napoleon, a
+little boat, carrying a mother and her two children, was upset and sank
+under the ice: an artilleryman, who, like the others, was struggling on
+the bridge to open a passage for himself, observed the accident, and all
+at once, unmindful of his own life, he threw himself into the river, and
+by great exertion succeeded in saving one of the three victims. It was
+the youngest of the two children: the poor little thing kept calling for
+his mother in tones of despair, when the brave artilleryman was heard
+telling him "not to cry; that he had not rescued him from the water only
+to desert him on the bank; that he should want for nothing; and that he
+would be his father and his family."
+
+The night of the 28th added to all these calamities. Its darkness was
+insufficient to conceal from the artillery of the Russians its miserable
+victims. Amid the snow, which covered everything, the course of the
+river, the black mass of men, horses, and carriages, and the noise
+proceeding from them, were enough to enable the enemy's artillerymen
+unerringly to direct their fire.
+
+At about nine o'clock in the evening their desolation became complete,
+when Victor commencing his retreat, his divisions opened for themselves
+a passage through these despairing wretches, whom they had till then
+been protecting. A rear guard, however, having been left, the multitude,
+benumbed with cold, or still anxious to preserve their baggage, refused
+to avail themselves of the last night for crossing to the opposite
+shore. In vain were their wagons set fire to, in order to tear them from
+them; it was only the appearance of daylight which brought them again,
+but too late, to the entrance of the bridge, which they once more
+besieged. At half past eight in the morning, seeing the Russians
+approaching, General Eblé set fire to it by Napoleon's orders; then
+those who were left on the eastern side of the river "realized that they
+had lost their last chance."
+
+A multitude of wagons and of cannon, several thousand men and women, and
+some children, were thus abandoned on the hostile bank. They were seen
+wandering in desolate troops on the borders of the river. Some plunged
+into it in order to swim across; others ventured themselves on the
+pieces of ice which were floating along; and some there were who threw
+themselves headlong upon the timbers of the burning bridge, which,
+sinking under them, exposed them at the same time to the horrors of a
+twofold death. Shortly after, the bodies of many of these unfortunate
+creatures, wedged in the ice, were seen collecting against the trestles
+of the bridge. The rest awaited the Russians. The Russian general did
+not show himself upon the heights until an hour after Eblé's departure;
+and without having gained a victory, he reaped all the fruits of one.
+
+Napoleon remained till the last moment on these melancholy banks, near
+the ruins of Brilowa, unsheltered and at the head of his guard,
+one-third of which was destroyed by the storm. During the day they stood
+to their arms, and were drawn up in order of battle; at night they
+bivouacked in a square round their leader; and there the old grenadiers
+incessantly kept feeding their fires. They sat on their knapsacks, with
+their elbows planted upon their knees, and their hands supporting their
+heads; slumbering in this manner, doubled upon themselves, that one limb
+might warm the other, and that they might feel less the emptiness of
+their stomachs.
+
+About these bivouacs were collected men of all classes, of all ranks, of
+all ages; ministers, generals, administrators. Among them was remarked
+an elderly nobleman of by-gone days, when light and brilliant graces
+held sovereign sway. This general officer of sixty was seen sitting on
+the snow-covered trunk of some tree, occupying himself with unruffled
+gayety every morning in adjusting the details of his toilet: in the
+midst of a hurricane he had his hair elegantly dressed, and powdered
+with the nicest care, amusing himself in this manner with all our
+calamities, and with the fury of the elements which assailed him.
+
+Near him were officers of scientific corps, still finding subjects for
+discussion. Imbued with the spirit of an age which a few discoveries
+have encouraged to hope for explanations of everything, these
+individuals, amid the acute sufferings we were enduring from the north
+wind, were seeking to divine the cause of its unvarying direction. The
+theory was advanced that, since his departure for the antarctic pole,
+the sun, by heating the southern hemisphere, had rarefied all its
+currents of air, elevated them, and left on the surface of that zone a
+vacuum, into which the currents of air of ours, which were lower on
+account of being more dense, were violently rushing. That thus the
+northern pole, loaded with these denser vapors, which had been
+collecting and cooling since the preceding summer, was discharging them
+by an impetuous and icy current, which swept over the Russian territory,
+and stiffened or destroyed everything it encountered in its course.
+
+Others of these officers were remarking with curious attention the
+regular six-sided crystallization of each one of the flakes of snow
+which covered their garments.
+
+The phenomena of the simultaneous appearance of several distinct images
+of the sun, reflected to the eye by means of the icy particles suspended
+in the atmosphere, was also a subject for observation, and several times
+momentarily diverted their thoughts from their sufferings.
+
+
+§ 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army and sets out for Paris.
+
+On the 29th the emperor quitted the banks of the Berezina, pushing on
+before him the crowd of disbanded soldiers, and marching with the ninth
+corps, which was already disorganized. The day before, the second and
+ninth corps and Dombrowski's division presented a total of fourteen
+thousand men; and now, with the exception of about six thousand, they
+had no longer any form of division, brigade, or regiment.
+
+Night, hunger, cold, the fall of many of their officers, the loss of the
+baggage on the other side of the river, the example of such a number of
+runaways, and the much more revolting sight of the wounded abandoned on
+both sides of the river, and left weltering in despair on the snow,
+which was dyed with their blood: everything, in short, contributed to
+discourage them; and they were now confounded with the mass of disbanded
+men who had come from Moscow.
+
+The whole still formed sixty thousand men, but without the least order
+or unity. All marched pell-mell, cavalry, infantry, artillery, French
+and Germans: there was no longer either wing or centre. The artillery
+and carriages drove on through this tumultuous crowd with no other
+instructions than to proceed as rapidly as possible.
+
+On the 3d of December Napoleon arrived in the morning at
+Malodeczno,[176] which was the last point where the Russian general,
+Tchitchakoff was likely to get the start of him. Some provisions were
+found there, the forage was abundant, the day beautiful, the sun bright,
+and the cold bearable. There also the couriers, who had been so long
+kept back, arrived all at once. The Poles were immediately directed
+onward to Warsaw through Olita, and the dismounted cavalry by Merecz to
+the Niemen; while the rest of the army was to follow the high road,
+which they had again regained.
+
+Up to that time Napoleon seemed to have entertained no idea of quitting
+his army. But about the middle of that day he suddenly informed Daru and
+Duroc of his determination to set off immediately for Paris.
+
+Daru did not see the necessity of it. He objected "that the
+communication with France was again opened, and the most dangerous
+crisis passed; and that at every retrograde step he would now be meeting
+the re-enforcements sent him from Paris and from Germany." The emperor's
+reply was, "that he no longer felt himself sufficiently strong to leave
+Prussia between him and France. And besides, what necessity was there
+for his remaining at the head of a routed army? Murat and Eugene would
+be sufficient to direct it, and Ney to cover its retreat.
+
+"His return to France had become indispensable, in order to secure her
+tranquillity and to summon her to arms; to take measures there for
+keeping the Germans steady in their fidelity to him; and, finally, to
+return with fresh and adequate forces to the assistance of his Grand
+Army.
+
+"But, in order to effect these objects, it was necessary that he should
+travel alone over four hundred leagues of the territories of his allies:
+and that he might do so without danger, his resolution should be there
+unforeseen, his passage unknown, and the rumor of his disastrous retreat
+still uncertain; that he would, in short, precede the news of it, and
+anticipate the effect it might produce on them, and the defections to
+which it might give rise. He had, therefore, no time to lose, and the
+moment for his departure had already arrived."
+
+Such were the motives assigned by Napoleon; and General Caulaincourt
+immediately received orders secretly to prepare for his departure. The
+rendezvous was fixed at Smorgoni,[177] and the time the night of the 5th
+of December.
+
+When Napoleon reached Smorgoni all the marshals were summoned. As they
+successively entered, he took each one aside in private, and first of
+all secured their approbation of his plan, gaining some by his
+arguments, and others by confidential communications.
+
+His manner was kind and flattering to them all; and afterward, having
+assembled them at his table, he complimented them for their brilliant
+actions during the campaign. As to himself, the only confession he made
+of his temerity was couched in these words: "If I had been born to the
+throne, if I had been a Bourbon, it would have been easy for me not to
+have committed any faults."
+
+When their interview was over, he made Prince Eugene read to them his
+twenty-ninth bulletin; after which, declaring aloud what he had confided
+to each of them privately, he told them "that he was about to depart
+that very night with Duroc, Caulaincourt and Lobau, for Paris; that his
+presence there was indispensable for France as well as for the remains
+of his unfortunate army. It was there only that he could take measures
+for keeping the Austrians and Prussians in check. These nations would
+certainly pause before they declared war against him, when they saw him
+at the head of the French nation, and a fresh army of twelve hundred
+thousand men."
+
+He added, that "he had ordered Ney to proceed to Wilna, there to
+reorganize the army; that Rapp would second him, and afterward go to
+Dantzic, Lauriston to Warsaw, and Narbonne to Berlin; that his own guard
+would remain with the army; but that it would be necessary to strike a
+blow at Wilna, and stop the enemy there. There they would find
+re-enforcements, provisions, and ammunition of all sorts; that afterward
+they would go into winter quarters on the other side of the Niemen; and
+that he hoped the Russians would not pass the Vistula before his
+return."
+
+He said, in concluding, "I leave the King of Naples to command the army.
+I hope that you will yield him the same obedience that you would to
+myself, and that the greatest harmony will prevail among you."
+
+As it was now ten o'clock at night, he rose, affectionately pressed
+their hands, embraced them all--and departed.
+
+Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who were drawn up in
+an avenue as he passed, bidding them adieu merely by forced and
+melancholy smiles: their good wishes, equally silent, and expressed only
+by respectful gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut
+themselves up in a carriage.
+
+His escort at first consisted only of Poles, afterwards of the
+Neapolitans of the Royal Guard. This corps consisted of between six and
+seven hundred men when it left Wilna to meet the emperor: it perished
+almost entirely in that short passage, though the winter was its only
+adversary. That very night the Russians surprised and afterward
+abandoned a town through which the escort had to pass; and Napoleon was
+within an hour of falling into that affray.
+
+He met the Duke of Bassano at Miedniki, a village about thirty miles
+west of Smorgoni. His first words to him were "that he had no longer an
+army; that for several days past he had been marching in the midst of a
+troop of disbanded men, wandering to and fro in search of subsistence;
+that they might still be rallied by giving them bread, shoes, clothing,
+and arms; but that the duke's military administration had anticipated
+nothing, and his orders had not been executed." But upon Murat replying,
+by showing him a statement of the immense stores of provisions and
+clothing collected at Wilna, he exclaimed "that he gave him fresh life;
+that he would forthwith give him an order to transmit to Murat and
+Berthier, to halt for eight days in that capital, there to rally the
+army, and infuse into it sufficient heart and strength to continue the
+retreat less deplorably."
+
+The remainder of Napoleon's journey was effected without molestation. He
+went round Wilna by its suburbs, crossed Wilkoski, where he exchanged
+his carriage for a sleigh, and stopped during the 10th at Warsaw, to ask
+the Poles for a levy of ten thousand Cossacks, and to promise them that
+he would speedily return at the head of three hundred thousand men. From
+thence he rapidly traversed Silesia,[178] visited Dresden and its
+monarch, and finally reached Paris, where he suddenly made his
+appearance on the 19th of December, two days after the arrival of his
+twenty-ninth bulletin.
+
+From Malo-jaroslavetz to Smorgoni, this master of Europe had been no
+more than the general of a dying and disbanded army; from Smorgoni to
+the Rhine he was an unknown fugitive, travelling through a hostile
+country; beyond the Rhine he again found himself the master and the
+conqueror of Europe. A brief blast of the gale of prosperity once more
+and for the last time swelled his sails.
+
+Meanwhile, his generals, whom he left at Smorgoni, approved of his
+departure, and, far from being discouraged, placed all their hopes in
+it. The army had now only to flee; the road was open, and the Russian
+frontier at a very short distance. They were getting within reach of a
+re-enforcement of eighteen thousand men, all fresh troops, of a great
+city, and immense magazines. Murat and Berthier, abandoned to
+themselves, fancied they were quite competent to direct the flight. But
+in the midst of such frightful disorder, it required a Napoleon for a
+rallying-point, and he had just disappeared. In the mighty chasm which
+he left, Murat was scarcely perceptible.
+
+It was then but too clearly seen that a great man is not to be replaced;
+either that the pride of his followers can no longer stoop to obey
+another, or that, having always thought of, foreseen, and ordered
+everything himself, he had formed good instruments, skilful lieutenants,
+but no commanders.
+
+The very first night a general refused to obey. The marshal who
+commanded the rear guard was almost the only one who returned to the
+royal headquarters. Three thousand men of the Old and the Young Guard
+were still there. This was the whole of the Grand Army, and of that
+gigantic body there remained nothing but the head. But at the news of
+Napoleon's departure, these veterans, spoiled by the habit of being
+commanded only by the conqueror of Europe, being no longer supported by
+the honor of serving him, and scorning to act as guards to another, gave
+way in their turn, and voluntarily fell into disorder.
+
+Henceforward there was no longer fraternity in arms; there was an end to
+all society, to all ties; the excess of misery had completely brutified
+them. Hunger, devouring hunger, had reduced these unfortunate men to
+that brutal instinct of self-preservation which constitutes the sole
+understanding of ferocious animals, and which is ready to sacrifice
+everything to itself; nature, wild and barbarous around them, seemed to
+have communicated to them all its savageness. The strongest despoiled
+the weakest; they rushed about the dying, and frequently waited not for
+their last breath. When a horse fell, you might have fancied you saw a
+famished pack of hounds: they surrounded him, they tore him to pieces,
+and quarrelled among themselves for his remains like ravenous dogs.
+
+The greater number, however, preserved sufficient moral strength to
+provide for their own safety without injuring others; but this was the
+last effort of their virtue. If either leader or comrade fell by their
+side or under the wheels of the cannon, in vain did they call for
+assistance, in vain did they invoke the names of a common country, a
+common religion, and a common cause; they could not even obtain a
+passing look. The merciless cold of the climate had passed into their
+comrades' hearts: its rigor had contracted their feelings no less than
+their features. With the exception of a few of the commanders, all were
+absorbed by their sufferings, and terror left no room for compassion.
+
+There were a few, however, who still stood firm, as it were, against
+both heaven and earth: these protected and assisted the weakest; but
+their number was deplorably small.
+
+
+§ 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure. Arrival
+at Wilna.
+
+On the 6th of December, the very day after Napoleon's departure, the sky
+exhibited a more dreadful appearance. Icy particles were seen floating
+in the air, and the birds fell stiff and frozen to the earth. The
+atmosphere was motionless and silent: it seemed as if everything in
+nature which possessed life and movement, even the wind itself, had been
+seized, chained, and, as it were, congealed by a universal death. Not a
+word or a murmur was then heard: there was nothing but the gloomy
+silence of despair, and the tears which proclaimed it.
+
+We crept along in the midst of this empire of death like doomed spirits.
+The dull and monotonous sound of our steps, the cracking of the frost,
+and the feeble groans of the dying, were the only interruptions to this
+doleful and universal silence. Anger and imprecations there were none,
+nor anything which indicated a remnant of warmth; scarcely was strength
+enough left to utter a prayer; and most of the men fell without even
+complaining, either from weakness or resignation, or because people
+complain only when they look for kindness, and fancy they are pitied.
+
+Such of our soldiers as had hitherto been the most persevering here lost
+heart entirely. Sometimes the snow sank beneath their feet, but more
+frequently, its glassy surface refusing them support, they slipped at
+every step, and tottered along from one fall to another. It seemed as
+though this hostile soil were leagued against them; that it
+treacherously escaped from under their efforts; that it was constantly
+leading them into snares, as if to embarrass and retard their march, and
+to deliver them up to the Russians in pursuit of them, or to their
+terrible climate.
+
+And, in truth, whenever, for a moment, they halted from exhaustion, the
+winter, laying his icy hand upon them, was ready to seize his victims.
+In vain did these unhappy creatures, feeling themselves benumbed, raise
+themselves up, and, already deprived of the power of speech, and plunged
+into a stupor, proceed a few steps like automatons: their blood froze
+in their veins, like water in the current of rivulets, congealing the
+heart, and then flying back to the head; and these dying men staggered
+as if they had been intoxicated. From their eyes, reddened and inflamed
+by the constant glare of the snow, by the want of sleep, and the smoke
+of the bivouacs, there flowed real tears of blood; their bosoms heaved
+with deep and heavy sighs; they looked towards heaven, at us, and on the
+earth, with an eye dismayed, fixed, and wild, as expressive of their
+farewell, and, it might be, of their reproaches against the barbarous
+nature which was tormenting them. It was not long before they fell upon
+their knees, and then upon their hands; their heads still slowly moved
+for a few minutes alternately to the right and left, and from their open
+mouths some sounds of agony escaped; at last, they fell flat upon the
+snow, burying their faces in it, and their sufferings were at an end.
+
+Their comrades passed by them without moving a step out of their way,
+that they might not, by the slightest curve, prolong their journey, and
+without even turning their heads; for their beards and hair were so
+stiffened with ice that every movement was painful. Nor did they even
+pity them; for, in fact, what had they lost by dying? what had they left
+behind them? They suffered so much, they were still so far from France,
+so much divested of all feelings of country by the surrounding prospect
+and by misery, that every dear illusion was broken, and hope almost
+destroyed. The greater number, therefore, had from necessity, from the
+habit of seeing death constantly around them, and from the prevailing
+feeling, become careless of dying, sometimes treating it with contempt;
+but generally, on seeing these unfortunates stretched on the snow, and
+instantly stiffened, contenting themselves with the thought that they
+had no more wants, that they were at rest, that their sufferings were
+over. And, indeed, death, in a situation quiet, certain, and uniform,
+may be felt as a strange event, a frightful contrast, a terrible change;
+but in this tumult, this violent and ceaseless movement of a life of
+action, danger, and suffering, it appeared nothing more than a
+transition, a slight alteration, an additional removal, which excited
+little alarm.
+
+Such were the last days of the Grand Army: its last nights were still
+more frightful. Those whom they surprised marching together, far from
+every habitation, halted on the borders of the woods: there they lighted
+their fires, before which they remained the whole night, erect and
+motionless like spectres. They seemed as if they could not possibly have
+enough of the heat: they kept so close to it as to burn their clothes,
+as well as the frozen parts of their body, which the fire decomposed.
+The most dreadful pain then compelled them to stretch themselves on the
+ground, and the next day they attempted in vain to rise.
+
+In the meantime, such as the winter had almost wholly spared, and who
+still retained some portion of courage, prepared their melancholy meal.
+It had consisted, ever since they left Smolensk, of some slices of
+horseflesh broiled, and a little rye-meal made into a sort of gruel with
+snow-water, or kneaded into paste, which they seasoned, for want of
+salt, with the powder of their cartridges.
+
+The sight of these fires was constantly attracting fresh spectres, who
+were driven back by the first comers. These poor wretches wandered about
+from one bivouac to another, until, struck by the frost and despair
+together, and giving themselves up for lost, they laid themselves down
+upon the snow behind their more fortunate comrades, and there expired.
+Many of them, destitute of the means and the strength necessary to cut
+down the lofty fir-trees, made vain attempts to set fire to them as they
+were standing; but death speedily surprised them, and they might be seen
+in every sort of attitude, stiff and lifeless about their trunks.
+
+Under the vast sheds erected by the sides of the high road in some parts
+of the way, scenes of still greater horror were witnessed. Officers and
+soldiers all rushed precipitately into them, and crowded together in
+heaps. There, like so many cattle, they pressed upon each other around
+the fires, and as the living could not remove the dead from the circle,
+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
+lamentations. At this unlooked-for sight, its inhabitants became alarmed
+and shut their doors. Deplorable then was it to see these troops of
+wretched wanderers in the streets, some furious and others despairing,
+threatening or entreating, endeavoring to break open the doors of the
+houses and the magazines, or dragging themselves to the hospitals.
+Everywhere they were repulsed: at the magazines, from most unseasonable
+formalities, as, from the dissolution of the corps and the mingling of
+the soldiers, all regular distribution had become impossible.
+
+There had been collected there sufficient flour and bread to last for
+forty days, and butchers' meat for thirty-six days, for one hundred
+thousand men. Not a single commander ventured to step forward and give
+orders for giving out these provisions to all who came for them. The
+commissaries who had them in charge were afraid of being made
+responsible for them; and the others dreaded the excesses to which the
+famished soldiers would give themselves up when everything was at their
+discretion. These commissaries were, besides, ignorant of our desperate
+situation; and when there was scarcely time for pillage, had they been
+so inclined, our unfortunate comrades were left for several hours to die
+of hunger at the very doors of these immense magazines, filled with
+whatever they stood in need of, all of which fell into the enemy's hands
+the following day.
+
+At last, the exertions of several of the commanders, as Eugene and
+Davoust, the compassion of the Lithuanians, and the avarice of the Jews,
+opened some places of refuge. Nothing could be more remarkable than the
+astonishment manifested by these unfortunate men at finding themselves
+once more in inhabited houses. How delicious did a loaf of leavened
+bread appear to them, and how inexpressible the pleasure of eating it
+seated! and, afterward, with what admiration were they struck at seeing
+a scanty battalion still under arms, in regular order, and uniformly
+dressed! They seemed to have returned from the very extremities of the
+earth, so much had the violence and persistency of their sufferings
+wrested and torn them from all their habits, so deep had been the abyss
+from which they had escaped!
+
+But scarcely had they begun to taste these sweets, when the cannon of
+the Russians were heard thundering over their heads and upon the city.
+These menacing sounds, the shouts of the officers, the drums beating to
+arms, and the wailings and clamor of an additional multitude of
+fugitives which had just arrived, filled Wilna with fresh confusion.
+
+Every one thought much more of disputing his life with famine and the
+cold than with the enemy. But when the cry of "Here are the Cossacks"
+was heard (which for a long time had been the only signal which the
+greater number obeyed), it was instantly echoed through the whole city,
+and the rout again began.
+
+This city contained a large proportion of the baggage of the army, and
+of its treasures, its provisions, a crowd of enormous wagons, loaded
+with the emperor's equipage, a large quantity of artillery, and a large
+number of wounded men. Our retreat had come upon them like an unexpected
+tempest, almost like a thunderbolt. Some were terrified and thrown into
+confusion, while consternation kept others motionless. Bearers of
+orders, soldiers, horses, and carriages, were seen hurrying about in all
+directions, crossing and overturning each other.
+
+In the midst of this tumult, several of the commanders pushed forward
+out of the city towards Kowno, with all the troops they could contrive
+to muster; but at the distance of a league from the latter place this
+heavy and frightened column encountered the height and the ravine of
+Ponari.
+
+During our conquering advance, this woody hillock had only appeared to
+our soldiers a fortunate accident of the ground, from which they could
+discover the whole plain of Wilna, and take a survey of their enemies.
+Its rough but sharp declivity had then scarcely been remarked. During a
+regular retreat, it would have presented an excellent position for
+turning round and stopping the enemy; but in a disorderly flight, where
+everything which, in other circumstances, might have been of service,
+became injurious; where, in our precipitation and disorder, everything
+was turned against us, this hill and its defile became an insurmountable
+obstacle, a wall of ice, against which all our efforts were powerless.
+It arrested everything, baggage, treasure, and wounded; and the evil was
+sufficiently great, in this long series of disasters, to form an epoch.
+
+Here, in fact, it was that money, honor, and all remains of discipline
+and strength were completely lost. After fifteen hours of fruitless
+effort, when the drivers and the soldiers of the escort saw the King of
+Naples and the whole column of fugitives passing them by the sides of
+the hill; when they heard the noise of the enemy's cannon and musketry
+coming nearer and nearer every instant, and saw Ney himself retreating
+with three thousand men; when, at last, turning their eyes upon
+themselves, they beheld the hill completely covered with cannon and
+carriages, broken or overturned, and men and horses fallen to the
+ground, and expiring one upon the other--then it was that they gave up
+all idea of saving anything, and determined only to anticipate the enemy
+by becoming plunderers themselves.
+
+One of the covered wagons of treasure, which burst of itself, served as
+a signal; every one now rushed to the others; they were immediately
+broken open, and the most valuable effects taken from them. The soldiers
+of the rear guard, who were passing at the time of this disorder, threw
+away their arms to join in the plunder; they became so eagerly engaged
+in it as neither to hear, in fact, the whistling of the enemy's balls,
+nor to pay the slightest attention to the howlings of the Cossacks, who
+were at their heels.
+
+It is even said that the Cossacks got mixed among them without being
+observed; that for some minutes, French and Tartars were confounded in
+the same greediness; forgetting they were at war, and pillaging together
+the same treasure-wagons. Two millions of gold and silver then
+disappeared.
+
+But amid all these horrors there were noble acts of devotion. Those
+there were who abandoned everything to save some of the unfortunate
+wounded by carrying them on their shoulders; while others, unable to
+extricate their half-frozen comrades from the throng, sacrificed their
+lives in defending them either against their own countrymen, or from the
+blows of their enemies.
+
+On the most exposed part of the hill, an officer of the emperor, Colonel
+the Count de Turenne, repulsed the Cossacks, and in defiance of their
+cries of rage and their fire, he distributed before their eyes the
+private treasure of Napoleon to the guards whom he found within his
+reach. These brave men, fighting with one hand, and collecting the
+spoils of their leader with the other, succeeded in saving them. Long
+afterward, when they were out of all danger, each man faithfully
+restored what had been intrusted to him. Not a single piece of money was
+lost.
+
+This catastrophe at Ponari was the more disgraceful, as it might easily
+have been foreseen, and no less easily prevented: for the hill could
+have been turned by its sides. The property we here abandoned, however,
+was at least of some use by arresting the pursuit of the Cossacks. While
+these were busy in collecting their plunder, Ney, at the head of a few
+hundred French and Bavarians, supported the retreat as far as Évé. As
+this was his last effort, we must not neglect to describe the close of
+that retreat which he had continued uninterruptedly, and in the most
+methodical manner, ever since he left Viazma on the 3d of November.
+
+
+§ 24. Conclusion.
+
+Finally Ney and his men arrived at Kowno, which was the last town of the
+Russian empire. On the 13th of December, after marching forty-six days
+under the most terrible sufferings, they once more came in sight of a
+friendly country. Instantly, without halting, or looking behind them,
+the greater part plunged into, and dispersed themselves in, the forests
+of Prussian Poland. Some there were, however, who, on their arrival on
+the friendly bank of the Niemen, turned round; and there, when they cast
+a last look on that land of horrors from which they were escaping, and
+found themselves on the same spot whence, five months before, their
+countless eagles[179] had taken their victorious flight, tears gushed
+from their eyes and they broke out into exclamations of the most
+poignant sorrow.
+
+"This, then, was the bank which they had studded with their bayonets!
+this the allied country which had disappeared, only five months before,
+under the steps of their immense army, and which then seemed to them to
+be metamorphosed into moving hills and plains of men and horses! These
+were the same valleys from which, under the rays of a brilliant sun, had
+poured forth the three long columns of dragoons and cuirassiers,
+resembling three rivers of glittering iron and brass. And now, men,
+arms, eagles, horses, the sun itself, and even this frontier river,
+which they had crossed replete with ardor and hope, had all disappeared.
+The Niemen was now only a lengthened line of masses of ice, arrested and
+chained to each other by the increasing severity of the winter. Instead
+of the three French bridges, brought from a distance of five hundred
+leagues, and thrown across it with such audacious promptitude, a Russian
+bridge alone was standing. Finally, in place of those innumerable
+warriors, of their four hundred thousand comrades, who had been so often
+their partners in victory, and who had dashed onward with so much pride
+and joy into the territory of Russia, they now saw issuing from these
+pale and frozen deserts only a thousand infantry and horsemen still
+under arms, nine cannon, and twenty thousand miserable wretches covered
+with rags, with downcast looks, hollow eyes, cadaverous and livid
+complexions, and long beards matted with frost; some disputing in
+silence the narrow passage of the bridge, which, in spite of their small
+numbers, did not suffice for the eagerness of their flight; others
+fleeing dispersed over the rough ice of the river, toiling and dragging
+themselves along from one point to another: this was the whole Grand
+Army! and even many of these fugitives were recruits who had just joined
+it!"
+
+Two kings, one prince, eight marshals, followed by a few officers,
+generals on foot, dispersed, and without attendants: finally, a few
+hundred men of the Old Guard, still armed--these were the remains of
+the Grand Army--these alone represented it!
+
+Or rather, I should say, it still breathed only in Marshal Ney!
+Comrades! allies! enemies! here I invoke your testimony; let us pay the
+homage which is due to the memory of an unfortunate hero: the facts
+alone will suffice.
+
+All were flying, and Murat himself, traversing Kowno as he had done
+Wilna, first gave, and then withdrew, an order, to rally at Tilsit, and
+subsequently fixed upon Gumbinnen. Ney then entered Kowno, accompanied
+only by his aids-de-camp, for all besides had given way or fallen around
+him. From the time of his leaving Viazma, this was the fourth rear guard
+which had been worn out and disappeared in his hands. But winter and
+famine, far more than the Russians, had destroyed them. For the fourth
+time he remained alone before the enemy, and, still undismayed, he
+sought for a fifth rear guard.
+
+Several thousand soldiers covered the market-place and the neighboring
+streets; but they were laid out stiff before the liquor-shops which they
+had broken open, and where they drank the cup of death, from which they
+had vainly hoped they were to inhale fresh life.
+
+Such were the only succors which Murat had left him; and Ney found
+himself alone in Russia, with seven hundred foreign recruits. At Kowno,
+as it had been after the disasters of Viazma, of Smolensk, of the
+Berezina, and of Wilna, it was to him that the honor of our arms and all
+the peril of the last steps of our retreat were again confided.
+
+On the 14th, at daybreak, the Russians commenced their attack. One of
+their columns made a hasty advance from the Wilna road, while another
+crossed the Niemen on the ice above the town, landed on the Prussian
+territory, and, proud of being the first to cross its frontier, marched
+to the bridge of Kowno, to close that outlet upon Ney, and completely
+cut off his retreat.
+
+Ney, though abandoned by all, neither gave himself up nor his post.
+After vain efforts to detain these fugitives, he collected their
+muskets, which were still loaded, became once more a common soldier,
+and, with only four others, kept facing thousands of the enemy. His
+audacity stopped them; it made some of his artillerymen, too, ashamed,
+and they imitated their marshal: besides it gave time to his aid-de-camp
+and to General Gérard, to collect thirty soldiers, and to Generals Ledru
+and Marchand to collect the only battalion which remained.
+
+But at that moment a second attack of the Russians commenced on the
+other side of the Niemen, and near the bridge of Kowno: it was then half
+past two o'clock. Ney sent Ledru, Marchand, and their four hundred men
+forward to retake and secure that passage. As for himself, without
+giving way, or disquieting himself farther as to what was passing in his
+rear, he kept on fighting at the head of his thirty men, and maintained
+himself until night at the Wilna gate. He then traversed the town and
+crossed the Niemen, constantly fighting, retreating, but never flying,
+marching after all the others, supporting to the last moment the honor
+of our arms, and for the hundredth time during the last forty days and
+forty nights, putting his life and liberty in jeopardy to save a few
+more Frenchmen. Finally, he was the last of the Grand Army that quitted
+that fatal Russia, showing to the world how courage battles with ill
+fortune, and proving that with heroes even the greatest disasters turn
+to glory.[180]
+
+General Dumas was seated in the French headquarters on the Prussian side
+of the Niemen when a man entered wrapped in a long cloak. His face was
+blackened with gunpowder, his hair singed with fire. "At last," said he,
+"I am here." "But who are you?" asked General Dumas in astonishment. "I
+am the rear guard of the Grand Army--I am Marshal Ney. I have fired the
+last shot on the bridge of Kowno, I have thrown my musket into the
+river, and I have walked here across the forest."
+
+Napoleon had entered Russia with an army of over six hundred thousand
+men. Not more than eighty thousand recrossed the Niemen, and many of
+them did not live to reach their homes.[181]
+
+Thus ended the Russian campaign. Thus did the star of the North triumph
+over that of Napoleon.
+
+Comrades, my task is done; it is now for you to bear your testimony to
+the truth of the picture. Its colors will no doubt appear pale to your
+eyes and to your hearts, which are still full of these great
+recollections. But who does not know that an action is always more
+eloquent than its description; and that, if great historians are
+produced by great men, the former are still more rare than the latter?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[125] Namely, at Kowno, Pilony, south of Kowno, and Grodno, still
+further south. At Kowno a monument bears the following inscription in
+Russian: "In 1812 Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000 men.
+The army recrossed the frontier numbering 70,000."
+
+[126] See map facing p. 1. The upper dotted line represents the advance
+to Moscow; the lower, the line of retreat from that city.
+
+[127] =Moskwa=, =Kologa=: these and other Russian geographical names are
+variously spelled.
+
+[128] Count Ségur was elected a member of the French Academy, and his
+history of the retreat has not only passed through many editions in
+France, but it has been translated into all the leading languages of
+Europe.
+
+[129] The history of Napoleon after the Russian retreat will form the
+subject of a note at the close of Count Ségur's narrative.
+
+[130] =Moscow=: the ancient capital of Russia is situated on the Moskwa
+river (a tributary of the Oka), from which the city derives its name. It
+first appears in history in the middle of the twelfth century. It early
+became the metropolis and seat of government, and continued so until a
+short time after the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, in
+1703.
+
+For centuries Moscow was both the political and religious centre of the
+empire. Here the Czars were crowned, here they resided, here they were
+buried. Here, too, the patriarch, or former head of the Russian church,
+had his residence, amid cathedrals, monasteries, and shrines, which have
+always been regarded with peculiar reverence.
+
+To the Russian peasant the city still remains sacred. It is the heart,
+as it were, of his native land. He cherishes toward it the same feeling
+which the devout Mohammedan does for Mecca, or the devout Catholic for
+Rome. He calls it "Our Holy Mother Moscow"; and when he comes in sight
+of its gilded spires and cupolas he makes the sign of the cross, falls
+upon his knees, and utters a prayer.
+
+In the centre of Moscow stands the Kremlin, or fortress--for so the
+Tartar name is usually translated. This famous stronghold marks the
+original settlement. It covers nearly a hundred acres, and is situated
+on an eminence on the left bank of the river. It is triangular in shape,
+and is surrounded by a lofty stone wall, considerably more than a mile
+in extent, which is pierced with five gates and surmounted by eighteen
+commanding towers.
+
+The Kremlin is almost a city in itself. Besides extensive barracks and
+an arsenal, with other government buildings, it contains the ancient
+palace of the Czars, a monastery, and several noted churches, one of
+which is the oldest and most venerated in Russia.
+
+Formerly the entire fortification was encompassed by a broad, deep moat.
+This has been filled up, and now forms a spacious boulevard, with
+pleasure gardens, a library, a museum, and the great bazaar or market,
+where all kinds of merchandise are offered for sale.
+
+At the time of the French invasion Moscow is supposed to have had a
+population of at least 325,000; at the present time it has more than
+double that number.
+
+Napoleon entered the city September 14, 1812. That very night it was set
+on fire, and the conflagration continued until the whole place, outside
+the Kremlin, was practically a heap of bricks and ashes.
+
+During the fire Napoleon was obliged to leave his quarters in the
+fortress and establish them in a suburb of the city, but later he
+returned to the Kremlin.
+
+He evacuated Moscow on October 19, not quite five weeks after he entered
+it. He found it a great metropolis. He left it a mass of ruins, where
+nothing any longer existed to support life.
+
+[131] =Serfs=: these serfs were slaves in all but name, and were bought
+and sold like cattle. They were emancipated by law in 1861, the whole
+number throughout Russia then being over 21,000,000.
+
+[132] =Czar=: the correct Russian spelling of this word is said to be
+Tsar, which is now gradually coming into use in English. The title was
+first assumed by Ivan IV. (Ivan the Terrible) in 1533.
+
+[133] =Ruble= (or Rouble): a Russian silver coin worth about
+seventy-five cents.
+
+[134] =Smolensk=: see Introduction, "Napoleon."
+
+[135] =Rostopchin=: (Ros-top-chen').
+
+[136] =Kutusoff=: commander-in-chief of the Russian army.
+
+[137] =Muscovite=: a native of Muscovy, an old name for Russia.
+
+[138] Rostopchin denied, in a work which he published, that he set fire
+to the city. He insisted that it was done by the French, together with
+the rabble of Moscow. It is now thought that the governor began the work
+of destruction, which was completed partly by the Russians and partly by
+the French.
+
+[139] =Cossacks=: a race of people inhabiting the south of Russia. On
+account of their great skill in horsemanship they are largely employed
+in the Russian army as cavalry.
+
+[140] =Moskwa=: the French often spoke of the battle of Borodino as the
+Battle of the Moskwa, though it is not on that river, but on the Kologa,
+a tributary of it. The accounts of the number killed differ.
+
+[141] =Kolomna gate=: a gate leading to Kolomna, a town on the Moskwa
+River.
+
+[142] =Miloradovitch=: a Russian general.
+
+[143] =Mazeppa=: a Pole, who having been detected in a crime was bound
+to the back of a wild horse and carried by the animal to the country of
+the Cossacks. There he became head of the Cossack forces, and when Peter
+the Great attempted to seize that country, Mazeppa formed an alliance
+with Charles XII. of Sweden for the independence of the Cossacks.
+
+[144] =Dorogomilow=: the name of a quarter of the city.
+
+[145] =Daru=: a distinguished French author and statesman who
+accompanied Napoleon in his Russian campaign.
+
+[146] =Boyars=: nobles, or men of rank.
+
+[147] =Bivouac= (biv-wak'): to encamp without tents or shelter.
+
+[148] =Scythians=: a race of fierce barbarians, formerly inhabiting the
+country north and east of the Black Sea. Napoleon intimates that these
+men are their descendants.
+
+[149] =Strelitzes=: a body of military guards that revolted under Peter
+the Great.
+
+[150] =Postern-gate=: a small rear or side gate.
+
+[151] =Lithuania=: a province of Russia bordering on the Niemen and
+hence near supplies.
+
+[152] =Witepsk=: a point passed on the march to Moscow, about midway
+from the Niemen; here the Russian general, Wittgenstein, appears to have
+been stationed.
+
+[153] =Old Guard=: the emperor's body-guard, composed of a large force
+of veterans.
+
+[154] "Napoleon also took measures for relieving the unfortunate of all
+classes. He ordered lists to be made of all the citizens whom the
+conflagration had deprived of the means of subsistence, opened houses of
+refuge for them, and supplied them with food."
+
+[155] =Tilsit and Erfurt=: at these places Napoleon had negotiated
+treaties, greatly in favor of the French, with the Czar of Russia.
+
+[156] =Expresses=: messengers.
+
+[157] =Armistice=: a temporary suspension of hostilities.
+
+[158] =Partisans=: soldiers detached to intercept convoys of provisions
+and the like.
+
+[159] =Invalides=: one of the great public buildings at Paris; a
+soldiers' home and hospital. Napoleon is buried here.
+
+[160] =Aid-de-camp=: an officer who carries orders and directs movements
+for a general.
+
+[161] =The viceroy=: Prince Eugene.
+
+[162] The indecisive battle of Malo-jaroslavetz, a town about fifty
+miles southwest of Moscow, compelled Napoleon to give up his original
+plan of retreat, which would have taken him through an unexhausted
+country to the southward, and forced him to go back to the north,
+retracing his steps by the route he came.
+
+[163] =Wittgenstein=: commander of one division of the Russian forces,
+held a position on the Dwina River and later on the Berezina, a
+tributary of the Dnieper.
+
+[164] =Vereïa=: a village about twenty-five miles northwest of
+Malo-jaroslavetz.
+
+[165] =Kremlin=: it was afterward found that the fortress was but
+slightly injured.
+
+[166] =Mojaisk=: about ten miles northwest of Vereïa and seventy west of
+Moscow.
+
+[167] The battle-field of Borodino, which Napoleon had fought on his
+march to Moscow. See Introduction.
+
+[168] =Viazma=: about fifty miles west of Borodino.
+
+[169] =Dorogobouje=: a town about fifty miles west of Viazma and nearly
+two hundred west of Moscow. It is situated on the river Wop, a branch of
+the Dnieper.
+
+[170] =Deployed=: formed a more extended front or line.
+
+[171] =Dombrowna=: a town about fifty miles west of Smolensk and two
+hundred from Moscow.
+
+[172] =Grenadiers=: these were men of long service and acknowledged
+bravery. Originally these soldiers threw hand grenades or small
+explosive shells. When these grenades went out of use the name
+grenadiers was still retained.
+
+[173] =Borizoff=: a town on the Berezina River, about 320 miles
+southwest of Moscow, and about 75 west of Orcha.
+
+[174] =Minsk=: a town on a tributary of the Berezina River, about 400
+miles southwest of Moscow. Here Napoleon had immense stores of
+provisions, clothing, and ammunition. He was pushing forward to reach
+this place.
+
+[175] Polish generals in Napoleon's Grand Army.
+
+[176] =Malodeczno=: a town about seventy miles west of the Berezina
+River.
+
+[177] =Smorgoni=: a village about thirty-five miles northwest of
+Malodeczno, and four hundred and fifty southwest of Moscow.
+
+[178] =Silesia=: a province of southeastern Prussia.
+
+[179] =Eagles=: Napoleon's colors were surmounted by the figure of an
+eagle.
+
+[180] Marshal Ney, whom Napoleon called "the bravest of the brave,"
+fought under the emperor in several subsequent battles. When Napoleon
+abdicated and was exiled to Elba, Ney supported the government of his
+successor and enemy, Louis XVIII. On the escape of Napoleon from Elba,
+in the spring of 1815, Ney was sent with an army against him, but
+instead of fighting for Louis XVIII., he took service under his old
+commander. At Waterloo he led the Old Guard, those men who could die but
+never surrender. After the final fall of Napoleon, Marshal Ney was tried
+and sentenced to be shot for treason to the government of Louis XVIII.,
+whose cause he had deserted. Wellington tried to save his life, but in
+vain. If courage can expiate faults, then his are buried in his grave.
+
+[181] On Napoleon's arrival in Paris he began at once to raise a fresh
+army. It has been said that it was "an army of boys," for France had
+lost most of her fighting men on the battle-field, or in Russia. In 1813
+he was defeated at Leipsic, and obliged to retreat across the Rhine. The
+next year he abdicated and retired to Elba.
+
+In the spring of 1815 he escaped from Elba, and raising an army fought
+and lost the battle of Waterloo.
+
+After his second abdication he was sent an exile to St. Helena, where he
+died about six years later (1821). His remains were brought to Paris in
+1840, and interred under the dome of the Hotel des Invalides, or
+Soldiers' Hospital. Above his tomb one reads these words: "I desire that
+my ashes shall repose on the banks of the Seine, among the French
+people, whom I have so greatly loved."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX TO NOTES.
+
+WITH PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES.[182]
+
+
+A-chæ´ans, 37.
+
+A-ch[=a]´i-a.
+
+Ad-ra-m[)y]t´ti-um.
+
+[=Æ]-n[=e]´as.
+
+[=Æ]-ni-[=a]´n[=e]s.
+
+[=A]-g[=a]´si-as.
+
+[=A]-g[)e]s-i-l[=a]´us.
+
+[=A]´gi-[)a]s.
+
+Aid-de-camp, 217.
+
+Ajaccio (A-yat´ch[=o]).
+
+Alexander the Great, 149.
+
+[)A]l-ki-bi´a-d[=e]s.
+
+Altar, 75.
+
+Amnesty, 13.
+
+Am-ph[=i]p´o-lis.
+
+A-nab´a-sis, 150.
+
+[)A]n-ax-[=i]b´i-[)u]s.
+
+An-tal´ki-d[)a]s.
+
+An-t[)a]n´dr[)u]s.
+
+An-t[)i]l´e-[)o]n.
+
+[)A]p-ol-l[)o]n´i-d[=e]s.
+
+Arcadian, 27.
+
+[=A]-ri-æ´us.
+
+[)A]r-is-tar´chus.
+
+A-r[)i]s´te-[)a]s.
+
+A-ris´ton.
+
+[)A]r-is-t[)o]n´y-m[)u]s.
+
+Ar´me-n[=e].
+
+Ar´mis-t[)i]ce, 211.
+
+Array, 7.
+
+Ar´te-m[)i]s.
+
+Ar-te-m[)i]s-[)i]´[)o]n, 146.
+
+Ar-tax-erx´[=e]s.
+
+A-si´da-t[=e]s.
+
+A-tar´ne[=u]s.
+
+Athenian catastrophe, 38.
+
+Augereau ([=O]zh-r[=o]´).
+
+Augury, 57.
+
+
+Banished, 145.
+
+Barbarians, 14.
+
+Barras (Bar-rah´).
+
+Bas´i-as.
+
+Beauharnais (B[=o]-ar-n[=a]´).
+
+Béranger (B[=a]-ron-zh[=a]´).
+
+Berthier (Ber-te-[=a]´).
+
+Bessières (B[)e]s-s[=e]-air´).
+
+Billeted, 132.
+
+Bi-san´the.
+
+Bi-th[)y]n´i-a.
+
+Bi´ton.
+
+Bitumen (Be-tu´men), 15.
+
+Bivouac (B[)i]v´wak), 60, 187.
+
+Boe-o´ti-a.
+
+Boeotian dialect, 31.
+
+Bo-is´kus.
+
+B[=o]´re-[)a]s, 62.
+
+Borizoff, 271.
+
+Borodino, 242.
+
+Bo-r[)y]s´the-n[=e]s.
+
+Bos´pho-r[)u]s.
+
+Boulogne (Boo-l[=o]n´).
+
+Boyars, 179.
+
+Br[)a]s´i-das.
+
+Bras-i-di´as.
+
+Brienne (Br[=i]-[)e]n´).
+
+Burial, 56.
+
+By-zan´ti-um, 80, 116.
+
+
+Carbines, 43.
+
+Car-pæ´an dance, 103.
+
+Cashier, 31.
+
+Caulaincourt (K[=o]-lan-koor´).
+
+Chal-k[=e]´don.
+
+Chal´y-b[=e]s.
+
+Char-m[=i]´nus.
+
+Charpentier (Shar-pon-t[=e]-[=a]´).
+
+Cheir-is´o-ph[)u]s.
+
+Cher-so-n[=e]´sus, 119.
+
+Chry-s[)o]p´o-lis.
+
+Cities, 113.
+
+Claparède (Clap-ar-aid´).
+
+Compans (Con-pan´).
+
+Convention, 12.
+
+Corn, 9.
+
+Corselet, 52.
+
+Cossacks, 171.
+
+Covenant, 11.
+
+Cubit, 52.
+
+Cuirass, 48.
+
+Cy-re´ian Greeks, 10.
+
+Cy-re´ian Persians, 13.
+
+Czar, 160.
+
+
+Dance, Carpæan, 103.
+
+Dance, Pyrrhic, 104.
+
+Dar´da-n[)u]s.
+
+D[)a]r´ic, 71.
+
+Da-ri´us.
+
+Daru´, 179.
+
+Davoust (Da-voo´).
+
+De-in´ar-chus.
+
+D[)e]k-e-l[=i]´a.
+
+Delta, 125.
+
+Delzons (Del-zon´).
+
+Demagogues, 66.
+
+D[)e]m-a-r[=a]´tus.
+
+Democrat and Philosopher, 29.
+
+De-mok´ra-t[=e]s.
+
+Deployed, 265.
+
+Der-k[)y]l´li-das.
+
+Dex-ip´pus.
+
+D[=i]-[=a]´si-a, 139.
+
+D[=i]-o-d[=o]´rus.
+
+Dnieper (Nee´per).
+
+Dombrowna, 268.
+
+Dorogobouje, 254.
+
+Dorogomilow, 178.
+
+Dra-kon´ti-[)u]s.
+
+Dri´læ.
+
+Dumas (Du-mah´).
+
+Duroc (Du-rok´).
+
+
+Eagles, 308.
+
+Ears bored, 32.
+
+Eblé (Eb-l[=a]´).
+
+Eckmühl (Ek´m[=i]l).
+
+Ek-b[)a]t´a-na.
+
+E-le´i-ans.
+
+Ephesus, Temple of, 143.
+
+E-pis´the-n[=e]s.
+
+E-r[=e]´tri-a.
+
+E-r[=e]´tri-an, 141.
+
+Erfurt, 204.
+
+Es-th[=o]´ni-a.
+
+[=E]-te-o-n[=i]´kus.
+
+E[=u]-klei´d[=e]s.
+
+E[=u]-r[)y]l´o-chus.
+
+Évé ([=A]-v[=a]´).
+
+Expresses, 205.
+
+
+Festivals, Olympic, 145.
+
+Fishery, Thunny, 76.
+
+Friedland (Freed´land).
+
+
+Gérard (Zh[=a]-rar´).
+
+Glûs (Gloos).
+
+Gods, The, 89.
+
+Gon´gy-l[)u]s.
+
+Gor´gi-[)o]n.
+
+Gracious, Zeus The, 139.
+
+Great King, The, 124.
+
+Greaves, 69.
+
+Grenadiers, 269.
+
+Guard, The Old, 199.
+
+Guilleminot (Gweel-me-n[=o]´).
+
+G[=y]-l[)i]p´pus.
+
+Gym´ni-as.
+
+
+Ha´lys.
+
+Har´pa-s[)u]s.
+
+Hek-a-ton´y-mus.
+
+Hellas, 89.
+
+Hellen´ic, 3.
+
+H[)e]r-a-klei´d[=e]s.
+
+H[)e]r-ak-l[=e]´ot-ic.
+
+H[)e]r´a-kl[=e]s, 74.
+
+Herald, 7.
+
+Heralds, 2.
+
+He-rod´o-tus.
+
+
+Inflated skins, 19.
+
+Invalides (An-val-eed´), 214.
+
+I-[=o]´ni-a, 21.
+
+Irrigation, 9.
+
+
+Javelin, 43.
+
+Jomini (Zho-me-ne´).
+
+Judges, 67.
+
+
+Kæ´næ.
+
+Ka-[=i]´kus.
+
+Kal´p[=e].
+
+Kal-lim´a-chus.
+
+Kar-du´ki-a.
+
+Ken-tr[=i]´t[=e]s.
+
+Ker´a-s[)u]s, 83.
+
+Ki-lik´i-a, 32.
+
+King, The Great, 124.
+
+Kle-an´der.
+
+Kle-[=a]´nor.
+
+Kle-ar´chus.
+
+Kle-ar´e-tus.
+
+Kle-on´y-m[)u]s.
+
+Knidus (N[=i]´dus).
+
+Knight, 148.
+
+Koe-ra´ti-das.
+
+Kolomna gate, 173.
+
+Kor-o-n[=e]´a.
+
+Kor´y-las.
+
+Ko-rys-the´ni-a.
+
+K[=o]-ty-[)o]´ra.
+
+Krasnoë (Kras-no´e).
+
+Kretan, 56.
+
+Kremlin, 238.
+
+Ktesias (T[=e]´si-[)a]s).
+
+Ku-nax´a, 1.
+
+Kutusoff, 163.
+
+Ky-nis´kus.
+
+K[)y]z´i-k[)u]s.
+
+
+Laç-e-dæ´mon.
+
+Laç-e-dæ-mo´ni-ans.
+
+Lamp´sa-k[)u]s.
+
+La-ris´sa.
+
+Latour-maubourg (La-toor´-m[=o]-boor´).
+
+Lebure´.
+
+Ledru´.
+
+Lefebvre (L[)e]-f[)e]v´vr).
+
+Libations, 58.
+
+Lithuania, 194.
+
+Lobau (L[=o]-b[=o]´).
+
+Lon-ti´ni.
+
+Lotos-eaters, 35.
+
+Lyd´i-a.
+
+Ly´kon.
+
+
+Machiavel (Mak´i-a-vel).
+
+Mæ-sa´d[=e]s.
+
+Mag-n[=e]´t[=e]s.
+
+M[=a]-kr[=o]´-n[=e]s.
+
+Malodeczno, 292.
+
+Malo-jaro-slavetz, 233.
+
+Man-ti-n[=e]´a.
+
+Man-ti-nei´a.
+
+Marchand (Mar-shon´).
+
+Ma-ri-an-d[=y]´n[=i].
+
+Mar-o-nei´a.
+
+Marshal Ney (Nay), 311.
+
+Mazeppa, 178.
+
+Media, Wall of, 15.
+
+Me-dos´ar-des.
+
+M[)e]g-a-b[=y]´zus.
+
+Meg´a-ra.
+
+Meg-a´rian, 76.
+
+Mercenaries, 75.
+
+Merchant ships, 80.
+
+Mi-le´sians, 76.
+
+Mi-l[=e]´tus, 24.
+
+Miloradovitch, 177.
+
+Mil-t[=i]´a-d[=e]s.
+
+Mil-to-ky´th[=e]s.
+
+Mi´næ, 99.
+
+Minsk, 277.
+
+Mith-ri-d[=a]´t[=e]s.
+
+Mojaisk, 241.
+
+Mortier (Mor-t[=e]-[=a]´).
+
+Moscow, 157.
+
+Moskwa, 171.
+
+M[)o]s-y-noe´k[=i].
+
+Munich (Mu´nik).
+
+Murat (Mu-rah´).
+
+Muscovite, 163.
+
+M[)y]´si-a.
+
+Mysian, 104.
+
+Mysians, 35.
+
+
+Ne´on.
+
+Neufchâtel (N[=u]f-shah-t[)e]l´).
+
+Ney, Marshal (Nay), 311.
+
+Niemen (Nee´men).
+
+N[=i]-kar´chus.
+
+N[=i]´ki-as.
+
+Ni-kom´a-ch[)u]s.
+
+Nineveh, 44.
+
+
+[)O]d´ry-sæ.
+
+[)O]d-rys´ian, 135.
+
+O-dys´seus, 80.
+
+Old Guard, 199.
+
+Olympic Festivals, 145.
+
+O-l[)y]m´pi-a, Temple of, 147.
+
+O-neir´us, 29.
+
+Oph-ry-n[=e]´um.
+
+O´pis.
+
+O-ron´tas.
+
+Oudinot (Oo-de-n[=o]´).
+
+
+Pæ´an, 34.
+
+Paphlagonian horse, 87
+
+P[=a]´ri-um.
+
+Partisans, 211.
+
+Partouneaux (Par-too-n[=o]´).
+
+Pa-rys´a-tis.
+
+P[)e]l-o-pon-n[=e]´si-ans, 37.
+
+P[)e]l-o-pon-n[=e]´sus.
+
+Per´ga-m[)u]s, 140.
+
+Peraldi (Per-al´d[)i]).
+
+Pe-rin´thus.
+
+Per´i-kl[=e]s, 39.
+
+Phalanx, 8.
+
+Pha-li´nus.
+
+Phar-na-b[=a]´zus.
+
+Pha-si-[=a]´ni.
+
+Pha´sis, 93.
+
+Ph[=e]´rae.
+
+Phi-l[=e]´si-us.
+
+Phil-hellen´ic, 22.
+
+Philo-Laco´ni-an, 113.
+
+Phli-a´si-an, 139.
+
+Ph[)o]l´o-[=e].
+
+Phry-nis´k[)u]s.
+
+Phys´kus.
+
+Pino (P[=e]no´).
+
+Pipe, 103.
+
+Pi-sid´i-a.
+
+Pisid´ians, 35.
+
+Pol-y-æ´n[)u]s.
+
+Po-l[)y]k´ra-t[=e]s.
+
+P[)o]l-y-n[=i]´kus.
+
+Poniatowski (P[=o]-ni-a-tow´ski).
+
+Pontoons, 18.
+
+Postern-gate, 190.
+
+Pr[=o]k´l[=e]s.
+
+Pro-pon´tis, 125.
+
+Pr[)o]x´e-n[)u]s.
+
+Pyrrhic Dance, 104.
+
+
+Reggio (Red´j[=o]).
+
+Regnier (R[=a]-ne-[=a]).
+
+Reins, 52.
+
+Rhodian, 43.
+
+Rostopchin, 163, 164.
+
+Ru´ble, 162.
+
+
+Sacrifice, 2, 91.
+
+Sacrificed, 50.
+
+St. Cyr (San Seer´).
+
+Sam´o-las.
+
+Sar´dis.
+
+Sa´trap, 10.
+
+Scu-ta´ri.
+
+Scythians, 188.
+
+Ségur (S[=a]gur´).
+
+Se-l[=i]´nus.
+
+Se-l[=y]m´bri-a.
+
+Serfs, 160.
+
+Ses´a-me, 61.
+
+Se[=u]´th[=e]s.
+
+Sikon´yan.
+
+S[=i]-l[=a]´nus.
+
+S[=i]-l[=e]´si-a, 296.
+
+S[=i]-n[=o]´pe.
+
+S[=i]t´ta-k[=e].
+
+Skil´lus.
+
+Skins, Inflated, 19.
+
+Sky-thi´ni.
+
+Smorgoni, 293.
+
+Sneeze, 34.
+
+Sok´ra-t[=e]s, 143.
+
+So-phæn´e-t[)u]s.
+
+Sophists, 40.
+
+So-t[)e]r´i-das.
+
+St[=a]t´ers, 107.
+
+Strelitzes, 190.
+
+Strike our tents, 14.
+
+Sy-ko´ni-ans.
+
+
+Talent, 7.
+
+T[=a]´o-chi.
+
+Targeteers, 83.
+
+Tchitchakoff (Chich´a-k[)o]f).
+
+Te-l[)e]b´o-[)a]s.
+
+Temple of Ephesus, 143.
+
+Temple of Olympia, 147.
+
+Th[=e]´b[=e].
+
+Th[=e]´ch[=e]s.
+
+Ther-m[=o]´don.
+
+Tho´rax.
+
+Thra´ki-on, 123.
+
+Thunny fishery, 76.
+
+Thu-ri´an, 79.
+
+Ti-[=a]´ra, 21.
+
+T[)i]b-a-r[=e]´n[=i].
+
+Til´sit, 204.
+
+T[=i]-m[=a]´si-[)o]n.
+
+Ti-me-sil-a´[)u]s.
+
+T[)i]m-e-s[=i]th´e-[)u]s.
+
+T[=i]r-i-b[=a]´zus.
+
+Tis-sa-pher´n[=e]s.
+
+Tra-p[=e]´zus.
+
+Traverse, 90.
+
+Tribute, 13.
+
+Tri-ph[)y]l´i-a.
+
+Tr[=i]´r[=e]me, 105.
+
+Tr[=o]´ad, 140.
+
+Tuileries (Tweel´re).
+
+Turrets, 84.
+
+Twer (Wer).
+
+
+Ve-re´i-a, 238.
+
+Viazma, 243.
+
+Viceroy, 229.
+
+
+Wall of Media, 15.
+
+War, The, 39.
+
+Witepsk, 194.
+
+Wittgenstein, 237.
+
+
+Xan´thi-kl[=e]s.
+
+X[)e]n´o-ph[)o]n.
+
+
+Z[)a]b´a-t[)u]s.
+
+Za-kyn´thus.
+
+Ze[=u]s, 29.
+
+Ze[=u]s, The Gracious, 139.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[182] In the classical names _ch_ has the sound of _k_, e.g. Achaia
+(A-k[=a]´i-a); the diphthong _æ_ has the sound of long _[=e]_, e.g.
+Æneas ([=E]-n[=e]´as), Kænæ (K[=e]´n[=e]); _[=e]s_ at the end of a word
+has the sound of _eez_, e.g. Apollonid[=e]s ([)A]p-ol-l[)o]n´i-deez);
+_ti_ in Boeotia has the sound of _she_, e.g. (B[=e]-[=o]´she-ah). The
+Russian names may be pronounced as English.
+
+
+
+
+CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.
+
+_In forming the mind and taste of the young, is it not better to use
+authors who have already lived long enough to afford some guaranty that
+they may survive the next twenty years?_
+
+="Children derive impulses of a wonderful and important kind from
+hearing things that they cannot entirely comprehend."=--SIR WALTER
+SCOTT.
+
+It is now some five or six years since we began publishing the Classics
+for Children, and the enterprise, which at first seemed a novel one, may
+fairly be said to have passed the stage of experiment.
+
+It has been the aim to present the best and most suitable literature in
+our language in as complete a form as possible; and in most cases but
+few omissions have been found necessary. Whether judged from the
+literary, the ethical, or the educational standpoint, each of the books
+has attained the rank of a masterpiece.
+
+The series places within reach of all schools an abundant supply of
+supplementary reading-matter. This is its most obvious merit.
+
+It is reading-matter, too, which, by the force of its own interest and
+excellence, will do much, when fairly set in competition, to displace
+the trashy and even harmful literature so widely current.
+
+It is believed also that constant dwelling upon such models of simple,
+pure, idiomatic English is the easiest and on all accounts the best way
+for children to acquire a mastery of their mother-tongue.
+
+A large portion of the course has been devoted to history and biography,
+as it has seemed specially desirable to supplement the brief,
+unsatisfactory outlines of history with full and life-like readings.
+
+The annotation has been done with modesty and reserve, the editors
+having aimed to let the readers come into direct acquaintance with the
+author.
+
+The books are all printed on good paper, and are durably and
+attractively bound in 12mo. A distinctive feature is the large, clear
+type. Illustrations have been freely used when thought desirable. The
+prices are as low as possible. It has been felt that nothing would be
+gained by making the books a little cheaper at the expense of crowding
+the page with fine type and issuing them in a style that would neither
+attract nor last.
+
+The best proof of the need of such a course is the universal approbation
+with which it has been received.
+
+
+
+
+CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.
+
+Choice Literature; Full Notes; Large Type; Firm Binding; Low Prices.
+
+_=Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales.=_ *FIRST SERIES: Supplementary to the
+Third Reader. *SECOND SERIES: Supplementary to the Fourth Reader.
+
+*_=Æsop's Fables,=_ with selections from Krilof and La Fontaine.
+
+*_=Kingsley's Water-Babies:=_ A Story for a Land-Baby.
+
+*_=Ruskin's King of the Golden River:=_ A Legend of Stiria.
+
+*_=The Swiss Family Robinson.=_ Abridged.
+
+_=Robinson Crusoe.=_ Concluding with his departure from the island.
+
+*_=Kingsley's Greek Heroes.=_
+
+*_=Martineau's Peasant and Prince.=_
+
+_=Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.=_ "Meas. for Meas." omitted.
+
+_=Scott's Tales of a Grandfather.=_
+
+_=Scott's Lady of the Lake.=_
+
+_=Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel.=_
+
+_=Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses.=_
+
+_=Church's Stories of the Old World.=_
+
+_=Scott's Talisman.=_ Complete.
+
+_=Scott's Quentin Durward.=_ Slightly abridged.
+
+_=Irving's Sketch Book.=_ Six selections, including ="Rip van Winkle."=
+
+_=Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.=_
+
+_=Scott's Guy Mannering.=_ Complete.
+
+_=Scott's Ivanhoe.=_ Complete.
+
+_=Johnson's Rasselas:=_ Prince of Abyssinia.
+
+_=Gulliver's Travels.=_ The Voyages to Lilliput =and Brobdingnag=.
+
+*_=Plutarch's Lives.=_ From Clough's Translation.
+
+_=Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield.=_
+
+_=Hale's Arabian Nights.=_
+
+_=Scott's Rob Roy.=_ Complete.
+
+*_=Life of Franklin.=_
+
+_=Washington and His Country.=_ Irving and Fiske.
+
+_=Selections from Ruskin.=_
+
+_=Tom Brown at Rugby.=_
+
+_=The Two Retreats.=_ Xenophon's and Napoleon's.
+
+
+GINN & COMPANY, Publishers,
+
+BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO.
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                           |
+    |                                               |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the  |
+    | original document have been preserved.        |
+    |                                               |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:   |
+    |                                               |
+    | Page 180 soltitude changed to solitude        |
+    | Page 192 Echmühl changed to Eckmühl           |
+    | Page 212 Winkowo changed to Vinkowo           |
+    | Page 296 Maret changed to Murat               |
+    | Page 315 Augerau changed to Augereau          |
+    | Page 315 Charpontier changed to Charpentier   |
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by 
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by 
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Two Great Retreats of History
+
+Author: George Grote
+        Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
+Editor: David Henry Montgomery
+
+Release Date: August 22, 2008 [EBook #26390]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Barbara Kosker, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img">
+<a href="images/cover.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/cover.jpg" width="45%" alt="Front Cover" /></a><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<h1>  THE</h1>
+
+<h1>Two Great Retreats of History.</h1>
+
+<br />
+<h2> I. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.</h2>
+
+<h2>II. NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.</h2>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h2><i>WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES</i></h2>
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+
+<h2>  D. H. M.</h2>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h3>BOSTON, U.S.A.:</h3>
+<h3>PUBLISHED BY GINN &amp; COMPANY.</h3>
+<h3>1889.</h3>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<h3>Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by</h3>
+<h3>GINN &amp; COMPANY,</h3>
+<h3>in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.</h3>
+<br />
+<br />
+<h3><span class="smcap">All Rights Reserved.</span></h3><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<h4><span class="smcap">Typography By J. S. Cushing &amp; Co., Boston, U.S.A.</span></h4><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" />
+<h2>PREFATORY NOTE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The two following selections contain, first, Grote's account of the
+Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, taken from his "History of Greece,"
+and, secondly, an abridgment of Count S&eacute;gur's narrative of Napoleon's
+retreat from Russia.</p>
+
+<p>Grote's History, based on Xenophon's, is given entire, with the
+exception that, in a very few instances, some slight verbal change has
+been made in order to better adapt the work to school use.</p>
+
+<p>Two maps are furnished, an introduction is prefixed to each selection,
+and all needed notes subjoined.</p>
+
+<p class="right">D. H. M.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span>
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" />
+<br />
+<h2>TABLE OF CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="3%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="5%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdc" width="87%"><b>I. Retreat of the Ten Thousand.</b></td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="5%">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr"><span style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><a href="#SKETCH_OF_CYRUS_THE_YOUNGER">Sketch of Cyrus
+    the Younger (Introductory to the Retreat of the Ten Thousand)</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">v</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#EFFECT_OF_THE_DEATH_OF_CYRUS_ON_THE_GREEKS">Effect of the
+    death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to retreat</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">2.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#COMMENCEMENT_OF_THE_RETREAT">Commencement of the Retreat</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">6</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NEGOTIATIONS_WITH_TISSAPHERNES">Negotiations with
+    Tissaphern&ecirc;s</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">10</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#TREACHERY_OF_TISSAPHERNES">Treachery of Tissaphern&ecirc;s</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">19</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">5.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#XENOPHONS_DREAM_AND_ITS_RESULTS">Xenophon's Dream and
+    its results</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">29</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">6.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_GREEKS_CROSS_THE_ZAB">The Greeks cross the Zab</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">42</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">7.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_GREEKS_FIGHT_THEIR_WAY_ACROSS_THE_KARDUCHIAN_MOUNTAINS">
+    The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian Mountains</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">50</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">8.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#MARCH_THROUGH_ARMENIA">March through Armenia; great
+    suffering from cold and hunger</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">60</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_GREEKS_COME_IN_SIGHT_OF_THE_BLACK_SEA">The Greeks
+    come in sight of the Black Sea</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">70</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">10.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_GREEK_CITIES_ON_THE_BLACK_SEA">The Greek cities on
+    the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten Thousand</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">75</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">11.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#PLANS_OF_THE_ARMY_FOR_THE_FUTURE">Plans of the army for
+    the future</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">79</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">12.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_TEN_THOUSAND_BEGIN_THEIR_MARCH_WESTWARD">The Ten
+    Thousand begin their march westward</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">82</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#PLAN_OF_XENOPHON_FOR_FOUNDING_A_CITY_ON_THE_BLACK_SEA">
+    Plan of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">88</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">14.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#XENOPHON_DEFENDS_HIMSELF_AGAINST_FALSE_ACCUSATIONS">
+    Xenophon defends himself against false accusations</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">95</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">15.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_ARMY_PASSES_BY_SEA_TO_SINOPE">The army passes by sea
+    to Sinôpê</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">104</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">16.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_ARMY_CROSSES_THE_BOSPHORUS_TO_BYZANTIUM">The army
+    crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises of Anaxibius and their
+    results</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">116</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">17.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#MUTINY_OF_THE_ARMY_IN_LEAVING_BYZANTIUM">Mutiny of the
+    army in leaving Byzantium</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">120</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">18.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#XENOPHONS_SPEECH_TO_THE_SOLDIERS">Xenophon's speech to
+    the soldiers</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">123</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">19.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_ARMY_FINALLY_LEAVES_BYZANTIUM">The army finally
+    leaves Byzantium; Seuthês offers to hire them</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">128</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">20.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_ARMY_ENTERS_THE_SERVICE_OF_SEUTHES">The army enters
+    the service of Seuthês</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">135</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">21.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#XENOPHON_CROSSES_OVER_WITH_THE_ARMY_TO_ASIA">Xenophon
+    crosses over with the army to Asia</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">138</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">22.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#XENOPHON_TAKES_LEAVE_OF_THE_ARMY">Xenophon takes leave of
+    the army.  Conclusion.</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">143</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="4">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="4"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span><b>II. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow.</b></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><a href="#SKETCH_OF_NAPOLEON">Sketch of Napoleon
+    (Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow)</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">152</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">1.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#DESCRIPTION_OF_MOSCOW">Description of Moscow; arrival of
+    the Czar</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">157</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">2.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#ALARM_IN_MOSCOW_AT_THE_ADVANCE_OF_THE_FRENCH_ARMY">
+    Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army; preparations for the
+    destruction of the city</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">162</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">3.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#DEPARTURE_OF_THE_RUSSIAN_GOVERNOR_FROM_MOSCOW">Departure
+    of the Russian governor from Moscow</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">168</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">4.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEONS_FIRST_VIEW_OF_MOSCOW">Napoleon's first view
+    of Moscow; the French enter the city</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">175</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">5.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_TAKES_UP_HIS_QUARTERS_IN_THE_KREMLIN">Napoleon
+    takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city discovered to be on fire</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">182</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">6.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_FIRE_COMPELS_NAPOLEON_TO_LEAVE_THE_CITY">The fire
+    compels Napoleon to leave the city</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">190</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">7.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_RETURNS_TO_THE_KREMLIN">Napoleon returns to the
+    Kremlin; plunder of the city</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">195</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">8.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#ROSTOPCHIN_SETS_FIRE_TO_HIS_COUNTRY-SEAT">Rostopchin sets
+    fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon at not hearing from the Czar</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">201</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">9.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_DETERMINES_TO_LEAVE_MOSCOW">Napoleon determines
+    to leave Moscow</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">215</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">10.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#DEPARTURE_FROM_MOSCOW">Departure from Moscow; the first
+    battle</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">224</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">11.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_HOLDS_A_COUNCIL_OF_WAR">Napoleon holds a council
+    of war, and decides to retreat northward</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">233</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">12.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEONS_ATTEMPT_TO_DESTROY_THE_KREMLIN">Napoleon's
+    attempt to destroy the Kremlin; view of the battle-field of Borodino</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">238</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">13.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_REACHES_VIAZMA">Napoleon reaches Viazma;
+    battle near that place</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">243</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">14.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#DREADFUL_SNOW-STORM_ON_THE_6TH_OF_NOVEMBER">Dreadful
+    snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effect upon the troops</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">247</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">15.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#DEFEAT_AND_ENTIRE_DISSOLUTION_OF_PRINCE_EUGENES">Defeat
+    and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at the passage of the Wop</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">253</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">16.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#THE_GRAND_ARMY_REACHES_SMOLENSK">The Grand Army reaches
+    Smolensk</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">257</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">17.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_LEAVES_SMOLENSK">Napoleon leaves Smolensk;
+    battle of Krasnoë</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">263</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">18.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_REACHES_DOMBROWNA_AND_ORCHA">Napoleon reaches
+    Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a council</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">267</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">19.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#ARRIVAL_OF_MARSHAL_NEY">Arrival of Marshal Ney</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">272</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">20.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#CAPTURE_OF_MINSK_BY_THE_RUSSIANS">Capture of Minsk by the
+    Russians</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">277</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">21.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#MARCH_THROUGH_THE_FOREST_OF_MINSK">March through the
+    forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">280</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">22.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#NAPOLEON_ABANDONS_THE_GRAND_ARMY">Napoleon abandons the
+    Grand Army, and sets out for Paris</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">291</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlt">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdrt">23.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#SUFFERINGS_OF_THE_GRAND_ARMY">Sufferings of the Grand
+    Army after Napoleon's departure; arrival at Wilna</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">298</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">&sect;</td>
+  <td class="tdr">24.</td>
+  <td class="tdl1"><a href="#CONCLUSION">Conclusion</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">308</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3"><a href="#INDEX_TO_NOTES">Index to notes and list of proper names with their
+    pronunciation</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">316</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<a name="toi" id="toi"></a><hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>MAPS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Maps">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" width="5%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="90%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdr" width="5%"><span style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">1.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#MARCH_OF_THE_TEN_THOUSAND">The advance and the retreat
+    of the Ten Thousand, facing</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">2.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#SKETCH_MAP_OF_EUROPE">The advance and the
+    retreat of Napoleon in his Russian campaign, facing</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">1</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><a name="SKETCH_OF_CYRUS_THE_YOUNGER" id="SKETCH_OF_CYRUS_THE_YOUNGER"></a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER.</h2>
+
+<p class="cen">(<span class="smcap">Introductory to the Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks.</span>)</p>
+<br />
+
+<p>In the year 423 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> Darius Nothus ascended the throne of
+Persia. That country was then the greatest empire in the world, and had
+an area nearly equal to that of the United States. The capital of this
+seemingly powerful realm was the ancient city of Babylon on the lower
+Euphrates. Here the Great King, as he was styled, had his principal
+palace, from which he issued orders to his twenty or more satraps or
+governors whose provinces extended in name at least from the shores of
+the Mediterranean to the banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf
+to the Black Sea.</p>
+
+<p>Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but
+unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be known in
+history. The eldest was Artaxerx&ecirc;s, a youth of but little character; and
+the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided qualities of his mother. In
+order to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, the founder of the
+Persian Empire, who died more than a hundred years earlier, he is
+commonly called Cyrus the Younger.</p>
+
+<p>He was his mother's favorite, and as he was born after Darius assumed
+the crown, while Artaxerx&ecirc;s was born before that date, Parysatis seems
+to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the true heir to the
+throne, since he was in fact the <i>king's</i> eldest son. Through her
+influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia and the adjacent provinces of
+western Asia Minor when he was but sixteen. This position, since it made
+him the military ruler of that populous and wealthy section of country,
+was one of great importance, and doubtless had no small influence in
+shaping the young man's future career.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, to Babylon,
+and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to Artaxerx&ecirc;s,
+who, from his remarkable memory which appears to have been his chief
+characteristic, got the title of Artaxerx&ecirc;s Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly
+was not deficient in this mental quality, for he seems to have
+remembered his mother's suggestions about his being the rightful heir to
+the throne so well, that at the coronation of Artaxerx&ecirc;s he plotted his
+assassination; or at least, Tissaphern&ecirc;s, a neighboring satrap,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+accused him of it. Cyrus, who appears to have had no adequate defence to
+make, was forthwith arrested and would probably have been summarily put
+to death&mdash;for in Persia the law's delays were unknown&mdash;had not Parysatis
+interfered. Realizing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward and,
+clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about him, and
+pressed his neck to hers in such a way that the executioner must have
+beheaded her with the same stroke with which he decapitated Cyrus.</p>
+
+<p>The prayers and entreaties of Parysatis saved the young man's life, and
+he was even permitted to return to Sardis and resume his power. He went;
+but with no intention of remaining in that subordinate position. Not
+only was he resolved to be revenged on Tissaphern&ecirc;s, but he was equally
+determined to overthrow the mild Artaxerx&ecirc;s and convince him of the
+mistake of yielding to a woman's tears.</p>
+
+<p>Cyrus had learned from his residence on the Mediterranean coast, how far
+superior Greek soldiers were to the troops of Persia. The former would
+not only fight from patriotic motives, but what was more, they would
+readily fight outside of Greece, if they were paid well for it; the
+latter would only fight when they were flogged to it, and officers had
+to carry whips to drive them into battle by the sting of the lash.</p>
+
+<p>Under the pretext that he was about to engage in a local <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span>and private
+war with his enemy Tissaphern&ecirc;s, Cyrus managed to gradually collect an
+army of about ten thousand Greeks whom Klearchus, an ex-governor of
+Byzantium, hired for him. These ten thousand were the real core of the
+expedition, though in addition a hundred thousand Asiatics were to form
+the bulk of it. With this force the young satrap believed that he could
+take Babylon and with it that title of Great King which he coveted. It
+was true that Artaxerx&ecirc;s would meet him with an army of ten men to his
+one; but, as Cyrus said, mere "numbers and noise" did not tell on the
+battle-field, and "numbers and noise" were all that the Persian
+sovereign had to rely on.</p>
+
+<p>When all was ready, Cyrus set out from Sardis on his memorable march in
+the spring of 401. Among the Greeks was a volunteer named Xenophon, who
+had been persuaded to go by his friend Proxenus, a general in the army
+of Cyrus. Xenophon, as we shall see, eventually saved his countrymen
+from destruction, and became not only the leader, but the historian of
+the expedition.</p>
+
+<p>With the exception of Klearchus, none of the army seem to have known the
+real object of the campaign, but supposed that Cyrus was going to attack
+the Pisidians, robber tribes that inhabited the mountainous country
+southeast of Sardis. Artaxerx&ecirc;s appears to have been equally in the
+dark, and though he knew Cyrus was advancing in the direction of
+Babylon, he thought that his ultimate purpose was to make war on
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s, and so gave himself no more trouble about the matter.</p>
+
+<p>All went well with Cyrus and his Greek mercenaries until they reached
+that city of Tarsus in Cilicia, which was later to become famous as the
+birthplace of the apostle Paul. When they reached that place, Xenophon's
+countrymen saw that they had been deceived, and that Cyrus evidently had
+some greater foe in view than the rough banditti of the Pisidian
+highlands. At first they were on the point of mutinying, and of stoning
+Klearchus to give proper emphasis to their feelings; but sober second
+thought showed them that it was doubtful whether they would gain
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>anything by such a course. Klearchus, who was quite equal to the
+emergency, bade them reflect that they were now a long distance from
+home, and that Cyrus had it in his power to make it difficult for them
+to get back without his permission. Next, they were promised a decided
+increase of pay if they would keep on. These considerations so
+influenced the Greeks that they finally resolved to continue their march
+and take the chances of war. Cyrus still refused to divulge his real
+purpose; and though there cannot be much doubt that the Ten Thousand
+felt pretty reasonably certain what it was, yet they probably believed
+he had chances enough of success to make it worth their while to run the
+risk with him.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly the army resumed their forward movement, following the trend
+of the coast round the Gulf of Issus, and then striking southeasterly
+again, until some time in the summer they reached and crossed the
+Euphrates at Thapsacus. From that point they marched down the left bank
+of the river, through the hilly desert of Arabia, toward the great city
+of Babylon. Early in September they reached a point on the Tigris,
+nearly opposite Bagdad, and about two days' march from Kunaxa, a place
+not very far northwest of the Persian capital.</p>
+
+<p>Up to this time Cyrus had met with no opposition, though he was daily
+expecting to see the advance-guard of his brother's army. Before going
+further he thought it prudent to hold a grand review of his troops,
+which he did at midnight, as it was now reported that Artaxerx&ecirc;s, with
+an army of over a million, was coming to give him battle.</p>
+
+<p>But the million did not make their appearance, and so Cyrus decided to
+keep on until he should encounter them. The next day the invading army
+reached a trench which had evidently been recently dug to obstruct their
+advance. It stretched across the plain between the Euphrates and the
+Tigris, in connection with the ruins of the old Median Wall, built
+probably in the days of Nebuchadnezzar as one of the defences of
+Babylon. This trench was eighteen feet deep, thirty feet wide, and
+upwards of forty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span>miles in length; it stopped short of the Euphrates by
+only twenty feet. Over that narrow strip of ground, which the Persian
+king might easily have held with a small number of resolute men, the
+Cyreian forces passed, with no one to hinder them. The great trench, on
+which so much labor had been expended, was, therefore, not only useless
+as a defence to Artaxerx&ecirc;s, but it was a positive encouragement to Cyrus
+and his men, for it revealed the inefficiency and the cowardice of the
+Persians. The whole army now moved rapidly forward, confident of an easy
+victory, many even supposing that Artaxerx&ecirc;s would make no stand at all,
+but abandon his capital to them. The Great King, however, was not so
+hopelessly pusillanimous as that; for, when Cyrus reached Kunaxa, scouts
+brought word that the enemy's hosts were not far behind. This time the
+intelligence was correct. That very afternoon a great cloud of white
+dust rolled up from the plain, and as it kept advancing the invaders
+caught sight of the flash of brazen armor and a forest of spears.</p>
+
+<p>When all was ready for the battle to begin, the Greeks, not waiting to
+be attacked, charged on the run against the Persian left wing. The
+Persians, who seem to have thought that on such an occasion absence of
+body was a good deal better than presence of mind, waited just long
+enough to hear the Greeks give a fierce shout to Mars, accompanied by a
+significant clatter of spears and shields. That satisfied them, and,
+turning like a flock of frightened sheep, they ran for their lives.</p>
+
+<p>Cyrus, who had refused to put on a helmet, now dashed into the fight
+with uncovered head, making straight for King Artaxerx&ecirc;s, who occupied
+the centre of his army. "I see the man!" he cried, and, hurling his
+lance, he struck and slightly wounded the Great King; but that
+fratricidal blow was the last, for just then a javelin pierced Cyrus
+under the eye, and he fell from his horse and was slain. His head and
+right hand were then cut off to serve as a warning to traitors. The
+native or Asiatic troops, seeing the disaster, fled, and did not stop
+till they had reached a former camp eight miles away.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span>Meanwhile the victorious Ten Thousand, knowing nothing of what had
+happened to Cyrus, pursued the Persians as long as light lasted; then
+when the sun had set they returned to find that their camp had been
+plundered by the enemy, and that they must go to bed supperless. It was
+not until sunrise of the next day that they learned that Cyrus was dead;
+that their companions in arms had fled; and that they were left a mere
+handful of men without a leader, and without provisions, in the heart of
+the enemy's country.</p>
+
+<p>How to retreat from such a position was the supreme question. They could
+not return the way they came, for that road led them through the desert,
+where it would be impossible to get food. If they were to get back alive
+they must take the northern route to the shores of the Black Sea. This
+would lead them through a fertile but rough country, in which they would
+have to find their way as best they could across rivers and over
+mountains, harassed by the Persians in the rear, and encountering savage
+tribes who would dispute their progress. At the shortest such a march
+would be about six hundred miles even in an air line, with prospect of
+something like six hundred more before they reached the Mediterranean.</p>
+
+<p>After many delays, this latter course was the one they finally resolved
+to take, and owing to Xenophon's courage and resolution it turned out
+successfully.</p>
+
+<p>After eight months of wandering, hardships, and peril, they all came in
+sight of the Euxine, and perhaps no shipwrecked sailors clinging to a
+raft ever cried "Land!" "Land!" with more joy than those Greeks who had
+climbed a hill-top shouted "The Sea!" "The Sea!"</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to their own bravery, to their able leader, and finally to
+Persian vacillation and cowardice, this little army had now reached a
+place of safety. It was long, however, before they got back to their
+native country, and when they did, they were not to arrive at its shores
+asleep, on shipboard, as the much wandering and storm-tossed Ulysses
+came to his beloved Ithaca.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span>It is doubtful, indeed, how many of them ever got back to their Spartan
+or Athenian homes, for we know that most of them could not make up their
+minds to live quiet lives of peace again; but preferred fighting in
+behalf of the independence of the Ionian cities which Greece had planted
+on the coast of Asia Minor.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. If we may accept the judgment
+of Rollin, a once noted historian, it has never had a parallel in
+history. If we consider its results, it certainly merits all that Rollin
+claims for it, for it convinced the Greek people that the apparent power
+of the Persian empire was utterly unreal. They saw that, as Cyrus had
+said, its only strength was in "numbers and noise." This conviction
+grew, and two generations after Xenophon's return, it led to that grand
+invasion of Persia by Alexander the Great which was to revolutionize the
+ancient world.</p>
+
+<p>What, then, had the retreat of the Greeks accomplished? First, it proved
+that ten thousand men not afraid to die are worth more than a million
+who lack that courage; and next, though it was a retreat, yet it
+suggested that advance which eventually spread the Greek language, Greek
+culture and Greek civilization in countries where they were before
+unknown.</p>
+
+<p class="right">D. H. M.</p>
+
+<h5>FOOTNOTES:</h5>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Tissaphern&ecirc;s was a satrap of Caria, a province of Asia
+Minor south of Lydia.</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span>
+
+<div class="img"><a name="MARCH_OF_THE_TEN_THOUSAND" id="MARCH_OF_THE_TEN_THOUSAND"></a>
+<a href="images/map1.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/map1th.jpg" width="95%" alt="March of the Ten Thousand Greeks" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. <br /><span style="font-size: 90%;">FOR XENOPHON'S ANABASIS.</span><span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span><br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="img"><a name="SKETCH_MAP_OF_EUROPE" id="SKETCH_MAP_OF_EUROPE"></a>
+<a href="images/map2.jpg">
+<img border="0" src="images/map2th.jpg" width="90%" alt="Principal Battles of Napoleon" /></a><br />
+<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">SKETCH MAP OF EUROPE SHOWING PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF NAPOLEON.<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span>
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.</h2>
+
+<br /><a name="EFFECT_OF_THE_DEATH_OF_CYRUS_ON_THE_GREEKS" id="EFFECT_OF_THE_DEATH_OF_CYRUS_ON_THE_GREEKS"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+retreat.</b></p>
+
+<p>The first triumphant feeling of the Greek troops at Kunaxa<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> was
+exchanged, as soon as they learnt the death of Cyrus, for dismay and
+sorrow; accompanied by unavailing repentance for the venture into which
+he and Klearchus had seduced them. Probably Klearchus himself too
+repented, and with good reason, of having displayed, in his manner of
+fighting the battle, so little foresight, and so little regard either to
+the injunctions or to the safety of Cyrus. Nevertheless he still
+maintained the tone of a victor in the field, and after expressions of
+grief for the fate of the young prince, desired Prokl&ecirc;s and Gl&ucirc;s to
+return to Ari&aelig;us, with the reply, that the Greeks on their side were
+conquerors without any enemy remaining; that they were about to march
+onward against Artaxerx&ecirc;s; and that if Ari&aelig;us would join them, they
+would place him on the throne which had been intended for Cyrus. While
+this reply was conveyed to Ari&aelig;us by his particular friend Menon along
+with the messengers, the Greeks procured a meal as well as they could,
+having no bread, by killing some of the baggage animals; and by kindling
+fire to cook their meat, from the arrows, the wooden Egyptian shields
+which had been thrown away on the field, and the baggage carts.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>Before any answer could be received from Ari&aelig;us, heralds<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> appeared
+coming from Artaxerx&ecirc;s; among them being Phal&icirc;nus, a Greek from
+Zakynthus, and the Greek surgeon Ktesias of Knidus, who was in the
+service of the Persian king. Phal&icirc;nus, an officer of some military
+experience and in the confidence of Tissaphern&ecirc;s, addressed himself to
+the Greek commanders; requiring them on the part of the King, since he
+was now victor and had slain Cyrus, to surrender their arms and appeal
+to his mercy. To this summons, painful in the extreme to a Grecian ear,
+Klearchus replied that it was not the practice for victorious men to lay
+down their arms. Being then called away to examine the sacrifice<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>
+which was going on, he left the interview to the other officers, who met
+the summons of Phal&icirc;nus by an emphatic negative. "If the King thinks
+himself strong enough to ask for our arms unconditionally, let him come
+and try to seize them."&mdash;"The King (rejoined Phal&icirc;nus) thinks that you
+are in his power, being in the midst of his territory, hemmed in by
+impassable rivers, and encompassed by his innumerable subjects."&mdash;"Our
+arms and our valor are all that remain to us (replied a young Athenian);
+we shall not be fools enough to hand over to you our only remaining
+treasures, but shall employ them still to have a fight for <i>your</i>
+treasure." But though several spoke in this resolute tone, there were
+not wanting others <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>disposed to encourage a negotiation; saying that
+they had been faithful to Cyrus as long as he lived, and would now be
+faithful to Artaxerx&ecirc;s, if he wanted their services in Egypt or anywhere
+else. In the midst of this parley Klearchus returned, and was requested
+by Phal&icirc;nus to return a final answer on behalf of all. He at first asked
+the advice of Phal&icirc;nus himself; appealing to the common feeling of
+Hellenic<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> patriotism, and anticipating, with very little judgment,
+that the latter would encourage the Greeks in holding out. "If (replied
+Phal&icirc;nus) I saw one chance out of ten thousand in your favor, in the
+event of a contest with the King, I should advise you to refuse the
+surrender of your arms. But as there is no chance of safety for you
+against the King's consent, I recommend you to look out for safety in
+the only quarter where it presents itself." Sensible of the mistake
+which he had made in asking the question, Klearchus rejoined&mdash;"That is
+<i>your</i> opinion: now report our answer. We think we shall be better
+friends to the King, if we are to be his friends,&mdash;or more effective
+enemies, if we are to be his enemies,&mdash;with our arms, than without
+them." Phal&icirc;nus, in retiring, said that the King proclaimed a truce so
+long as they remained in their present position&mdash;but war, if they moved,
+either onward or backward. And to this Klearchus acceded, without
+declaring which he intended to do.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the departure of Phal&icirc;nus, the envoys despatched to Ari&aelig;us
+returned; communicating his reply that the Persian grandees would never
+tolerate any pretensions on his part to the crown, and that he intended
+to depart early the next morning on his return; if the Greeks wished to
+accompany him, they must join him during the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>night. In the evening,
+Klearchus, convening the generals and the captains, acquainted them that
+the morning sacrifice had been of a nature to forbid their marching
+against the King&mdash;a prohibition, of which he now understood the reason,
+from having since learnt that the King was on the other side of the
+Tigris, and therefore out of their reach&mdash;but that it was favorable for
+rejoining Ari&aelig;us. He gave directions accordingly for a night-march back
+along the Euphrat&ecirc;s, to the station where they had passed the last night
+but one prior to the battle. The other Grecian generals, without any
+formal choice of Klearchus as chief, tacitly acquiesced in his orders,
+from a sense of his superior decision and experience, in an emergency
+when no one knew what to propose. The night-march was successfully
+accomplished, so that they joined Ari&aelig;us at the preceding station about
+midnight; not without the alarming symptom, however, that Miltokyth&ecirc;s
+the Thracian deserted to the King at the head of 340 of his countrymen,
+partly horse, partly foot.</p>
+
+<p>The first proceeding of the Grecian generals was to exchange solemn
+oaths of reciprocal fidelity and fraternity with Ari&aelig;us. According to an
+ancient and impressive practice, a bull, a wolf, a boar, and a ram, were
+all slain, and their blood allowed to run into the hollow of a shield;
+in which the Greek generals dipped a sword, and Ari&aelig;us, with his chief
+companions, a spear. The latter, besides the promise of alliance,
+engaged also to guide the Greeks in good faith down to the Asiatic
+coast. Klearchus immediately began to ask what route he proposed to
+take; whether to return by that along which they had come up, or by any
+other. To this Ari&aelig;us replied, that the road along which they had
+marched was impracticable for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>retreat, from the utter want of provisions
+through seventeen days of desert; but that he intended to choose another
+road, which, though longer, would be sufficiently productive to furnish
+them with provisions. There was, however, a necessity (he added), that
+the first two or three days' marches should be of extreme length, in
+order that they might get out of the reach of the king's forces, who
+would hardly be able to overtake them afterwards with any considerable
+numbers.</p>
+
+<p>They had now come 93 days' march from Ephesus, or 90 from Sardis. The
+distance from Sardis to Kunaxa is 1464 miles. There had been at least 96
+days of rest, enjoyed at various places, so that the total of time
+elapsed must have at least been 189 days, or a little more than half a
+year: but it was probably greater, since some intervals of rest are not
+specified in number of days.</p>
+
+<p>How to retrace their steps was now the problem, apparently insoluble. As
+to the military force of Persia in the field, indeed, not merely the
+easy victory at Kunaxa, but still more the undisputed march throughout
+so long a space, left them no serious apprehension. In spite of this
+great extent, population, and riches, they had been allowed to pass
+through the most difficult and defensible country, and to ford the broad
+Euphrat&ecirc;s, without a blow: nay, the King had shrunk from defending the
+long trench which he had specially caused to be dug for the protection
+of Babylonia. But the difficulties which stood between them and their
+homes were of a very different character. How were they to find their
+way back, or obtain provisions, in defiance of a numerous hostile
+cavalry, which, not without efficiency even in a pitched battle, would
+be most formidable in opposing their retreat? The line of their upward
+march had all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>been planned, with supplies furnished, by Cyrus:&mdash;yet
+even under such advantages, supplies had been on the point of failing,
+in one part of the march. They were now, for the first time, called upon
+to think and provide for themselves; without knowledge of either roads
+or distances&mdash;without trustworthy guides&mdash;without any one to furnish or
+even to indicate supplies&mdash;and with a territory all hostile, traversed
+by rivers which they had no means of crossing. Klearchus himself knew
+nothing of the country, nor of any other river except the Euphrat&ecirc;s; nor
+does he indeed in his heart seem to have conceived retreat as
+practicable without the consent of the King. The reader who casts his
+eye on a map of Asia, and imagines the situation of this Greek division
+on the left bank of the Euphrat&ecirc;s, near the parallel of latitude 33&deg;
+30'&mdash;will hardly be surprised at any measure of despair, on the part
+either of general or soldiers. And we may add that Klearchus had not
+even the advantage of such a map, or probably of any map at all, to
+enable him to shape his course.</p>
+
+<p>In this dilemma, the first and most natural impulse was to consult
+Ari&aelig;us; who (as has been already stated) pronounced, with good reason,
+that return by the same road was impracticable; and promised to conduct
+them home by another road&mdash;longer indeed, yet better supplied.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="COMMENCEMENT_OF_THE_RETREAT" id="COMMENCEMENT_OF_THE_RETREAT"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 2. Commencement of the Retreat.</b></p>
+
+<p>At daybreak on the ensuing morning, they began their march in an
+easterly direction, anticipating that before night they should reach
+some villages of the Babylonian territory, as in fact they did; yet not
+before they had been alarmed in the afternoon by the supposed approach
+of some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>of the enemy's horse, and by evidences that the enemy were not
+far off, which induced them to slacken their march for the purpose of
+more cautious array.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Hence they did not reach the first villages
+before dark; these too had been pillaged by the enemy while retreating
+before them, so that only the first-comers under Klearchus could obtain
+accommodation, while the succeeding troops, coming up in the dark,
+pitched as they could without any order. The whole camp was a scene of
+clamor, dispute, and even alarm, throughout the night. No provisions
+could be obtained. Early the next morning Klearchus ordered them under
+arms; and desiring to expose the groundless nature of the alarm, caused
+the herald<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> to proclaim, that whoever would denounce the person who
+had let the ass<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> into the camp on the preceding night, should be
+rewarded with a talent<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> of silver.</p>
+
+<p>What was the project of route entertained by Ari&aelig;us, we cannot
+ascertain; since it was not farther pursued. For the effect of the
+unexpected arrival of the Greeks as if to attack the enemy&mdash;and even the
+clamor and shouting of the camp during the night&mdash;so intimidated the
+Persian commanders, that they sent heralds the next morning to treat
+about a truce. The contrast between this message, and the haughty
+summons of the preceding day to lay down their arms, was sensibly felt
+by the Grecian officers, and taught them that the proper way of dealing
+with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Persians was by a bold and aggressive demeanor. When Klearchus
+was apprised of the arrival of the heralds, he desired them at first to
+wait at the outposts until he was at leisure: then, having put his
+troops into the best possible order, with a phalanx<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> compact on every
+side to the eye, and the unarmed persons out of sight, he desired the
+heralds to be admitted. He marched out to meet them with the most showy
+and best-armed soldiers immediately around him, and when they informed
+him that they had come from the King with instructions to propose a
+truce, and to report on what conditions the Greeks would agree to it,
+Klearchus replied abruptly&mdash;"Well then&mdash;go and tell the King, that our
+first business must be to fight; for we have nothing to eat, nor will
+any man presume to talk to Greeks about a truce, without first providing
+dinner for them." With this reply the heralds rode off, but returned
+very speedily; thus making it plain that the King, or the commanding
+officer, was near at hand. They brought word that the King thought their
+answer reasonable, and had sent guides to conduct them to a place where
+they would obtain provisions, if the truce should be concluded.</p>
+
+<p>After an affected delay and hesitation, in order to impose upon the
+Persians, Klearchus concluded the truce, and desired that the guides
+should conduct the army to those quarters where provisions could be had.
+He was most circumspect in maintaining exact order during the march,
+himself taking charge of the rear guard. The guides led them over many
+ditches and channels, full of water, and cut <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>for the purpose of
+irrigation<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>; some so broad and deep that they could not be crossed
+without bridges. The army had to put together bridges for the occasion,
+from palm-trees either already fallen, or expressly cut down. This was a
+troublesome business, which Klearchus himself superintended with
+peculiar strictness. He carried his spear in the left hand, his stick in
+the right; employing the latter to chastise any soldier who seemed
+remiss&mdash;and even plunging into the mud and lending his own hands in aid
+wherever it was necessary. As it was not the usual season of irrigation
+for crops he suspected that the canals had been filled on this occasion
+expressly to intimidate the Greeks, by impressing them with the
+difficulties of their prospective march; and he was anxious to
+demonstrate to the Persians that these difficulties were no more than
+Grecian energy could easily surmount.</p>
+
+<p>At length they reached certain villages indicated by their guides for
+quarters and provisions; and here for the first time they had a sample
+of that unparalleled abundance of the Babylonian territory, which
+Herodotus is afraid to describe with numerical precision. Large
+quantities of corn,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>&mdash;dates not only in great numbers, but of such
+beauty, freshness, size, and flavor, as no Greek had ever seen or
+tasted, insomuch that fruit like what was imported into Greece, was
+disregarded and left for the slaves&mdash;wine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>and vinegar, both also made
+from the date-palm; these are the luxuries which Xenophon is eloquent in
+describing, after his recent period of scanty fare and anxious
+apprehension; not without also noticing the headaches which such new and
+luscious food, in unlimited quantity, brought upon himself and others.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NEGOTIATIONS_WITH_TISSAPHERNES" id="NEGOTIATIONS_WITH_TISSAPHERNES"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 3. Negotiations with Tissaphern&ecirc;s.</b></p>
+
+<p>After three days passed in these restorative quarters, they were visited
+by Tissaphern&ecirc;s, accompanied by four Persian grandees and a suite of
+slaves. The satrap<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> began to open a negotiation with Klearchus and
+the other generals. Speaking through an interpreter, he stated to them
+that the vicinity of his province to Greece impressed him with a strong
+interest in favor of the Cyreian Greeks,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> and made him anxious to
+rescue them out of their present desperate situation; that he had
+solicited the King's permission to save them, as a personal recompense
+to himself for having been the first to forewarn him of the schemes of
+Cyrus, and for having been the only Persian who had not fled before the
+Greeks at Kunaxa; that the King had promised to consider this point, and
+had sent him in the mean time to ask the Greeks what their purpose was
+in coming up to attack him; and that he trusted the Greeks would give
+him a conciliatory answer to carry back, in order that he might have
+less difficulty in realizing what he desired for their benefit. To this
+Klearchus, after first deliberating apart with the other officers,
+replied, that the army had come together, and had even commenced their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>march, without any purpose of hostility to the King; that Cyrus had
+brought them up the country under false pretences, but that they had
+been ashamed to desert him in the midst of danger, since he had always
+treated them generously; that since Cyrus was now dead, they had no
+purpose of hostility against the King, but were only anxious to return
+home; that they were prepared to repel hostility from all quarters, but
+would be not less prompt in requiting favor or assistance. With this
+answer Tissaphern&ecirc;s departed, and returned on the next day but one,
+informing them that he had obtained the King's permission to save the
+Grecian army&mdash;though not without great opposition, since many Persian
+counsellors contended that it was unworthy of the King's dignity to
+suffer those who had assailed him to escape. "I am now ready (said he)
+to conclude a covenant<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and exchange oaths with you; engaging to
+conduct you safely back into Greece, with the country friendly, and with
+a regular market for you to purchase provisions. You must stipulate on
+your part always to pay for your provisions, and to do no damage to the
+country: if I do not furnish you with provisions to buy, you are then at
+liberty to take them where you can find them." Well were the Greeks
+content to enter into such a covenant, which was sworn, with hands given
+upon it, by Klearchus, the other generals, and the captains on their
+side&mdash;and by Tissaphern&ecirc;s with the King's brother-in-law on the other.
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s then left them, saying that he would go back to the King,
+make preparations, and return to reconduct the Greeks home; going
+himself to his own province.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>The statements of Ktesias, though known to us only indirectly, and not
+to be received without caution, afford ground for believing that Queen
+Parysatis decidedly wished success to her son Cyrus in his contest for
+the throne&mdash;that the first report conveyed to her of the battle of
+Kunaxa, announcing the victory of Cyrus, filled her with joy, which was
+exchanged for bitter sorrow when she was informed of his death,&mdash;that
+she caused to be slain with horrible tortures all those, who, though
+acting in the Persian army and for the defence of Artaxerx&ecirc;s, had any
+participation in the death of Cyrus&mdash;and that she showed favorable
+dispositions towards the Cyreian Greeks. It may seem probable, farther,
+that her influence may have been exerted to procure for them an
+unimpeded retreat, without anticipating the use afterwards made by
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s (as will soon appear) of the present convention.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> And in
+one point of view the Persian king had an interest in facilitating their
+retreat. For the very circumstance which rendered retreat difficult,
+also rendered the Greeks dangerous to him in their actual position. They
+were in the heart of the Persian Empire, within seventy miles of
+Babylon; in a country not only teeming with fertility, but also
+extremely defensible; especially against cavalry, from the multiplicity
+of canals, as Herodotus observed respecting Lower Egypt. And Klearchus
+might say to his Grecian soldiers&mdash;what Xenophon was afterwards
+preparing to say to them at Kalp&ecirc; on the Euxine Sea, and what Nikias
+also affirmed to the unhappy Athenian army whom he afterwards conducted
+away from Syracuse<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>&mdash;that wherever they sat down, they were
+sufficiently numerous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>and well-organized to become at once a city. A
+body of such troops might effectually assist, and would perhaps
+encourage, the Babylonian population to throw off the Persian yoke, and
+to relieve themselves from the prodigious tribute<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> which they now
+paid to the satrap. For these reasons, the advisers of Artaxerx&ecirc;s
+thought it advantageous to convey the Greeks across the Tigris out of
+Babylonia, beyond all possibility of returning thither. This was at any
+rate the primary object of the convention. And it was the more necessary
+to conciliate the goodwill of the Greeks, because there seems to have
+been but one bridge over the Tigris; which bridge could only be reached
+by inviting them to advance considerably farther into the interior of
+Babylonia.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the state of fears and hopes on both sides, at the time when
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s left the Greeks, after concluding his convention. For
+twenty days did they await his return, without receiving from him any
+communication; the Cyreian Persians<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> under Ari&aelig;us being encamped near
+them. Such prolonged and unexplained delay became, after a few days, the
+source of much uneasiness to the Greeks; the more so, as Ari&aelig;us received
+during this interval several visits from his Persian kinsmen, and
+friendly messages from the King, promising amnesty<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> for his recent
+services under Cyrus. Of these messages the effects were painfully felt,
+in manifest coldness of demeanor on the part of his Persian troops
+towards the Greeks. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>Impatient and suspicious, the Greek soldiers
+impressed upon Klearchus their fears, that the King had concluded the
+recent convention only to arrest their movements, until he should have
+assembled a larger army and blocked up more effectually the roads
+against their return. To this Klearchus replied&mdash;"I am aware of all that
+you say. Yet if we now strike our tents,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> it will be a breach of the
+convention, and a declaration of war. No one will furnish us with
+provisions: we shall have no guides: Ari&aelig;us will desert us forthwith, so
+that we shall have his troops as enemies instead of friends. Whether
+there be any other river for us to cross, I know not; but we know that
+the Euphrat&ecirc;s itself can never be crossed, if there be an enemy to
+resist us. Nor have we any cavalry,&mdash;while cavalry is the best and most
+numerous force of our enemies. If the King, having all these advantages,
+really wishes to destroy us, I do not know why he should falsely
+exchange all these oaths and solemnities, and thus make his own word
+worthless in the eyes both of Greeks and barbarians."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such words from Klearchus are remarkable, as they testify his own
+complete despair of the situation&mdash;certainly a very natural
+despair&mdash;except by amicable dealing with the Persians; and also his
+ignorance of geography and the country to be traversed. This feeling
+helps to explain his imprudent confidence afterwards in Tissaphern&ecirc;s.</p>
+
+<p>That satrap, however, after twenty days, at last came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>back, with his
+army prepared to return to Ionia<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>&mdash;with the King's daughter, whom he
+had just received in marriage&mdash;and with another grandee named Orontas.
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s took the conduct of the march, providing supplies for the
+Greek troops to purchase; while Ari&aelig;us and his division now separated
+themselves altogether from the Greeks, and became intermingled with the
+other Persians. Klearchus and the Greeks followed them, at the distance
+of about three miles in the rear, with a separate guide for themselves;
+not without jealousy and mistrust, sometimes shown in individual
+conflicts, while collecting wood or forage, between them and the
+Persians of Ari&aelig;us. After three days' march (that is, apparently, three
+days, calculated from the moment when they began their retreat with
+Ari&aelig;us) they came to the Wall of Media,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> and passed through it,
+prosecuting their march onward through the country on its other or
+interior side. It was of bricks cemented with bitumen,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> 100 feet
+high, and 20 feet broad; it was said to extend a length of about 70
+miles, and to be not far distant from Babylon. Two days of farther
+march, computed at 28 miles, brought them to the Tigris. During these
+two days they crossed two great ship-canals, one of them over a
+permanent bridge, the other over a temporary bridge laid on seven boats.
+Canals of such magnitude must probably have been two among the four
+stated by Xenophon to be drawn from the river Tigris, each of them about
+three miles and a half distant from the other. They were 100 feet broad,
+and deep enough <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>even for heavy vessels; they were distributed by means
+of numerous smaller channels and ditches for the irrigation of the soil;
+and they were said to fall into the Euphrat&ecirc;s; or rather perhaps they
+terminated in one main larger canal cut directly from the Euphrat&ecirc;s to
+the Tigris, each of them joining this larger canal at a different point
+of its course. Within less than two miles of the Tigris was a large and
+populous city named Sittak&ecirc;, near which the Greeks pitched their camp,
+on the verge of a beautiful park or thick grove full of all kinds of
+trees; while the Persians all crossed the Tigris, at the neighboring
+bridge.</p>
+
+<p>As Proxenus and Xenophon were here walking in front of the camp after
+supper, a man was brought up who had asked for the former at the
+advanced posts. This man said that he came with instructions from
+Ari&aelig;us. He advised the Greeks to be on their guard, as there were troops
+concealed in the adjoining grove, for the purpose of attacking them
+during the night&mdash;and also to send and occupy the bridge over the
+Tigris, since Tissaphern&ecirc;s intended to break it down, in order that the
+Greeks might be caught without possibility of escape between the river
+and the canal. On discussing this information with Klearchus, who was
+much alarmed by it, a young Greek present remarked that the two matters
+stated by the informant contradicted each other; for that if
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s intended to attack the Greeks during the night, he would
+not break down the bridge, so as both to prevent his own troops on the
+other side from crossing to aid, and to deprive those on this side of
+all retreat if they were beaten,&mdash;while, if the Greeks were beaten,
+there was no escape open to them, whether the bridge continued or not.
+This remark induced Klearchus to ask the messenger, what was the extent
+of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>ground between the Tigris and the canal. The messenger replied that
+it was a great extent of country, comprising many large cities and
+villages. Reflecting on this communication, the Greek officers came to
+the conclusion that the message was a stratagem on the part of
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s to frighten them and hasten their passage across the
+Tigris; under the apprehension that they might conceive the plan of
+seizing or breaking the bridge and occupying a permanent position in the
+spot where they were; which was an island, fortified on one side by the
+Tigris,&mdash;on the other sides, by intersecting canals between the
+Euphrat&ecirc;s and the Tigris. Such an island was a defensible position,
+having a most productive territory with numerous cultivators, so as to
+furnish shelter and means of hostility for all the King's enemies:
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s calculated that the message now delivered would induce the
+Greeks to become alarmed with their actual position, and to cross the
+Tigris with as little delay as possible. At least this was the
+interpretation which the Greek officers put upon his proceeding; an
+interpretation highly plausible, since, in order to reach the bridge
+over the Tigris, he had been obliged to conduct the Greek troops into a
+position sufficiently tempting for them to hold&mdash;and since he knew that
+his own purposes were purely treacherous. But the Greeks, officers as
+well as soldiers, were animated only by the wish of reaching home. They
+trusted, though not without misgivings, in the promise of Tissaphern&ecirc;s
+to conduct them; and never for a moment thought of taking permanent post
+in this fertile island. They did not however neglect the precaution of
+sending a guard during the night to the bridge over the Tigris, which no
+enemy came to assail. On the next morning they passed over it in a body,
+in cautious and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>mistrustful array, and found themselves on the eastern
+bank of the Tigris,&mdash;not only without attack, but even without sight of
+a single Persian, except Gl&ucirc;s the interpreter and a few others watching
+their motions.</p>
+
+<p>After having crossed by a bridge laid upon thirty-seven pontoons,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>
+the Greeks continued their march to the northward upon the eastern side
+of the Tigris, for four days to the river Physkus; said to be seventy
+miles. The Physkus was 100 feet wide, with a bridge, and the large city
+of Opis near it. Here, at the frontier of Assyria and Media, the road
+from the eastern regions to Babylon joined the road northerly on which
+the Greeks were marching. An illegitimate brother of Artaxerx&ecirc;s was seen
+at the head of a numerous force, which he was conducting from Susa and
+Ekbatana as a reinforcement to the royal army. This great host halted to
+see the Greeks pass by; and Klearchus ordered the march in column of two
+abreast, employing himself actively to maintain an excellent array, and
+halting more than once. The army thus occupied so long a time in passing
+by the Persian host that their numbers appeared greater than the
+reality, even to themselves; while the effect upon the Persian
+spectators was very imposing. Here Assyria ended and Media began. They
+marched, still in a northerly direction, for six days through a portion
+of Media almost unpeopled, until they came to some flourishing villages
+which formed a portion of the domain of Queen Parysatis; probably these
+villages, forming so marked an exception to the desert character of the
+remaining march, were situated on the Lesser Zab, which flows <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>into the
+Tigris, and which Xenophon must have crossed, though he makes no mention
+of it. According to the order of march stipulated between the Greeks and
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s, the latter only provided a supply of provisions for the
+former to purchase; but on the present halt, he allowed the Greeks to
+plunder the villages, which were rich and full of all sorts of
+subsistence&mdash;yet without carrying off the slaves. The wish of the satrap
+to put an insult on Cyrus, as his personal enemy, through Parysatis,
+thus proved a sentence of ruin to these unhappy villagers. Five more
+days' march, called seventy miles, brought them to the banks of the
+river Zabatus, or the Greater Zab, which flows into the Tigris near a
+town now called Senn. During the first of these five days, they saw on
+the opposite side of the Tigris a large town called K&aelig;n&aelig;, from whence
+they received supplies of provisions, brought across by the inhabitants
+upon rafts supported by inflated skins.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p>
+
+<br /><a name="TREACHERY_OF_TISSAPHERNES" id="TREACHERY_OF_TISSAPHERNES"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 4. Treachery of Tissaphern&ecirc;s.</b></p>
+
+<p>On the banks of the Great Zab they halted three days&mdash;days of serious
+and tragical moment. Having been under feelings of mistrust, ever since
+the convention with Tissaphern&ecirc;s, they had followed throughout the whole
+march, with separate guides of their own, in the rear of his army,
+always maintaining their encampment apart. During their halt on the Zab,
+so many various manifestations occurred to aggravate the mistrust, that
+hostilities seemed on the point of breaking out between the two camps.
+To obviate this danger Klearchus demanded an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>interview with
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s, represented to him the threatening attitude of affairs,
+and insisted on the necessity of coming to a clear understanding. He
+impressed upon the satrap that, over and above the solemn oaths which
+had been interchanged, the Greeks on their side could have no
+conceivable motive to quarrel with him; that they had everything to hope
+from his friendship, and everything to fear, even to the loss of all
+chance of safe return, from his hostility; that Tissaphern&ecirc;s also could
+gain nothing by destroying them, but would find them, if he chose, the
+best and most faithful instruments for his own aggrandizement and for
+conquering the Mysians and Pisidians<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>&mdash;as Cyrus had experienced while
+he was alive. Klearchus concluded his protest by requesting to be
+informed, what malicious reporter had been filling the mind of
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s with causeless suspicions against the Greeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Klearchus (replied the satrap), I rejoice to hear such excellent sense
+from your lips. You remark truly, that if you were to meditate evil
+against me, it would recoil upon yourselves. I shall prove to you, in my
+turn, that you have no cause to mistrust either the King or me. If we
+had wished to destroy you, nothing would be easier. We have superabundant
+forces for the purpose: there are wide plains in which you would be
+starved&mdash;besides mountains and rivers which you would be unable to pass,
+without our help. Having thus the means of destroying you in our hands,
+and having nevertheless bound ourselves by solemn oaths to save you, we
+shall not be fools and knaves enough to attempt it now, when we should
+draw upon ourselves the just indignation of the gods. It is my peculiar
+affection for my neighbors the Greeks&mdash;and my wish to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>attach to my own
+person, by ties of gratitude, the Greek soldiers of Cyrus&mdash;which have
+made me eager to conduct you to Ionia<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> in safety. For I know that
+when you are in my service, though the King is the only man who can wear
+his tiara<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> erect <i>upon his head</i>, I shall be able to wear mine
+erect upon <i>my heart</i>, in full pride and confidence."</p>
+
+<p>So powerful was the impression made upon Klearchus by these assurances,
+that he exclaimed&mdash;"Surely those informers deserve the severest
+punishment, who try to put us at enmity, when we are such good friends
+to each other, and have so much reason to be so." "Yes (replied
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s), they deserve nothing less: and if you, with the other
+generals and captains, will come into my tent tomorrow, I will tell you
+who the calumniators are." "To-be-sure I will (rejoined Klearchus), and
+bring the other generals with me. I shall tell you at the same time who
+are the parties that seek to prejudice us against you." The conversation
+then ended, the satrap detaining Klearchus to dinner, and treating him
+in the most hospitable and confidential manner.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>On the next morning, Klearchus communicated what had passed to the
+Greeks, insisting on the necessity that all the generals should go to
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s pursuant to his invitation; in order to re-establish that
+confidence which unworthy calumniators had shaken, and to punish such of
+the calumniators as might be Greeks. So emphatically did he pledge
+himself for the good faith and philhellenic<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> dispositions of the
+satrap, that he overruled the opposition of many among the soldiers;
+who, still continuing to entertain their former suspicions, remonstrated
+especially against the extreme imprudence of putting all the generals at
+once into the power of Tissaphern&ecirc;s. The urgency of Klearchus prevailed.
+Himself with four other generals&mdash;Proxenus, Menon, Agias, and
+Sokrat&ecirc;s&mdash;and twenty captains&mdash;went to visit the satrap in his tent;
+about 200 of the soldiers going along with them, to make purchases for
+their own account in the Persian camp-market.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the quarters of Tissaphern&ecirc;s&mdash;distant nearly three miles
+from the Persian camp according to habit&mdash;the five generals were
+admitted into the interior, while the captains remained at the entrance.
+A purple flag, hoisted from the top of the tent, betrayed too late the
+purpose for which they had been invited to come. The captains, with the
+Grecian soldiers who had accompanied them, were surprised and cut down,
+while the generals in the interior were detained, put in chains, and
+carried up as prisoners to the Persian court. Here Klearchus, Proxenus,
+Agias, and Sokrat&ecirc;s, were beheaded, after a short imprisonment. Queen
+Parysatis, indeed, from affection to Cyrus, not only furnished many
+comforts to Klearchus in the prison (by the hands of her surgeon
+Ktesias), but used <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>all her influence with her son Artaxerx&ecirc;s to save
+his life; though her efforts were counteracted, on this occasion, by the
+superior influence of Queen Stateira, his wife. The rivalry between
+these two royal women, doubtless arising out of many other circumstances
+besides the death of Klearchus, became soon afterwards so furious, that
+Parysatis caused Stateira to be poisoned.</p>
+
+<p>Menon was not put to death along with the other generals. He appears to
+have taken credit at the Persian court for the treason of entrapping his
+colleagues into the hands of Tissaphern&ecirc;s. But his life was only
+prolonged to perish a year afterwards in disgrace and torture&mdash;probably
+by the requisition of Parysatis, who thus avenged the death of Klearchus.
+The queen-mother had always power enough to perpetrate cruelties, though
+not always to avert them. She had already brought to a miserable end
+every one, even faithful defenders of Artaxerx&ecirc;s, concerned in the death
+of her son Cyrus.</p>
+
+<p>Though Menon thought it convenient, when brought up to Babylon, to boast
+of having been the instrument through whom the generals were entrapped
+into the fatal tent, this boast is not to be treated as matter of fact.
+For not only does Xenophon explain the catastrophe differently, but in
+the delineation which he gives of Menon, dark and odious as it is in the
+extreme, he does not advance any such imputation; indirectly, indeed, he
+sets it aside.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately for the reputation of Klearchus, no such reasonable excuse
+can be offered for his credulity, which brought himself as well as his
+colleagues to so melancholy an end, and his whole army to the brink of
+ruin. It appears that the general sentiment of the Grecian army, taking
+just measure of the character of Tissaphern&ecirc;s, was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>disposed to greater
+circumspection in dealing with him. Upon that system Klearchus himself
+had hitherto acted; and the necessity of it might have been especially
+present to <i>his</i> mind, since he had served with the Laced&aelig;monian fleet
+at Miletus<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> in 411 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>, and had therefore had fuller
+experience than other men in the army, of the satrap's real character.
+On a sudden he now turns round, and on the faith of a few verbal
+declarations, puts all the military chiefs into the most defenceless
+posture and the most obvious peril, such as hardly the strongest grounds
+for confidence could have justified. Though the remark of Machiavel is
+justified by large experience&mdash;that from the short-sightedness of men
+and their obedience to present impulse, the most notorious deceiver will
+always find new persons to trust him&mdash;still such misjudgment on the part
+of an officer of age and experience is difficult to explain. Poly&aelig;nus
+intimates that beautiful women, exhibited by the satrap at his first
+banquet to Klearchus alone, served as a lure to attract him with all his
+colleagues to the second; while Xenophon imputes the error to
+continuance of a jealous rivalry with Menon. The latter, it appears,
+having always been intimate with Ari&aelig;us; had been thus brought into
+previous communication with Tissaphern&ecirc;s, by whom he had been well
+received, and by whom he was also encouraged to lay plans for detaching
+the whole Grecian army from Klearchus so as to bring it all under his
+(Menon's) <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>command into the services of the satrap. Such at least was
+the suspicion of Klearchus; who, jealous in the extreme of his own
+military authority, tried to defeat the scheme by bidding still higher
+himself for the favor of Tissaphern&ecirc;s. Imagining that Menon was the
+unknown calumniator who prejudiced the satrap against him, he hoped to
+prevail on the satrap to disclose his name and dismiss him. Such
+jealousy seems to have robbed Klearchus of his customary prudence. We
+must also allow for another impression deeply fixed in his mind; that
+the salvation of the army was hopeless without the consent of
+Tissaphern&ecirc;s, and therefore, since the latter had conducted them thus
+far in safety, when he might have destroyed them before, that his
+designs at the bottom could not be hostile.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding these two great mistakes&mdash;one on the present occasion,
+one previously, at the battle of Kunaxa, in keeping the Greeks on the
+right contrary to the order of Cyrus&mdash;both committed by Klearchus, the
+loss of that officer was doubtless a great misfortune to the army;
+while, on the contrary, the removal of Menon was a signal
+benefit&mdash;perhaps a condition of ultimate safety. A man so treacherous
+and unprincipled as Xenophon depicts Menon, would probably have ended by
+really committing towards the army that treason, for which he falsely
+took credit at the Persian court in reference to the seizure of the
+generals.</p>
+
+<p>The impression entertained by Klearchus, respecting the hopeless
+position of the Greeks in the heart of the Persian territory after the
+death of Cyrus was perfectly natural in a military man who could
+appreciate all the means of attack and obstruction which the enemy had
+it in their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>power to employ. Nothing is so unaccountable in this
+expedition as the manner in which such means were thrown away&mdash;the
+spectacle of Persian impotence. First, the whole line of upward march,
+including the passage of the Euphrat&ecirc;s, left undefended; next, the long
+trench dug across the frontier of Babylonia, with only a passage of
+twenty feet wide left near the Euphrat&ecirc;s, abandoned without a guard;
+lastly, the line of the Wall of Media and the canals which offered such
+favorable positions for keeping the Greeks out of the cultivated
+territory of Babylonia, neglected in like manner, and a convention
+concluded whereby the Persians engaged to escort the invaders safe to
+the Ionian coast, beginning by conducting them through the heart of
+Babylonia, amidst canals affording inexpugnable defences if the Greeks
+had chosen to take up a position among them. The plan of Tissaphern&ecirc;s,
+as far as we can understand it, seems to have been, to draw the Greeks
+to some considerable distance from the heart of the Persian empire, and
+then to open his schemes of treasonable hostility, which the imprudence
+of Klearchus enabled him to do, on the banks of the Great Zab, with
+chances of success such as he could hardly have contemplated. We have
+here a fresh example of the wonderful impotence of the Persians. We
+should have expected that, after having committed so flagrant an act of
+perfidy, Tissaphern&ecirc;s would at least have tried to turn it to account;
+that he would have poured with all his forces and all his vigor on the
+Grecian camp, at the moment when it was unprepared, disorganized, and
+without commanders. Instead of which, when the generals (with those who
+accompanied them to the Persian camp) had been seized or slain, no
+attack whatever was made except by small detachments of Persian <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>cavalry
+upon individual Greek stragglers in the plain. One of the companions of
+the generals, an Arcadian,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> named Nikarchus, ran wounded into the
+Grecian camp, where the soldiers were looking from afar at the horsemen
+scouring the plain without knowing what they were about,&mdash;exclaiming
+that the Persians were massacring all the Greeks, officers as well as
+soldiers. Immediately the Greek soldiers hastened to put themselves in
+defence, expecting a general attack to be made upon their camp; but no
+more Persians came near than a body of about 300 horse, under Ari&aelig;us and
+Mithridat&ecirc;s (the confidential companions of the deceased Cyrus),
+accompanied by the brother of Tissaphern&ecirc;s. These men, approaching the
+Greek lines as friends, called for the Greek officers to come forth, as
+they had a message to deliver from the King. Accordingly, Kleanor and
+Soph&aelig;netus with an adequate guard, came to the front, accompanied by
+Xenophon, who was anxious to hear news about Proxenus. Ari&aelig;us then
+acquainted them that Klearchus, having been detected in a breach of the
+convention to which he had sworn, had been put to death; that Proxenus
+and Menon, who had divulged his treason, were in high honor at the
+Persian quarters. He concluded by saying&mdash;"The King calls upon you to
+surrender your arms, which now (he says) belong to him, since they
+formerly belonged to his slave Cyrus."</p>
+
+<p>The step here taken seems to testify a belief on the part of these
+Persians, that the generals being now in their power the Grecian
+soldiers had become defenceless, and might be required to surrender
+their arms, even to men who had just been guilty of the most deadly
+fraud and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>injury towards them. If Ari&aelig;us entertained such an
+expectation, he was at once undeceived by the language of Kleanor and
+Xenophon, which breathed nothing but indignant reproach; so that he soon
+retired and left the Greeks to their own reflections.</p>
+
+<p>While their camp yet remained unmolested, every man within it was a prey
+to the most agonizing apprehensions. Ruin appeared impending and
+inevitable, though no one could tell in what precise form it would come.
+The Greeks were in the midst of a hostile country, nearly 1200 miles
+from home, surrounded by enemies, blocked up by impassable mountains and
+rivers, without guides, without provisions, without cavalry to aid their
+retreat, without generals to give orders. A stupor of sorrow and
+conscious helplessness seized upon all. Few came to the evening muster;
+few lighted fires to cook their suppers; every man lay down to rest
+where he was; yet no man could sleep, for fear, anguish, and yearning
+after relatives whom he was never again to behold.</p>
+
+<p>Amidst the many causes of despondency which weighed down this forlorn
+army, there was none more serious than the fact, that not a single man
+among them had now either authority to command, or obligation to take
+the initiative. Nor was any ambitious candidate likely to volunteer his
+pretensions, at a moment when the post promised nothing but the maximum
+of difficulty as well as of hazard. A new, self-kindled light&mdash;and
+self-originated stimulus&mdash;was required, to vivify the embers of
+suspended hope and action, in a mass paralyzed for the moment, but every
+way capable of effort. And the inspiration now fell, happily for the
+army, upon one in whom a full measure of soldierly strength <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>and courage
+was combined with the education of an Athenian, a democrat, and a
+philosopher.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p>
+
+
+<br /><a name="XENOPHONS_DREAM_AND_ITS_RESULTS" id="XENOPHONS_DREAM_AND_ITS_RESULTS"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 5. Xenophon's Dream and its Results.</b></p>
+
+<p>It is in true Homeric vein, and in something like Homeric language, that
+Xenophon (to whom we owe the whole narrative of the expedition)
+describes his dream, or the intervention of Oneirus,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> sent by
+Zeus,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> from which this renovating impulse took its rise. Lying
+mournful and restless like his comrades, he caught a short repose; when
+he dreamt that he heard thunder, and saw the burning thunderbolt fall
+upon his paternal house, which became forthwith encircled by flames.
+Awaking, full of terror, he instantly sprang up; upon which the dream
+began to fit on and blend itself with his waking thoughts, and with the
+cruel realities of his position. His pious and excited fancy generated a
+series of shadowy analogies. The dream was sent by Zeus the King, since
+it was from him that thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect,
+the sign was auspicious&mdash;that a great light had appeared to him from
+Zeus in the midst of peril and suffering. But on the other hand, it was
+alarming, that the house had appeared to be completely encircled by
+flames, preventing all egress, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>because this seemed to indicate that he
+would remain confined where he was in the Persian dominions, without
+being able to overcome the difficulties which hedged him in. Yet
+doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message of Zeus addressed
+to himself, serving as a stimulus to him to break through the common
+stupor and take the initiative movement. "Why am I lying here? Night is
+advancing; at daybreak the enemy will be on us, and we shall be put to
+death with tortures. Not a man is stirring to take measures of defence.
+Why do I wait for any man older than myself, or for any man of a
+different city, to begin?"</p>
+
+<p>With these reflections, interesting in themselves, and given with
+Homeric vivacity, he instantly went to convene the captains who had
+served under his late friend Proxenus. He impressed upon them
+emphatically the necessity of standing forward to put the army in a
+posture of defence. "I cannot sleep, fellow-soldiers; neither, I
+presume, can you, under our present perils. The enemy will be upon us at
+daybreak&mdash;prepared to kill us all with tortures, as his worst enemies.
+For my part, I rejoice that his villanous perjury has put an end to a
+truce by which we were the great losers; a truce, under which we,
+mindful of our oaths, have passed through all the rich possessions of
+the King, without touching anything except what we could purchase with
+our own scanty means. Now, we have our hands free: all these rich spoils
+stand between us and him, as prizes for the better man. The gods, who
+preside over the match, will assuredly be on the side of us, who have
+kept our oaths in spite of strong temptations, against these perjurers.
+Moreover, our bodies are more enduring, and our spirit more gallant,
+than theirs. They are easier <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>to wound, and easier to kill, than we are,
+under the same favor of the gods as we experienced at Kunaxa.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably others also are feeling just as we feel. But let us not wait
+for any one else to come as monitors to us: let us take the lead, and
+communicate the stimulus of honor to others. Do you show yourselves now
+the best among the captains&mdash;more worthy of being generals than the
+generals themselves. Begin at once, and I desire only to follow you. But
+if you order me into the front rank, I shall obey without pleading my
+youth as an excuse&mdash;accounting myself to be of complete maturity, when
+the purpose is to save myself from ruin."</p>
+
+<p>All the captains who heard Xenophon cordially concurred in his
+suggestion, and desired him to take the lead in executing it. One captain
+alone&mdash;Apollonid&ecirc;s, speaking in the B&oelig;otian dialect<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a>&mdash;protested
+against it as insane; enlarging upon their desperate position, and
+insisting upon submission to the King as the only chance of safety. "How?
+(replied Xenophon). Have you forgotten the courteous treatment which we
+received from the Persians in Babylonia when we replied to their demand
+for the surrender of our arms by showing a bold front? Do not you see the
+miserable fate which has befallen Klearchus, when he trusted himself
+unarmed in their hands, in reliance on their oaths? And yet you scout our
+exhortations to resistance, again advising us to go and plead for
+indulgence! My friends, such a Greek as this man, disgraces not only his
+own city, but all Greece besides. Let us banish him from our councils,
+cashier<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> him, and make <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>a slave of him to carry baggage." "Nay
+(observed Agasias of Stymphalus), the man has nothing to do with Greece:
+I myself have seen his ears bored, like a true Lydian."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Apollonid&ecirc;s
+was degraded accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>Xenophon with the rest then distributed themselves in order to bring
+together the chief remaining officers in the army, who were presently
+convened, to the number of about one hundred. The senior captain of the
+earlier body next desired Xenophon to repeat to this larger body the
+topics upon which he had just before been insisting. Xenophon obeyed,
+enlarging yet more emphatically on the situation, perilous, yet not
+without hope&mdash;on the proper measures to be taken&mdash;and especially on the
+necessity that they, the chief officers remaining, should put themselves
+forward prominently, first fix upon effective commanders, then
+afterwards submit the names to be confirmed by the army, accompanied
+with suitable exhortations and encouragement. His speech was applauded
+and welcomed, especially by the Laced&aelig;monian general Cheirisophus, who
+had joined Cyrus with a body of 700 heavy-armed foot-soldiers at Issus
+in Kilikia.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> Cheirisophus urged the captains to retire forthwith, and
+agree upon their commanders instead of the five who had been seized;
+after which the herald must be summoned, and the entire body of soldiers
+convened without delay. Accordingly Timasion of Dardanus was chosen
+instead of Klearchus; Xanthikl&ecirc;s in place of Sokrat&ecirc;s; Kleanor in place
+of Agias; Philesius <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>in place of Menon; and Xenophon instead of
+Proxenus. The captains, who had served under each of the departed
+generals, separately chose a successor to the captain thus promoted. It
+is to be recollected that the five now chosen were not the only generals
+in the camp; thus for example, Cheirisophus had the command of his own
+separate division, and there may have been one or two others similarly
+placed. But it was now necessary for all the generals to form a Board
+and act in concert.</p>
+
+<p>At daybreak the newly-constituted Board of generals placed proper
+outposts in advance, and then convened the army in general assembly, in
+order that the new appointments might be submitted and confirmed. As
+soon as this had been done, probably on the proposition of Cheirisophus
+(who had been in command before), that general addressed a few words of
+exhortation and encouragement to the soldiers. He was followed by
+Kleanor, who delivered, with the like brevity, an earnest protest
+against the perfidy of Tissaphern&ecirc;s and Ari&aelig;us. Both of them left to
+Xenophon the task, alike important and arduous at this moment of
+despondency, of setting forth the case at length,&mdash;working up the
+feelings of the soldiers to that pitch of resolution which the emergency
+required,&mdash;and above all extinguishing all those inclinations to
+acquiesce in new treacherous proposals from the enemy, which the perils
+of the situation would be likely to suggest.</p>
+
+<p>Xenophon had equipped himself in his finest military costume at this his
+first official appearance before the army, when the scales seemed to
+tremble between life and death. Taking up the protest of Kleanor against
+the treachery of the Persians, he insisted that any attempt to enter
+into convention or trust with such liars, would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>utter ruin&mdash;but that
+if energetic resolution were taken to deal with them only at the point
+of the sword, and punish their misdeeds, there was good hope of the
+favor of the gods and of ultimate preservation. As he pronounced this
+last word, one of the soldiers near him happened to sneeze.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>
+Immediately the whole army around shouted with one accord the accustomed
+invocation to Zeus the Preserver; and Xenophon, taking up the accident,
+continued&mdash;"Since, fellow-soldiers, this omen from Zeus the Preserver
+has appeared at the instant when we were talking about preservation, let
+us here vow to offer the preserving sacrifice to that god, and at the
+same time to sacrifice to the remaining gods as well as we can, in the
+first friendly country which we may reach. Let every man who agrees with
+me hold up his hand." All held up their hands: all then joined in the
+vow, and shouted the p&aelig;an.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p>
+
+<p>This accident, so dexterously turned to profit by the rhetorical skill
+of Xenophon, was eminently beneficial in raising the army out of the
+depression which weighed them down, and in disposing them to listen to
+his animating appeal. Repeating his assurances that the gods were on
+their side, and hostile to their perjured enemy, he recalled to their
+memory the great invasions of Greece by Darius and Xerxes,&mdash;how the vast
+hosts of Persia had been disgracefully repelled. The army had shown
+themselves on the field of Kunaxa worthy of such forefathers; and they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>would for the future be yet bolder, knowing by that battle of what
+stuff the Persians were made. As for Ari&aelig;us and his troops, alike
+traitors and cowards, their desertion was rather a gain than a loss. The
+enemy were superior in horsemen: but men on horseback were after all
+only men, half occupied in the fear of losing their seats&mdash;incapable of
+prevailing against infantry firm on the ground,&mdash;and only better able to
+run away. Now that the satrap refused to furnish them with provisions to
+buy, they on their side were released from their covenant, and would
+take provisions without buying. Then as to the rivers; those were indeed
+difficult to be crossed, in the middle of their course; but the army
+would march up to their sources, and could then pass them without
+wetting the knee. Or indeed, the Greeks might renounce the idea of
+retreat, and establish themselves permanently in the King's own country,
+defying all his force, like the Mysians and Pisidians.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> "If (said
+Xenophon) we plant ourselves here at our ease in a rich country, with
+these tall, stately and beautiful Median and Persian women for our
+companions&mdash;we shall be only too ready, like the Lotos-eaters,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> to
+forget our way home. We ought first to go back to Greece, and tell our
+countrymen that if they remain poor, it is their own fault, when there
+are rich settlements in this country awaiting all who choose to come,
+and who have courage to seize them. Let us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>burn our baggage wagons and
+tents, and carry with us nothing but what is of the strictest necessity.
+Above all things, let us maintain order, discipline, and obedience to
+the commanders, upon which our entire hope of safety depends. Let every
+man promise to lend his hand to the commanders in punishing any
+disobedient individuals; and let us thus show the enemy that we have ten
+thousand persons like Klearchus, instead of that one whom they have so
+perfidiously seized. Now is the time for action. If any man, however
+obscure, has anything better to suggest, let him come forward and state
+it; for we have all but one object&mdash;the common safety."</p>
+
+<p>It appears that no one else desired to say a word, and that the speech
+of Xenophon gave unqualified satisfaction; for when Cheirisophus put the
+question, that the meeting should sanction his recommendations, and
+finally elect the new generals proposed&mdash;every man held up his hand.
+Xenophon then moved that the army should break up immediately, and march
+to some well-stored villages, rather more than two miles distant; that
+the march should be in a hollow square, with the baggage in the centre;
+that Cheirisophus, as a Laced&aelig;monian, should lead the van; while
+Kleanor, and the other senior officers, would command on each
+flank,&mdash;and himself with Timasion, as the two youngest of the generals,
+would lead the rear guard.</p>
+
+<p>This proposition was at once adopted, and the assembly broke up;
+proceeding forthwith to destroy, or distribute among one another, every
+man's superfluous baggage&mdash;and then to take their morning meal previous
+to the march.</p>
+
+<p>The scene just described is interesting and illustrative in more than
+one point of view. It exhibits that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>susceptibility to the influence of
+persuasive discourse which formed so marked a feature in the Grecian
+character&mdash;a resurrection of the collective body out of the depth of
+despair, under the exhortation of one who had no established ascendency,
+nor anything to recommend him, except his intelligence, his oratorical
+power, and his community of interest with themselves. Next, it
+manifests, still more strikingly, the superiority of Athenian training
+as compared with that of other parts of Greece. Cheirisophus had not
+only been before in office as one of the generals, but was also a native
+of Sparta, whose supremacy and name was at that moment all-powerful;
+Kleanor had been before, not indeed a general, but a captain, or one in
+the second rank of officers:&mdash;he was an elderly man&mdash;and he was an
+Arcadian, while more than the numerical half of the army consisted of
+Arcadians and Ach&aelig;ans.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> Either of these two therefore, and various
+others besides, enjoyed a sort of prerogative, or established
+starting-point, for taking the initiative in reference to the dispirited
+army. But Xenophon was comparatively a young man, with little military
+experience:&mdash;he was not an officer at all, either in the first or second
+grade, but simply a volunteer, companion of Proxenus:&mdash;he was moreover a
+native of Athens, a city at that time unpopular among the great body of
+Greeks, and especially of Peloponnesians,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> with whom her recent long
+war had been carried on. Not only therefore he had no advantages
+compared with others, but he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>under positive disadvantages. He had
+nothing to start with except his personal qualities and previous
+training; in spite of which we find him not merely the prime mover, but
+also the superior person for whom the others make way. In him are
+exemplified those peculiarities of Athens, attested not less by the
+denunciation of her enemies than by the panegyric of her own
+citizens,&mdash;spontaneous and forward impulse, as well in conception as in
+execution&mdash;confidence under circumstances which made others
+despair&mdash;persuasive discourse and publicity of discussion, made
+subservient to practical business, so as at once to appeal to the
+intelligence, and stimulate the active zeal, of the multitude. Such
+peculiarities stood out more remarkably from being contrasted with the
+opposite qualities in Spartans&mdash;mistrust in conception, slackness in
+execution, secrecy in counsel, silent and passive obedience. Though
+Spartans and Athenians formed the two extremities of the scale, other
+Greeks stood nearer on this point to the former than to the latter.</p>
+
+<p>If, even in that encouraging autumn which followed immediately upon the
+great Athenian catastrophe<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> before Syracuse, the inertia of Sparta
+could not be stirred into vigorous action without the vehemence of the
+Athenian Alkibiad&ecirc;s&mdash;much more was it necessary, under the depressing
+circumstances which now overclouded the unofficered Grecian army, that
+an Athenian bosom should be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>found as the source of new life and
+impulse. Nor would any one, probably, except an Athenian, either have
+felt or obeyed the promptings to stand forward as a volunteer at that
+moment, when there was every motive to decline responsibility, and no
+special duty to impel him. But if by chance a Spartan or an Arcadian had
+been found thus forward, he would have been destitute of such talents as
+would enable him to work on the minds of others&mdash;of that flexibility,
+resource, familiarity with the temper and movements of an assembled
+crowd, power of enforcing the essential views and touching the opportune
+chords, which Athenian democratical training imparted. Even Brasidas and
+Gylippus, individual Spartans of splendid merit, and equal or superior
+to Xenophon in military resource, would not have combined with it that
+political and rhetorical accomplishment which the position of the latter
+demanded. Obvious as the wisdom of his propositions appears, each of
+them is left to him not only to initiate, but to enforce: Cheirisophus
+and Kleanor, after a few words of introduction, consign to him the duty
+of working up the minds of the army to the proper pitch.</p>
+
+<p>How well he performed this, may be seen by his speech to the army, which
+bears in its general tenor a remarkable resemblance to that of
+Perikl&ecirc;s<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> addressed to the Athenian public in the second year of the
+war,<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> at the moment when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>the miseries of the epidemic, combined with
+those of invasion, had driven them almost to despair. It breathes a
+strain of exaggerated confidence, and an undervaluing of real dangers,
+highly suitable for the occasion, but which neither Perikl&ecirc;s nor
+Xenophon would have employed at any other moment. Throughout the whole
+of his speech, and especially in regard to the accidental sneeze near at
+hand which interrupted the beginning of it, Xenophon displayed that
+skill and practice in dealing with a numerous audience, and a given
+situation, which characterized more or less every educated Athenian.
+Other Greeks, Laced&aelig;monians or Arcadians, could act, with bravery and in
+concert; but the Athenian Xenophon was among the few who could think,
+speak, and act, with equal efficiency. It was this threefold
+accomplishment which an aspiring youth was compelled to set before
+himself as an aim, in the democracy of Athens; and which the
+Sophists<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> as well as the democratical institutions&mdash;both of them so
+hardly depreciated by most critics&mdash;helped and encouraged him to
+acquire. It was this threefold accomplishment, the exclusive possession
+of which, in spite of constant jealousy on the part of B&oelig;otian
+officers and comrades of Proxenus, elevated Xenophon into the most
+ascendent person of the Cyreian army, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>from the present moment until the
+time when it broke up,&mdash;as will be seen in the subsequent history.</p>
+
+<p>I think it the more necessary to notice this fact,&mdash;that the
+accomplishments whereby Xenophon leaped on a sudden into such
+extraordinary ascendency, and rendered such eminent service to his army,
+were accomplishments belonging in an especial manner to the Athenian
+democracy and education&mdash;because Xenophon himself has throughout his
+writings treated Athens not merely without the attachment of a citizen,
+but with feelings more like the positive antipathy of an exile. His
+sympathies are all in favor of the perpetual drill, the mechanical
+obedience, the secret government proceedings, the narrow and prescribed
+range of ideas, the silent and deferential demeanor, the methodical,
+though tardy, action&mdash;of Sparta. Whatever may be the justice of his
+preference, certain it is, that the qualities whereby he was himself
+enabled to contribute so much both to the rescue of the Cyreian army,
+and to his own reputation&mdash;were Athenian far more than Spartan.</p>
+
+<p>While the Grecian army, after sanctioning the propositions of Xenophon,
+were taking their morning meal before they commenced their march,
+Mithridat&ecirc;s, one of the Persians previously attached to Cyrus, appeared
+with a few horsemen on a mission of pretended friendship. But it was
+soon found out that his purposes were treacherous, and that he came
+merely to seduce individual soldiers to desertion&mdash;with a few of whom he
+succeeded. Accordingly, the resolution was taken to admit no more
+heralds or envoys.</p>
+
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+<br /><a name="THE_GREEKS_CROSS_THE_ZAB" id="THE_GREEKS_CROSS_THE_ZAB"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 6. The Greeks cross the Zab.</b></p>
+
+<p>Disembarrassed of superfluous baggage, and refreshed, the army now
+crossed the Great Zab River, and pursued their march on the other side,
+having their baggage and attendants in the centre, and Cheirisophus
+leading the van, with a select body of 300 heavy-armed foot-soldiers. As
+no mention is made of a bridge, we are to presume that they forded the
+river,&mdash;which furnishes a ford still commonly used, at a place between
+thirty and forty miles from its junction with the Tigris. When they had
+got a little way forward, Mithridat&ecirc;s again appeared with a few hundred
+cavalry and bowmen. He approached them like a friend; but as soon as he
+was near enough, suddenly began to harass the rear with a shower of
+missiles. What surprises us most, is, that the Persians, with their very
+numerous force, made no attempt to hinder them from crossing so very
+considerable a river; for Xenophon estimates the Zab at 400 feet
+broad,&mdash;and this seems below the statement of modern travellers, who
+inform us that it contains not much less water than the Tigris; and
+though usually deeper and narrower, cannot be much narrower at any
+fordable place. It is to be recollected that the Persians, habitually
+marching in advance of the Greeks, must have reached the river first,
+and were therefore in possession of the crossing, whether bridge or
+ford. Though on the watch for every opportunity of perfidy, Tissaphern&ecirc;s
+did not dare to resist the Greeks, even in the most advantageous
+position, and ventured only upon sending Mithridat&ecirc;s to harass the rear;
+which he executed with considerable effect. The bowmen and darters of
+the Greeks, few in number, were at the same time inferior to those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>of
+the Persians; and when Xenophon employed his rear-guard, heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers and light-armed foot-soldiers, to charge and repel them,
+he not only could never overtake any one, but suffered much in getting
+back to rejoin his own main body. Even when retiring, the Persian
+horseman could discharge his arrow or cast his javelin<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> behind him
+with effect; a dexterity which the Parthians exhibited afterwards still
+more signally, and which the Persian horsemen of the present day
+parallel with their carbines.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> This was the first experience which
+the Greeks had of marching under the harassing attack of cavalry. Even
+the small detachment of Mithridat&ecirc;s greatly delayed their progress; so
+that they accomplished little more than two miles, reaching the villages
+in the evening, with many wounded, and much discouragement.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank Heaven" (said Xenophon in the evening, when Cheirisophus
+reproached him for imprudence in quitting the main body to charge
+cavalry, whom yet he could not reach), "Thank Heaven, that our enemies
+attacked us with a small detachment only, and not with their great
+numbers. They have given us a valuable lesson, without doing us any
+serious harm." Profiting by the lesson, the Greek leaders organized
+during the night and during the halt of the next day, a small body of
+fifty cavalry; with 200 Rhodian<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> slingers, whose slings, furnished
+with leaden bullets, both carried farther and struck harder than those
+of the Persians hurling large stones. On the ensuing morning, they
+started before daybreak, since there lay in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>their way a ravine
+difficult to pass. They found the ravine undefended (according to the
+usual stupidity of Persian proceedings), but when they had got nearly a
+mile beyond it, Mithridat&ecirc;s reappeared in pursuit with a body of 4000
+horsemen and darters. Confident from his achievement of the preceding
+day, he had promised, with a body of that force, to deliver the Greeks
+into the hands of the satrap. But the latter were now better prepared.
+As soon as he began to attack them, the trumpet sounded,&mdash;and forthwith
+the horsemen, slingers, and darters, issued forth to charge the
+Persians, sustained by the heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the rear. So
+effective was the charge, that the Persians fled in dismay,
+notwithstanding their superiority in number; while the ravine so impeded
+their flight that many of them were slain, and eighteen prisoners made.
+The Greek soldiers of their own accord mutilated the dead bodies, in
+order to strike terror into the enemy. At the end of the day's march,
+they reached the Tigris, near the deserted city of Larissa, the vast,
+massive, and lofty brick walls of which (25 feet in thickness, 100 feet
+high, seven miles in circumference) attested its former grandeur. Near
+this place was a stone pyramid, 100 feet in breadth, and 200 feet high;
+the summit of which was crowded with fugitives out of the neighboring
+villages. Another day's march up the course of the Tigris brought the
+army to a second deserted city called Mespila, nearly opposite to the
+modern city of Mosul. Although these two cities, which seem to have
+formed the continuation of (or the substitute for) the once colossal
+Nineveh<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> or Ninus, were completely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>deserted,&mdash;yet the country around
+them was so well furnished with villages and population, that the Greeks
+not only obtained provisions, but also strings for the making of new
+bows, and lead for bullets to be used by the slingers.</p>
+
+<p>During the next day's march, in a course generally parallel with the
+Tigris, and ascending the stream, Tissaphern&ecirc;s, coming up along with
+some other grandees, and with a numerous army, enveloped the Greeks both
+in flanks and rear. In spite of his advantage of numbers, he did not
+venture upon any actual charge, but kept up a fire of arrows, darts, and
+stones. He was however so well answered by the newly-trained archers and
+slingers of the Greeks, that on the whole they had the advantage, in
+spite of the superior size of the Persian bows, many of which were taken
+and effectively employed on the Grecian side. Having passed the night in
+a well-stocked village, they halted there the next day in order to stock
+themselves with provisions, and then pursued their march for four
+successive days along a level country, until on the fifth day they
+reached hilly ground with the prospect of still higher hills beyond. All
+this march was made under unremitting annoyance from the enemy, insomuch
+that though the order of the Greeks was never broken, a considerable
+number of their men were wounded. Experience taught them, that it was
+inconvenient for the whole army to march in one inflexible, undivided,
+hollow square; and they accordingly constituted six regiments of 100 men
+each, subdivided into companies of 50, and smaller companies of 25, each
+with a special officer (conformably to the Spartan practice) to move
+separately on each flank, and either to fall back, or fall in, as might
+suit the fluctuations of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>central mass, arising from impediments in
+the road or menaces of the enemy. On reaching the hills, in sight of an
+elevated citadel or palace, with several villages around it, the Greeks
+anticipated some remission of the Persian attack. But after having
+passed over one hill, they were proceeding to ascend the second, when
+they found themselves assailed with unwonted vigor by the Persian
+cavalry from the summit of it, whose leaders were seen flogging on the
+men to the attack. This charge was so efficacious, that the Greek light
+troops were driven in with loss, and forced to take shelter within the
+ranks of the heavy-armed foot-soldiers. After a march both slow and full
+of suffering, they could only reach their night-quarters by sending a
+detachment to get possession of some ground above the Persians, who thus
+became afraid of a double attack.</p>
+
+<p>The villages which they now reached were unusually rich in provisions;
+magazines of flour, barley, and wine, having been collected there for
+the Persian satrap. They reposed here three days, chiefly in order to
+tend the numerous wounded, for whose necessities, eight of the most
+competent persons were singled out to act as surgeons. On the fourth day
+they resumed their march, descending into the plain. But experience had
+now satisfied them that it was imprudent to continue in march under the
+attack of cavalry, so that when Tissaphern&ecirc;s appeared and began to
+harass them, they halted at the first village, and when thus in station,
+easily repelled him. As the afternoon advanced, the Persian assailants
+began to retire; for they were always in the habit of taking up their
+night-post at a distance of near seven miles from the Grecian position;
+being very apprehensive of nocturnal attack in their camp, when their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>horses were tied by the leg and without either saddle or bridle. As
+soon as they had departed, the Greeks resumed their march, and made so
+much advance during the night, that the Persians did not overtake them
+either on the next day or the day after.</p>
+
+<p>On the ensuing day, however, the Persians, having made a forced march by
+night, were seen not only in advance of the Greeks, but in occupation of
+a spur of high and precipitous ground overhanging immediately the road
+whereby the Greeks were to descend into the plain. When Cheirisophus
+approached, he at once saw that descent was impracticable in the face of
+an enemy thus posted. He therefore halted, sent for Xenophon from the
+rear, and desired him to bring forward the light-armed foot-soldiers to
+the van. But Xenophon, though he obeyed the summons in person and
+galloped his horse to the front, did not think it prudent to move the
+light-armed foot-soldiers from the rear, because he saw Tissaphern&ecirc;s,
+with another portion of the army, just coming up; so that the Grecian
+army was at once impeded in front, and threatened by the enemy closing
+upon them behind. The Persians on the high ground in front could not be
+directly assailed. But Xenophon observed, that on the right of the
+Grecian army, there was an accessible mountain summit yet higher, from
+whence a descent might be made for a flank attack upon the Persian
+position. Pointing out this summit to Cheirisophus, as affording the
+only means of dislodging the troops in front, he urged that one of them
+should immediately hasten with a detachment to take possession of it and
+offered to Cheirisophus the choice either of going, or staying with the
+army. "Choose for yourself," said Cheirisophus. "Well then (said
+Xenophon), I will go; since I am the younger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>of the two." Accordingly,
+at the head of a select detachment from the van and centre of the army,
+he immediately commenced his flank march up the steep ascent to this
+highest summit. So soon as the enemy saw their purpose, they also
+detached troops on their side, hoping to get to the summit first; and
+the two detachments were seen mounting at the same time, each struggling
+with the utmost efforts to get before the other,&mdash;each being encouraged
+by shouts and clamor from the two armies respectively.</p>
+
+<p>As Xenophon was riding by the side of his soldiers, cheering them on and
+reminding them that their chance of seeing their country and their
+families all depended upon success in the effort before them, a
+Sikyonian heavy-armed foot-soldier in the ranks, named Sot&ecirc;ridas, said
+to him&mdash;"You and I are not on an equal footing, Xenophon. You are on
+horseback:&mdash;I am painfully struggling upon foot, with my shield to
+carry." Stung with this taunt, Xenophon sprang from his horse, pushed
+Sot&ecirc;ridas out of his place in the ranks, took his shield as well as his
+place, and began to march forward afoot along with the rest. Though thus
+weighed down at once by the shield belonging to a heavy-armed
+foot-soldier, and by the heavy cuirass<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> of a horseman (who carried no
+shield), he nevertheless put forth all his strength to advance under
+such double incumbrance, and to continue his incitement to the rest. But
+the soldiers around him were so indignant at the proceeding of
+Sot&ecirc;ridas, that they reproached and even struck him, until they
+compelled him to resume his shield as well as his place in the ranks.
+Xenophon then remounted and ascended the hill on horseback as far as the
+ground <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>permitted; but was obliged again to dismount presently, in
+consequence of the steepness of the uppermost portion. Such energetic
+efforts enabled him and his detachment to reach the summit first. As
+soon as the enemy saw this, they desisted from their ascent, and
+dispersed in all directions; leaving the forward march open to the main
+Grecian army, which Cheirisophus accordingly conducted safely down into
+the plain. Here he was rejoined by Xenophon on descending from the
+summit. All found themselves in comfortable quarters, amidst several
+well-stocked villages on the banks of the Tigris. They acquired moreover
+an additional booty of large droves of cattle, intercepted when on the
+point of being transported across the river; where a considerable body
+of horse was seen assembled on the opposite bank.</p>
+
+<p>Though here disturbed only by some desultory attacks on the part of the
+Persians, who burnt several of the villages which lay in their forward
+line of march, the Greeks became seriously embarrassed whither to direct
+their steps; for on their left flank was the Tigris, so deep that their
+spears found no bottom,&mdash;and on their right, mountains of exceeding
+height. As the generals and the captains were taking counsel, a Rhodian
+soldier came to them with a proposition for transporting the whole army
+across to the other bank of the river by means of inflated skins, which
+could be furnished in abundance by the animals in their possession. But
+this ingenious scheme, in itself feasible, was put out of the question
+by the view of the Persian cavalry on the opposite bank; and as the
+villages in their front had been burnt, the army had no choice except to
+return back one day's march to those in which they had before halted.
+Here the generals again deliberated, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>questioning all their prisoners as
+to the different bearings of the country. The road from the south was
+that in which they had already marched from Babylon and Media; that to
+the westward, going to Lydia and Ionia, was barred to them by the
+interposing Tigris; eastward (they were informed) was the way to
+Ekbatana and Susa; northward, lay the rugged and inhospitable mountains
+of the Karduchians,&mdash;fierce freemen who despised the Great King, and
+defied all his efforts to conquer them; having once destroyed a Persian
+invading army of 120,000 men. On the other side of Karduchia, however,
+lay the rich Persian satrapy of Armenia, wherein both the Euphrat&ecirc;s and
+the Tigris could be crossed near their sources, and from whence they
+could choose their farther course easily towards Greece. Like Mysia,
+Pisidia, and other mountainous regions, Karduchia was a free territory
+surrounded on all sides by the dominions of the Great King, who reigned
+only in the cities and on the plains.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_GREEKS_FIGHT_THEIR_WAY_ACROSS_THE_KARDUCHIAN_MOUNTAINS" id="THE_GREEKS_FIGHT_THEIR_WAY_ACROSS_THE_KARDUCHIAN_MOUNTAINS"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian mountains.</b></p>
+
+<p>Determining to fight their way across these difficult mountains into
+Armenia, but refraining from any public announcement, for fear that the
+passes should be occupied beforehand&mdash;the generals sacrificed<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>
+forthwith, in order that they might be ready for breaking up at a
+moment's notice. They then began their march a little after midnight, so
+that soon after daybreak they reached the first of the Karduchian
+mountain-passes, which they found <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>undefended. Cheirisophus, with his
+front division and all the light troops, made haste to ascend the pass,
+and having got over the first mountain, descended on the other side to
+some villages in the valley or nooks beneath; while Xenophon, with the
+heavy-armed and the baggage, followed at a slower pace,&mdash;not reaching
+the villages until dark, as the road was both steep and narrow. The
+Karduchians, taken completely by surprise, abandoned the villages as the
+Greeks approached, and took refuge on the mountains; leaving to the
+intruders plenty of provisions, comfortable houses, and especially,
+abundance of copper vessels. At first the Greeks were careful to do no
+damage, trying to invite the natives to amicable colloquy. But none of
+the latter would come near, and at length necessity drove the Greeks to
+take what was necessary for refreshment. It was just when Xenophon and
+the rear-guard were coming in at night, that some few Karduchians first
+set upon them; by surprise and with considerable success&mdash;so that if
+their numbers had been greater, serious mischief might have ensued.</p>
+
+<p>Many fires were discovered burning on the mountains, an indication of
+resistance during the next day; which satisfied the Greek generals that
+they must lighten the army, in order to ensure greater expedition as
+well as a fuller complement of available hands during the coming march.
+They therefore gave orders to burn all the baggage except what was
+indispensable, and to dismiss all the prisoners; planting themselves in
+a narrow strait, through which the army had to pass, in order to see
+that their directions were executed. The women, however, of whom there
+were many with the army, could not be abandoned; and it seems farther
+that a considerable stock of baggage was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>still retained: nor could the
+army make more than slow advance, from the narrowness of the road and
+the harassing attack of the Karduchians, who were now assembled in
+considerable numbers. Their attack was renewed with double vigor on the
+ensuing day, when the Greeks were forced, from want of provisions, to
+hasten forward their march, though in the midst of a terrible
+snow-storm. Both Cheirisophus in the front and Xenophon in the rear,
+were hard pressed by the Karduchian slingers and bowmen; the latter, men
+of consummate skill, having bows three cubits<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> in length, and arrows
+of more than two cubits, so strong that the Greeks when they took them
+could dart them as javelins. These archers, amidst the rugged ground and
+narrow paths, approached so near and drew the bow with such surprising
+force, resting one extremity of it on the ground, that several Greek
+warriors were mortally wounded even through both shield and corselet<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>
+into the reins,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> and through the brazen helmet into their heads;
+among them especially, two distinguished men, a Laced&aelig;monian named
+Kleonymus and an Arcadian named Basias. The rear division, more roughly
+handled than the rest, was obliged continually to halt to repel the
+enemy, under all the difficulties of the ground, which made it scarcely
+possible to act against nimble mountaineers. On one occasion, however, a
+body of these latter were entrapped into an ambush, driven back with
+loss, and (what was still more fortunate) two of their number were made
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>Thus impeded, Xenophon sent frequent messages entreating Cheirisophus to
+slacken the march of the van division; but instead of obeying,
+Cheirisophus only hastened the faster, urging Xenophon to follow him.
+The march of the army became little better than a rout, so that the rear
+division reached the halting place in extreme confusion; upon which
+Xenophon proceeded to remonstrate with Cheirisophus for prematurely
+hurrying forward and neglecting his comrades behind. But the
+other&mdash;pointing out to his attention the hill before them, and the steep
+path ascending it, forming their future line of march, which was beset
+with numerous Karduchians&mdash;defended himself by saying that he had
+hastened forward in hopes of being able to reach this pass before the
+enemy, in which attempt however he had not succeeded.</p>
+
+<p>To advance farther on this road appeared hopeless; yet the guides
+declared that no other could be taken. Xenophon then bethought him of
+the two prisoners whom he had just captured, and proposed that these two
+should be questioned also. They were accordingly interrogated apart; and
+the first of them&mdash;having persisted in denying, notwithstanding all
+menaces, that there was any road except that before them&mdash;was put to
+death under the eyes of the second prisoner. This latter, on being then
+questioned, gave more comfortable intelligence; saying that he knew of a
+different road, more circuitous, but easier and practicable even for
+beasts of burden, whereby the pass before them and the occupying enemy
+might be turned; but that there was one particular high position
+commanding the road, which it was necessary to master beforehand by
+surprise, as the Karduchians were already on guard there. Two thousand
+Greeks, having the guide bound along with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>them, were accordingly
+despatched late in the afternoon, to surprise this post by a
+night-march; while Xenophon, in order to distract the attention of the
+Karduchians in front, made a feint of advancing as if about to force the
+direct pass. As soon as he was seen crossing the ravine which led to
+this mountain, the Karduchians on the top immediately began to roll down
+vast masses of rock, which bounded and dashed down the roadway in such a
+manner as to render it unapproachable. They continued to do this all
+night, and the Greeks heard the noise of the descending masses long
+after they had returned to their camp for supper and rest.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the detachment of 2000, marching by the circuitous road, and
+reaching in the night the elevated position (though there was another
+above yet more commanding) held by the Karduchians, surprised and
+dispersed them, passing the night by their fires. At daybreak, and under
+favor of a mist, they stole silently towards the position occupied by
+the other Karduchians in front of the main Grecian army. On coming near
+they suddenly sounded their trumpets, shouted aloud, and commenced the
+attack, which proved completely successful. The defenders, taken
+unprepared, fled with little resistance, and scarcely any loss, from
+their activity and knowledge of the country; while Cheirisophus and the
+main Grecian force, on hearing the trumpet which had been previously
+concerted as the signal, rushed forward and stormed the height in front;
+some along the regular path; others climbing up as they could and
+pulling each other up by means of their spears. The two bodies of Greeks
+thus joined each other on the summit, so that the road became open for
+farther advance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>Xenophon, however, with the rear-guard marched on the circuitous road
+taken by the 2000, as the most practicable for the baggage animals, whom
+he placed in the centre of his division&mdash;the whole array covering a
+great length of ground, since the road was very narrow. During this
+interval the dispersed Karduchians had rallied, and reoccupied two or
+three high peaks, commanding the road&mdash;from whence it was necessary to
+drive them. Xenophon's troops stormed successively these three
+positions, the Karduchians not daring to come to close combat, yet
+making destructive use of their missiles. A Grecian guard was left on
+the hindermost of the three peaks, until all the baggage train should
+have passed by. But the Karduchians, by a sudden and well-timed
+movement, contrived to surprise this guard, slew two out of the three
+leaders with several soldiers, and forced the rest to jump down the
+crags as they could, in order to join their comrades in the road.
+Encouraged by such success the assailants pressed nearer to the marching
+army, occupying a crag over against that lofty summit on which Xenophon
+was posted. As it was within speaking distance, he endeavored to open a
+negotiation with them in order to get back the bodies of the slain. To
+this demand the Karduchians at first acceded, on condition that their
+villages should not be burnt; but finding their numbers every moment
+increasing, they resumed the offensive. When Xenophon with the army had
+begun his descent from the last summit, they hurried onward in crowds to
+occupy it; beginning again to roll down masses of rock, and renew their
+fire of missiles, upon the Greeks. Xenophon himself was here in some
+danger, having been deserted by his shield-bearer; but he was rescued by
+an Arcadian heavy-armed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>foot-soldier named Eurylochus, who ran to give
+him the benefit of his own shield as a protection for both in the
+retreat.</p>
+
+<p>After a march thus painful and perilous, the rear division at length
+found themselves in safety among their comrades, in villages with
+well-stocked houses and abundance of corn and wine. So eager however
+were Xenophon and Cheirisophus to obtain the bodies of the slain for
+burial, that they consented to purchase them by surrendering the guide,
+and to march onward without any guide: a heavy sacrifice in this unknown
+country, attesting their great anxiety about the burial.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p>
+
+<p>For three more days did they struggle and fight their way through the
+narrow and rugged paths of the Karduchian mountains, beset throughout by
+these formidable bowmen and slingers; whom they had to dislodge at every
+difficult turn, and against whom their own Kretan<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> bowmen were found
+inferior indeed, but still highly useful. Their seven days' march
+through this country, with its free and warlike inhabitants, were days
+of the utmost fatigue, suffering, and peril; far more intolerable than
+any thing which they had experienced from Tissaphern&ecirc;s and the Persians.
+Right glad were they once more to see a plain, and to find themselves
+near the banks of the river Kentrit&ecirc;s, which divided these mountains
+from the hillocks and plains of Armenia&mdash;enjoying comfortable quarters
+in villages, with the satisfaction of talking over past miseries.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the apprehensions of Karduchian invasion, that the Armenian
+side of the Kentrit&ecirc;s for a breadth of 15 miles was unpeopled and
+destitute of villages. But the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>approach of the Greeks having become
+known to Tiribazus, satrap of Armenia, the banks of the river were lined
+with his cavalry and infantry to oppose their passage; a precaution,
+which if Tissaphern&ecirc;s had taken at the Great Zab at the moment when he
+perfidiously seized Klearchus and his colleagues, the Greeks would
+hardly have reached the northern bank of that river. In the face of such
+obstacles, the Greeks nevertheless attempted the passage of the
+Kentrit&ecirc;s, seeing a regular road on the other side. But the river was
+200 feet in breadth (only half the breadth of the Zab), above their
+breasts in depth, extremely rapid, and with a bottom full of slippery
+stones; insomuch that they could not hold their shields in the proper
+position, from the force of the stream; while if they lifted the shields
+above their heads, they were exposed defenceless to the arrows of the
+satrap's troops. After various trials, the passage was found
+impracticable, and they were obliged to resume their encampment on the
+left bank. To their great alarm, they saw the Karduchians assembling on
+the hills in their rear, so that their situation, during this day and
+night, appeared nearly desperate. In the night Xenophon had a dream&mdash;the
+first which he has told us since his dream on the terrific night after
+the seizure of the generals&mdash;but on this occasion, of augury<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> more
+unequivocally good. He dreamt that he was bound in chains, but that his
+chains on a sudden dropt off spontaneously; on the faith of which, he
+told Cheirisophus at daybreak that he had good hopes of preservation;
+and when the generals offered sacrifice, the victims were at once
+favorable. As the army were taking their morning meal, two young Greeks
+ran to Xenophon with the auspicious news that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>they had accidentally
+found another ford near half a mile up the river, where the water was
+not even up to their middle, and where the rocks came so close on the
+right bank that the enemy's horse could offer no opposition. Xenophon,
+starting from his meal in delight, immediately offered libations<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> to
+those gods who had revealed both the dream to himself in the night, and
+the unexpected ford afterwards to these youths; two revelations which he
+ascribed to the same gods.</p>
+
+<p>Presently they marched in their usual order, Cheirisophus commanding the
+van and Xenophon the rear, along the river to the newly-discovered ford;
+the enemy marching parallel with them on the opposite bank. Having
+reached the ford, halted, and grounded arms, Cheirisophus placed a
+wreath on his head, took off his clothes, and then resumed his arms,
+ordering all the rest to resume their arms also. Each company of 100 men
+was then arranged in column or single file, with Cheirisophus himself in
+the centre. Meanwhile the prophets were offering sacrifice to the river.
+So soon as the signs were pronounced to be favorable, all the soldiers
+shouted the p&aelig;an, and all the women joined in chorus with their feminine
+yell. Cheirisophus then, at the head of the army, entered the river and
+began to ford it; while Xenophon, with a large portion of the rear
+division, made a feint of hastening back to the original ford, as if he
+were about to attempt the passage there. This distracted the attention
+of the enemy's horse; who became afraid of being attacked on both sides,
+galloped off to guard the passage at the other point, and opposed no
+serious resistance to Cheirisophus. As soon as the latter had reached
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>the other side, and put his division into order, he marched up to
+attack the Armenian infantry, who were on the high banks a little way
+above; but this infantry, deserted by its cavalry, dispersed without
+awaiting his approach. The handful of Grecian cavalry, attached to the
+division of Cheirisophus, pursued and took some valuable spoils.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Xenophon saw his colleague successfully established on the
+opposite bank, he brought back his detachment to the ford over which the
+baggage and attendants were still passing, and proceeded to take
+precautions against the Karduchians on his own side who were assembling
+in the rear. He found some difficulty in keeping his rear division
+together, for many of them, in spite of orders, quitted their ranks and
+went to look after the women or their baggage in the crossing of the
+water. The light-armed foot-soldiers and bowmen, who had gone over with
+Cheirisophus, but whom that general now no longer needed, were directed
+to hold themselves prepared on both flanks of the army crossing, and to
+advance a little way in the water in the attitude of men just about to
+recross. When Xenophon was left with only the diminished rear-guard, the
+rest having got over,&mdash;the Karduchians rushed upon him, and began to
+shoot and sling. But on a sudden, the Grecian heavy-armed foot-soldiers
+charged with their accustomed p&aelig;an, upon which the Karduchians took to
+flight&mdash;having no arms for close combat on the plain. The trumpet now
+being heard to sound, they ran away so much the faster; while this was
+the signal, according to orders before given by Xenophon, for the Greeks
+to suspend their charge, to turn back, and to cross the river as
+speedily as possible. By favor of this able man&oelig;uvre, the passage was
+accomplished by the whole army with little or no loss, about midday.</p>
+
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+<br /><a name="MARCH_THROUGH_ARMENIA" id="MARCH_THROUGH_ARMENIA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 8. March through Armenia. Great suffering from cold and hunger.</b></p>
+
+<p>They now found themselves in Armenia; a country of even, undulating
+surface, but very high above the level of the sea, and extremely cold at
+the season when they entered it&mdash;December. Though the strip of land
+bordering on Karduchia furnished no supplies, one long march brought
+them to a village, containing abundance of provisions, together with a
+residence of the satrap Tiribazus; after which, in two farther marches
+they reached the river Teleboas, with many villages on its banks. Here
+Tiribazus himself, appearing with a division of cavalry, sent forward
+his interpreter to request a conference with the leaders; which being
+held, it was agreed that the Greeks should proceed unmolested through
+his territory, taking such supplies as they required,&mdash;but should
+neither burn nor damage the villages. They accordingly advanced onward
+for three days, computed at about 52 miles, or three pretty full days'
+march; without any hostility from the satrap, though he was hovering
+within less than two miles of them. They then found themselves amidst
+several villages, wherein were regal or satrapical residences with a
+plentiful stock of bread, meat, wine, and all sorts of vegetables. Here,
+during their nightly bivouac,<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> they were overtaken by so heavy a fall
+of snow that the generals on the next day distributed the troops into
+separate quarters among the villages. No enemy appeared near, while the
+snow seemed to forbid any rapid surprise. Yet at night, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>the scouts
+reported that many fires were discernible, together with traces of
+military movements around; insomuch that the generals thought it prudent
+to put themselves on their guard, and again collected the army into one
+bivouac. Here in the night they were overwhelmed by a second fall of
+snow still heavier than the preceding; sufficient to cover over the
+sleeping men and their arms, and to benumb the cattle. The men however
+lay warm under the snow and were unwilling to rise, until Xenophon
+himself set the example of rising and employing himself without his arms
+in cutting wood and kindling a fire. Others followed his example, and
+great comfort was found in rubbing themselves with pork-fat, oil of
+almonds or of sesame,<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> or turpentine. Having sent out a clever scout
+named Demokrat&ecirc;s, who captured a native prisoner, they learned that
+Tiribazus was laying plans to intercept them in a lofty mountain pass
+lying farther on in their route; upon which they immediately set forth,
+and by two days of forced march, surprising in their way the camp of
+Tiribazus, got over the difficult pass in safety. Three days of
+additional march brought them to the Euphrat&ecirc;s river&mdash;that is, to its
+eastern branch, now called Murad. They found a ford and crossed it,
+without having the water higher than the waist; and they were informed
+that its sources were not far off.</p>
+
+<p>Their four days of march, next on the other side of the Euphrat&ecirc;s, were
+toilsome and distressing in the extreme; through a plain covered with
+deep snow (in some places six feet deep), and at times in the face of a
+north wind so intolerably chilling and piercing, that at length one of
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>prophets urged the necessity of offering sacrifices to Boreas<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a>;
+upon which (says Xenophon), the severity of the wind abated
+conspicuously, to the evident consciousness of all. Many of the slaves
+and beasts of burthen, and a few even of the soldiers, perished: some
+had their feet frost-bitten, others became blinded by the snow, others
+again were exhausted by hunger. Several of these unhappy men were
+unavoidably left behind; others lay down to perish, near a warm spring
+which had melted the snow around, from extremity of fatigue and sheer
+wretchedness, though the enemy were close upon the rear. It was in vain
+that Xenophon, who commanded the rear-guard, employed his earnest
+exhortations, prayers, and threats, to induce them to move forward. The
+sufferers, miserable and motionless, answered only by entreating him to
+kill them at once. So greatly was the army disorganized by wretchedness,
+that we hear of one case in which a soldier, ordered to carry a disabled
+comrade, disobeyed the order, and was about to bury him alive. Xenophon
+made a sally, with loud shouts and clatter of spear with shield, in
+which even the exhausted men joined,&mdash;against the pursuing enemy. He was
+fortunate enough to frighten them away, and drive them to take shelter
+in a neighboring wood. He then left the sufferers lying down, with
+assurance that relief should be sent to them on the next day,&mdash;and went
+forward; seeing all along the line of march the exhausted soldiers lying
+on the snow, without even the protection of a watch. He and his
+rear-guard as well as the rest were obliged thus to pass the night
+without either food or fire, distributing scouts in the best way that
+the case admitted. Meanwhile Cheirisophus with the van division had got
+into a village, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>which they reached so unexpectedly, that they found the
+women fetching water from a fountain outside the wall, and the head-man
+of the village in his house within. This division here obtained rest and
+refreshment, and at daybreak some of their soldiers were sent to look
+after the rear. It was with delight that Xenophon saw them approach, and
+sent them back to bring up in their arms, into the neighboring village,
+those exhausted soldiers who had been left behind.</p>
+
+<p>Repose was now indispensable after the recent sufferings. There were
+several villages near at hand, and the generals, thinking it no longer
+dangerous to divide the army, quartered the different divisions among
+them according to lot. Polykrat&ecirc;s an Athenian, one of the captains in
+the division of Xenophon, requested his permission to go at once and
+take possession of the village assigned to him, before any of the
+inhabitants could escape. Accordingly, running at speed with a few of
+the swiftest soldiers, he came upon the village so suddenly as to seize
+the head-man with his newly-married daughter, and several young horses
+intended as a tribute for the king. This village, as well as the rest,
+was found to consist of houses excavated in the ground (as the Armenian
+villages are at the present day), spacious within, but with a narrow
+mouth like a well, entered by a descending ladder. A separate entrance
+was dug for conveniently admitting the cattle. All of them were found
+amply stocked with live cattle of every kind, wintered upon hay; as well
+as with wheat, barley, vegetables, and a sort of barley-wine or beer in
+tubs, with the grains of barley on the surface. Reeds or straws without
+any joint in them, were lying near, through which they sucked the
+liquid: Xenophon did his utmost to conciliate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>the head-man (who spoke
+Persian, and with whom he communicated through the Perso-Grecian
+interpreter of the army), promising him that not one of his relations
+should be maltreated, and that he should be fully remunerated if he
+would conduct the army safely out of the country, into that of the
+Chalybes which he described as being adjacent. By such treatment the
+head-man was won over, promised his aid, and even revealed to the Greeks
+the subterranean cellars wherein the wine was deposited; while Xenophon,
+though he kept him constantly under watch, and placed his youthful son
+as a hostage under the care of Episthen&ecirc;s, yet continued to treat him
+with studied attention and kindness. For seven days did the fatigued
+soldiers remain in these comfortable quarters, refreshing themselves and
+regaining strength. They were waited upon by the native youths, with
+whom they communicated by means of signs. The uncommon happiness which
+all of them enjoyed after their recent sufferings, stands depicted in
+the lively details given by Xenophon, who left here his own exhausted
+horse, and took young horses in exchange, for himself and the other
+officers.</p>
+
+<p>After this week of repose, the army resumed its march through the snow.
+The head-man, whose house they had replenished as well as they could,
+accompanied Cheirisophus in the van as guide, but was not put in chains
+or under guard: his son remained as an hostage with Episthen&ecirc;s, but his
+other relations were left unmolested at home. As they marched for three
+days, without reaching a village, Cheirisophus began to suspect his
+fidelity, and even became so out of humor, though the man affirmed that
+there were no villages in the track, as to beat him&mdash;yet without the
+precaution of putting him afterwards in fetters. The next <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>night,
+accordingly, this head-man made his escape; much to the displeasure of
+Xenophon, who severely reproached Cheirisophus first for his harshness,
+and next for his neglect. This was the only point of difference between
+the two (says Xenophon) during the whole march; a fact very honorable to
+both, considering the numberless difficulties against which they had to
+contend. Episthen&ecirc;s retained the head-man's youthful son, carried him
+home in safety, and became much attached to him.</p>
+
+<p>Condemned thus to march without a guide, they could do no better than
+march up the course of the river; and thus, from the villages which had
+proved so cheering and restorative, they proceeded seven days' march all
+through snow, up the river Phasis; a river not verifiable, but certainly
+not the same as is commonly known under that name by Grecian
+geographers: it was 100 feet in breadth. Two more days' march brought
+them from this river to the foot of a range of mountains near a pass
+occupied by an armed body of Chalybes, Taochi, and Phasiani.</p>
+
+<p>Observing the enemy in possession of this lofty ground, Cheirisophus
+halted until all the army came up, in order that the generals might take
+counsel. Here Kleanor began by advising that they should storm the pass
+with no greater delay than was necessary to refresh the soldiers. But
+Xenophon suggested that it was far better to avoid the loss of life
+which must be incurred, and to amuse the enemy by feigned attack, while
+a detachment should be sent by stealth at night to ascend the mountain
+at another point and turn the position. "However (continued he, turning
+to Cheirisophus), stealing a march upon the enemy is more your trade
+than mine. For I understand that you the full citizens and peers at
+Sparta, practise stealing from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>your boyhood upward; and that it is held
+noway base, but even honorable, to steal such things as the law does not
+distinctly forbid. And to the end that you may steal with the greatest
+effect, and take pains to do it in secret, the custom is, to flog you if
+you are found out. Here then, you have an excellent opportunity of
+displaying your training. Take good care that we be not found out in
+stealing an occupation of the mountain now before us; for if we <i>are</i>
+found out, we shall be well beaten."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, as for that (replied Cheirisophus), you Athenians also, as I
+learn, are capital hands at stealing the public money&mdash;and that too in
+spite of prodigious peril to the thief: nay, your most powerful men
+steal most of all&mdash;at least if it be the most powerful men among you who
+are raised to official command. So that this is a time for <i>you</i> to
+exhibit <i>your</i> training, as well as for me to exhibit mine."</p>
+
+<p>We have here an interchange of raillery between the two Grecian
+officers, which is not an uninteresting feature in the history of the
+expedition. The remark of Cheirisophus, especially, illustrates that
+which I noted in a former chapter as true both of Sparta and Athens&mdash;the
+readiness to take bribes, so general in individuals clothed with
+official power; and the readiness, in official Athenians, to commit such
+peculation, in spite of serious risk of punishment. Now this chance of
+punishment proceeded altogether from those accusing orators commonly
+called demagogues,<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> and from the popular judicature whom they
+addressed. The joint working of both greatly abated the evil, yet was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>incompetent to suppress it. But according to the pictures commonly
+drawn of Athens, we are instructed to believe that the crying public
+evil was,&mdash;too great a license of accusation, and too much judicial
+trial. Assuredly such was not the conception of Cheirisophus; nor shall
+we find it borne out by any fair appreciation of the general evidence.
+When the peculation of official persons was thus notorious in spite of
+serious risks, what would it have become if the door had been barred to
+accusing demagogues, and if the numerous popular judges<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> had been
+exchanged for a select few judges of the same stamp and class as the
+official men themselves?</p>
+
+<p>Enforcing his proposition, Xenophon now informed his colleagues that he
+had just captured a few guides, by laying an ambush for certain native
+plunderers who beset the rear; and that these guides acquainted him that
+the mountain was not inaccessible, but pastured by goats and oxen. He
+farther offered himself to take command of the marching detachment. But
+this being overruled by Cheirisophus, some of the best among the
+captains, Aristonymus, Aristeas, and Nikomachus, volunteered their
+services and were accepted. After refreshing the soldiers, the generals
+marched with the main army near to the foot of the pass, and there took
+up their night-station, making demonstrations of a purpose to storm it
+the next morning. But as soon as it was dark, Aristonymus and his
+detachment started, and ascending the mountain at another point,
+obtained without resistance a high position on the flank of the enemy,
+who soon however saw them and despatched a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>force to keep guard on that
+side. At daybreak those two detachments came to conflict on the heights,
+in which the Greeks were completely victorious; while Cheirisophus was
+marching up the pass to attack the main body. His light troops,
+encouraged by seeing this victory of their comrades, hastened on to the
+charge faster than their heavy-armed foot-soldiers could follow. But the
+enemy were so dispirited by seeing themselves turned, that they fled
+with little or no resistance. Though only a few were slain, many threw
+away their light shields of wicker or woodwork, which became the prey of
+the conquerors.</p>
+
+<p>Thus masters of the pass, the Greeks descended to the level ground on
+the other side, where they found themselves in some villages
+well-stocked with provisions and comforts; the first in the country of
+the Taochi. Probably they halted here some days; for they had seen no
+villages, either for rest or for refreshment, during the last nine days'
+march, since leaving those Armenian villages in which they had passed a
+week so eminently restorative, and which apparently had furnished them
+with a stock of provisions for the onward journey. Such halt gave time
+to the Taochi to carry up their families and provisions into
+inaccessible strongholds, so that the Greeks found no supplies, during
+five days' march through the territory. Their provisions were completely
+exhausted, when they arrived before one of these strongholds, a rock on
+which were seen the families and the cattle of the Taochi; without
+houses or fortification, but nearly surrounded by a river, so as to
+leave only one narrow ascent, rendered unapproachable by vast rocks
+which the defenders hurled or rolled from the summit. By an ingenious
+combination of bravery and stratagem, in which some of the captains much
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>distinguished themselves, the Greeks overcame this difficulty, and took
+the height. The scene which then ensued was awful. The Taochian women
+seized their children, flung them over the precipice, and then cast
+themselves headlong also, followed by the men. Almost every soul thus
+perished, very few surviving to become prisoners. An Arcadian captain
+named &AElig;neas, seeing one of them in a fine dress about to precipitate
+himself with the rest, seized him with a view to prevent it. But the man
+in return grasped him firmly, dragged him to the edge of the rock, and
+leaped down to the destruction of both. Though scarcely any prisoners
+were taken, however, the Greeks obtained abundance of oxen, asses, and
+sheep, which fully supplied their wants.</p>
+
+<p>They now entered into the territory of the Chalybes, which they were
+seven days in passing through. These were the bravest warriors whom they
+had seen in Asia. Their equipment was a spear of fifteen cubits long,
+with only one end pointed&mdash;a helmet, greaves,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> stuffed corselet, with
+a kilt or dependent flaps&mdash;a short sword which they employed to cut off
+the head of a slain enemy, displaying the head in sight of their
+surviving enemies with triumphant dance and song. They carried no
+shield; perhaps because the excessive length of the spear required the
+constant employment of both hands&mdash;yet they did not shrink from meeting
+the Greeks occasionally in regular, stand-up fight. As they had carried
+off all their provisions into hill-forts, the Greeks could obtain no
+supplies, but lived all the time upon the cattle which they had acquired
+from the Taochi. After seven days of march and combat&mdash;the Chalybes
+perpetually attacking their rear&mdash;they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>reached the river Harpasus (400
+feet broad), where they passed into the territory of the Skythini. It
+rather seems that the territory of the Chalybes was mountainous; that of
+the Skythini was level, and contained villages, wherein they remained
+three days, refreshing themselves, and stocking themselves with
+provisions.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_GREEKS_COME_IN_SIGHT_OF_THE_BLACK_SEA" id="THE_GREEKS_COME_IN_SIGHT_OF_THE_BLACK_SEA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea.</b></p>
+
+<p>Four days of additional march brought them to a sight, the like of which
+they had not seen since Opis and Sittak&ecirc; on the Tigris in Babylonia&mdash;a
+large and flourishing city called Gymnias; an indication of the
+neighborhood of the sea, of commerce, and of civilization. The chief of
+this city received them in a friendly manner, and furnished them with a
+guide, who engaged to conduct them, after five days' march, to a hill
+from whence they would have a view of the sea. This was by no means
+their nearest way to the sea, for the chief of Gymnias wished to send
+them through the territory of some neighbors to whom he was hostile;
+which territory, as soon as they reached it, the guide desired them to
+burn and destroy. However, the promise was kept, and on the fifth day,
+marching still apparently through the territory of the Skythini, they
+reached the summit of a mountain called Th&ecirc;ch&ecirc;s, from whence the Euxine
+Sea was visible.</p>
+
+<p>An animated shout from the soldiers who formed the van-guard testified
+the impressive effect of this long-deferred spectacle, assuring, as it
+seemed to do, their safety and their return home. To Xenophon and to the
+rear-guard&mdash;engaged in repelling the attack of natives who had come
+forward to revenge the plunder of their territory&mdash;the shout was
+unintelligible. They at first imagined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>that the natives had commenced
+attack in front as well as in the rear, and that the van-guard was
+engaged in battle. But every moment the shout became louder, as fresh
+men came to the summit and gave vent to their feelings; so that Xenophon
+grew anxious, and galloped up to the van with his handful of cavalry to
+see what had happened. As he approached, the voice of the overjoyed
+crowd was heard distinctly crying out <i>Thalatta! Thalatta!</i> (The sea!
+the sea!), and congratulating each other in ecstasy. The main body, the
+rear-guard, the baggage-soldiers driving up their horses and cattle
+before them, became all excited by the sound, and hurried up breathless
+to the summit. The whole army, officers and soldiers, were thus
+assembled, manifesting their joyous emotions by tears, embraces, and
+outpourings of enthusiastic sympathy. With spontaneous impulse they
+heaped up stones to decorate the spot by a monument and commemorative
+trophy; putting on the stones such homely offerings as their means
+afforded&mdash;sticks, hides, and a few of the wicker shields just taken from
+the natives. To the guide, who had performed his engagement of bringing
+them in five days within sight of the sea, their gratitude was
+unbounded. They presented him with a horse, a silver bowl, a Persian
+costume, and ten darics<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> in money; besides several of the soldiers'
+rings, which he especially asked for. Thus loaded with presents, he left
+them, having first shown them a village wherein they could find
+quarters&mdash;as well as the road which they were to take through the
+territory of the Makr&ocirc;nes.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the river which divided the land of the Makr&ocirc;nes from
+that of the Skythini, they perceived the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>former assembled in arms on
+the opposite side to resist their passage. The river not being fordable,
+they cut down some neighboring trees to provide the means of crossing.
+While these Makr&ocirc;nes were shouting and encouraging each other aloud, a
+light-armed foot-soldier in the Grecian army came to Xenophon, saying
+that he knew their language, and that he believed this to be his
+country. He had been a slave at Athens, exported from home during his
+boyhood&mdash;he had then made his escape (probably during the Peloponnesian
+War, to the garrison of Dekeleia), and afterwards taken military
+service. By this fortunate accident, the generals were enabled to open
+negotiations with the Makr&ocirc;nes, and to assure them that the army would
+do them no harm, desiring nothing more than a free passage and a market
+to buy provisions. The Makr&ocirc;nes, on receiving such assurances in their
+own language from a countryman, exchanged pledges of friendship with the
+Greeks, assisted them to pass the river, and furnished the best market
+in their power during the three days' march across their territory.</p>
+
+<p>The army now reached the borders of the Kolchians, who were found in
+hostile array, occupying the summit of a considerable mountain which
+formed their frontier. Here Xenophon, having marshalled the soldiers for
+attack, with each company of 100 men in single file, instead of marching
+up the hill in phalanx, or continuous front with only a scanty
+depth&mdash;addressed to them the following pithy encouragement&mdash;"Now,
+fellow-soldiers, these enemies before us are the only impediment that
+keeps us away from reaching the point at which we have been so long
+aiming. We must even eat them raw, if in any way we can do so."</p>
+
+<p>Eighty of these formidable companies of heavy-armed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>foot-soldiers, each
+in single file, now began to ascend the hill; the light-armed
+foot-soldiers and bowmen being partly distributed among them, partly
+placed on the flanks. Cheirisophus and Xenophon, each commanding on one
+wing, spread their light-armed foot-soldiers in such a way as to
+outflank the Kolchians, who accordingly weakened their centre in order
+to strengthen their wings. Hence the Arcadian light-armed foot-soldiers
+and heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the Greek centre were enabled to attack
+and disperse the centre with little resistance; and all the Kolchians
+presently fled, leaving the Greeks in possession of their camp, as well
+as of several well-stocked villages in their rear. Amidst these villages
+the army remained to refresh themselves for several days. It was here
+that they tasted the grateful, but unwholesome honey, which this region
+still continues to produce&mdash;unaware of its peculiar properties. Those
+soldiers who ate little of it were like men greatly intoxicated with
+wine; those who ate much, were seized with the most violent vomiting and
+diarrh&oelig;a, lying down like madmen in a state of delirium. From this
+terrible distemper some recovered on the ensuing day, others two or
+three days afterwards. It does not appear that any one actually died.</p>
+
+<p>Two more days' march brought them to the sea, at the Greek maritime city
+of Trapezus or Trebizond, founded by the inhabitants of Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; on the
+coast of the Kolchian territory. Here the Trapezuntines received them
+with kindness and hospitality, sending them presents of bullocks,
+barley-meal, and wine. Taking up their quarters in some Kolchian
+villages near the town, they now enjoyed, for the first time since
+leaving Tarsus, a safe and undisturbed repose during thirty days, and
+were enabled to recover in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>some degree from the severe hardships which
+they had undergone. While the Trapezuntines brought produce for sale
+into the camp, the Greeks provided the means of purchasing it by
+predatory incursions against the Kolchians on the hills. Those Kolchians
+who dwelt under the hills and on the plain were in a state of
+semi-dependence upon Trapezus; so that the Trapezuntines mediated on
+their behalf and prevailed on the Greeks to leave them unmolested, on
+condition of a contribution of bullocks.</p>
+
+<p>These bullocks enabled the Greeks to discharge the vow which they had
+made, on the proposition of Xenophon, to Zeus the Preserver, during that
+moment of dismay and despair which succeeded immediately on the massacre
+of their generals by Tissaphern&ecirc;s. To Zeus the Preserver, to
+Herakl&ecirc;s<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> the Conductor, and to various other gods, they offered an
+abundant sacrifice on their mountain camp overhanging the sea; and after
+the festival ensuing, the skins of the victims were given as prizes to
+competitors in running, wrestling, boxing, and other contests. The
+superintendence of such festival games, so fully accordant with Grecian
+usage and highly interesting to the army, was committed to a Spartan
+named Drakontius; a man whose destiny recalls that of Patroklus and
+other Homeric heroes&mdash;for he had been exiled as a boy, having
+unintentionally killed another boy with a short sword. Various
+departures from Grecian customs however were admitted. The matches took
+place on the steep and stony hill-side overhanging the sea, instead of
+on a smooth plain; and the numerous hard falls of the competitors
+afforded increased interest to the by-standers. The captive non-Hellenic
+boys <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>were admitted to run for the prize, since otherwise a boy-race
+could not have been obtained. ["Horses also ran; and they had to gallop
+down the steep, and, turning round in the sea, to come up again to the
+altar.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> In the descent, many rolled down; but in the ascent, against
+the exceedingly steep ground, the horses could scarcely get up at a
+walking pace. There was consequently great shouting, and laughter, and
+cheering from the people."<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a>] Lastly, the animation of the scene, as
+well as the ardor of the competitors, was much enhanced by the number of
+the women present.</p>
+
+
+<br /><a name="THE_GREEK_CITIES_ON_THE_BLACK_SEA" id="THE_GREEK_CITIES_ON_THE_BLACK_SEA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten Thousand.</b></p>
+
+<p>We now commence a third act in the history of this memorable body of
+men. After having followed them from Sardis to Kunaxa as mercenaries<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a>
+to procure the throne for Cyrus&mdash;then from Kunaxa to Trapezus as men
+anxious only for escape, and purchasing their safety by marvellous
+bravery, endurance, and organization&mdash;we shall now track their
+proceedings among the Greek colonies on the Euxine and at the Bosphorus
+of Thrace, succeeded by their struggles against the meanness of the
+Thracian prince Seuth&ecirc;s, as well as against the treachery and arbitrary
+harshness of the Laced&aelig;monian commanders Anaxibius and Aristarchus.</p>
+
+<p>Trapezus, now Trebizond, where the army had recently found repose, was a
+colony from Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, as were also Kerasus and Koty&ocirc;ra farther westward;
+each of them receiving a governor from the mother-city, and paying to
+her an annual tribute. All these three cities were planted on the narrow
+strip of land dividing the Euxine from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>elevated mountain range
+which so closely borders on its southern coast. At Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; itself, the
+land stretches out into a defensible peninsula, with a secure harbor,
+and a large breadth of adjacent fertile soil. So tempting a site invited
+the Milesians,<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> even before the year 600 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>, to plant a
+colony there, and enabled Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; to attain much prosperity and power.
+Farther westward, not more than a long day's journey for a rowing vessel
+from Byzantium, was situated the Megarian<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> colony of Herakleia, in
+the territory of the Mariandyni.</p>
+
+<p>The native tenants of this line of coast, upon which the Greek settlers
+intruded themselves (reckoning from the westward), were the Bythynian
+Thracians, the Mariandyni, the Paphlagonians, the Tibar&ecirc;ni, Chalybes,
+Mosyn&oelig;ki, Dril&aelig;, and Kolchians. Here as elsewhere, these natives
+found the Greek seaports useful, in giving a new value to inland
+produce, and in furnishing the great men with ornaments and luxuries to
+which they would otherwise have had no access. The citizens of Herakleia
+had reduced into dependence a considerable portion of the neighboring
+Mariandyni, and held them in a relation resembling that of the natives
+of Esthonia and Lavonia to the German colonies in the Baltic. Some of
+the Kolchian villages were also subject in the same manner to the
+Trapezuntines; and Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; doubtless possessed a similar inland dominion
+of greater or less extent. But the principal wealth of this important
+city arose from her navy and maritime commerce; from the rich thunny
+fishery<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>attached to her promontory; from the olives in her
+immediate neighborhood, which was a cultivation not indigenous, but only
+naturalized by the Greeks on the seaboard; from the varied produce of
+the interior, comprising abundant herds of cattle, mines of silver,
+iron, and copper, in the neighboring mountains, wood for ship-building,
+as well as for house-furniture, and native slaves. The case was similar
+with the three colonies of Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, more to the eastward&mdash;Koty&ocirc;ra,
+Kerasus, and Trapezus; except that the mountains which border on the
+Euxine, gradually approaching nearer and nearer to the shore, left to
+each of them a more confined strip of cultivable land. For these cities
+the time had not yet arrived to be conquered and absorbed by the inland
+monarchies around them, as Miletus and the cities on the western coast
+of Asia Minor had been. The Paphlagonians were at this time the only
+native people in those regions who formed a considerable aggregated
+force, under a prince named Korylas; a prince tributary to Persia, yet
+half independent&mdash;since he had disobeyed the summons of Artaxerx&ecirc;s to
+come up and help in repelling Cyrus&mdash;and now on terms of established
+alliance with Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, though not without secret designs, which he wanted
+only force to execute, against that city. The other native tribes to the
+eastward were mountaineers both ruder and more divided; warlike on their
+own heights, but little capable of any aggressive combinations.</p>
+
+<p>Though we are told that Perikl&ecirc;s had once despatched a detachment of
+Athenian colonists to Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, and had expelled from thence the despot
+Timesilaus,&mdash;yet neither that city nor any of her neighbors appear to
+have taken part in the Peloponnesian war, either for or against Athens;
+nor were they among the number of tributaries to Persia. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>They doubtless
+were acquainted with the upward march of Cyrus, which had disturbed all
+Asia; and probably were not ignorant of the perils and critical state of
+his Grecian army. But it was with a feeling of mingled surprise,
+admiration, and alarm, that they saw that army descend from the
+mountainous region, hitherto only recognized as the abode of Kolchians,
+Makr&ocirc;nes, and other analogous tribes, among whom was perched the mining
+city of Gymnias.</p>
+
+<p>Even after all the losses and extreme sufferings of the retreat the
+Greeks still numbered, when mustered at Kerasus, 8600 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, with light-armed foot-soldiers, bowmen, and slingers,
+making a total of above 10,000 military persons. Such a force had never
+before been seen in the Euxine. Considering both the numbers and the
+now-acquired discipline and self-confidence of the Cyreians, even Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;
+herself could have raised no force capable of meeting them in the field.
+Yet they did not belong to any city, nor receive orders from any
+established government. They were like those mercenary armies which
+marched about in Italy during the fourteenth century, under the generals
+called Condottieri, taking service sometimes with one city, sometimes
+with another. No one could predict what schemes they might conceive, or
+in what manner they might deal with the established communities on the
+shores of the Euxine. If we imagine that such an army had suddenly
+appeared in Sicily, a little time before the Athenian expedition against
+Syracuse, it would have been probably enlisted by Leontini and Katana in
+their war against Syracuse. If the inhabitants of Trapezus had wished to
+throw off the dominion of Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;,&mdash;or if Korylas the Paphlagonian were
+meditating war against that city&mdash;here were formidable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>auxiliaries to
+second their wishes. Moreover there were various tempting sites, open to
+the formation of a new colony, which, with so numerous a body of
+original Greek settlers, would probably have overtopped Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; herself.
+There was no restraining cause to reckon upon, except the general
+Hellenic sympathies and education of the Cyreian army; and what was of
+not less importance, the fact that they were not mercenary soldiers by
+permanent profession, such as became so formidably multiplied in Greece
+during the next generation&mdash;but established citizens who had come out on
+a special service under Cyrus, with the full intention, after a year of
+lucrative enterprise, to return to their homes and families. We shall
+find such gravitation towards home steadily operative throughout the
+future proceedings of the army. But at the moment when they first
+emerged from the mountains, no one could be sure that it would be so.
+There was ample ground for uneasiness among the Euxine Greeks,
+especially the Sinopians, whose supremacy had never before been
+endangered.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="PLANS_OF_THE_ARMY_FOR_THE_FUTURE" id="PLANS_OF_THE_ARMY_FOR_THE_FUTURE"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 11. Plans of the army for the future.</b></p>
+
+<p>An undisturbed repose of thirty days enabled the Cyreians to recover
+from their fatigues, to talk over their past dangers, and to take pride
+in the anticipated effect which their unparalleled achievement could not
+fail to produce in Greece. Having discharged their vows and celebrated
+their festival to the gods, they held an assembly to discuss their
+future proceedings; when a Thurian<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> soldier named <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>Antileon
+exclaimed&mdash;"Comrades, I am already tired of packing up, marching,
+running, carrying arms, falling into line, keeping watch, and fighting.
+Now that we have the sea here before us, I desire to be relieved from
+all these toils, to sail the rest of the way, and to arrive in Greece
+outstretched and asleep, like Odysseus."<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> This pithy address being
+received with vehement acclamations, and warmly responded to by all,
+Cheirisophus offered, if the army chose to empower him, to sail
+forthwith to Byzantium,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> where he thought he could obtain from his
+friend the Laced&aelig;monian admiral Anaxibius, sufficient vessels for
+transport. His proposition was gladly accepted; and he departed to
+execute the project.</p>
+
+<p>Xenophon then urged upon the army various resolutions and measures,
+proper for the regulation of affairs during the absence of Cheirisophus.
+The army would be forced to maintain itself by marauding expeditions
+among the hostile tribes in the mountains. Such expeditions accordingly
+must be put under regulation: neither individual soldiers, nor small
+companies, must be allowed to go out at pleasure, without giving notice
+to the generals; moreover, the camp must be kept under constant guard
+and scouts, in the event of surprise from a retaliating enemy. It was
+prudent also to take the best measures in their power for procuring
+vessels; since, after all, Cheirisophus might possibly fail in bringing
+an adequate number. They ought to borrow a few ships of war from the
+Trapezuntines, and detain all the merchant ships<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> which they saw;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>unshipping the rudders, placing the cargoes under guard, and
+maintaining the crew during all the time that the ships might be
+required for transport of the army. Many such merchant vessels were
+often sailing by; so that they would thus acquire the means of
+transport, even though Cheirisophus should bring few or none from
+Byzantium. Lastly, Xenophon proposed to require the Grecian cities to
+repair and put in order the road along the coast, for a land-march;
+since, perhaps, with all their efforts, it would be found impossible to
+get together a sufficient stock of transports.</p>
+
+<p>All the propositions of Xenophon were readily adopted by the army,
+except the last. But the mere mention of a renewed land-march excited
+such universal murmurs of repugnance, that he did not venture to put
+that question to the vote. He took upon himself however to send messages
+to the Grecian cities, on his own responsibility; urging them to repair
+the roads, in order that the departure of the army might be facilitated.
+And he found the cities ready enough to carry his wishes into effect, as
+far as Koty&ocirc;ra.</p>
+
+<p>The wisdom of these precautionary suggestions of Xenophon soon appeared;
+for Cheirisophus not only failed in his object, but was compelled to
+stay away for a considerable time. An armed ship with fifty oars was
+borrowed from the Trapezuntines, and committed to the charge of a
+Laced&aelig;monian provincial, named Dexippus, for the purpose of detaining
+the merchant vessels passing by. This man having violated his trust, and
+employed the ship to make his own escape out of the Euxine, a second was
+obtained and confided to an Athenian, Polykrat&ecirc;s; who brought in
+successively several merchant vessels. These <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>the Greeks did not
+plunder, but secured the cargoes under adequate guard, and only reserved
+the vessels for transports. It became however gradually more and more
+difficult to supply the camp with provisions. Though the army was
+distributed into suitable detachments for plundering the Kolchian
+villages on the hills, and seizing cattle and prisoners for sale, yet
+these expeditions did not always succeed; indeed on one occasion, two
+Grecian companies got entangled in such difficult ground, that they were
+destroyed to a man. The Kolchians united on the hills in increased and
+menacing numbers, insomuch that a larger guard became necessary for the
+camp; while the Trapezuntines&mdash;tired of the protracted stay of the army,
+as well as desirous of exempting from pillage the natives in their own
+immediate neighborhood&mdash;conducted the detachments only to villages alike
+remote and difficult of access. It was in this manner that a large force
+under Xenophon himself, attacked the lofty and rugged stronghold of the
+Dril&aelig;&mdash;the most warlike nation of mountaineers in the neighborhood of
+the Euxine, well-armed, and troublesome to Trapezus by their incursions.
+After a difficult march and attack, which Xenophon describes in
+interesting detail, and wherein the Greeks encountered no small hazard
+of ruinous defeat&mdash;they returned, in the end completely successful, and
+with a plentiful booty.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_TEN_THOUSAND_BEGIN_THEIR_MARCH_WESTWARD" id="THE_TEN_THOUSAND_BEGIN_THEIR_MARCH_WESTWARD"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward.</b></p>
+
+<p>At length, after long awaiting in vain the reappearance of Cheirisophus,
+increasing scarcity and weariness determined them to leave Trapezus. A
+sufficient number of vessels had been collected to serve for the
+transport of the women, of the sick and wounded, and of the baggage. All
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>these were accordingly placed on board under the command of Philesius
+and Soph&aelig;netus, the two oldest generals; while the remaining army
+marched by land, along a road which had been just made good under the
+representations of Xenophon. In three days they reached Kerasus,<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>
+another maritime colony of the Sinopians, still in the territory called
+Kolchian; there they halted ten days, mustered and numbered the army,
+and divided the money acquired by the sale of their prisoners. Eight
+thousand six hundred heavy-armed foot-soldiers, out of a total probably
+greater than eleven thousand, were found still remaining; besides
+targeteers<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> and various light troops.</p>
+
+<p>During the halt at Kerasus, the declining discipline of the army became
+manifest as they approached home. Various acts of outrage occurred,
+originating now, as afterwards, in the intrigues of treacherous
+officers. A captain named Klearetus persuaded his company to attempt the
+plunder of a Kolchian village near Kerasus, which had furnished a
+friendly market to the Greeks, and which rested secure on the faith of
+peaceful relations. He intended to make off separately with the booty in
+one of the vessels: but his attack was repelled, and he himself slain.
+The injured villagers despatched three elders as heralds, to remonstrate
+with the Grecian authorities; but these heralds, being seen in Kerasus
+by some of the repulsed plunderers, were slain. A partial tumult then
+ensued, in which even the magistrates of Kerasus were in great danger,
+and only escaped the pursuing soldiers by running <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>into the sea. This
+enormity, though it occurred under the eyes of the generals, immediately
+before their departure from Kerasus, remained without inquiry or
+punishment, from the numbers concerned in it.</p>
+
+<p>Between Kerasus and Koty&ocirc;ra, there was not then (nor is there now) any
+regular road. This march cost the Cyreian army not less than ten days,
+by an inland track departing from the seashore, and through the
+mountains inhabited by the native tribes Mosyn&oelig;ki and Chalybes. The
+latter, celebrated for their iron works, were under dependence to the
+former. As the Mosyn&oelig;ki refused to grant a friendly passage across
+their territory, the army were compelled to fight their way through it
+as enemies, with the aid of one section of these people themselves;
+which alliance was procured for them by the Trapezuntine Timesitheus,
+who was consul or agent of the Mosyn&oelig;ki and understood their
+language. The Greeks took the mountain fastnesses of this people, and
+plundered the wooden turrets<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> which formed their abodes. Of their
+peculiar fashions Xenophon gives an interesting description which I have
+not space to copy. The territory of the Tibar&ecirc;ni was more easy and
+accessible. This people met the Greeks with presents, and tendered a
+friendly passage. But the generals at first declined the presents,
+preferring to treat them as enemies and plunder them; which in fact they
+would have done, had they not been deterred by unfavorable sacrifices.</p>
+
+<p>Near Koty&ocirc;ra, which was situated on the coast of the Tibar&ecirc;ni, yet on
+the borders of Paphlagonia, they remained forty-five days, still
+awaiting the appearance of Cheirisophus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>with the transports to carry
+them away by sea. The Sinopian governor did not permit them to be
+welcomed in so friendly a manner as at Trapezus. No market was provided
+for them, nor were their sick admitted within the walls. But the
+fortifications of the town were not so constructed as to resist a Greek
+force, the like of which had never before been seen in those regions.
+The Greek generals found a weak point, made their way in, and took
+possession of a few houses for the accommodation of their sick; keeping
+a guard at the gate to secure free egress, but doing no farther violence
+to the citizens. They obtained their victuals partly from the Koty&ocirc;rite
+villages, partly from the neighboring territory of Paphlagonia, until at
+length envoys arrived from Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; to remonstrate against their
+proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>These envoys presented themselves before the assembled soldiers in the
+camp, when Hekatonymus, the chief and most eloquent among them, began by
+complimenting the army upon their gallant exploits and retreat. He then
+complained of the injury which Koty&ocirc;ra, and Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; as the mother-city of
+Koty&ocirc;ra, had suffered at their hands, in violation of common Hellenic
+kinship. If such proceedings were continued, he intimated that Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;
+would be compelled in her own defence to seek alliance with the
+Paphlagonian prince Korylas, or any other barbaric auxiliary who would
+lend them aid against the Greeks. Xenophon replied that if the
+Koty&ocirc;rites had sustained any damage, it was owing to their own ill-will
+and to the Sinopian governor in the place; that the generals were under
+the necessity of procuring subsistence for the soldiers, with house-room
+for the sick, and that they had taken nothing more; that the sick men
+were lying within the town, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>at their own cost, while the other
+soldiers were all encamped without; that they had maintained cordial
+friendship with the Trapezuntines, and requited all their good offices;
+that they sought no enemies except through necessity, being anxious only
+again to reach Greece; and that as for the threat respecting Korylas,
+they knew well enough that that prince was eager to become master of the
+wealthy city of Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, and would speedily attempt some such enterprise
+if he could obtain the Cyreian army as his auxiliaries.</p>
+
+<p>This judicious reply shamed the colleagues of Hekatonymus so much, that
+they went the length of protesting against what he had said, and of
+affirming that they had come with propositions of sympathy and
+friendship to the army, as well as with promises to give them an
+hospitable reception at Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, if they should visit that town on their
+way home. Presents were at once sent to the army by the inhabitants of
+Koty&ocirc;ra, and a good understanding established.</p>
+
+<p>Such an interchange of goodwill with the powerful city of Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; was an
+unspeakable advantage to the army&mdash;indeed an essential condition to
+their power of reaching home. If they continued their march by land, it
+was only through Sinopian guidance and mediation that they could obtain
+or force a passage through Paphlagonia; while for a voyage by sea, there
+was no chance of procuring a sufficient number of vessels except from
+Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, since no news had been received of Cheirisophus. On the other
+hand, that city had also a strong interest in facilitating their transit
+homeward, and thus removing formidable neighbors, for whose ulterior
+purposes there could be no guarantee. After some preliminary
+conversation with the Sinopian envoys, the generals convoked the army in
+assembly, and entreated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>Hekatonymus and his companions to advise them
+as to the best mode of proceeding westward to the Bosphorus.
+Hekatonymus, after apologizing for the menacing insinuations of his
+former speech, and protesting that he had no other object in view except
+to point out the safest and easiest plan of route for the army, began to
+unfold the insuperable difficulties of a march through Paphlagonia. The
+very entrance into the country must be achieved through a narrow
+aperture in the mountains, which it was impossible to force if occupied
+by the enemy. Even assuming this difficulty to be surmounted, there were
+spacious plains to be passed over, wherein the Paphlagonian horse,<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>
+the most numerous and bravest in Asia, would be found almost
+irresistible. There were also three or four great rivers, which the army
+would be unable to pass&mdash;the Therm&ocirc;d&ocirc;n and the Iris, each 300 feet in
+breadth&mdash;the Halys, nearly a quarter of a mile in breadth&mdash;the
+Parthenius, also very considerable. Such an array of obstacles (he
+affirmed) rendered the project of marching through Paphlagonia
+impracticable; whereas the voyage by sea from Koty&ocirc;ra to Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, and
+from Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; to Herakleia, was easy; and the transit from the latter
+place either by sea to Byzantium, or by land across Thrace, yet easier.</p>
+
+<p>Difficulties like these, apparently quite real, were more than
+sufficient to determine the vote of the army, already sick of marching
+and fighting, in favor of the sea voyage; though there were not wanting
+suspicions of the sincerity of Hekatonymus. But Xenophon, in
+communicating to the latter the decision of the army, distinctly
+apprised him that they would on no account permit themselves to be
+divided; that they would either depart or remain all in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>body; and
+that vessels must be provided sufficient for the transport of all.
+Hekatonymus desired them to send envoys of their own to Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; to make
+the necessary arrangements. Three envoys were accordingly sent&mdash;Ariston,
+an Athenian, Kallimachus, an Arcadian, and Samolas, an Ach&aelig;an; the
+Athenian, probably, as possessing the talent of speaking in the Sinopian
+senate or assembly.</p>
+
+<p>During the absence of the envoys, the army still continued near Koty&ocirc;ra,
+with a market provided by the town, and with traders from Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; and
+Herakleia in the camp. Such soldiers as had no money wherewith to
+purchase, subsisted by pillaging the neighboring frontier of
+Paphlagonia. But they were receiving no pay; every man was living on his
+own resources; and instead of carrying back a handsome purse to Greece,
+as each soldier had hoped when he first took service under Cyrus, there
+seemed every prospect of their returning poorer than when they left
+home. Moreover, the army was now moving onward without any definite
+purpose, with increasing dissatisfaction and decreasing discipline;
+insomuch that Xenophon foresaw the difficulties which would beset the
+responsible commanders when they should come within the stricter
+restraints and obligations of the Grecian world.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="PLAN_OF_XENOPHON_FOR_FOUNDING_A_CITY_ON_THE_BLACK_SEA" id="PLAN_OF_XENOPHON_FOR_FOUNDING_A_CITY_ON_THE_BLACK_SEA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 13. Plans of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea.</b></p>
+
+<p>It was these considerations which helped to suggest to him the idea of
+employing the army on some enterprise of conquest and colonization on
+the Euxine itself; an idea highly flattering to his personal ambition,
+especially as the army was of unrivalled efficiency against an enemy,
+and no such second force could ever be got together in those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>distant
+regions. His patriotism as a Greek was inflamed with the thoughts of
+procuring for Hellas<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> a new self-governing city, occupied by a
+considerable Hellenic population, possessing a spacious territory, and
+exercising dominion over many neighboring natives. He seems to have
+thought first of attacking and conquering some established non-Hellenic
+city; an act which his ideas of international morality did not forbid,
+in a case where he had contracted no special convention with the
+inhabitants&mdash;though he (as well as Cheirisophus) strenuously protested
+against doing wrong to any innocent Hellenic community. He contemplated
+the employment of the entire force in capturing Phasis or some other
+native city; after which, when the establishment was once safely
+effected, those soldiers who preferred going home to remaining as
+settlers, might do so without emperiling those who stayed, and probably
+with their own purses filled by plunder and conquest in the
+neighborhood. To settle as one of the richest proprietors and
+chiefs,&mdash;perhaps even the recognized founder, like Agnon at
+Amphipolis,&mdash;of a new Hellenic city such as could hardly fail to become
+rich, powerful, and important&mdash;was a tempting prospect for one who had
+now acquired the habits of command. Moreover, the sequel will prove how
+correctly Xenophon appreciated the discomfort of leading the army back
+to Greece without pay and without certain employment.</p>
+
+<p>It was the practice of Xenophon, and the advice of his master,
+Sokrat&ecirc;s,<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> in grave and doubtful cases where the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>most careful
+reflection was at fault, to recur to the inspired authority of an oracle
+or a prophet, and to offer sacrifice, in full confidence that the gods
+would vouchsafe to communicate a special revelation to such persons as
+they favored. Accordingly Xenophon, previous to any communication with
+the soldiers respecting his new project, was anxious to ascertain the
+will of the gods by a special sacrifice; for which he invoked the
+presence of Silanus, the chief prophet in the army. This prophet (as I
+have already mentioned), before the battle of Kunaxa, had assured Cyrus
+that Artaxerx&ecirc;s would not fight for ten days&mdash;and the prophecy came to
+pass; which made such an impression on Cyrus, that he rewarded him with
+the prodigious present of 3000 darics or ten Attic talents. While others
+were returning poor, Silanus, having contrived to preserve this sum
+through all the hardships of the retreat, was extremely rich, and
+anxious only to hasten home with his treasure in safety. He heard with
+strong repugnance the project of remaining on the Euxine, and determined
+to traverse<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> it by intrigue. As far as concerned the sacrifices,
+indeed, which he offered apart with Xenophon he was obliged to admit
+that the indications of the victims <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>were favorable; Xenophon himself
+being too familiar with the process to be imposed upon. But he at the
+same time tried to create alarm by declaring that a nice inspection
+disclosed evidence of treacherous snares laid for Xenophon; which latter
+indications he himself began to realize by spreading reports among the
+army that the Athenian general was laying clandestine plans for keeping
+them away from Greece without their own concurrence.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p>
+
+<p>Thus prematurely and insidiously divulged, the scheme found some
+supporters, but a far larger number of opponents; especially among those
+officers who were jealous of the ascendency of Xenophon. Timasion and
+Thorax employed it as a means of alarming the Herakleotic and Sinopian
+traders in the camp; telling them that unless they provided not merely
+transports, but also pay for the soldiers, Xenophon would find means to
+detain the army in the Euxine, and would employ the transports when they
+arrived not for the homeward voyage, but for his own projects of
+acquisition. This news spread so much terror both at Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; and
+Herakleia that large offers of money were made from both cities to
+Timasion, on condition that he would ensure the departure of the army,
+as soon as the vessels should be assembled at Koty&ocirc;ra. Accordingly these
+officers, convening an assembly of the soldiers, protested against the
+duplicity of Xenophon in thus preparing momentous schemes without any
+public debate or decision. And Timasion, seconded by Thorax, not only
+strenuously <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>urged the army to return, but went so far as to promise to
+them, on the faith of the assurances from Herakleia and Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, future
+pay on a liberal scale, to commence from the first new moon after their
+departure; together with a hospitable reception in his native city of
+Dardanus on the Hellespont, from whence they could make incursions on
+the rich neighboring satrapy of Pharnabazus.</p>
+
+<p>It was not, however, until these attacks were repeated from more than
+one quarter&mdash;until the Ach&aelig;ans Philesius and Lykon had loudly accused
+Xenophon of underhand man&oelig;uvring to cheat the army into remaining
+against their will&mdash;that the latter rose to repel the imputation; saying
+that all he had done was, to consult the gods whether it would be better
+to lay his project before the army or keep it in his own bosom. The
+encouraging answer of the gods, as conveyed through the victims and
+testified even by Silanus himself, proved that the scheme was not
+ill-conceived; nevertheless (he remarked) Silanus had begun to lay
+snares for him, obtaining by his own proceedings a collateral indication
+which he had announced to be visible in the victims. "If (added
+Xenophon) you had continued as destitute and unprovided, as you were
+just now&mdash;I should still have looked out for a resource in the capture
+of some city which would have enabled such of you as chose, to return at
+once; while the rest stay behind to enrich themselves. But now there is
+no longer any necessity; since Herakleia and Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; are sending
+transports, and Timasion promises pay to you from the next new moon.
+Nothing can be better; you will go back safely to Greece, and will
+receive pay for going thither. I desist at once from my scheme, and call
+upon all who were favorable to it to desist also. Only let us all keep
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>together until we are on safe ground; and let the man who lags behind
+or runs off, be condemned as a wrongdoer."</p>
+
+<p>Xenophon immediately put this question to the vote, and every hand was
+held up in its favor. There was no man more disconcerted with the vote
+than the prophet Silanus, who loudly exclaimed against the injustice of
+detaining any one desirous to depart. But the soldiers put him down with
+vehement disapprobation, threatening that they would assuredly punish
+him if they caught him running off. His intrigue against Xenophon thus
+recoiled upon himself, for the moment. But shortly afterwards, when the
+army reached Herakleia, he took his opportunity for clandestine flight,
+and found his way back to Greece with the 3000 darics.</p>
+
+<p>If Silanus gained little by his man&oelig;uvre, Timasion and his partners
+gained still less. For so soon as it became known that the army had
+taken a formal resolution to go back to Greece, and that Xenophon
+himself had made the proposition, the Sinopians and the Herakleots felt
+at their ease. They sent the transport vessels, but withheld the money
+which they had promised to Timasion and Thorax. Hence these officers
+were exposed to dishonor and peril; for having positively engaged to
+find pay for the army, they were now unable to keep their word. So keen
+were their apprehensions, that they came to Xenophon and told him that
+they had altered their views, and that they now thought it best to
+employ the newly-arrived transports in conveying the army, not to
+Greece, but against the town and territory of Phasis<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> at the eastern
+extremity of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>Euxine. Xenophon replied, that they might convene the
+soldiers and make the proposition, if they chose; but that he would have
+nothing to say to it. To make the very proposition themselves, for which
+they had so much inveighed against Xenophon, was impossible without some
+preparation; so that each of them began individually to sound his
+captains, and get the scheme suggested by them. During this interval,
+the soldiery obtained information of the man&oelig;uvre, much to their
+discontent and indignation; of which Neon (the lieutenant of the absent
+Cheirisophus) took advantage, to throw the whole blame upon Xenophon;
+alleging that it was he who had converted the other officers to his
+original project, and that he intended, as soon as the soldiers were on
+shipboard, to convey them fraudulently to Phasis instead of to Greece.
+There was something so plausible in this glaring falsehood, which
+represented Xenophon as the author of the renewed project, once his
+own&mdash;and something so improbable in the fact that the other officers
+should spontaneously have renounced their own strong opinions to take up
+his&mdash;that we can hardly be surprised at the ready credence which Neon's
+calumny found among the army. Their exasperation against Xenophon became
+so intense, that they collected in fierce groups; and there was even a
+fear that they would break out into mutinous violence, as they had
+before done against the magistrates of Kerasus.</p>
+
+<p>Well knowing the danger of such spontaneous and informal assemblages,
+and the importance of the habitual solemnities of convocation and
+arrangement, to ensure either discussion or legitimate defence&mdash;Xenophon
+immediately sent round the herald to summon the army into the regular
+place of assembly with customary method and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>ceremony. The summons was
+obeyed with unusual alacrity, and Xenophon then addressed
+them&mdash;refraining, with equal generosity and prudence, from saying
+anything about the last proposition which Timasion and others had made
+to him. Had he mentioned it, the question would have become one of life
+and death between him and those other officers.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="XENOPHON_DEFENDS_HIMSELF_AGAINST_FALSE_ACCUSATIONS" id="XENOPHON_DEFENDS_HIMSELF_AGAINST_FALSE_ACCUSATIONS"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations.</b></p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers (said he), I understand that there are some men here
+calumniating me, as if I were intending to cheat you and carry you to
+Phasis. Hear me then, in the name of the gods. If I am shown to be doing
+wrong, let me not go from hence unpunished; but if, on the contrary, my
+calumniators are proved to be the wrong-doers, deal with them as they
+deserve. You surely well know where the sun rises and where he sets; you
+know that if a man wishes to reach Greece, he must go westward&mdash;if to
+the barbaric territories, he must go eastward. Can any one hope to
+deceive you on this point, and persuade you that the sun rises on <i>this</i>
+side, and sets on <i>that</i>? Can any one cheat you into going on shipboard
+with a wind which blows you away from Greece? Suppose even that I put
+you aboard when there is no wind at all. How am I to force you to sail
+with me against your own consent&mdash;I being only in one ship, you in a
+hundred and more? Imagine however that I could even succeed in deluding
+you to Phasis. When we land there, you will know at once that we are not
+in Greece; and what fate can I then expect&mdash;a detected impostor in the
+midst of ten thousand men with arms in their hands? No&mdash;these stories
+all proceed from foolish men, who are jealous of my influence with you;
+jealous, too, without reason&mdash;for I neither hinder <i>them</i> from
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>out-stripping me in your favor, if they can render you greater
+service&mdash;nor <i>you</i> from electing them commanders, if you think fit.
+Enough of this now: I challenge any one to come forward and say how it
+is possible either to cheat, or to be cheated, in the manner laid to my
+charge."</p>
+
+<p>Having thus grappled directly with the calumnies of his enemies, and
+dissipated them in such manner as doubtless to create a reaction in his
+own favor, Xenophon made use of the opportunity to denounce the growing
+disorders in the army; which he depicted as such, that if no corrective
+were applied, disgrace and contempt must fall upon all. As he paused
+after this general remonstrance, the soldiers loudly called upon him to
+go into particulars; upon which he proceeded to recall, with lucid and
+impressive simplicity, the outrages which had been committed at and near
+Kerasus&mdash;the unauthorized and unprovoked attack made by Klearetus and
+his company on a neighboring village which was in friendly commerce with
+the army&mdash;the murder of the three elders of the village, who had come as
+heralds to complain to the generals about such wrong&mdash;the mutinous
+attack made by disorderly soldiers even upon the magistrates of Kerasus,
+at the very moment when they were remonstrating with the generals on
+what had occurred; exposing these magistrates to the utmost peril, and
+putting the generals themselves to ignominy. "If such are to be our
+proceedings (continued Xenophon), look you well into what condition the
+army will fall. You, the aggregate body, will no longer be the sovereign
+authority to make war or peace with whom you please; each individual
+among you will conduct the army against any point which he may choose.
+And even if men should come to you as envoys, either for peace or for
+other purposes, they may be slain by any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>single enemy; so that you will
+be debarred from all public communications whatever. Next, those whom
+your universal suffrage shall have chosen commanders, will have no
+authority; while any self-elected general who chooses to give the word,
+Cast, Cast (<i>i.e.</i> darts or stones), may put to death without trial
+either officer or soldier as it suits him; that is, if he finds you
+ready to obey him, as it happened near Kerasus. Look now what these
+self-elected leaders have done for you. The magistrate of Kerasus, if he
+was really guilty of wrong towards you, has been enabled to escape with
+impunity; if he was innocent, he has been obliged to run away from you,
+as the only means of avoiding death without pretence of trial. Those who
+stoned the heralds to death have brought matters to such a pass, that
+you alone, of all Greeks, cannot enter the town of Kerasus in safety,
+unless in commanding force; and that we cannot even send in a herald to
+take up our dead (Klearetus and those who were slain in the attack on
+the Kerasuntine village) for burial; though at first those who had slain
+them in self-defence were anxious to give up the bodies to us. For who
+will take the risk of going in as herald, from those who have set the
+example of putting heralds to death? We generals were obliged to entreat
+the Kerasuntines to bury the bodies for us."</p>
+
+<p>Continuing in this emphatic protest against the recent disorders and
+outrages, Xenophon at length succeeded in impressing his own sentiment,
+heartily and unanimously, upon the soldiers. They passed a vote that the
+ringleaders of the mutiny at Kerasus should be punished; that if any one
+was guilty of similar outrages in future, he should be put upon his
+trial by the generals, before the captains as judges, and if condemned
+by them, put to death; and that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>trial should be had before the same
+persons, for any other wrong committed since the death of Cyrus. A
+suitable religious ceremony was also directed to be performed, at the
+instance of Xenophon and the prophets, to purify the army.</p>
+
+<p>This speech affords an interesting specimen of the political morality
+universal throughout the Grecian world, though deeper and more
+predominant among its better sections. In the miscellaneous aggregate,
+and temporary society, now mustered at Koty&ocirc;ra, Xenophon insists on the
+universal suffrage of the whole body, as the legitimate sovereign
+authority for the guidance of every individual will; the decision of the
+majority, fairly and formally collected, as carrying a title to prevail
+over every dissentient minority; the generals chosen by the majority of
+votes, as the only persons entitled to obedience. This is the cardinal
+principle to which he appeals, as the anchorage of political obligation
+in the mind of each separate man or fraction; as the condition of all
+success, all safety, and all conjoint action; as the only condition
+either for punishing wrong or protecting right; as indispensable to keep
+up their sympathies with the Hellenic communities, and their dignity
+either as soldiers or as citizens. The complete success of his speech
+proves that he knew how to touch the right chord of Grecian feeling. No
+serious acts of individual insubordination occurred afterwards, though
+the army collectively went wrong on more than one occasion. And what is
+not less important to notice&mdash;the influence of Xenophon himself, after
+his unreserved and courageous remonstrance, seems to have been sensibly
+augmented&mdash;certainly noway diminished.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstances which immediately followed were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>indeed well
+calculated to augment it. For it was resolved, on the proposition of
+Xenophon himself, that the generals themselves should be tried before
+the newly-constituted tribunal of the captains, in case anyone had
+complaint to make against them for past matters; agreeably to the
+Athenian habit of subjecting every magistrate to a trial of
+accountability on laying down his office. In the course of this
+investigation, Philesius and Xanthikl&ecirc;s were fined twenty min&aelig;,<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> to
+make good an assignable deficiency of that amount, in the cargoes of
+those merchantmen which had been detained at Trapezus for the transport
+of the army: Soph&aelig;netus, who had the general superintendence of this
+property, but had been negligent in that duty, was fined ten min&aelig;. Next,
+the name of Xenophon was put up, when various persons stood forward to
+accuse him of having beaten and ill-used them. As commander of the
+rear-guard, his duty was by far the severest and most difficult,
+especially during the intense cold and deep snow; since the sick and
+wounded, as well as the laggards and plunderers, all fell under his
+inspection. One man especially was loud in complaints against him, and
+Xenophon questioned him, as to the details of his case, before the
+assembled army. It turned out that he had given him blows, because the
+man, having been entrusted with the task of carrying a sick soldier, was
+about to evade the duty by burying the dying man alive. This interesting
+debate ended by a full approbation on the part of the army of Xenophon's
+conduct, accompanied with regret that he had not handled the man yet
+more severely.</p>
+
+<p>The statements of Xenophon himself give us a vivid <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>idea of the internal
+discipline of the army, even as managed by a discreet and well-tempered
+officer. "I acknowledge (said he to the soldiers) to have struck many
+men for disorderly conduct; men who were content to owe their
+preservation to your orderly march and constant fighting, while they
+themselves ran about to plunder and enrich themselves at your cost. Had
+we all acted as they did, we should have perished to a man. Sometimes
+too I struck men who were lagging behind with cold and fatigue, or were
+stopping the way so as to hinder others from getting forward: I struck
+them with my fist, in order to save them from the spear of the enemy.
+You yourselves stood by and saw me: you had arms in your hands, yet none
+of you interfered to prevent me. I did it for their good as well as for
+yours, not from any insolence of disposition; for it was a time when we
+were all alike suffering from cold, hunger, and fatigue; whereas I now
+live comparatively well, drink more wine and pass easy days&mdash;and yet I
+strike no one. You will find that the men who failed most in those times
+of hardship, are now the most outrageous offenders in the army. There is
+Bo&iuml;skus, the Thessalian pugilist, who pretended sickness during the
+march, in order to evade the burden of carrying his shield&mdash;and now, as
+I am informed, he has stripped several citizens of Koty&ocirc;ra of their
+clothes. If (he concluded) the blows which I have occasionally given, in
+cases of necessity, are now brought in evidence&mdash;I call upon those among
+you also, to whom I have rendered aid and protection, to stand up and
+testify in my favor."</p>
+
+<p>Many individuals responded to this appeal, insomuch that Xenophon was
+not merely acquitted, but stood higher than before in the opinion of the
+army. We learn from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>his defence that for a commanding officer to strike
+a soldier with his fist, if wanting in duty, was not considered
+improper; at least under such circumstances as those of the retreat. But
+what deserves notice still more, is, the extraordinary influence which
+Xenophon's powers of speaking gave him over the minds of the army. He
+stood distinguished from the other generals, Laced&aelig;monian, Arcadian,
+Ach&aelig;an, and the rest, by his power of working on the minds of the
+soldiers collectively; and we see that he had the good sense, as well as
+the spirit, not to shrink from telling them unpleasant truths. In spite
+of such frankness&mdash;or rather, partly by means of such frankness&mdash;his
+ascendency as commander not only remained unabated, as compared with
+that of the others, but went on increasing. For whatever may be said
+about the flattery of orators as a means of influence over the
+people,&mdash;it will be found that though particular points may be gained in
+this way, yet wherever the influence of an orator has been steady and
+long-continued (like that of Perikl&ecirc;s or Demosthen&ecirc;s) it is owing in
+part to the fact that he has an opinion of his own, and is not willing
+to accommodate himself constantly to the prepossessions of his hearers.
+Without the oratory of Xenophon, there would have existed no engine for
+kindling or sustaining the common sense or feeling of the ten thousand
+Cyreians assembled at Koty&ocirc;ra, or for keeping up the moral authority of
+the aggregate over the individual members and fractions. The other
+officers could doubtless speak well enough to address short
+encouragements, or give simple explanations, to the soldiers: without
+this faculty, no man was fit for military command over Greeks. But the
+oratory of Xenophon was something of a higher order. Whoever will study
+the discourse <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>pronounced by him at Koty&ocirc;ra will perceive a dexterity in
+dealing with assembled multitudes&mdash;a discriminating use sometimes of the
+plainest and most direct appeal, sometimes of indirect insinuation or
+circuitous transitions to work round the minds of the hearers&mdash;a command
+of those fundamental political convictions which lay deep in the Grecian
+mind, but were often so overlaid by the fresh impulses arising out of
+each successive situation, as to require some positive friction to draw
+them out from their latent state&mdash;lastly, a power of expansion and
+varied repetition&mdash;such as would be naturally imparted both by the
+education and the practice of an intelligent Athenian, but would rarely
+be found in any other Grecian city. The energy and judgment displayed by
+Xenophon in the retreat were doubtless not less essential to his
+influence than his power of speaking; but in these points we may be sure
+that other officers were more nearly his equals.</p>
+
+<p>The important public proceedings above described not only restored the
+influence of Xenophon, but also cleared off a great amount of bad
+feeling, and sensibly abated the bad habits, which had grown up in the
+army. A scene which speedily followed was not without effect in
+promoting cheerful and amicable sympathies. The Paphlagonian prince
+Korylas, weary of the desultory warfare carried on between the Greeks
+and the border inhabitants, sent envoys to the Greek camp with presents
+of horses and fine robes, and with expressions of a wish to conclude
+peace. The Greek generals accepted the presents, and promised to submit
+the proposition to the army. But first, they entertained the envoys at a
+banquet, providing at the same time games and dances, with other
+recreations amusing not only to them but also to the soldiers generally.
+[Xenophon thus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>describes them&mdash;"As soon as the libations were over, and
+they had sung the p&aelig;an, two Thracians rose up and danced in full armor,
+to the sound of a pipe;<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> they leaped very high, and with great
+agility, and wielded their swords; and at last one struck the other, in
+such a manner that every one thought he had killed him. He fell,
+however, artfully, and the Paphlagonians cried out; the other having
+stripped him of his arms, went out singing; while other Thracians
+carried off the man as if he had been dead; though indeed he had
+suffered no hurt. Afterward some others stood up and danced what they
+called the Carp&aelig;an dance<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> in heavy arms. The nature of the dance was
+as follows: one man having laid aside his arms, sows, and drives a yoke
+of oxen, frequently turning to look back as if he were afraid. A robber
+then approaches, and the plowman when he perceives him, snatches up his
+arms and runs to meet him, and fights with him in defence of his oxen
+(and the dancers acted all this, keeping time to the music); but at last
+the robber binding the ox driver, leads him off with his oxen.
+Sometimes, however, the plowman binds the robber, and then having
+fastened him to his oxen, drives him off with his hands tied behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Next came forward a man with a light shield in each hand, and danced,
+sometimes acting as if two adversaries were attacking him; sometimes he
+used his shields as if engaged with only one; sometimes he whirled
+about, and threw a somersault, still keeping the shields in his hands,
+presenting an interesting spectacle. At last he danced the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>Persian
+dance (frequently bending the knee), clashing his shields together,
+sinking on his knees, and rising again; and all this he performed in
+time to the pipe.</p>
+
+<p>"After him some of the Arcadians coming forward and taking their stand,
+armed as handsomely as they could equip themselves, moved along in time,
+accompanied by a pipe tuned for the war-movement, and sung the p&aelig;an, and
+danced in the same manner as in the procession to the gods. The
+Paphlagonians, looking on, testified their astonishment that all the
+dances were performed in armor. The Mysian,<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> observing that they were
+surprised at the exhibition, and prevailing on one of the Arcadians, who
+had a female dancer, to let her come in, brought her forward, equipping
+her as handsomely as he could, and giving her a light shield. She danced
+the Pyrrhic<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> dance with great agility, and a general clapping of
+hands followed; and the Paphlagonians asked whether the women fought
+along with the men; when they replied that it was the women who had
+driven the King from his camp.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> This was the conclusion of the
+entertainment for that night."<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a>] They were followed on the next day
+by an amicable convention concluded between the army and the
+Paphlagonians.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_ARMY_PASSES_BY_SEA_TO_SINOPE" id="THE_ARMY_PASSES_BY_SEA_TO_SINOPE"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 15. The army passes by sea to Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;.</b></p>
+
+<p>Not long afterwards&mdash;a number of transports, sufficient for the whole
+army, having been assembled from Herakleia and Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;&mdash;all the soldiers
+were conveyed by sea to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>latter place, passing by the mouth of the
+rivers Therm&ocirc;d&ocirc;n, Iris, and Halys, which they would have found
+impracticable to cross in a land-march through Paphlagonia. Having
+reached Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc; after a day and a night of sailing with a fair wind, they
+were hospitably received, and lodged in the neighboring seaport of
+Arm&ecirc;n&ecirc;, where the Sinopians sent to them a large present of barley-meal
+and wine, and where they remained for five days.</p>
+
+<p>It was here that they were joined by Cheirisophus, whose absence had
+been so unexpectedly prolonged. But he came with only a single
+trireme,<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> bringing nothing except a message from Anaxibius, the
+Laced&aelig;monian general in the Bosphorus; who complimented the army, and
+promised that they should be taken into pay as soon as they were out of
+the Euxine. The soldiers, severely disappointed on seeing him arrive
+thus empty-handed, became the more strongly bent on striking some blow
+to fill their own purses before they reached Greece. Feeling that it was
+necessary to the success of any such project that it should be prepared
+not only skilfully, but secretly, they resolved to elect a single
+general in place of that board of six (or perhaps more) who were still
+in function. Such was now the ascendency of Xenophon, that the general
+sentiment of the army at once turned towards him; and the captains,
+communicating to him what was in contemplation, intimated to him their
+own anxious hopes that he would not decline the offer. Tempted by so
+flattering a proposition, he hesitated at first what answer he should
+give. But at length the uncertainty of being able to satisfy the
+exigencies of the army, and the fear of thus compromising the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>reputation which he had already realized, outweighed the opposite
+inducements. As in other cases of doubt, so in this&mdash;he offered
+sacrifice to Zeus the King; and the answer returned by the victims was
+such as to determine him to refusal. Accordingly, when the army
+assembled, with predetermination to choose a single chief, and proceeded
+to nominate him&mdash;he respectfully and thankfully declined, on the ground
+that Cheirisophus was a Laced&aelig;monian, and that he himself was not;
+adding that he should cheerfully serve under any one whom they might
+name. His excuse however was repudiated; especially by the captains.
+Several of these latter were Arcadians; and one of them, Agasias, cried
+out, with full sympathy of the soldiers, that, if that principle were
+admitted, he as an Arcadian ought to resign his command. Finding that
+his former reason was not approved, Xenophon acquainted the army that he
+had sacrificed to know whether he ought to accept the command, and that
+the gods had peremptorily forbidden him to do so.</p>
+
+<p>Cheirisophus was then elected sole commander, and undertook the duty;
+saying that he would have willingly served under Xenophon, if the latter
+had accepted the office, but that it was a good thing for Xenophon
+himself to have declined&mdash;since Dexippus had already poisoned the mind
+of Anaxibius against him, though he (Cheirisophus) had emphatically
+contradicted the calumnies.</p>
+
+<p>On the next day, the army sailed forward under the command of
+Cheirisophus, to Herakleia; near which town they were hospitably
+entertained, and gratified with a present of meal, wine, and bullocks,
+even greater than they had received at Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;. It now appeared that
+Xenophon had acted wisely in declining the sole command; and also <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>that
+Cheirisophus, though elected commander, yet having been very long
+absent, was not really of so much importance in the eyes of the soldiers
+as Xenophon. In the camp near Herakleia, the soldiers became impatient
+that their generals (for the habit of looking upon Xenophon as one of
+them still continued) took no measures to procure money for them. The
+Ach&aelig;an Lykon proposed that they should extort a contribution of no less
+than 3000 staters<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> of Kyzikus from the inhabitants of Herakleia:
+another man immediately outbid this proposition, and proposed that they
+should require 10,000 staters<a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a>&mdash;a full month's pay for the army. It
+was moved that Cheirisophus and Xenophon should go to the Herakleots as
+envoys with this demand. But both of them indignantly refused to be
+concerned in so unjust an extortion, from a Grecian city which had just
+received the army kindly and sent handsome presents. Accordingly Lykon
+with two Arcadian officers undertook the mission, and intimated the
+demand, not without threats in case of non-compliance, to the
+Herakleots. The latter replied that they would take it into
+consideration. But they waited only for the departure of the envoys, and
+then immediately closed their gates, manned their walls, and brought in
+their outlying property.</p>
+
+<p>The project being thus baffled, Lykon and the rest turned their
+displeasure upon Cheirisophus and Xenophon, whom they accused of having
+occasioned its miscarriage. And they now began to exclaim that it was
+disgraceful to the Arcadians and Ach&aelig;ans, who formed more than one
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>numerical half of the army and endured all the toil&mdash;to obey as well as
+to enrich generals from other Hellenic cities; especially a single
+Athenian who furnished no contingent to the army. Here again it is
+remarkable that the personal importance of Xenophon caused him to be
+still regarded as a general, though the sole command had been vested by
+formal vote in Cheirisophus. So vehement was the dissatisfaction, that
+all the Arcadian and Ach&aelig;an soldiers in the army, more than 4500
+heavy-armed foot-soldiers in number, renounced the authority of
+Cheirisophus, formed themselves into a distinct division, and chose ten
+commanders from out of their own numbers. The whole army thus became
+divided, into three portions&mdash;first the Arcadians and Ach&aelig;ans: secondly,
+1400 heavy-armed foot-soldiers and 700 Thracian light-armed
+foot-soldiers, who adhered to Cheirisophus: lastly, 1700 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, 300 light-armed foot-soldiers, and 40 horsemen (all the
+horsemen in the army), attaching themselves to Xenophon; who however was
+taking measures to sail away individually from Herakleia and quit the
+army altogether, which he would have done had he not been restrained by
+unfavorable sacrifices.</p>
+
+<p>The Arcadian division, departing first, in vessels from Herakleia,
+landed at Kalp&ecirc;; an untenanted promontory of the Bithynian or Asiatic
+Thrace, midway between Herakleia and Byzantium. From thence they marched
+at once into the interior of Bithynia, with the view of surprising the
+villages and acquiring plunder. But through rashness and bad management,
+they first sustained several partial losses, and ultimately became
+surrounded upon an eminence, by a large muster of the native Bithynians
+from all the territory around. They were only rescued from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>destruction
+by the unexpected appearance of Xenophon with his division; who had left
+Herakleia somewhat later, but heard by accident, during their march, of
+the danger of their comrades. The whole army thus became re-assembled at
+Kalp&ecirc;, where the Arcadians and Ach&aelig;ans, disgusted at the ill-success of
+their separate expedition, again established the old union and the old
+generals. They chose Neon in place of Cheirisophus, who&mdash;afflicted by
+the humiliation put upon him, in having been first named sole commander
+and next deposed within a week&mdash;had fallen sick of a fever and died. The
+elder Arcadian captains farther moved a resolution, that if any one
+henceforward should propose to separate the army into fractions, he
+should be put to death.</p>
+
+<p>The locality of Kalp&ecirc; was well-suited for the foundation of a colony,
+which Xenophon evidently would have been glad to bring about, though he
+took no direct measures tending towards it; while the soldiers were so
+bent on returning to Greece, and so jealous lest Xenophon should entrap
+them into remaining, that they almost shunned the encampment. It so
+happened that they were detained there for some days without being able
+to march forth even in quest of provisions, because the sacrifices were
+not favorable. Xenophon refused to lead them out, against the warning of
+the sacrifices&mdash;although the army suspected him of a deliberate
+man&oelig;uvre for the purpose of detention. Neon however, less scrupulous,
+led out a body of 2000 men who chose to follow him, under severe
+distress for want of provisions. But being surprised by the native
+Bithynians, with the aid of some troops of the Persian satrap
+Pharnabazus, he was defeated with the loss of no less than 500 men; a
+misfortune which Xenophon regards <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>as the natural retribution for
+contempt of the sacrificial warning. The dangerous position of Neon with
+the remainder of the detachment was rapidly made known at the camp: upon
+which Xenophon, unharnessing a wagon-bullock as the only animal near at
+hand, immediately offered sacrifice. On this occasion the victim was at
+once favorable; so that he led out without delay the greater part of the
+force, to the rescue of the exposed detachment, which was brought back
+in safety to the camp. So bold had the enemy become, that in the night
+the camp was attacked. The Greeks were obliged on the next day to
+retreat into stronger ground, surrounding themselves with a ditch and a
+palisade. Fortunately a vessel arrived from Herakleia, bringing to the
+camp at Kalp&ecirc; a supply of barley-meal, cattle, and wine; which restored
+the spirits of the army, enabling them to go forth on the ensuing
+morning and assume the aggressive against the Bithynians, and the troops
+of Pharnabazus. These troops were completely defeated and dispersed, so
+that the Greeks returned to their camp at Kalp&ecirc; in the evening both safe
+and masters of the country.</p>
+
+<p>At Kalp&ecirc; they remained some time awaiting the arrival of Kleander from
+Byzantium, who was said to be about to bring vessels for their
+transport. They were now abundantly provided with supplies, not merely
+from the undisturbed plunder of the neighboring villages, but also from
+the visits of traders who came with cargoes. Indeed the impression&mdash;that
+they were preparing, at the instance of Xenophon, to found a new city at
+Kalp&ecirc;&mdash;became so strong that several of the neighboring native villages
+sent envoys to ask on what terms alliance would be granted to them. At
+length Kleander came, but with two triremes only.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Kleander was the Laced&aelig;monian governor of Byzantium. His appearance
+opens to us a new phase in the eventful history of this gallant army, as
+well as an insight into the state of the Grecian world under the
+Laced&aelig;monian empire. He came attended by the Laced&aelig;monian Dexippus, who
+had served in the Cyreian army until their arrival at Trapezus, and who
+had there been entrusted with an armed vessel for the purpose of
+detaining transports to convey the troops home but had abused the
+confidence reposed in him, by running away with the ship to Byzantium.</p>
+
+<p>It so happened that at the moment when Kleander arrived, the whole army
+was out on a marauding excursion. Orders had already been promulgated,
+that whatever was captured by every one when the whole army was out,
+should be brought in and dealt with as public property; though on days
+when the army was collectively at rest, any soldier might go out
+individually and take to himself whatever he could pillage. On the day
+when Kleander arrived, and found the whole army out, some soldiers were
+just coming back with a lot of sheep which they had seized. By right,
+the sheep ought to have been handed into the public store. But these
+soldiers, desirous to appropriate them wrongfully, addressed themselves
+to Dexippus, and promised him a portion if he would enable them to
+retain the rest. Accordingly the latter interfered, drove away those who
+claimed the sheep as public property, and denounced them as thieves to
+Kleander; who desired him to bring them before him. Dexippus arrested
+one of them, a soldier belonging to the company of one of the best
+friends of Xenophon&mdash;the Arcadian Agasias. The latter took the man under
+his protection; while the soldiers around incensed not less at the past
+than at the present conduct <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>of Dexippus, broke out into violent
+manifestations, called him a traitor, and pelted him with stones. Such
+was their wrath, that not Dexippus alone, but the crew of the triremes
+also, and even Kleander himself fled, in alarm; in spite of the
+intervention of Xenophon, and the other generals, who on the one hand
+explained to Kleander, that it was an established army-order which these
+soldiers were seeking to enforce&mdash;and on the other hand controlled the
+mutineers. But the Laced&aelig;monian governor was so incensed as well by his
+own fright as by the calumnies of Dexippus, that he threatened to sail
+away at once, and proclaim the Cyreian army enemies to Sparta, so that
+every Hellenic city should be interdicted from giving them reception. It
+was in vain that the generals, well knowing the formidable consequences
+of such an interdict, entreated him to relent. He would consent only on
+condition that the soldiers who had begun to throw stones as well as
+Agasias the interfering officer, should be delivered up to him. This
+latter demand was especially insisted upon by Dexippus, who hating
+Xenophon, had already tried to prejudice Anaxibius against him, and
+believed that Agasias had acted by his order.</p>
+
+<p>The situation now became extremely critical; since the soldiers would
+not easily be brought to surrender their comrades&mdash;who had a perfectly
+righteous cause, though they had supported it by undue violence&mdash;to the
+vengeance of a traitor like Dexippus. When the army was convened in
+assembly, several of them went so far as to treat the menace of Kleander
+with contempt. But Xenophon took pains to set them right upon this
+point. "Soldiers (said he) it will be no slight misfortune if Kleander
+shall depart as he threatens to do, in his present temper toward us. We
+are here close upon the cities of Greece: now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>the Laced&aelig;monians are the
+imperial power in Greece, and not merely their authorized officers, but
+even each one of their individual citizens, can accomplish what he
+pleases in the various cities. If then Kleander begins by shutting us
+out from Byzantium, and next enjoins the Laced&aelig;monian governors in the
+other cities<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> to do the same, proclaiming us lawless and disobedient
+to Sparta&mdash;if, besides, the same representation should be conveyed to
+the Laced&aelig;monian admiral of the fleet, Anaxibius&mdash;we shall be hard
+pressed either to remain or to sail away; for the Laced&aelig;monians are at
+present masters both on land and at sea. We must not, for the sake of
+any one or two men, suffer the whole army to be excluded from Greece. We
+must obey whatever the Laced&aelig;monians command, especially as our cities,
+to which we respectively belong, now obey them. As to what concerns
+myself, I understand that Dexippus has told Kleander that Agasias would
+never have taken such a step except by my orders. Now, if Agasias
+himself states this, I am ready to exonerate both him and all of you,
+and to give myself up to any extremity of punishment. I maintain too
+that any other man whom Kleander arraigns ought in like manner to give
+himself up for trial, in order that you collectively may be discharged
+from the imputation. It will be hard indeed, if just as we are reaching
+Greece, we should not only be debarred from the praise and honor which
+we anticipated, but should be degraded even below the level of others,
+and shut out from the Grecian cities."</p>
+
+<p>After this speech from the philo-Laconian<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>Xenophon&mdash;so significant
+a testimony of the unmeasured ascendency and interference of the
+Laced&aelig;monians throughout Greece&mdash;Agasias rose, and proclaimed, that what
+he had done was neither under the orders, nor with the privity, of
+Xenophon; that he had acted on a personal impulse of wrath, at seeing
+his own honest and innocent soldier dragged away by the traitor
+Dexippus; but that he now willingly gave himself up as a victim, to
+avert from the army the displeasure of the Laced&aelig;monians. This generous
+self-sacrifice, which at the moment promised nothing less than a fatal
+result to Agasias, was accepted by the army: and the generals conducted
+both him and the soldier whom he had rescued, as prisoners to Kleander.
+Presenting himself as the responsible party, Agasias at the same time
+explained to Kleander the infamous behavior of Dexippus to the army, and
+said that towards no one else would he have acted in the same manner;
+while the soldier whom he had rescued, and who was given up at the same
+time, also affirmed that he had interfered merely to prevent Dexippus
+and some others from overruling, for their own individual benefit, a
+proclaimed order of the entire army. Kleander, having observed that if
+Dexippus had done what was affirmed, he would be the last to defend him,
+but that no one ought to have been stoned without trial&mdash;desired that
+the persons surrendered might be left for his consideration, and at the
+same time retracted his expressions of displeasure as regarded all the
+others.</p>
+
+<p>The generals then retired, leaving Kleander in possession of the
+prisoners, and on the point of taking his dinner. But they retired with
+mournful feelings, and Xenophon presently convened the army to propose
+that a general deputation should be sent to Kleander to implore his
+lenity <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>towards their two comrades. This being cordially adopted,
+Xenophon, at the head of a deputation comprising Drakontius the Spartan
+as well as the chief officers, addressed an earnest appeal to Kleander,
+representing that his honor had been satisfied with the unconditional
+surrender of the two persons required; that the army, deeply concerned
+for two meritorious comrades, entreated him now to show mercy and spare
+their lives; that they promised him in return the most explicit
+obedience, and entreated him to take the command of them, in order that
+he might have personal cognizance of their exact discipline, and compare
+their worth with that of Dexippus. Kleander was not merely soothed, but
+completely won over, by this address; and said in reply that the conduct
+of the generals belied altogether the representations made to him
+(doubtless by Dexippus), that they were seeking to alienate the army
+from the Laced&aelig;monians. He not only restored the two men in his power,
+but also accepted the command of the army, and promised to conduct them
+back into Greece.</p>
+
+<p>The prospects of the army appeared thus greatly improved; the more so,
+as Kleander, on entering upon his new functions as commander, found the
+soldiers so cheerful and orderly, that he was highly gratified, and
+exchanged personal tokens of friendship and hospitality with Xenophon.
+But when sacrifices came to be offered, for beginning the march
+homeward, the signs were so unpropitious, for three successive days,
+that Kleander could not bring himself to brave such auguries at the
+outset of his career. Accordingly, he told the generals, that the gods
+plainly forbade him, and reserved it for them, to conduct the army into
+Greece; that he should therefore sail back to Byzantium, and would
+receive the army in the best way he could, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>when they reached the
+Bosphorus. After an interchange of presents with the soldiers, he then
+departed with his two triremes.</p>
+
+<p>The favorable sentiment now established in the bosom of Kleander will be
+found very serviceable hereafter to the Cyreians at Byzantium; but they
+had cause for deeply regretting the unpropitious sacrifices which had
+deterred him from assuming the actual command at Kalp&ecirc;. In the request
+preferred to him by them that he would march as their commander to the
+Bosphorus, we may recognize a scheme, and a very well-contrived scheme,
+of Xenophon; who had before desired to leave the army at Herakleia, and
+who saw plainly that the difficulties of a commander, unless he were a
+Laced&aelig;monian of station and influence, would increase with every step of
+their approach to Greece. Had Kleander accepted the command, the
+soldiers would have been better treated, while Xenophon himself might
+either have remained as his adviser, or might have gone home. He would
+probably have chosen the latter course.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_ARMY_CROSSES_THE_BOSPHORUS_TO_BYZANTIUM" id="THE_ARMY_CROSSES_THE_BOSPHORUS_TO_BYZANTIUM"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises of
+Anaxibius and their results.</b></p>
+
+<p>Under the command of their own officers, the Cyreians now marched from
+Kalp&ecirc; across Bithynia to Chrysopolis (in the territory of Chalk&ecirc;don on
+the Asiatic edge of the Bosphorus, immediately opposite to
+Byzantium,<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> as Scutari now is to Constantinople), where they
+remained seven days, turning into money the slaves and plunder which
+they had collected. Unhappily for them, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>Laced&aelig;monian admiral
+Anaxibius was now at Byzantium, so that their friend Kleander was under
+his superior command. And Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of the
+northwestern regions of Asia Minor, becoming much alarmed lest they
+should invade his satrapy, despatched a private message to Anaxibius;
+whom he prevailed upon, by promise of large presents, to transport the
+army forthwith across to the European side of the Bosphorus.
+Accordingly, Anaxibius, sending for the generals and the captains across
+to Byzantium, invited the army to cross, and gave them his assurance
+that as soon as the soldiers should be in Europe, he would provide pay
+for them. The other officers told him that they would return with this
+message and take the sense of the army; but Xenophon on his own account
+said that he should not return; that he should now retire from the army,
+and sail away from Byzantium. It was only on the pressing instance of
+Anaxibius that he was induced to go back to Chrysopolis and conduct the
+army across; on the understanding that he should depart immediately
+afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>Here at Byzantium, he received his first communication from the Thracian
+prince Seuth&ecirc;s; who sent Medosad&ecirc;s to offer him a reward if he would
+bring the army across. Xenophon replied that the army would cross; that
+no reward from Seuth&ecirc;s was needful to bring about that movement; but
+that he himself was about to depart, leaving the command in other hands.
+In point of fact, the whole army crossed with little delay, landed in
+Europe, and found themselves within the walls of Byzantium. Xenophon,
+who had come along with them, paid a visit shortly afterwards to his
+friend the governor Kleander, and took leave of him as about to depart
+immediately. But Kleander told <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>him that he must not think of departing
+until the army was out of the city, and that he would be held
+responsible if they stayed. In truth Kleander was very uneasy so long as
+the soldiers were within the walls, and was well aware that it might be
+no easy matter to induce them to go away. For Anaxibius had practised a
+gross fraud in promising them pay, which he had neither the ability nor
+the inclination to provide. Without handing to them either pay or even
+means of purchasing supplies, he issued orders that they must go forth
+with arms and baggage, and muster outside of the gates, there to be
+numbered for an immediate march; any one who stayed behind being held as
+punishable. This proclamation was alike unexpected and offensive to the
+soldiers, who felt that they had been deluded, and were very backward in
+obeying. Hence Kleander, while urgent with Xenophon to defer his
+departure until he had conducted the army outside of the walls,
+added&mdash;"Go forth as if you were about to march along with them; when you
+are once outside, you may depart as soon as you please;" Xenophon
+replied that this matter must be settled with Anaxibius, to whom
+accordingly both of them went, and who repeated the same directions, in
+a manner yet more peremptory. Though it was plain to Xenophon that he
+was here making himself a sort of instrument to the fraud which
+Anaxibius had practised upon the army, yet he had no choice but to obey.
+Accordingly, he as well as the other generals put themselves at the head
+of the troops, who followed, however reluctantly, and arrived most of
+them outside of the gates. Eteonikus (a Laced&aelig;monian officer of
+consideration, noticed more than once in preceding Grecian history)
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>commanding at the gate, stood close to it in person; in order that when
+all the Cyreians had gone forth, he might immediately shut it and fasten
+it with the bar.</p>
+
+<p>Anaxibius knew well what he was doing. He fully anticipated that the
+communication of the final orders would occasion an outbreak among the
+Cyreians, and was anxious to defer it until they were outside. But when
+there remained only the rearmost companies still in the inside and on
+their march, all the rest having got out&mdash;he thought the danger was
+over, and summoned to him the generals and captains, all of whom were
+probably near the gates superintending the march through. It seems that
+Xenophon, having given notice that he intended to depart, did not answer
+to this summons as one of the generals, but remained outside among the
+soldiers. "Take what supplies you want (said Anaxibius) from the
+neighboring Thracian villages, which are well furnished with wheat,
+barley, and other necessaries. After thus providing yourselves, march
+forward to the Chersonesus,<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> and there Kyniskus will give you pay."</p>
+
+<p>This was the first distinct intimation given by Anaxibius that he did
+not intend to perform his promise of finding pay for the soldiers. Who
+Kyniskus was we do not know, nor was he probably known to the Cyreians;
+but the march here enjoined was at least 150 miles, and might be much
+longer. The route was not indicated, and the generals had to inquire
+from Anaxibius whether they were to go by what was called the Holy
+Mountain (that is, by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>the shorter line, skirting the northern coast of
+the Propontis), or by a more inland and circuitous road through
+Thrace;&mdash;also whether they were to regard the Thracian prince, Seuth&ecirc;s,
+as a friend or an enemy.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="MUTINY_OF_THE_ARMY_IN_LEAVING_BYZANTIUM" id="MUTINY_OF_THE_ARMY_IN_LEAVING_BYZANTIUM"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium.</b></p>
+
+<p>Instead of the pay which had been formally promised to them by Anaxibius
+if they would cross over from Asia to Byzantium, the Cyreians thus found
+themselves sent away empty-handed to a long march&mdash;through another
+barbarous country, with chance-supplies to be obtained only by their own
+efforts,&mdash;and at the end of it a lot unknown and uncertain; while, had
+they remained in Asia, they would have had at any rate the rich satrapy
+of Pharnabazus within their reach. To perfidy of dealing was now added a
+brutal ejectment from Byzantium, without even the commonest
+manifestations of hospitality; contrasting pointedly with the treatment
+which the army had recently experienced at Trapezus, Sin&ocirc;p&ecirc;, and
+Herakleia; where they had been welcomed not only by compliments on their
+past achievements, but also by an ample present of flour, meat, and
+wine. Such behavior could not fail to provoke the most violent
+indignation in the bosoms of the soldiery; and Anaxibius had therefore
+delayed giving the order until the last soldiers were marching out,
+thinking that the army would hear nothing of it until the generals came
+out of the gates to inform them; so that the gates would be closed, and
+the walls manned to resist an assault from without. But his calculations
+were not realized. Either one of the soldiers passing by heard him give
+the order, or one of the captains forming his audience stole away <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>from
+the rest, and hastened forward to acquaint his comrades on the outside.
+The bulk of the army, already irritated by the inhospitable way in which
+they had been thrust out, needed nothing farther to inflame them into
+spontaneous mutiny and aggression. While the generals within (who either
+took the communication more patiently, or at least, looking farther
+forward, felt that any attempt to resent or resist the ill-usage of the
+Spartan admiral would only make their position worse) were discussing
+with Anaxibius the details of the march just enjoined&mdash;the soldiers
+without, bursting into spontaneous movement, with a simultaneous and
+fiery impulse, made a rush back to get possession of the gate. But
+Eteonikus, seeing their movement, closed it without a moment's delay,
+and fastened the bar. The soldiers on reaching the gate and finding it
+barred, clamored loudly to get it opened, threatened to break it down,
+and even began to knock violently against it. Some ran down to the
+sea-coast, and made their way into the city round the line of stones at
+the base of the city wall, which protected it against the sea; while the
+rearmost soldiers who had not yet marched out, seeing what was passing,
+and fearful of being cut off from their comrades, assaulted the gate
+from the inside, severed the fastenings with axes, and threw it wide
+open to the army. All the soldiers then rushed up, and were soon again
+in Byzantium.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could exceed the terror of the Laced&aelig;monians as well as of the
+native Byzantines, when they saw the excited Cyreians again within the
+walls. The town seemed already taken and on the point of being
+plundered. Neither Anaxibius nor Eteonikus took the smallest means of
+resistance, nor stayed to brave the approach of the soldiers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>whose
+wrath they were fully conscious of having deserved. Both fled to the
+citadel&mdash;the former first running to the seashore, and jumping into a
+fishing-boat to go thither by sea. He even thought the citadel not
+tenable with its existing garrison, and sent over to Chalk&ecirc;don for a
+reinforcement. Still more terrified were the citizens of the town. Every
+man in the market-place instantly fled; some to their houses, others to
+the merchant vessels in the harbor, others to the triremes or ships of
+war, which they hauled down to the water, and thus put to sea.</p>
+
+<p>To the deception and harshness of the Spartan admiral, there was thus
+added a want of precaution in the manner of execution, which threatened
+to prove the utter ruin of Byzantium. For it was but too probable that
+the Cyreian soldiers, under the keen sense of recent injury, would
+satiate their revenge, and reimburse themselves for the want of
+hospitality towards them, without distinguishing the Laced&aelig;monian
+garrison from the Byzantine citizens; and that too from mere impulse,
+not merely without orders, but in spite of prohibitions, from their
+generals. Such was the aspect of the case, when they became again
+assembled in a mass within the gates; and such would probably have been
+the reality, had Xenophon executed his design of retiring earlier, so as
+to leave the other generals acting without him. Being on the outside
+along with the soldiers, Xenophon felt at once, as soon as he saw the
+gates forced open and the army again within the town, the terrific
+emergency which was impending: first, the sack of Byzantium&mdash;next,
+horror and antipathy, throughout all Greece, towards the Cyreian
+officers and soldiers indiscriminately&mdash;lastly, unsparing retribution
+inflicted upon all by the power of Sparta. Overwhelmed with these
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>anxieties, he rushed into the town along with the multitude, using
+every effort to pacify them and bring them into order. They on their
+parts, delighted to see him along with them, and conscious of their own
+force, were eager to excite him to the same pitch as themselves, and to
+prevail on him to second and methodize their present triumph. "Now is
+your time, Xenophon (they exclaimed), to make yourself a man. You have
+here a city&mdash;you have triremes&mdash;you have money&mdash;you have plenty of
+soldiers. Now then, if you choose, you can enrich us; and we in return
+can make you powerful."&mdash;"You speak well (replied he); I shall do as you
+propose; but if you want to accomplish anything, you must fall into
+military array forthwith." He knew that this was the first condition of
+returning to anything like tranquillity; and by great good fortune, the
+space called the Thrakion,<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> immediately adjoining the gate inside,
+was level, open, and clear of houses; presenting an excellent place of
+arms or locality for a review. The whole army,&mdash;partly from their long
+military practice, partly under the impression that Xenophon was really
+about to second their wishes and direct some aggressive operation&mdash;threw
+themselves almost of their own accord into regular array on the
+Thrakion; the heavy-armed foot-soldiers eight deep, the light-armed
+foot-soldiers on each flank. It was in this position that Xenophon
+addressed them as follows.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="XENOPHONS_SPEECH_TO_THE_SOLDIERS" id="XENOPHONS_SPEECH_TO_THE_SOLDIERS"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers.</b></p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers, I am not surprised that you are incensed, and that you think
+yourselves scandalously cheated and ill-used. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>But if we give way to our
+wrath&mdash;if we punish these Laced&aelig;monians now before us for their
+treachery, and plunder this innocent city&mdash;reflect what will be the
+consequence. We shall stand proclaimed forthwith as enemies to the
+Laced&aelig;monians and their allies, and what sort of a war that will be,
+those who have witnessed and who still recollect recent matters of
+history may easily fancy. We Athenians entered into the war against
+Sparta with a powerful army and fleet, an abundant revenue, and numerous
+tributary cities in Asia as well as Europe&mdash;among them this very
+Byzantium in which we now stand. We have been vanquished in the way that
+all of you know. And what then will be the fate of us soldiers, when we
+shall have as united enemies, Sparta with all her old allies and Athens
+besides,&mdash;Tissaphern&ecirc;s and the barbaric forces on the coast&mdash;and most of
+all the Great King<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> whom we marched up to dethrone and slay, if we
+were able? Is any man fool enough to think that we have a chance of
+making head against so many combined enemies? Let us not plunge madly
+into dishonor and ruin, nor incur the enmity of our own fathers and
+friends: who are in the cities which will take arms against us&mdash;and will
+take arms justly, if we, who abstained from seizing any barbaric city,
+even when we were in force sufficient, shall nevertheless now plunder
+the first Grecian city into which we have been admitted. As far as I am
+concerned, may I be buried ten thousand fathoms deep in the earth rather
+than see you do such things! and I exhort <i>you</i> too, as Greeks, to obey
+the leaders of Greece. Endeavor while thus obedient, to obtain your just
+rights; but if you should fail in this, rather submit to injustice than
+cut yourselves off from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>Grecian world. Send to inform Anaxibius,
+that we have entered the city, not with a view to commit any violence,
+but in the hope, if possible, of obtaining from him the advantages which
+he promised us. If we fail, we shall at least prove to him that we quit
+the city not under his fraudulent man&oelig;uvres, but under our own sense
+of the duty of obedience."</p>
+
+<p>This speech completely arrested the impetuous impulse of the army,
+brought them to a true sense of their situation, and induced them to
+adopt the proposition of Xenophon. They remained unmoved in their
+position on the Thrakion, while three of the captains were sent to
+communicate with Anaxibius. While they were thus waiting, a Theban named
+Koeratadas approached, who had once commanded in Byzantium under the
+Laced&aelig;monians during the previous war. He had now become a sort of
+professional general looking out for an army to command wherever he
+could find one, and offering his services to any city which would engage
+him. He addressed the assembled Cyreians, and offered, if they would
+accept him for their general, to conduct them against the Delta<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> of
+Thrace (the space included between the northwest corner of the
+Propontis<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> and the southwest corner of the Euxine), which he
+asserted to be a rich territory presenting great opportunity of plunder:
+he further promised to furnish them with ample subsistence during the
+march. Presently the envoys returned, bearing the reply of Anaxibius;
+who received the message favorably, promising that not only the army
+should have no cause to regret their obedience, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>but that he would both
+report their good conduct to the authorities at home, and do everything
+in his own power to promote their comfort. He said nothing farther about
+taking them into pay; that delusion having now answered its purpose. The
+soldiers, on hearing his communication, adopted a resolution to accept
+K&oelig;ratadas as their future commander, and then marched out of the
+town. As soon as they were on the outside, Anaxibius, not content with
+closing the gates against them, made public proclamation that if any one
+of them were found in the town, he should be sold forthwith into
+slavery.</p>
+
+<p>There are few cases throughout Grecian history in which an able
+discourse has been the means of averting so much evil, as was averted by
+this speech of Xenophon to the army in Byzantium. Nor did he ever,
+throughout the whole period of his command, render to them a more signal
+service. The miserable consequences, which would have ensued, had the
+army persisted in their aggressive impulse&mdash;first, to the citizens of
+the town, ultimately to themselves, while Anaxibius, the only guilty
+person, had the means of escaping by sea, even under the worst
+circumstances&mdash;are stated by Xenophon rather under than above the
+reality. At the same time no orator ever undertook a more difficult
+case, or achieved a fuller triumph over unpromising conditions. If we
+consider the feelings and position of the army at the instant of their
+breaking into the town, we shall be astonished that any commander could
+have arrested their movements. Though fresh from all the glory of their
+retreat, they had been first treacherously entrapped over from Asia,
+next roughly ejected by Anaxibius; and although it may be said truly
+that the citizens of Byzantium had no concern either in the one or the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>other, yet little heed is commonly taken, in military operations, to
+the distinction between garrison and citizens in an assailed town.
+Having arms in their hands, with consciousness of force arising out of
+their exploits in Asia, the Cyreians were at the same time inflamed by
+the opportunity both of avenging a gross recent injury, and enriching
+themselves in the process of execution; to which we may add, the
+excitement of that rush whereby they had obtained re-entry, and the
+farther fact that, without the gates they had nothing to expect except
+poor, hard, uninviting service in Thrace. With soldiers already
+possessed by an overpowering impulse of this nature, what chance was
+there that a retiring general, on the point of quitting the army, could
+so work upon their minds as to induce them to renounce the prey before
+them? Xenophon had nothing to invoke except distant considerations,
+partly of Hellenic reputation, chiefly of prudence; considerations
+indeed of unquestionable reality and prodigious magnitude, yet belonging
+all to a distant future, and therefore of little comparative force,
+except when set forth in magnified characters by the orator. How
+powerfully he worked upon the minds of his hearers, so as to draw forth
+these far-removed dangers from the cloud of present sentiment by which
+they were overlaid&mdash;how skilfully he employed in illustration the
+example of his own native city&mdash;will be seen by all who study his
+speech. Never did his Athenian accomplishments&mdash;his talent for giving
+words to important thoughts&mdash;his promptitude in seizing a present
+situation and managing the sentiments of an impetuous multitude&mdash;appear
+to greater advantage than when he was thus suddenly called forth to meet
+a terrible emergency. His pre-established reputation and the habit of
+obeying his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>orders, were doubtless essential conditions of success. But
+none of his colleagues in command would have been able to accomplish the
+like memorable change on the minds of the soldiers, or to procure
+obedience for any simple authoritative restraint; nay, it is probable,
+that if Xenophon had not been at hand, the other generals would have
+followed the passionate movement, even though they had been
+reluctant&mdash;from simple inability to repress it. Again&mdash;whatever might
+have been the accomplishments of Xenophon, it is certain that even <i>he</i>
+would not have been able to work upon the minds of these excited
+soldiers, had they not been Greeks and citizens as well as
+soldiers,&mdash;bred in Hellenic sympathies and accustomed to Hellenic order,
+with authority operating in part through voice and persuasion, and not
+through the Persian whip and instruments of torture. The memorable
+discourse on the Thrakion at Byzantium illustrates the working of that
+persuasive agency which formed one of the permanent forces and
+conspicuous charms of Hellenism. It teaches us that if the orator could
+sometimes accuse innocent defendants and pervert well-disposed
+assemblies&mdash;a part of the case which historians of Greece often present
+as if it were the whole&mdash;he could also, and that in the most trying
+emergencies, combat the strongest force of present passion, and bring
+into vivid presence the half-obscured lineaments of long-sighted reason
+and duty.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_ARMY_FINALLY_LEAVES_BYZANTIUM" id="THE_ARMY_FINALLY_LEAVES_BYZANTIUM"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuth&ecirc;s offers to hire them.</b></p>
+
+<p>After conducting the army out of the city, Xenophon sent, through
+Kleander, a message to Anaxibius, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>requesting that he himself might be
+allowed to come in again singly, in order to take his departure by sea.
+His request was granted, though not without much difficulty; upon which
+he took leave of the army under the strongest expressions of affection
+and gratitude on their part and went into Byzantium along with Kleander;
+while on the next day K&oelig;ratadas came to assume the command according
+to agreement, bringing with him a prophet, and beasts to be offered in
+sacrifice. There followed in his train twenty men carrying sacks of
+barley-meal, twenty more with jars of wine, three bearing olives, and
+one man with a bundle of garlic and onions. All these provisions being
+laid down, K&oelig;ratadas proceeded to offer sacrifice, as a preliminary
+to the distribution of them among the soldiers. On the first day, the
+sacrifices being unfavorable, no distribution took place; on the second
+day, K&oelig;ratadas was standing with the wreath on his head at the altar,
+and with the victims beside him, about to renew his sacrifice&mdash;when
+Timasion and the other officers interfered, desired him to abstain, and
+dismissed him from the command. Perhaps the first unfavorable sacrifices
+may have partly impelled them to this proceeding. But the main reason
+was, the scanty store, inadequate even to one day's subsistence for the
+army, brought by K&oelig;ratadas&mdash;and the obvious insufficiency of his
+means.</p>
+
+<p>On the departure of K&oelig;ratadas, the army marched to take up its
+quarters in some Thracian villages not far from Byzantium, under its
+former officers; who however could not agree as to their future order of
+march. Kleanor and Phryniskus, who had received presents from Seuth&ecirc;s,
+urged the expediency of accepting the service of that Thracian prince:
+Neon insisted on going to Chersonese, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>be under the Laced&aelig;monian
+officers in that peninsula (as Anaxibius had projected); in the idea
+that he, as a Laced&aelig;monian, would there obtain the command of the whole
+army; while Timasion, with the view of re-establishing himself in his
+native city of Dardanus, proposed returning to the Asiatic side of the
+strait.</p>
+
+<p>Though this last plan met with decided favor among the army, it could
+not be executed without vessels. These Timasion had little or no means
+of procuring; so that considerable delay took place, during which the
+soldiers, receiving no pay, fell into much distress. Many of them were
+even compelled to sell their arms in order to get subsistence; while
+others got permission to settle in some of the neighboring towns, on
+condition of being disarmed. The whole army was thus gradually melting
+away, much to the satisfaction of Anaxibius, who was anxious to see the
+purposes of Pharnabazus accomplished. By degrees, it would probably have
+been dissolved altogether, had not a change of interest on the part of
+Anaxibius induced him to promote its reorganization. He sailed from
+Byzantium to the Asiatic coast, to acquaint Pharnabazus that the
+Cyreians could no longer cause uneasiness, and to require his own
+promised reward. It seems moreover that Xenophon himself departed from
+Byzantium by the same opportunity. When they reached Kyzikus, they met
+the Laced&aelig;monian Aristarchus; who was coming out as a newly-appointed
+governor of Byzantium, to supersede Kleander, and who acquainted
+Anaxibius that Polus was on the point of arriving to supersede him as
+admiral. Anxious to meet Pharnabazus and make sure of his bribe,
+Anaxibius impressed his parting injunction upon Aristarchus to sell for
+slaves all the Cyreians whom he might find <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>at Byzantium on his arrival,
+and then pursued his voyage along the southern coast of the Propontis to
+Parium. But Pharnabazus, having already received intimation of the
+change of admirals, knew that the friendship of Anaxibius was no longer
+of any value, and took no farther heed of him; while he at the same time
+sent to Byzantium to make the like compact with Aristarchus against the
+Cyreian army.</p>
+
+<p>Anaxibius was stung to the quick at this combination of disappointment
+and insult on the part of the satrap. To avenge it, he resolved to
+employ those very soldiers whom he had first corruptly and fraudulently
+brought across to Europe, cast out from Byzantium, and lastly, ordered
+to be sold into slavery, so far as any might yet be found in that town.
+He now resolved to bring them back into Asia for the purpose of acting
+against Pharnabazus. Accordingly he addressed himself to Xenophon, and
+ordered him without a moment's delay to rejoin the army, for the purpose
+of keeping it together, of recalling the soldiers who had departed, and
+transporting the whole body across into Asia. He provided him with an
+armed vessel of thirty oars to cross over from Parium to Perinthus,
+sending over a peremptory order to the Perinthians to furnish him with
+horses in order that he might reach the army with the greatest speed.
+Perhaps it would not have been safe for Xenophon to disobey this order,
+under any circumstances. But the idea of acting with the army in Asia
+against Pharnabazus, under Laced&aelig;monian sanction, was probably very
+acceptable to him. He hastened across to the army, who welcomed his
+return with joy, and gladly embraced the proposal of crossing to Asia,
+which was a great improvement upon their forlorn and destitute
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>condition. He accordingly conducted them to Perinthus, and encamped
+under the walls of the town; refusing, in his way through Selymbria, a
+second proposition from Seuth&ecirc;s to engage the services of the army.</p>
+
+<p>While Xenophon was exerting himself to procure transports for the
+passage of the army at Perinthus, Aristarchus, the new governor, arrived
+there with two triremes from Byzantium. It seems that not only
+Byzantium, but also both Perinthus and Selymbria, were comprised in his
+government as governor. On first reaching Byzantium to supersede
+Kleander, he found there no less than 400 of the Cyreians chiefly sick
+and wounded; whom Kleander, in spite of the ill-will of Anaxibius, had
+not only refused to sell into slavery, but had billeted<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> upon the
+citizens, and tended with solicitude; so much did his good feeling
+towards Xenophon and towards the army now come into play. We read with
+indignation that Aristarchus, immediately on reaching Byzantium to
+supersede him, was not even contented with sending these 400 men out of
+the town; but seized them,&mdash;Greeks, citizens, and soldiers as they
+were&mdash;and sold them all into slavery. Apprised of the movements of
+Xenophon with the army, he now came to Perinthus to prevent their
+transit into Asia; laying an embargo on the transports in the harbor,
+and presenting himself personally before the assembled army to prohibit
+the soldiers from crossing. When Xenophon informed him that Anaxibius
+had given them orders to cross, and had sent him expressly to conduct
+them&mdash;Aristarchus replied, "Anaxibius is no longer in functions as
+admiral, and I am governor in this town. If I catch any of you at sea, I
+will sink you." On the next day, he sent to invite the generals <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>and the
+captains to a conference within the walls. They were just about to enter
+the gates, when Xenophon, who was among them, received a private
+warning, that if he went in, Aristarchus would seize him, and either put
+him to death or send him prisoner to Pharnabazus. Accordingly Xenophon
+sent forward the others, and remained himself with the army, alleging
+the obligation of sacrificing. The behavior of Aristarchus&mdash;who, when he
+saw the others without Xenophon, sent them away, and desired that they
+would all come again in the afternoon&mdash;confirmed the justice of his
+suspicions, as to the imminent danger from which he had been preserved
+by this accidental warning. It need hardly be added that Xenophon
+disregarded the second invitation no less than the first; moreover, a
+third invitation, which Aristarchus afterwards sent, was disregarded by
+all.</p>
+
+<p>We have here a Laced&aelig;monian governor, not scrupling to lay a snare of
+treachery, as flagrant as that which Tissaphern&ecirc;s had practised on the
+banks of the Zab, to entrap Klearchus and his colleagues&mdash;and that too
+against a Greek, and an officer of the highest station and merit, who
+had just saved Byzantium from pillage, and was now actually in execution
+of orders received from the Laced&aelig;monian admiral Anaxibius. Assuredly,
+had the accidental warning been withheld, Xenophon would not have
+escaped falling into this snare; nor could we reasonably have charged
+him with imprudence&mdash;so fully was he entitled to count upon
+straightforward conduct under the circumstances. But the same cannot be
+said of Klearchus, who manifested lamentable credulity, nefarious as was
+the fraud to which he fell a victim.</p>
+
+<p>At the second interview with the other officers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>Aristarchus, while he
+forbade the army to cross the water, directed them to force their way by
+land through the Thracians who occupied the Holy Mountain, and thus to
+arrive at the Chersonese; where (he said) they should receive pay. Neon
+the Laced&aelig;monian, with about 800 heavy-armed foot-soldiers who adhered
+to his separate command, advocated this plan as the best. To be set
+against it, however, there was the proposition of Seuth&ecirc;s to take the
+army into pay; which Xenophon was inclined to prefer, uneasy at the
+thoughts of being cooped up in the narrow peninsula of the Chersonese,
+under the absolute command of the Laced&aelig;monian governor, with great
+uncertainty both as to pay and as to provisions. Moreover it was
+imperiously necessary for these disappointed troops to make some
+immediate movement: for they had been brought to the gates of Perinthus
+in hopes of passing immediately on shipboard; it was midwinter&mdash;they
+were encamped in the open field, under the severe cold of Thrace&mdash;they
+had neither assured supplies, nor even money to purchase, if a market
+had been near. Xenophon, who had brought them to the neighborhood of
+Perinthus, was now again responsible for extricating them from this
+untenable situation; and began to offer sacrifices, according to his
+wont, to ascertain whether the gods would encourage him to recommend a
+covenant with Seuth&ecirc;s. The sacrifices were so favorable, that he
+himself, together with a confidential officer from each of the generals,
+went by night and paid a visit to Seuth&ecirc;s, for the purpose of
+understanding distinctly his offers and purposes.</p>
+
+<p>M&aelig;sad&ecirc;s, the father of Seuth&ecirc;s, had been apparently a dependent prince
+under the great monarchy of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>Odrysian<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> Thracians; so formidable
+in the early years of the Peloponnesian war. But political commotions
+had robbed him of his principality over three Thracian tribes; which it
+was now the ambition of Seuth&ecirc;s to recover, by the aid of the Cyreian
+army. He offered to each soldier one stater of Kyzikus (or nearly the
+same as that which they originally received from Cyrus) as pay per
+month; twice as much to each captain&mdash;four times as much to each of the
+generals. In case they should incur the enmity of the Laced&aelig;monians by
+joining him, he guaranteed to them all the right of settlement and
+fraternal protection in his territory. To each of the generals, over and
+above pay, he engaged to assign a fort on the sea-coast, with a lot of
+land around it, and oxen for cultivation. And to Xenophon in particular,
+he offered the possession of Bisanth&ecirc;, his best point on the coast. "I
+will also (he added, addressing Xenophon) give you my daughter in
+marriage; and if you have any daughter, I will buy her from you in
+marriage according to the custom of Thrace." Seuth&ecirc;s farther engaged
+never on any occasion to lead them more than seven days' journey from
+the sea, at farthest.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_ARMY_ENTERS_THE_SERVICE_OF_SEUTHES" id="THE_ARMY_ENTERS_THE_SERVICE_OF_SEUTHES"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 20. The army enters the service of Seuth&ecirc;s.</b></p>
+
+<p>These offers were as liberal as the army could possibly expect; and
+Xenophon himself, mistrusting the Laced&aelig;monians as well as mistrusted by
+them, seems to have looked forward to the acquisition of a Thracian
+coast-fortress and territory (such as Miltiad&ecirc;s, Alkibiad&ecirc;s, and other
+Athenian leaders had obtained before him) as a valuable refuge in case
+of need. But even if the promise had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>been less favorable, the Cyreians
+had no alternative; for they had not even present supplies&mdash;still less
+any means of subsistence throughout the winter; while departure by sea
+was rendered impossible by the Laced&aelig;monians. On the next day, Seuth&ecirc;s
+was introduced by Xenophon and the other generals to the army, who
+accepted his offers and concluded the bargain.</p>
+
+<p>They remained for two months in his service, engaged in warfare against
+various Thracian tribes, whom they enabled him to conquer and despoil;
+so that at the end of that period, he was in possession of an extensive
+dominion, a large native force, and a considerable tribute. Though the
+suffering from cold was extreme, during these two months of full winter
+and amidst the snowy mountains of Thrace, the army were nevertheless
+enabled by their expeditions along with Seuth&ecirc;s to procure plentiful
+subsistence; which they could hardly have done in any other manner. But
+the pay which he had offered was never liquidated; at least, in requital
+of their two months of service, they received pay only for twenty days
+and a little more. And Xenophon himself, far from obtaining fulfilment
+of those splendid promises which Seuth&ecirc;s had made to him personally,
+seems not even to have received his pay as one of the generals. For him,
+the result was singularly unhappy; since he forfeited the goodwill of
+Seuth&ecirc;s by importunate demand and complaint for the purpose of obtaining
+the pay due to the soldiers; while they on their side, imputing to his
+connivance the non-fulfilment of the promise, became thus in part
+alienated from him. Much of his mischief was brought about by the
+treacherous intrigues and calumny of a corrupt Greek from Maroneia,
+named Herakleid&ecirc;s; who acted as minister and treasurer to Seuth&ecirc;s.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>Want of space compels me to omit the narrative given by Xenophon, both
+of the relations of the army with Seuth&ecirc;s, and of the warfare carried on
+against the hostile Thracian tribes&mdash;interesting as it is from the
+juxtaposition of Greek and Thracian manners. It seems to have been
+composed by Xenophon under feelings of acute personal disappointment,
+and probably in refutation of calumnies against himself as if he had
+wronged the army. Hence we may trace in it a tone of exaggerated
+querulousness, and complaint that the soldiers were ungrateful to him.
+It is true that a portion of the army, under the belief that he had been
+richly rewarded by Seuth&ecirc;s while they had not obtained their stipulated
+pay, expressed virulent sentiments and falsehoods against him. Until
+such suspicions were refuted, it is no wonder that the army were
+alienated; but they were perfectly willing to hear both sides&mdash;and
+Xenophon triumphantly disproved the accusation. That in the end, their
+feelings towards him were those of esteem and favor, stands confessed in
+his own words, proving that the ingratitude of which he complains was
+the feeling of some indeed, but not of all.</p>
+
+<p>It is hard to say however what would have been the fate of this gallant
+army, when Seuth&ecirc;s, having obtained from their arms in two months all
+that he desired, had become only anxious to send them off without
+pay&mdash;had they not been extricated by a change of interest and policy on
+the part of all-powerful Sparta. The Laced&aelig;monians had just declared war
+against Tissaphern&ecirc;s and Pharnabazus; sending Thimbron into Asia to
+commence military operations. They then became extremely anxious to
+transport the Cyreians across to Asia, which their governor Aristarchus
+had hitherto prohibited&mdash;and to take them <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>into permanent pay; for which
+purpose two Laced&aelig;monians, Charm&icirc;nus and Polyn&icirc;kus, were commissioned by
+Thimbron to offer to the army the same pay as he had promised, though
+not paid, by Seuth&ecirc;s; and as had been originally paid by Cyrus. Seuth&ecirc;s
+and Herakleid&ecirc;s, eager to hasten the departure of the soldiers,
+endeavored to take credit with the Laced&aelig;monians for assisting their
+views. Joyfully did the army accept this offer, though complaining
+loudly of the fraud practised upon them by Seuth&ecirc;s; which Charm&icirc;nus, at
+the instance of Xenophon, vainly pressed the Thracian prince to redress.
+He even sent Xenophon to demand the arrear of pay in the name of the
+Laced&aelig;monians, which afforded to the Athenian an opportunity of
+administering a severe lecture to Seuth&ecirc;s. But the latter was not found
+so accessible to the workings of eloquence as the Cyreian assembled
+soldiers. Nor did Xenophon obtain anything beyond a miserable dividend
+upon the sum due:&mdash;together with evil expressions towards himself
+personally&mdash;an invitation to remain in his service with 1000 heavy-armed
+soldiers instead of going to Asia with the army&mdash;and renewed promises,
+not likely now to find much credit, of a fort and a grant of lands.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="XENOPHON_CROSSES_OVER_WITH_THE_ARMY_TO_ASIA" id="XENOPHON_CROSSES_OVER_WITH_THE_ARMY_TO_ASIA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia.</b></p>
+
+<p>When the army, now reduced by losses and dispersions, to 6000 men, was
+prepared to cross into Asia, Xenophon was desirous of going back to
+Athens, but was persuaded to remain with them until the junction with
+Thimbron. He was at this time so poor, having scarcely enough to pay for
+his journey home, that he was obliged to sell his horse at Lampsakus,
+the Asiatic town where the army <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>landed. Here he found Eukleid&ecirc;s, a
+Phliasian<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> prophet with whom he had been wont to hold intercourse
+and offer sacrifice at Athens. This man, having asked Xenophon how much
+he had acquired in the expedition, could not believe him when he
+affirmed his poverty. But when they proceeded to offer sacrifice
+together, from some animals sent by the Lampsakenes as a present to
+Xenophon, Eukleid&ecirc;s had no sooner inspected the entrails of the victims,
+than he told Xenophon that he fully credited the statement. "I see (he
+said) that even if money shall be ever on its way to come to you, you
+yourself will be a hindrance to it, even if there be no other (here
+Xenophon acquiesced): Zeus (the Gracious<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a>) is the real bar. Have you
+ever sacrificed to him, with entire burnt-offerings, as we used to do
+together at Athens?" "Never (replied Xenophon), throughout the whole
+march." "Do so now, then (said Eukleid&ecirc;s), and it will be for your
+advantage." The next day, on reaching Ophrynium, Xenophon obeyed the
+injunction; sacrificing little pigs entire to Zeus the Gracious, as was
+the custom at Athens during the public festival called Diasia.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> And
+on the very same day he felt the beneficial effects of the proceeding;
+for Biton and another envoy came from the Laced&aelig;monians with an advance
+of pay to the army, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>dispositions so favorable to himself, that they
+bought back for him his horse, which he had just sold at Lampsakus for
+fifty darics. This was equivalent to giving him more than one year's pay
+in hand (the pay which he would have received as general being four
+darics per month, or four times that of the soldier), at a time when he
+was known to be on the point of departure, and therefore would not stay
+to earn it. The shortcomings of Seuth&ecirc;s were now made up with immense
+interest, so that Xenophon became better off than any man in the army;
+though he himself slurs over the magnitude of the present, by
+representing it as a delicate compliment to restore to him a favorite
+horse.</p>
+
+<p>Thus gratefully and instantaneously did Zeus the Gracious respond to the
+sacrifice which Xenophon, after a long omission, had been admonished by
+Eukleid&ecirc;s to offer. And doubtless Xenophon was more than ever confirmed
+in the belief, which manifests itself throughout all his writings, that
+sacrifice not only indicates, by the interior aspect of the immolated
+victims, the tenor of coming events&mdash;but also, according as it is
+rendered to the right god and at the right season, determines his will,
+and therefore the course of events, for dispensations favorable or
+unfavorable.</p>
+
+<p>But the favors of Zeus the Gracious, though begun, were not yet ended.
+Xenophon conducted the army through the Troad,<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> and across Mount
+Ida, to Antandrus; from thence along the coast of Lydia, through the
+plain of Th&ecirc;b&ecirc; and the town Adramyttium, leaving Atarneus on the right
+hand, to Pergamus<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> in Mysia; a hill town <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>overhanging the river and
+plain of Kaikus. This district was occupied by the descendants of the
+Eretrian<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> Gongylus, who, having been banished, for embracing the
+cause of the Persians when Xerxes invaded Greece, had been rewarded
+(like the Spartan king Demaratus) with this sort of principality under
+the Persian empire. His descendant, another Gongylus, now occupied
+Pergamus, with his wife Hellas and his sons Gorgion and Gongylus.
+Xenophon was here received with great hospitality. Hellas acquainted
+him, that a powerful Persian, named Asidat&ecirc;s, was now dwelling, with his
+wife, family, and property, in a tower not far off on the plain; and
+that a sudden night march, with 300 men, would suffice for the capture
+of this valuable booty, to which her own cousin should guide him.
+Accordingly, having sacrificed and ascertained that the victims were
+favorable, Xenophon communicated his plan after the evening meal to
+those captains who had been most attached to him throughout the
+expedition, wishing to make them partners in the profit. As soon as it
+became known, many volunteers, to the number of 600, pressed to be
+allowed to join. But the captains repelled them, declining to take more
+than 300, in order that the booty might afford an ampler dividend to
+each partner.</p>
+
+<p>Beginning their march in the evening, Xenophon and his detachment of 300
+reached about midnight the tower of Asidat&ecirc;s. It was large, lofty,
+thickly built, and contained a considerable garrison. It served for
+protection to his cattle and cultivating slaves around, like a baronial
+castle in the Middle Ages; but the assailants neglected <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>this outlying
+plunder, in order to be more sure of taking the castle itself. Its walls
+however were found much stronger than was expected; and although a
+breach was made by force about daybreak, yet so vigorous was the defence
+of the garrison, that no entrance could be effected. Signals and shouts
+of every kind were made by Asidat&ecirc;s to procure aid from the Persian
+forces in the neighborhood; numbers of whom soon began to arrive, so
+that Xenophon and his company were obliged to retreat. And their retreat
+was at last only accomplished, after severe suffering and wounds to
+nearly half of them, through the aid of Gongylus with his forces from
+Pergamus, and of Prokl&ecirc;s (the descendant of Demaratus) from Halisarna, a
+little farther off seaward.</p>
+
+<p>Though his first enterprise thus miscarried, Xenophon soon laid plans
+for a second, employing the whole army; and succeeded in bringing
+Asidat&ecirc;s prisoner to Pergamus, with his wife, children, horses, and all
+his personal property. Thus (says he, anxious above all things for the
+credit of sacrificial prophecy) the "previous sacrifices (those which
+had promised favorably before the first unsuccessful attempt) now came
+true." The persons of this family were doubtless redeemed by their
+Persian friends for a large ransom; which, together with the booty
+brought in, made up a prodigious total to be divided.</p>
+
+<p>In making the division, a general tribute of sympathy and admiration was
+paid to Xenophon, in which all the army&mdash;generals, captains, and
+soldiers&mdash;and the Laced&aelig;monians besides&mdash;unanimously concurred. Like
+Agamemnon at Troy, he was allowed to select for himself the picked lots
+of horses, mules, oxen, and other items of booty; insomuch that he
+became possessor of a share valuable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>enough to enrich him at once, in
+addition to the fifty darics which he had before received. "Here then
+Xenophon (to use his own language) had no reason to complain of the god"
+(Zeus the Gracious). We may add&mdash;what he himself ought to have added,
+considering the accusations which he had before put forth&mdash;that neither
+had he any reason to complain of the ingratitude of the army.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="XENOPHON_TAKES_LEAVE_OF_THE_ARMY" id="XENOPHON_TAKES_LEAVE_OF_THE_ARMY"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion.</b></p>
+
+<p>As soon as Thimbron arrived with his own forces, and the Cyreians became
+a part of his army, Xenophon took his leave of them. Having deposited in
+the temple at Ephesus<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> that portion which had been confided to him
+as general, of the tenth set apart by the army at Kerasus for the
+Ephesian Artemis, he seems to have executed his intention of returning
+to Athens. He must have arrived there, after an absence of about two
+years and a half, within a few weeks, at farthest, after the death of
+his friend and preceptor Sokrat&ecirc;s,<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> whose trial and condemnation
+have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>been recorded in my last volume. That melancholy event certainly
+occurred during his absence from Athens; but whether it had come to his
+knowledge before he reached the city, we do not know. How much grief and
+indignation it excited in his mind, we may see by his collection of
+memoranda respecting the life and conversations of Sokrat&ecirc;s, known by
+the name of Memorabilia, and probably put together shortly after his
+arrival.</p>
+
+<p>That he was again in Asia three years afterwards, on military service
+under the Laced&aelig;monian king Agesilaus, is a fact attested by himself;
+but at what precise moment he quitted Athens for his second visit to
+Asia, we are left to conjecture. I incline to believe that he did not
+remain many months at home, but that he went out again in the next
+spring to rejoin the Cyreians in Asia&mdash;became again their commander&mdash;and
+served for two years under the Spartan general Derkyllidas before the
+arrival of Agesilaus. Such military service would doubtless be very much
+to his taste; while a residence at Athens, then subject and quiescent,
+would probably be distasteful to him; both from the habits of command
+which he had contracted during the previous two years, and from feelings
+arising out of the death of Sokrat&ecirc;s. After a certain interval of
+repose, he would be disposed to enter again upon the war against his old
+enemy Tissaphern&ecirc;s; and his service went on when Agesilaus arrived to
+take the command.</p>
+
+<p>But during the two years after this latter event, Athens <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>became a party
+to the war against Sparta, and entered into conjunction with the king of
+Persia as well as with the Thebans and others; while Xenophon,
+continuing his service as commander of the Cyreians, and accompanying
+Agesilaus from Asia back into Greece, became engaged against the
+Athenian troops and their B&oelig;otian allies at the bloody battle of
+Kor&ocirc;neia. Under these circumstances, we cannot wonder that the Athenians
+passed sentence of banishment against him;<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> not because he had
+originally taken part in aid of Cyrus against Artaxerx&ecirc;s&mdash;nor because
+his political sentiments were unfriendly to democracy, as has been
+sometimes erroneously affirmed&mdash;but because he was now openly in arms,
+and in conspicuous command, against his own country. Having thus become
+an exile, Xenophon was allowed by the Laced&aelig;monians to settle at
+Skill&ucirc;s, one of the villages of Triphylia, near Olympia in Peloponnesus,
+which they had recently emancipated from the Eleians. At one of the
+ensuing Olympic festivals,<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> Megabyzus, the superintendent of the
+temple of Artemis at Ephesus, came over as a spectator; bringing with
+him the money which Xenophon had dedicated therein to the Ephesian
+Artemis. This money Xenophon invested in the purchase of lands at
+Skill&ucirc;s, to be consecrated in permanence to the goddess; having
+previously consulted her by sacrifice to ascertain her approval of the
+site contemplated, which site was recommended to him by its resemblance
+in certain points to that of the Ephesian <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>temple. Thus, there was near
+each of them a river called by the same name Selin&ucirc;s, having in it fish
+and a shelly bottom. Xenophon constructed a chapel, an altar, and a
+statue of the goddess made of cypress-wood: all exact copies, on a
+reduced scale, of the temple and golden statue at Ephesus. A column
+placed near them was inscribed with the following words&mdash;"This spot is
+sacred to Artemis. Whoever possesses the property and gathers its
+fruits, must sacrifice to her the tenth every year, and keep the chapel
+in repair out of the remainder. Should any one omit this duty, the
+goddess herself will take the omission in hand."</p>
+
+<p>Immediately near the chapel was an orchard of every description of
+fruit-trees, while the estate around comprised an extensive range of
+meadow, woodland, and mountain&mdash;with the still loftier mountain called
+Pholo&ecirc; adjoining. There was thus abundant pasture for horses, oxen,
+sheep, and also excellent hunting-ground near, for deer and other game;
+advantages not to be found near the Artemision<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> at Ephesus. Residing
+hard by on his own property, allotted to him by the Laced&aelig;monians,
+Xenophon superintended this estate as steward for the goddess; looking
+perhaps to the sanctity of her name for protection from disturbance by
+the Eleians, who viewed with a jealous eye the Laced&aelig;monians at Skill&ucirc;s,
+and protested against the peace and convention promoted by Athens after
+the battle of Leuktra, because it recognized that place, along with the
+townships of Triphylia, as having the right of self-government. Every
+year he made a splendid sacrifice, from the tenth of all the fruits of
+the property; to which solemnity not only all the Skilluntines, but also
+all the neighboring villages, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>were invited. Booths were erected for the
+visitors, to whom the goddess furnished (this is the language of
+Xenophon) an ample dinner of barley-meal, wheaten loaves, meat, game,
+and sweetmeats; the game being provided by a general hunt, which the
+sons of Xenophon conducted, and in which all the neighbors took part if
+they chose. The produce of the estate, saving this tithe or tenth and
+subject to the obligation of keeping the holy building in repair, was
+enjoyed by Xenophon himself. He had a keen relish for both hunting and
+horsemanship, and was among the first authors, so far as we know, who
+ever made these pursuits, with the management of horses and dogs, the
+subject of rational study and description.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the use to which Xenophon applied the tithe voted by the army
+at Kerasus to the Ephesian Artemis; the other tithe, voted at the same
+time to Apollo, he dedicated at Delphi in the treasure-chamber of the
+Athenians, inscribing upon the offering his own name and that of
+Proxenus. His residence being only at a distance of a little more than
+two miles from the great temple of Olympia,<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> he was enabled to enjoy
+society with every variety of Greeks&mdash;and to obtain copious information
+about Grecian politics, chiefly from philo-Laconian informants, and with
+the Laced&aelig;monian point of view predominant in his own mind; while he had
+also leisure for the composition of his various works. The interesting
+description which he himself gives of his residence at Skill&ucirc;s implies a
+state of things not present and continuing, but past and gone; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>other
+testimonies too, though confused and contradictory, seem to show that
+the Laced&aelig;monian settlement at Skill&ucirc;s lasted no longer than the power
+of Laced&aelig;mon was adequate to maintain it. During the misfortunes which
+befell that city after the battle of Leuktra (371 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>),
+Xenophon, with his family and his fellow-settlers, was expelled by the
+Eleians, and is then said to have found shelter at Corinth. But as
+Athens soon came to be not only at peace, but in intimate alliance, with
+Sparta&mdash;the sentence of banishment against Xenophon was revoked; so that
+the latter part of his life was again passed in the enjoyment of his
+birthright as an Athenian citizen and Knight.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> Two of his sons,
+Gryllus and Diodorus, fought among the Athenian horsemen at the cavalry
+combat which preceded the battle of Mantineia, where the former was
+slain, after manifesting distinguished bravery; while his grandson
+Xenophon became in the next generation the subject of a pleading before
+the Athenian court of justice, composed by the orator Deinarchus.</p>
+
+<p>On bringing this accomplished and eminent leader to the close of that
+arduous retreat which he had conducted with so much honor, I have
+thought it necessary to anticipate a little on the future in order to
+take a glance at his subsequent destiny. To his exile (in this point of
+view not less useful than that of Thucydid&ecirc;s) we probably owe many of
+those compositions from which so much of our knowledge of Grecian
+affairs is derived. But to the contemporary world, the retreat, which
+Xenophon so successfully conducted, afforded a far more impressive
+lesson than any of his literary compositions. It taught in the most
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>striking manner the impotence of the Persian land-force, manifested not
+less in the generals than in the soldiers. It proved that the Persian
+leaders were unfit for any systematic operations, even under the
+greatest possible advantages, against a small number of disciplined
+warriors resolutely bent on resistance; that they were too stupid and
+reckless even to obstruct the passage of rivers, or destroy roads, or
+cut off supplies. It more than confirmed the contemptuous language
+applied to them by Cyrus himself, before the battle of Kunaxa; when he
+proclaimed that he envied the Greeks their freedom, and that he was
+ashamed of the worthlessness of his own countrymen. Against such perfect
+weakness and disorganization, nothing prevented the success of the
+Greeks along with Cyrus, except his own paroxysm of fraternal antipathy.
+And we shall perceive hereafter the military and political leaders of
+Greece&mdash;Agesilaus, Jason of Pher&aelig;, and others down to Philip and
+Alexander<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a>&mdash;firmly persuaded that with a tolerably numerous and
+well-appointed Grecian force, combined with exemption from Grecian
+enemies, they could succeed in overthrowing or dismembering the Persian
+empire. This conviction, so important in the subsequent history of
+Greece, takes its date from the retreat of the Ten Thousand. We shall
+indeed find Persia exercising an important influence, for two
+generations to come&mdash;and at the peace of Antalkidas an influence
+stronger than ever&mdash;over the destinies of Greece. But this will be seen
+to arise from the treason of Sparta, the chief of the Hellenic world,
+who abandons the Asiatic Greeks, and even arms herself with the name and
+the force of Persia, for purposes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>of aggrandizement and dominion to
+herself. Persia is strong by being enabled to employ Hellenic strength
+against the Hellenic cause; by lending money or a fleet to one side or
+the other of the Grecian parties, and thus becoming artificially
+strengthened against both. But the Xenophontic Anabasis<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> betrays her
+real weakness against any vigorous attack; while it at the same time
+exemplifies the discipline, the endurance, the power of self-action and
+adaptation, the susceptibility of influence from speech and discussion,
+the combination of the reflecting obedience of citizens with the
+mechanical regularity of soldiers&mdash;which confer such immortal
+distinction on the Hellenic character. The importance of this expedition
+and retreat, as an illustration of the Hellenic qualities and
+excellence, will justify the large space which has been devoted to it in
+this History.</p>
+
+<h5>FOOTNOTES:</h5>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <b>Kunaxa</b>: see Introduction.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <b>Heralds</b>: officers who proclaimed war or peace, challenged
+to battle, and were bearers of messages from the commander-in-chief or
+king; here, messengers.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <b>Sacrifice</b>: it was the custom of the Greeks to examine the
+entrails of the animals they sacrificed, in order that from their
+appearance they might learn the will of the gods; and next, that they
+might gain a knowledge of coming events.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">In all important undertakings these signs were carefully consulted,
+before any decisive action was taken.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <b>Hellenic</b>: pertaining to the Hellenes, or Greeks;
+Grecian.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <b>Array</b>: disposition of forces with reference to defence or
+attack.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <b>Herald</b>: here used apparently in the sense of a public
+crier.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This seems to have been a standing military jest, to make
+the soldiers laugh at their past panic.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <b>Talent</b>: about 57 pounds avoirdupois; or, taking silver at
+its present value, about $1250.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <b>Phalanx</b>: a body of troops in compact array, with their
+shields joined and their pikes or spears crossing each other, so as to
+present a firm, unbroken front to the foe.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <b>Irrigation</b>: during the long dry summer the crops in this
+region would have perished from drought if the fields had not been
+watered. This was done by a system of canals, in which the supply of
+water, drawn from the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates during the
+spring floods, was stored up to be used when needed. So abundant was the
+growth of grain on this rich soil that Herodotus did not dare state the
+amount for fear that he would be thought guilty of exaggeration.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> <b>Corn</b>: any kind of grain used for food.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <b>Satrap</b>: the governor of a Persian province.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <b>Cyreian Greeks</b>: those Greeks who had engaged in the
+expedition of Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne of Persia. See
+Introduction.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <b>Covenant</b>: a solemn agreement or treaty which both
+parties bound themselves to keep by oath, calling on their respective
+gods to punish them if they violated the compact.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <b>Convention</b>: treaty or agreement.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See note on p. 38.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <b>Tribute</b>: this was an annual tax so heavy and so cruelly
+extorted that it kept the great body of the people in a state little
+better than that of slavery.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <b>Cyreian Persians</b>: those Persians who had espoused the
+cause of Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <b>Amnesty</b>: pardon.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <b>Strike our tents</b>: take down our tents.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <b>Barbarians</b>: the Greeks called all foreigners
+"barbarians." This word, however, did not generally express contempt, or
+necessarily imply lack of civilization, but was used to designate those
+who spoke another language than Greek.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <b>Ionia</b>: see note on p. 21.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <b>Wall of Media</b>: a wall supposed to have extended from the
+Euphrates to the Tigris. It cannot now be traced with certainty.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <b>Bitumen</b>: mineral pitch or asphalt. It is now much used
+for cement, for making pavements, and for covering flat roofs.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <b>Pontoons</b>: light framework or floats on which a platform
+or roadway is laid for a temporary bridge. Boats or canoes, placed side
+by side, and covered with planks, are not infrequently so used.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <b>Inflated skins</b>: bags or vessels made of the skins of
+sheep and other animals. They are quite commonly used in the East for
+carrying wine and other liquids. When inflated they are also employed as
+above mentioned.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <b>Mysians and Pisidians</b>: see note on p. 35.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <b>Ionia</b>: the central part of the western coast of Asia
+Minor. Here, at a very early period, flourishing Greek colonies were
+planted, and Ionia became celebrated for its art, its literature, and
+its cities, such as Ephesus and Miletus. But the country could not
+maintain its independence against the Eastern kings, and was at this
+period tributary to Persia. If the Ten Thousand could reach Ionia they
+would be among fellow-countrymen and friends, and within easy sail of
+all parts of Greece.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <b>Tiara</b>: a flexible cap worn by the Persians. The king
+alone had the right to wear it erect and high, as a badge of royal
+authority. Some suppose that when Tissaphern&ecirc;s says that though he
+cannot openly place the high tiara on his head, but shall wear it on his
+heart (feeling like a king if not looking like one), that he purposely
+uses the language "the better to blind Klearchus," and make him think
+that if the Greeks will aid him with their arms, he will revolt and
+aspire to become king in fact.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <b>Philhellenic</b>: Greek-loving.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <b>Miletus</b>: a city of Ionia, subject in a measure to
+Athens, revolted in 412 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> The next year the Laced&aelig;monians,
+or Spartans, who were the enemies of Athens, sent over a fleet to aid
+the people of Miletus. Tissaphern&ecirc;s, the Persian satrap, desiring to see
+the power of Athens completely overthrown, promised to pay the Spartan
+soldiers (of whom Klearchus was one), but afterwards made up his mind
+not to do so, and left them to fight at their own expense.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <b>Arcadian</b>: an inhabitant of Arcadia, a district of the
+Peloponnesian peninsula, Greece.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <b>Democrat and philosopher</b>: Xenophon (431?-355
+<span class="smcap">B.C.</span>) belonged to that party in Athens that maintained the
+principle of government "of the people, by the people, and for the
+people," in opposition to the party that, like the Spartans, believed
+that all political power should be monopolized by a favored few.
+Xenophon was also the disciple and friend of Socrates the philosopher,
+of whom some account will be given later on.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> <b>Oneirus</b>: the god of dreams and messenger of Zeus
+(Jupiter), father of gods and men, sometimes called Zeus the Preserver,
+Saviour, or Deliverer.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <b>Zeus</b>: see note above on Oneirus.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <b>B&oelig;otian dialect</b>: the inhabitants of the Greek
+province of B&oelig;otia were considered by the Athenians to be a dull and
+unprogressive people. They spoke a broad, coarse dialect.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <b>Cashier</b>: to dismiss from service.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <b>Ears bored</b>: this was an Eastern (Lydian) custom, which
+the Greeks despised as only befitting slaves, since with them it was a
+mark of servitude. Agasias intimates that Apollonid&ecirc;s either had been a
+slave or at least ought to be one.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <b>Kilikia</b> (also spelled Cilicia): Asia Minor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <b>Sneeze</b>: any sudden, involuntary outburst, like sneezing,
+was considered a sign of the divine will for good or evil. As it
+occurred here just as Xenophon pronounced the auspicious word
+"preservation," it was regarded as a favorable omen sent by Zeus
+himself. The accustomed invocation was like the old English custom of
+crying "God bless you" when one sneezed.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <b>P&aelig;an</b>: war-song, song of triumph; originally addressed to
+the god Apollo.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> <b>Mysians and Pisidians</b>: rude tribes inhabiting
+mountainous districts of Asia Minor, and maintaining their independence
+in spite of the efforts of the Persian kings to subjugate them.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <b>Lotos-eaters</b>: the lotos is a date-like fruit, fabled by
+Homer in the "Odyssey" to be so delicious and possessed of such
+marvellous properties that those who once tasted it forgot home and
+friends and wished only to remain where they might continue to eat it
+forever. See "Odyssey," Book IX., and compare Tennyson's poem of the
+"Lotos-Eaters."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <b>Ach&aelig;ans</b>: inhabitants of Achaia, in the Peloponnesian
+peninsula.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <b>Peloponnesians</b>: inhabitants of the Greek peninsula of
+the Peloponnesus (or so-called Island of Pelops), now known as the
+Morea. They were considered the best soldiers in Greece. Sparta, the
+rival and enemy of Athens, was the ruling city of this district.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <b>Athenian catastrophe</b>: in 415 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> the Athenians
+sent out a powerful expedition to conquer Syracuse in Sicily. They met
+with a disastrous defeat, both by land and sea, many thousands being
+taken captive and sold as slaves. Alkibiad&ecirc;s, an Athenian who had taken
+refuge in Sparta, now urged the Spartans to attack Athens, their old
+rival and enemy. His vehement eloquence was eventually successful.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <b>Perikl&ecirc;s</b>: leader of the party of the people in Athens,
+and for a long time governor of the city; he was perhaps the greatest
+statesman that Greece produced.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> <b>The war</b>: the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>
+This was a desperate struggle for supremacy between the two chief powers
+of Greece, Sparta and Athens. The Spartans were a rough, military
+people, despising all intellectual culture and maintaining a narrow and
+tyrannical form of government from which the body of the people was
+wholly excluded. The Athenians, on the contrary, wished to maintain a
+republic in which all citizens should take part; they represented the
+highest civilization of Greece, and were in one sense the schoolmasters
+of the world.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <b>Sophists</b>: a class of philosophers or teachers who gave
+instruction in rhetoric and the art of disputation. They went about from
+city to city, and, contrary to the general custom of Greek philosophers,
+took fees from their pupils. "What the Sophists, among other things
+conducive to success in life, really taught the people, was the art of
+conducting their own cases before the great citizen-juries, where every
+man was forced to be his own advocate." [See Myers's "Outlines of
+Ancient History."]</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <b>Javelin</b>: a light spear.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <b>Carbines</b>: short muskets, or rifles.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> <b>Rhodian</b>: pertaining to the island of Rhodes, off the
+southwest coast of Asia Minor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <b>Nineveh</b>: "an exceeding great city" (Jonah iii. 3),
+larger, says Strabo, than Babylon, having walls with 1500 towers 200
+feet high. (Diodorus.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> <b>Cuirass</b>: defensive armor, covering the body from the
+neck to the girdle.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <b>Sacrificed</b>: not only to propitiate the gods, but to
+obtain omens or signs for their future guidance.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <b>Cubit</b>: a measure of length; the distance from the elbow
+to the end of the middle finger, or about eighteen inches.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> <b>Corselet</b>: armor covering the front of the upper part of
+the body.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> <b>Reins</b>: the small of the back, or the kidneys.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> <b>Burial</b>: the Greeks believed that so long as the corpse
+remained unburied the spirit would roam about restlessly in the dreary
+under-world or common abode of departed souls.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> <b>Kretan</b>: or Cretan (from Crete).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> <b>Augury</b>: omen or sign.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> <b>Libations</b>: wine or liquor poured out on the ground or on
+a victim in honor of the gods.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> <b>Bivouac</b> (biv-wak'): an encampment without tents or
+shelter, or one in which the whole army is on guard against surprise;
+here, the former is probably meant.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> <b>Sesame</b>: an Eastern plant from whose seeds an oil is
+obtained, which is used for food and other purposes.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> <b>Boreas</b>: the god of the north wind.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> <b>Demagogues</b>: leaders of the people, popular orators. (The
+word now means those who mislead the people or who pretend to be
+interested in public affairs and reforms merely to gain their own ends.)
+In Greece these orators usually addressed assemblies or bodies of
+citizens who acted as judges.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> <b>Judges</b> (dicasts): these sometimes, as in the case of the
+trial of Socrates, numbered five and six hundred persons, who acted as
+judge and jury combined.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> <b>Greaves</b>: armor for the front of the lower part of the
+leg.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <b>Daric</b>: a Persian gold coin worth about $5.00.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> <b>Herakl&ecirc;s</b> (Hercules): the exploits of this god in his
+numerous encounters with wild beasts and robbers led to his worship on
+perilous journeys.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> <b>The altar</b>: probably that where they had been
+sacrificing.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Xenophon.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> <b>Mercenaries</b>: hired soldiers.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> <b>Milesians</b>: inhabitants of Miletus, Asia Minor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> <b>Megarian</b>: pertaining to Megara, a district of Greece
+northwest of Athens. It was famous for its commerce.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> <b>Thunny fishery</b>: the thunny, or tunny, a large fish
+abundant in the Mediterranean and highly esteemed both for food and for
+the oil which it yields.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> <b>Thurian</b>: an inhabitant of Thurii, a city of Lower Italy,
+founded by a colony from Athens.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <b>Odysseus</b>: as Homer in the "Odyssey" represents Odysseus,
+or Ulysses, to have done.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> <b>Byzantium</b>: the modern Constantinople.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> <b>Merchant ships</b>: small, one-masted vessels, not larger
+than our fishing-smacks.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> <b>Kerasus</b>: this place is the native home of the cherry,
+and the origin of its name. The fruit was introduced into Italy from
+Kerasus about 70 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>, and thence to England, France, and other
+countries conquered by the Romans.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> <b>Targeteers</b>: troops carrying a light target, or shield.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> <b>Turrets</b> (or small towers): the name of the
+people&mdash;Mosyn&oelig;ki&mdash;means the "tower-dwellers."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> <b>Paphlagonian horse</b>: meaning the Paphlagonian cavalry.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> <b>Hellas</b>: Greece.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> "The gods (says Euripid&ecirc;s, in the Sokratic vein) have
+given us wisdom to understand and appropriate to ourselves the ordinary
+comforts of life: in obscure or unintelligible cases we are enabled to
+inform ourselves by looking at the blaze of the fire, or by consulting
+prophets who understand the livers of sacrificial victims and the flight
+of birds. When they have thus furnished so excellent a provision for
+life, who but spoilt children can be discontented and ask for more? Yet
+still human prudence, full of self-conceit, will struggle to be more
+powerful, and will presume itself to be wiser, than the gods."</p>
+
+<p class="noin">It will be observed that this constant outpouring of special
+revelations, through prophets, omens, &amp;c., was (in view of these
+Sokratic thinkers) an essential part of divine government; indispensable
+to satisfy their ideas of the benevolence of the gods; since rational
+and scientific prediction was so habitually at fault and unable to
+fathom the phenomena of the future. (Grote.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> <b>Traverse</b>: thwart.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Though Xenophon accounted sacrifice to be an essential
+preliminary to any action of dubious result, and placed great faith in
+the indications which the victims offered, as signs of the future
+purposes of the gods,&mdash;he nevertheless had very little confidence in the
+professional prophets. He thought them quite capable of gross deceit.
+(Grote.) Thus Silanus (see p. 92) pretends to find some unfavorable
+indications in sacrifices which supported Xenophon.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> <b>Phasis</b>: on the Euxine; means the town of that name, not
+the river. (Grote.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> <b>Min&aelig;</b>: the Mina was about one pound by weight of silver,
+or $20. Twenty min&aelig; would be therefore $400.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> <b>Pipe</b>: a fife or flute-like instrument.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> <b>Carp&aelig;an dance</b>: perhaps because one of the dancers
+represented a sower of grain (from <i>karpos</i>, fruit), or possibly from
+<i>karpos</i>, wrist, the wrists of one being bound.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> <b>Mysian</b>: from Mysia, Asia Minor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> <b>Pyrrhic dance</b>: a kind of dance accompanied with every
+gesture of the body used in giving and avoiding blows.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> This appears to have been said jocosely in reference to
+the Persian King.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Xenophon.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> <b>Trireme</b>: a war-vessel propelled by three ranks of rowers
+placed one above the other.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> <b>Three thousand staters</b>: about $11,500; ten thousand
+staters would be in round numbers about $38,000. The stater was a Greek
+gold coin; its value is usually given at about $5.00, but Grote here
+makes it considerably less.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> <b>Cities</b>: cities then were generally built with walls and
+gates, so that it was easy to exclude any whom they did not wish should
+enter.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> <b>Philo-Laconian</b>: Sparta-loving (Sparta being in the
+district of Laconia). Compare what is said of Xenophon on p. 41.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> <b>Byzantium</b>: this city (the modern Constantinople) was
+founded by a Greek colony <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> 657. It had a mixed population,
+and was at this time under the rule of a Laced&aelig;monian or Spartan
+governor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> <b>The Chersonesus</b> (the peninsula): a peninsula of
+Southern Thrace, opposite Asia Minor, having numerous Greek cities, and
+noted for its abundance of grain, much of which was exported to Athens.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> <b>Thrakion</b>: probably an open space or square near the
+Thracian Gate of the city.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> <b>The Great King</b>: the King of Persia.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> <b>Delta</b>: so named because it resembled the Greek capital
+letter Delta, &Delta;, corresponding to the English D; hence a
+triangular-shaped piece of land.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> <b>Propontis</b> (now, the Sea of Marmora): between Asia and
+Europe.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> <b>Billeted upon the citizens</b>: assigned them quarters
+among the citizens, who were thus bound to provide for them.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> <b>Odrysian</b>: from Odrys&aelig;, a numerous and powerful people
+of Thrace.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> <b>Phliasian</b>: from Phli&ucirc;s, a city of Peloponnesus.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> It appears that the epithet (the Gracious) is here
+applied to Zeus in the same conciliatory sense as the denomination
+<i>Eumenides</i> (Well or Kindly-disposed) to the avenging goddesses. Zeus is
+conceived as having actually inflicted, or being in a disposition to
+inflict, evil: the sacrifice to him under this surname represents a
+sentiment of fear, and is one of atonement, expiation, or purification,
+destined to avert his displeasure; but the surname itself is to be
+interpreted so as to designate, not the actual disposition of Zeus (or
+of other gods), but that disposition which the sacrifice is intended to
+bring about in him. (Grote.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> <b>Diasia</b>: a Greek festival, celebrated in honor of Zeus
+(Jupiter) the Gracious.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> <b>Troad</b>: the plain around Troy, the scene of the famous
+Trojan war, celebrated in Homer's Iliad.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> <b>Pergamus</b>: a city noted for its library of over 200,000
+manuscript rolls, which were eventually removed to Alexandria, Egypt.
+Parchment, a name derived from this place, was invented here.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> <b>Eretrian</b>: pertaining to Eretria, a city of Ionia, Asia
+Minor.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> <b>Temple of Ephesus</b>: sacred to the goddess Artemis, or
+Diana, twin sister of Apollo. This temple ranked among the Seven Wonders
+of the world. It was held so sacred that it was used as a "safe-deposit"
+for treasures, which were secure here against robbery or war. See the
+interesting reference to it in Acts xix. 24-41.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> <b>Sokrat&ecirc;s</b>: the philosopher and moralist, and the friend
+and instructor of Xenophon, had publicly taught, in the streets of
+Athens, for thirty years. His method was to convince people how little
+they really knew, by asking a series of searching questions which
+eventually led those whom he interrogated to confess their ignorance.
+"He taught that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong; and that
+the gods wished men to know them, not by beliefs and observances, but by
+doing good." This teaching, which was misunderstood by many, together
+with the dislike&mdash;not to say hatred&mdash;which such a "cross-examining
+missionary" would inevitably excite, caused his trial for impiety or
+rejection of the popular deities. He was then over seventy. When asked
+whether he had prepared his defence, he replied "that his whole life had
+been a preparation, since he had spent it in studying what was right and
+endeavoring to do it." Condemned by the judges to drink poison, he spent
+the last hours of his life conversing with his friends on the
+immortality of the soul. Xenophon has left an entertaining and valuable
+sketch of his beloved master.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> <b>Banished</b>: Xenophon was banished for attachment to
+Sparta against his country&mdash;Athens. (Grote.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> <b>Olympic festivals</b>: the greatest of the religious
+festivals among the Greeks. It was held at Olympia every four years in
+honor of Zeus (Olympian Jove), and was celebrated by games and contests
+lasting several weeks. All Greece sent delegations to attend and take
+part in the festival.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> <b>Artemision</b>: the temple of Artemis or Diana.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> <b>Temple of Olympia</b>: the magnificent temple of Zeus
+(Olympian Jove). It contained a colossal statue of the god, seated, and
+holding the globe and the sceptre as emblems of his power. The work was
+by the celebrated sculptor Phidias, and was carved in gold and ivory.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> <b>Knight</b>: originally one of an upper class of citizens
+ranking second in point of wealth and political power.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers before the
+battle of Issus by referring to the bravery of the Greeks in the
+"Retreat of the Ten Thousand."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> <b>Anabasis</b> (The March Up-country): the name given by
+Xenophon to his account of the expedition of Cyrus the younger in his
+march from the shore of the Mediterranean against the King of Persia at
+Babylon. The narrative of the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" forms part
+of the "Anabasis." Strictly speaking, this portion of the work should be
+called the Katabasis, or "The March Down"; that is, from Babylonia to
+the Black Sea.</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+<a name="SKETCH_OF_NAPOLEON" id="SKETCH_OF_NAPOLEON"></a>
+<br />
+<h2>SKETCH OF NAPOLEON.</h2>
+
+<p class="cen">(<span class="smcap">Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow.</span>)</p>
+<br />
+
+<p>Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica (then recently ceded to
+France), in 1769. He was of Italian descent, and up to the age of ten
+could speak no French. In 1779 he was sent to the military school of
+Brienne, in France, and there began his education for the army. As a
+lieutenant of artillery he did good service in behalf of the French
+revolutionary government at the siege of Toulon, which had revolted in
+1793.</p>
+
+<p>Two years later that government was threatened by the rising of the
+people of Paris, headed by the National Guard. General Barras gave
+Napoleon an opportunity of showing his military skill in defence of the
+authorities, and the young officer, with his well-directed volleys of
+grape-shot, speedily quelled the insurrection. From that time Napoleon's
+name became familiar to the French people.</p>
+
+<p>In 1796 he married Madame Josephine Beauharnais, a West Indian lady,
+whose husband had been guillotined during the Revolution. About the same
+time Napoleon received the command of the French army of Italy, and with
+his successful Italian campaign against Austria his reputation as a
+general began.</p>
+
+<p>From that date until his final abdication in 1815, he was almost
+constantly engaged in active war, or in preparations for it. During that
+period of twenty years he fought nearly the whole of Europe; and up to
+his fatal Russian campaign in 1812, he was victorious in every great
+battle which he personally directed in the open field. This constant
+success inspired him with the belief that he was invincible. As one of
+his friends said, "He appeared like a man walking in a halo of glory";
+and as an eminent statesman declared, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>"France gave herself to him,
+absorbed herself in him, and seemed, at one time, no longer to think,
+except through him." From a simple artillery officer Napoleon had risen
+to be the greatest military commander in the world. His adopted country
+had placed him at the head of the government, and ended by making him
+Emperor. By his conquests he had enlarged France so that his imperial
+dominions extended to the Baltic on the north, and beyond Rome on the
+southeast.</p>
+
+<p>To increase his glory and strengthen his power, he established a circle
+of dependent thrones and principalities, occupied by his brothers and
+his favorites, who were bound to obey his will and extend his sway.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the nations of Europe, England alone had been able to withstand
+him; and in 1812 London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were the only
+leading capitals whose streets his triumphant armies had not entered.</p>
+
+<p>It was when he was at the apparent summit of his power that Napoleon
+divorced his faithful Josephine, in order that he might marry the
+Princess Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of Austria. His object
+was to found a reigning family allied by blood with one of the oldest
+and proudest dynasties of Europe. In this, as in all other things, he
+seemed to accomplish his purpose, for from this union a son was born
+who, under the title of the "King of Rome," promised to perpetuate his
+father's name and power.</p>
+
+<p>Having secured an heir to his crown Napoleon now determined to
+rigorously carry out his "continental policy" of humbling England by
+shutting out her trade from every port of Europe. If this could be done
+effectually, as he believed was possible, he might hope to starve his
+old enemy into submission.</p>
+
+<p>The attempt to accomplish this design was the chief cause of the
+campaign against Russia, and of Napoleon's ultimate downfall. The Czar,
+contrary to the provisions of the treaty of Tilsit, made in 1807, was
+now opposed to continuing the blockade which excluded English commerce
+from the Baltic. Not only did the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>Russian sovereign refuse to yield on
+this point, but he went so far as to form an alliance with Sweden, in
+order to resist the French Emperor's demands more effectually.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon accordingly declared war, and in the spring of 1812 began
+gathering a force of over 600,000 men for the invasion of Russia. The
+Grand Army was chiefly French; but the Emperor compelled his
+allies&mdash;Austria, Prussia, Italy, and the German States&mdash;to furnish large
+numbers of troops; and he also received help from Poland. Besides the
+Imperial Guard, a body of picked men over 50,000 strong, under the
+command of Marshals Lefebvre, Mortier, and Bessi&egrave;res, there were 13
+corps. The French were led by Marshals Davoust, Oudinot, Ney, Murat,
+King of Naples; the Italians by Prince Eugene; the Poles by Poniatowski;
+the Austrians by General Schwartzenberg; the Germans and Prussians by
+St. Cyr, Regnier, Vandamme, Victor, Macdonald, and Augereau.</p>
+
+<p>The Poles fought for Napoleon in the belief that, if successful, he
+would secure their independence against the power of Russian oppression;
+the other nations because they dared not refuse.</p>
+
+<p>This enormous force, which was double that of the Czar's, gradually
+collected on the banks of the Niemen, a river emptying into the Baltic,
+and forming part of the western boundary of Russia. The army crossed it
+in three divisions, at a considerable distance from each other.<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> All
+were to meet at Wilna, a Polish city which Russia had seized in the
+dismemberment of that country, and which was about fifty miles southeast
+of the Niemen.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon himself, at the head of one of the three divisions, with a
+force of over two hundred thousand, crossed the river at Kowno on the
+23d of June, and began his march for Wilna.<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> The weather was
+intensely hot, and in the course of a few weeks <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>many thousand men fell
+out of the ranks through sickness and fatigue, and great numbers of
+horses died. The French hoped to encounter the Russian forces in a
+decisive battle before advancing far into the country. But it was the
+policy of the Czar not to fight, but to keep falling back, destroying
+all supplies as fast as he retreated, and so compelling the French to
+depend wholly upon their own resources.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon himself confessed that the Russians had the advantage. They, he
+said, would be animated by love of their native land to repel invasion,
+and all private and public interests would unite them. The French, on
+the other hand, had nothing to urge them on but the love of conquest and
+of glory, without even the hope of plunder, for in those desolate
+regions there was nothing they could seize.</p>
+
+<p>The first real encounter was at Smolensk, a walled city on the Dnieper,
+about half way between Wilna and the ancient capital of Russia. After a
+day of hard fighting, the Russians fired the city and abandoned it. The
+French entered the smoking ruins. They were victors, but such a victory
+was almost as disheartening as a defeat. From that place a weary
+seven-days march brought the Grand Army to the village of Borodino, on
+the banks of the Kologa, a tributary of the Moskwa.<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> Here the
+Russian general, Kutusoff, had determined to make a stand in defence of
+that holy city of Moscow, not many leagues distant, for which every
+peasant stood ready to lay down his life. The result of the battle was
+in favor of Napoleon, but it cost him the lives of thirty thousand men
+to gain it; and though the Russians lost double that number, they knew
+that the time was coming when the elements and the great barren spaces
+of their country would fight for them. This was the 7th of September.
+From that date the Russians resumed their old tactics and continued to
+slowly retreat, burning the villages and the crops as they fell back. At
+length, at noon of the 14th, the French emperor came in sight of "the
+city of the Czars."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>What followed from that time until Napoleon, baffled and beaten, reached
+Paris, leaving the wreck of the Grand Army behind him, may best be
+learned from the ensuing narrative of Count S&eacute;gur,<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> who was one of
+the generals in that army, an officer of the imperial staff, and an
+eye-witness of what he describes.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p>
+
+<p>His faithful history of that terrible disaster must necessarily be
+painful. It is in most respects the very opposite of Xenophon's account
+of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, which precedes it. But the reader
+should reflect that the dark and sorrowful scenes of history may have
+lessons as salutary as the brighter ones; and that the story of a great
+failure, involving the ruin and death of thousands, may be as
+instructive and as helpful as the story of a great success. In
+Xenophon's case, we have the spectacle of a man of more than ordinary
+ability, stimulated by difficulty and peril until he rises to real
+greatness of achievement. In Napoleon's career we see a naturally "great
+mind dragged to ruin by its own faults"; but such a man could not fall
+alone, and it was inevitable that a multitude should suffer with him and
+for him.</p>
+
+<p class="right">D. H. M.</p>
+
+<h5>FOOTNOTES:</h5>
+
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Namely, at Kowno, Pilony, south of Kowno, and Grodno,
+still further south. At Kowno a monument bears the following inscription
+in Russian: "In 1812 Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000
+men. The army recrossed the frontier numbering 70,000."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> See map facing p. 1. The upper dotted line represents the
+advance to Moscow; the lower, the line of retreat from that city.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> <b>Moskwa</b>, <b>Kologa</b>: these and other Russian geographical
+names are variously spelled.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Count S&eacute;gur was elected a member of the French Academy,
+and his history of the retreat has not only passed through many editions
+in France, but it has been translated into all the leading languages of
+Europe.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> The history of Napoleon after the Russian retreat will
+form the subject of a note at the close of Count S&eacute;gur's narrative.</p></div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+
+<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+<a name="DESCRIPTION_OF_MOSCOW" id="DESCRIPTION_OF_MOSCOW"></a>
+<h2>NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.</h2>
+
+<br />
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar.</b></p>
+
+<p>The ancient capital of Russia, appropriately denominated by its poets
+"<i>Moscow<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> with the gilded cupolas</i>," was a vast and fantastic
+assemblage of two hundred and ninety-five churches, and fifteen hundred
+palaces, with their gardens and dependencies. These larger mansions of
+brick, and their parks, intermixed with neat houses of wood, and even
+thatched cottages, were spread over several square <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>leagues of irregular
+ground. They were grouped round the Kremlin, a lofty triangular
+fortress. The vast double enclosure in which this was situated was about
+two miles in circuit. It contained, first, several palaces, some
+churches, and rocky and uncultivated spots, and secondly, a prodigious
+bazaar,&mdash;the town of the merchants and shopkeepers,&mdash;where was displayed
+the collected wealth of the four quarters of the globe.</p>
+
+<p>These palaces, these edifices, nay, the very shops themselves, were all
+covered with burnished and painted iron. The churches, each surmounted
+by a balcony and several steeples, terminating in golden balls, then the
+crescent, and lastly the cross, reminded the spectator of the history of
+this nation: it was Asia and its religion, at first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>victorious,
+subsequently vanquished, so that finally the cross of Christ surmounted
+the crescent of Mohammed.</p>
+
+<p>A ray of sunshine caused this splendid city to glisten with a thousand
+varied colors. At sight of it the traveller paused, delighted and
+astonished. It reminded him of the prodigies with which the Eastern
+poets had amused his childhood. On entering it, a nearer view served but
+to heighten his astonishment: he recognized the nobles by the manners,
+the habits, and the different languages of modern Europe, and by the
+rich and airy elegance of their dress. He beheld, with surprise, the
+luxury and the Asiatic form of that of the traders, the peculiar
+costumes of the common people, and their long beards. He was struck by
+the same variety in the edifices; and all this was tinged with a local
+and sometimes harsh coloring, such as befitted the country of which
+Moscow was the ancient capital.</p>
+
+<p>When, lastly, he observed the grandeur and magnificence of the numerous
+palaces, the wealth which they displayed, the luxury of the equipages,
+the multitude of slaves and of obsequious menials, the splendor of all
+these gorgeous spectacles, and heard the noise of those sumptuous
+festivities, entertainments, and rejoicings which incessantly resounded
+within its walls, he fancied himself transported to a city of
+kings&mdash;into the midst of an assemblage of princes, who had brought with
+them their manners, customs, and attendants from every quarter of the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>These princes were nevertheless but subjects, still opulent and powerful
+subjects: grandees, vain of their ancient nobility, strong in their
+collected numbers and in the general ties of blood contracted during the
+seven centuries which this capital had existed. They were also landed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>proprietors, proud of their vast possessions; for almost the whole
+territory of the government of Moscow belonged to them, and they there
+reigned over a million of serfs.<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> Finally, they were nobles, resting
+with a patriotic and religious pride upon "the cradle and the tomb of
+their nobility"; for such is the appellation they give to Moscow.</p>
+
+<p>To this ancient capital necessity brought the Czar<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> Alexander. His
+first appearance was in the midst of the assembled nobles. There
+everything was great: the circumstances, the assembly, the speaker, and
+the resolutions which he inspired. His voice betrayed emotion: no sooner
+did he cease speaking, than one simultaneous cry burst from all hearts:
+"Sire, ask what you please! we offer you everything! take our all!"</p>
+
+<p>One of the nobles then proposed the levy of a militia, and for its
+formation, the gift of one peasant or serf in twenty-five. But a hundred
+voices interrupted him, exclaiming that "the country required a greater
+sacrifice; that they should grant one serf in ten, ready armed,
+equipped, and supplied with provisions for three months." This was
+offering, for the single government of Moscow, 80,000 men, and a great
+quantity of warlike stores.</p>
+
+<p>The latter proposition was immediately voted without discussion; some
+say with enthusiasm; and that it was executed in like manner, so long as
+the danger was at hand. Others attribute the consent of the assembly to
+a sentiment of submission alone; which, indeed, in the presence of
+absolute power, is apt to absorb every other.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>They add, that on the breaking up of the meeting, the principal nobles
+were heard to murmur among themselves against the extravagance of such a
+measure. "Was the danger, then, so pressing? Did the Russian army,
+which, as they were told, still numbered 400,000 men, no longer exist?
+Why deprive them of so many peasants? The service of these men would be,
+it is said, only temporary; but who could ever hope for their return?
+and was not even this an event to be dreaded? Would these serfs,
+habituated to the irregularities of war, bring back their former habits
+of submission? Undoubtedly not; they would return full of new sentiments
+and new ideas, with which they would infect the villages; they would
+there propagate a refractory spirit, which would give infinite trouble
+to the master by spoiling the slave."</p>
+
+<p>Be this as it may, the resolution of the assembly was generous, and
+worthy of so great a nation. The details are of little consequence. We
+well know that it is the same everywhere; that everything in the world
+loses by being seen too near; and, lastly, that nations should be judged
+by the general mass and by results.</p>
+
+<p>Alexander then addressed the merchants, but more briefly: he ordered the
+proclamation to be read to them, in which Napoleon was represented as "a
+perfidious wretch; a Moloch, who, with treachery in his heart and
+loyalty on his lips, was striving to blot out Russia from the face of
+the earth."</p>
+
+<p>It is said that, at these words, his auditors, to whose strongly-marked
+and flushed faces their long beards imparted a look at once antique,
+majestic, and wild, were inflamed with rage. Their eyes flashed fire;
+they were seized with a convulsive fury, of which their stiffened <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>arms,
+their clenched fists, the gnashing of their teeth, and their subdued
+execrations, expressed the vehemence. The effect was correspondent.
+Their chief, whom they elect themselves, proved himself worthy of his
+station: he put down his name at once for 50,000 rubles.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> It was
+two-thirds of his fortune, and he paid it the next day.</p>
+
+<p>These merchants were divided into three classes, and they proceeded to
+fix the contribution for each; but one of the assembly, who was included
+in the lowest class, declared that his patriotism would brook no limit,
+and he immediately subscribed a sum far surpassing the standard
+proposed: the others all followed his example more or less closely.
+Advantage was taken of their first emotions. Everything was at hand that
+was requisite to bind them irrevocably while they were yet together,
+excited by one another and by the words of their sovereign.</p>
+
+<p>The patriotic donation amounted, it is said, to two millions of rubles.
+The other governments repeated, like so many echoes, the national cry of
+Moscow. The emperor accepted all; but all could not be given
+immediately; and when, in order to complete his work, he claimed the
+rest of the promised succor, he was obliged to have recourse to
+constraint, the danger which had alarmed some and inflamed others having
+by that time ceased to exist.</p>
+
+
+<br /><a name="ALARM_IN_MOSCOW_AT_THE_ADVANCE_OF_THE_FRENCH_ARMY" id="ALARM_IN_MOSCOW_AT_THE_ADVANCE_OF_THE_FRENCH_ARMY"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army;
+preparations for destroying the city.</b></p>
+
+<p>After the reduction of Smolensk,<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> and when Napoleon reached Viazma,
+a town about one hundred and seventy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>miles from Moscow, consternation
+reigned in Moscow. The great battle had not yet been lost, and already
+people began to abandon that capital.</p>
+
+<p>In his proclamation, the governor-general, Count Rostopchin,<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> told
+the women that "he should not detain them, as the less fear there was,
+the less danger there would be; but that their brothers and husbands
+must stay, or they would cover themselves with infamy." He then added
+encouraging particulars concerning the hostile force, which consisted,
+according to his statement, of "one hundred and fifty thousand men, who
+were reduced to the necessity of feeding on horseflesh. The emperor
+Alexander was about to return to his faithful capital; eighty-three
+thousand Russians, recruits and militia, with eighty pieces of cannon
+were marching towards Borodino, to join Kutusoff."<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p>
+
+<p>He thus concluded: "If these forces are not sufficient, I will say to
+you, 'Come, my Muscovite<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> friends, let us march also! We will
+assemble one hundred thousand men; we will take the image of the Blessed
+Virgin, and one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and put an end to
+the business at once!'"</p>
+
+<p>It has been remarked, as a purely local singularity, that most of these
+proclamations were in the scriptural style, and highly poetical in their
+character.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, a sort of balloon of prodigious size was constructed
+by command of Alexander, not far from Moscow, under the direction of a
+German artificer. The destination of this aerial machine was to hover
+over the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>French army, to single out its chief, and destroy him by a
+shower of balls and fire. Several attempts were made to raise it, but
+without success, the springs by which the wings were to be worked always
+breaking.</p>
+
+<p>Rostopchin, nevertheless, affecting to persevere in the plan, is said to
+have caused a great quantity of rockets and other combustibles to be
+prepared. Moscow itself was destined to be the great infernal machine,
+the sudden nocturnal explosion of which was to destroy the emperor and
+his army. Should the enemy escape this danger, he would at least no
+longer have an asylum or resources; and the horror of this tremendous
+calamity, charged to his account, as had been the disasters of Smolensk,
+Viazma, and other towns, would not fail to rouse the whole of
+Russia.<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p>
+
+<p>Adverse, therefore, to any treaty, this governor foresaw that in the
+populous capital, which the Russians themselves style the oracle, the
+exemplar of the whole empire, Napoleon would have recourse to the weapon
+of revolution, the only one that would be left him to accomplish his
+purpose. For this reason he resolved to raise a barrier of fire between
+that great captain and all weaknesses, from whatever quarter they might
+proceed, whether from the throne or from his countrymen, either nobles
+or senators; and more especially between a population of serfs and the
+soldiers of a free nation; in short, between the latter and that mass of
+artisans and tradesmen who form in Moscow the commencement of an
+intermediate class; a class for which the French Revolution was
+especially brought about.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>All the preparations were made in silence, without the knowledge either
+of the people, the proprietors of all classes, or perhaps of their
+emperor. The nation was ignorant that it was sacrificing itself. This is
+so strictly true, that, when the moment for execution arrived, we heard
+the inhabitants who had fled to the churches execrating this
+destruction. Those who beheld it from a distance, the most opulent of
+the nobles, deceived like their peasants, charged us with it: and, in
+short, those by whom it was ordered threw the odium of it upon us,
+having engaged in the work of destruction in order to render us objects
+of detestation, and caring but little about the maledictions of so many
+unfortunate creatures, provided they could throw upon us the weight of
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The silence of Alexander leaves room to doubt whether he approved this
+dreadful determination or not. What part he took in the catastrophe is
+still a mystery to the Russians: either they are ignorant on the
+subject, or they make a secret of the matter: the effect of despotism,
+which enjoins ignorance or silence.</p>
+
+<p>Some think that no individual in the empire, excepting the sovereign,
+would have dared to take on himself so heavy a responsibility. His
+subsequent conduct disavowed without disproving it. Others are of
+opinion that this was one of the causes of his absence from the army,
+and that, not wishing to appear either to order or to forbid it, he
+would not stay to be a witness of the catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>As to the general abandonment of the houses all the way from Smolensk,
+it was compulsory, the Russian army defending them till they were
+carried sword in hand, and describing us everywhere as destructive
+monsters. The country suffered but little from this emigration. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>peasants residing near the high-road escaped through byways to other
+villages belonging to their lords, where they found accommodation.</p>
+
+<p>The forsaking of their huts, made of trunks of trees laid one upon
+another, which a hatchet suffices for building, and of which a bench, a
+table, and an image constitute the whole furniture, was scarcely any
+sacrifice for serfs who had nothing of their own, whose persons did not
+even belong to themselves, and whose masters were obliged to provide for
+them, since they were their property and the source of all their income.</p>
+
+<p>These peasants, moreover, in removing their carts, their implements, and
+their cattle, carried everything with them, most of them being able with
+their own hands to supply themselves with habitation, clothing, and all
+other necessaries: for these people are still in but the first stage of
+civilization, and far from that division of labor which denotes the
+extension and high improvement of commerce and of society.</p>
+
+<p>But in the towns, and especially in the great capital, how could they be
+expected to quit so many establishments, to resign so many conveniences
+and enjoyments, so much wealth, movable and immovable? and yet it cost
+little or no more to obtain the total abandonment of Moscow than that of
+the meanest village. There, as at Vienna, Berlin, and Madrid, the
+principal nobles hesitated not to retire on our approach; for, with
+them, to remain would seem to be the same as to betray. But here,
+tradesmen, artisans, day-laborers, all thought it their duty to flee as
+well as the most powerful of the grandees. There was no occasion to
+command: these people have not yet ideas sufficient to judge for
+themselves, to distinguish and to weigh <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>differences; the example of the
+nobles was sufficient. The few foreigners remaining at Moscow might have
+enlightened them; some of these were exiled, and terror hindered the
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>It was, besides, an easy task to excite apprehensions of profanation,
+pillage, and devastation in the minds of people so cut off from other
+nations, and in the inhabitants of a city which had been so often
+plundered and burned by the Tartars. With these examples before their
+eyes, they could not await an impious and ferocious enemy but for the
+purpose of fighting him: the rest must necessarily shun his approach
+with horror, if they would save themselves in this life or in the next.
+Thus obedience, honor, religion, fear, everything, in short, enjoined
+them to flee, with all that they could carry with them.</p>
+
+<p>A fortnight before our arrival, the departure of the records, the public
+chests and treasure, and that of the nobles and of the principal
+merchants, together with their most valuable effects, indicated to the
+rest of the inhabitants what course they should pursue. The governor,
+already impatient to see Moscow evacuated, appointed superintendents to
+expedite the emigration.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d of September, a French woman, living in the city, ventured to
+leave her hiding-place, at the risk of being torn in pieces by the
+furious Muscovites. She wandered a long time through extensive quarters,
+the solitude of which astonished her, when a distant and doleful sound
+thrilled her with terror. It was like the funeral dirge of this vast
+city: fixed in motionless suspense, she beheld an immense multitude of
+persons, of both sexes, in deep affliction, carrying their effects and
+their sacred images, and leading their children along with them. Their
+priests, laden with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>the sacred symbols of religion, headed the
+procession. They were invoking Heaven in hymns of lamentation, in which
+all of them joined with tears.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the gates of the city, this crowd of unfortunate creatures
+passed through them with painful hesitation: turning their eyes once
+more towards Moscow, they seemed to be bidding a last farewell to their
+holy city; but, by degrees, their sobs and the doleful tones of their
+hymns died away in the vast plains by which it is surrounded.</p>
+
+
+<br /><a name="DEPARTURE_OF_THE_RUSSIAN_GOVERNOR_FROM_MOSCOW" id="DEPARTURE_OF_THE_RUSSIAN_GOVERNOR_FROM_MOSCOW"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow.</b></p>
+
+<p>Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in masses. The roads were covered to the distance of forty leagues by fugitives on foot, and
+several unbroken files of vehicles of every kind. At the same time, the
+measures of Rostopchin to prevent dejection and preserve order detained
+many of these unfortunate people till the very last moment.</p>
+
+<p>To this must be added the appointment of Kutusoff, which had revived
+their hopes, the false intelligence of a victory at Borodino, and, for
+those of moderate means, the hesitation natural at the moment of
+abandoning the only home which they possessed. Lastly, the inadequacy of
+the means of transport, either because at this time heavy requisitions
+for the exigencies of the army had reduced the number of vehicles, or
+because they were too small, as it is customary to make the carriages in
+this country very light, on account of the sandy soil, and of the roads,
+which may be said to be rather marked out than constructed.</p>
+
+<p>Kutusoff, although defeated at Borodino, had sent letters to all
+quarters announcing that he was victorious. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>He deceived Moscow, St.
+Petersburg, and even the commanders of the other Russian armies.
+Alexander communicated this false intelligence to his allies. In the
+first transports of his joy he hastened to the altars, loaded the army
+and the family of his general with honors and money, gave directions for
+rejoicings, returned thanks to Heaven, and appointed Kutusoff a
+field-marshal of the empire.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the Russians affirm that their emperor was grossly imposed upon
+by this report. They are still unacquainted with the motives of such a
+deception, which at first procured Kutusoff unbounded favors, that were
+not withdrawn from him, and afterward, it is said, dreadful menaces,
+that were not put in execution.</p>
+
+<p>If we may credit several of his countrymen, who were perhaps his
+enemies, it would appear that he had two motives. In the first place, he
+wished not to shake by disastrous intelligence the little firmness
+which, in Russia, Alexander was generally, though erroneously, thought
+to possess. In the second, as his despatch would probably arrive on the
+very birthday of his sovereign, it is added that his object was to
+obtain from him the rewards for which this kind of anniversaries affords
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>But at Moscow the delusive impression was of short continuance. The
+rumor of the destruction of half his army was almost immediately
+propagated in that city, from the singular commotion produced by
+extraordinary events, which is known frequently to spread almost
+instantaneously to prodigious distances. Still, however, the language of
+the chiefs, the only persons who dared to speak, continued haughty and
+threatening: many of the inhabitants, trusting to it, remained; but they
+were every day <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>more and more tormented by a painful anxiety. At nearly
+one and the same moment, they were transported with rage, elevated by
+hope, and overwhelmed with fear.</p>
+
+<p>During one of these periods of dejection and dismay, while, prostrate
+before the altars, or in their own houses before the images of their
+saints, they had abandoned all hope but in Heaven, shouts of joy were
+suddenly heard: the people instantly thronged the streets and the public
+places to learn the cause. Intoxicated with delight, their eyes were
+fixed on the cross of the principal church. A vulture had entangled
+himself in the chains which supported it, and was held suspended by
+them. This was a certain presage to minds whose natural superstition was
+heightened by extraordinary anxiety: it was thus that their God would
+seize and deliver Napoleon into their power.</p>
+
+<p>Rostopchin took advantage of all these movements, which he excited or
+checked according as they were favorable to him or otherwise. He caused
+the most diminutive to be selected from the prisoners taken from the
+French, and exhibited them to the people, that the latter might derive
+courage from the sight of their weakness; and yet he emptied Moscow of
+every kind of supplies, in order to feed the vanquished and to famish
+the conquerors. This measure was easily carried into effect, as Moscow
+was provisioned in spring and autumn by water only, and in winter by
+sledges.</p>
+
+<p>He was still attempting to preserve, with a remnant of hope, the order
+that was necessary, especially in such a flight, when the effects of the
+disaster at Borodino were fully manifested. The long train of wounded,
+their groans, their garments and linen dyed with blood; their most
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>powerful nobles struck and overthrown like the rest: all this was a
+novel and alarming sight to a city which had for such a length of time
+been exempt from the horrors of war. The police redoubled their
+activity; but the terror which they excited could not long make head
+against a still greater terror.</p>
+
+<p>Rostopchin once more addressed the people. He declared that "he would
+defend Moscow to the last extremity; that the courts were already
+closed, but that was of no consequence; that there was no occasion for
+tribunals to try the guilty": he added that "in two days he would give
+the signal." He recommended to the people to "arm themselves with
+hatchets, and especially with three-pronged forks, as the French were
+not heavier than a sheaf of wheat." As for the wounded, he said he
+should cause "masses to be said, and the water to be blessed, in order
+to their speedy recovery. The next day," he added, "he should repair to
+Kutusoff, to take final measures for exterminating the enemy."</p>
+
+<p>The Russian army, in their position in front of Moscow, numbered
+ninety-one thousand men, six thousand of whom were Cossacks,<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a>
+sixty-five thousand veteran troops (the remnant of one hundred and
+twenty-one thousand engaged at the Moskwa),<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> and twenty thousand
+recruits, armed half with muskets and half with pikes.</p>
+
+<p>The French army, one hundred and thirty thousand strong the day before
+the great battle, had lost about forty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>thousand men at Borodino, and
+still consisted of ninety thousand. Some regiments on the march, and the
+divisions of Laborde and Pino, had just joined it: so that, on its
+arrival before Moscow, it still amounted to nearly one hundred thousand
+men. Its march was retarded by six hundred and seven pieces of cannon,
+two thousand five hundred artillery carriages, and five thousand
+baggage-wagons: it had no more ammunition than would suffice for one
+engagement. Kutusoff perhaps calculated the disproportion between his
+effective force and ours. On this point, however, nothing but conjecture
+can be advanced, for he assigned purely military motives for his
+retreat.</p>
+
+<p>Thus much is certain, that Kutusoff deceived Rostopchin to the very last
+moment. He even swore to him "by his gray hair that he would perish with
+him before Moscow," when all at once the governor was informed that, in
+a council of war held at night in the camp, it had been determined to
+abandon the capital without a battle.</p>
+
+<p>Rostopchin was incensed at this intelligence, but his resolution
+remained unshaken. There was now no time to be lost; no farther pains
+were taken to conceal from Moscow the fate that was destined for it;
+indeed it was not worth while to dissemble for the sake of the few
+inhabitants who were left; and, besides, it was necessary to induce them
+to seek their safety in flight.</p>
+
+<p>At night, therefore, emissaries went round, knocking at every door and
+announcing the conflagration. Fuses were introduced at every favorable
+aperture, especially into the shops covered with iron, in the
+tradesmen's quarter, and the fire-engines were carried off. The
+desolation had now attained its highest pitch, and each individual,
+according to his disposition, was either overwhelmed with despair or
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>urged to a decision. Most of those who were left formed groups in the
+public places; they crowded together, questioned each other, and asked
+each other's advice; while many wandered about at random, some depressed
+by terror, others in a frightful state of exasperation. At length the
+army, their last hope, deserted them: the troops began to traverse the
+city, and in their retreat they hurried along with them the still
+considerable remnant of its population.</p>
+
+<p>They departed by the Kolomna gate,<a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> surrounded by a multitude of
+women, children, and aged persons, in the deepest affliction. The fields
+were covered with them. They fled in all directions, by every path,
+across the country, without provisions, and laden with such of their
+effects as, in their agitation, they had first laid their hands on.
+Some, for want of horses, had harnessed themselves to carts, and in this
+manner dragged along their infant children, a sick wife, or an infirm
+father; in short, whatever they held most dear. The woods afforded them
+shelter, and they subsisted on the charity of their countrymen.</p>
+
+<p>On that day a terrific scene terminated this melancholy drama. This, the
+last day of Moscow, having arrived, Rostopchin collected together all
+whom he had been able to retain and arm. The prisons were thrown open. A
+squalid and disgusting crew tumultuously issued from them. These
+wretches rushed into the streets with ferocious joy. Two men, a Russian
+and a Frenchman, the one accused of treason, the other of political
+indiscretion, were selected from among this horde, and dragged before
+Rostopchin, who fiercely reproached the Russian with his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>crime. He was
+the son of a tradesman, and had been apprehended while exciting the
+people to insurrection. A circumstance which occasioned alarm was the
+discovery that he belonged to a sect of German religious and political
+fanatics. His audacity had never failed him in prison. It was imagined,
+for a moment, that the spirit of equality had penetrated into Russia. He
+did not, however, disclose any accomplices.</p>
+
+<p>At this crisis his father arrived. It was expected that he would
+intercede for his son; but, on the contrary, he insisted on his death.
+The governor granted him a few moments, that he might once more speak to
+and bless him. "What, I! I bless a traitor!" exclaimed the enraged
+Russian, and, turning to his son, with a horrid voice and gesture he
+pronounced a curse upon him.</p>
+
+<p>This was the signal for his execution. The poor wretch was struck down
+by an ill-directed blow of a sabre. He fell, but wounded only, and
+perhaps the arrival of the French might have saved him, had not the
+people perceived that he was yet alive. They forced the barrier, fell
+upon him, and tore him to pieces.</p>
+
+<p>The Frenchman, during this scene, was petrified with terror. "As for
+thee," said Rostopchin, turning towards him, "being a Frenchman, thou
+canst not but wish for the arrival of the French army: be free, then,
+and go and tell thy countrymen that Russia had but one traitor, and that
+he has been punished." Then, addressing himself to the wretches who
+surrounded him, he called them sons of Russia, and exhorted them to make
+atonement for their crimes by serving their country. He was the last to
+quit the doomed city, and he then rejoined the Russian army.</p>
+
+<p>From that moment the mighty Moscow belonged neither <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>to the Russians nor
+to the French, but to that guilty horde whose fury was directed by a few
+officers and soldiers of the police. They were organized, and each had
+his post allotted to him, in order that pillage, fire, and devastation
+might commence everywhere at once.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEONS_FIRST_VIEW_OF_MOSCOW" id="NAPOLEONS_FIRST_VIEW_OF_MOSCOW"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city.</b></p>
+
+<p>That very day (September the 14th), Napoleon, being at length satisfied
+that Kutusoff had not thrown himself on his right flank, rejoined his
+advanced guard. He mounted his horse a few leagues from Moscow. He
+marched slowly and cautiously, sending scouts before him to examine the
+woods and the ravines, and to ascend all the eminences to look out for
+the enemy's army. A battle was expected, and the ground favored the
+opinion: works also had been begun, but they had all been abandoned, and
+we experienced not the slightest resistance.</p>
+
+<p>At length the last eminence only remained to be passed: it is contiguous
+to Moscow, which it commands. It is called <i>The Hill of Salvation</i>,
+because on its summit the inhabitants, at sight of their holy city,
+cross and prostrate themselves. Our scouts soon gained the top of this
+hill. It was two o'clock: the sun caused this great city to glisten with
+a thousand colors. Struck with astonishment at the sight, they paused,
+exclaiming, "Moscow! Moscow!" Every one quickened his pace; the troops
+hurried on in disorder; and the whole army, clapping their hands,
+repeated with transport, "Moscow! Moscow!" just as sailors shout "Land!
+land!" at the conclusion of a long and toilsome voyage.</p>
+
+<p>At the sight of this gilded city, of this splendid capital, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>uniting
+Europe and Asia, of this magnificent emporium of the luxury and arts of
+the two fairest divisions of the globe, we stood still, in proud
+contemplation. What a glorious day had now arrived! It would furnish the
+grandest, the most brilliant recollection of our whole lives. We felt at
+this moment that all our actions would engage the attention of the
+astonished world, and that every movement we made, however trivial,
+would be recorded by history.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment dangers and sufferings were all forgotten: was it
+possible to purchase too dearly the proud felicity of being able to say
+during the rest of life, "I belonged to the army of Moscow!"</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon himself hastened up. He paused in transport: an exclamation of
+delight escaped his lips. Ever since the great battle, the discontented
+marshals had shunned him; but at the sight of captive Moscow, at the
+intelligence of the arrival of a flag of truce, struck with so important
+a result, and intoxicated with all the enthusiasm of glory, they forgot
+their grievances. They pressed around the emperor, paying homage to his
+good fortune, and already tempted to attribute to the foresight of his
+genius the little pains he had taken on the 7th to complete his victory.</p>
+
+<p>But in Napoleon, first emotions were of short duration. He had too much
+to think of to indulge his sensations for any length of time. His first
+exclamation was, "There at last is that famous city!" and the second,
+"It was high time!"</p>
+
+<p>His eyes fixed on this capital, already expressed nothing but
+impatience: in it he beheld in imagination the whole Russian empire. Its
+walls enclosed all his hopes, peace, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>the expenses of the war, immortal
+glory: his eager looks, therefore, intently watched all its outlets.
+When would its gates at length open? When should he see that deputation
+come forth, which would place its wealth, its population, its senate,
+and the principal of the Russian nobility at his disposal? Henceforth
+that enterprise in which he had so rashly engaged, brought to a
+successful termination by dint of boldness, would pass for the result of
+a deep combination; his imprudence for greatness: henceforth his victory
+at the Moskwa, incomplete as it was, would be deemed his greatest
+achievement. Thus all that might have turned to his ruin would begin to
+decide whether he was the greatest man in the world, or the most rash;
+in short, whether he had raised himself an altar or dug for himself a
+grave.</p>
+
+<p>Anxiety, however, soon began to take possession of his mind. On his left
+and right he beheld Prince Eugene and Poniatowski approaching the
+hostile city; Murat, with his scouts, had already reached the entrance
+of the suburbs, and yet no deputation appeared: an officer sent by
+Miloradovitch<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> merely came to declare that his general would set
+fire to the city if his rear was not allowed time to evacuate it.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon granted every demand. The troops of the two armies were for a
+short time intermingled. Murat was recognized by the Cossacks, who, with
+the familiarity of the wandering tribes, and curious and ardent as the
+people of the south, thronged around him: then by their gestures and
+exclamations they extolled his valor and intoxicated him with their
+admiration. Murat took the watches of his officers, and distributed them
+among these barbarous warriors. One of them called him his chief.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>Murat was tempted to believe that among them he should find a new
+Mazeppa,<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> or that he himself might become one: he imagined that he
+had completely gained them over. This momentary armistice, under the
+actual circumstances, sustained the hopes of Napoleon, such need had he
+of self-delusion. He was amused in this way for two hours.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the day was declining, and Moscow continued dull, silent, and
+seemingly inanimate. The anxiety of the emperor increased, and the
+impatience of the soldiers could scarcely be repressed. Some officers
+ventured within the walls of the city. Moscow was deserted!</p>
+
+<p>At this intelligence, which he angrily refused to credit, Napoleon
+ascended the Hill of Salvation, and approached the Moskwa and the
+Dorogomilow gate.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> He paused once more, but in vain, at the entrance
+of that barrier. Murat pressed him to permit his soldiers to occupy the
+city. "Well!" he replied, "let them enter, then, since they wish it!" He
+recommended the strictest discipline: he still indulged hopes. "Perhaps
+these inhabitants," he said, "do not even know how to surrender, for
+here everything is new; they to us, and we to them."</p>
+
+<p>Reports now began rapidly to succeed each other: they all agreed. Some
+Frenchmen, residents of Moscow, ventured to quit the hiding-places which
+for some days had concealed them from the fury of the populace, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>confirmed the fatal tidings. The emperor called Daru.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> "Moscow
+deserted!" he exclaimed: "what an improbable story! We must know the
+truth of it. Go and bring me the boyars."<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> He imagined that those
+men, stiff with pride or paralyzed by terror, remained motionless in
+their houses; and he, who had hitherto been always met by the submission
+of the vanquished, would encourage their confidence and anticipate their
+prayers.</p>
+
+<p>How, indeed, was it possible for him to persuade himself that so many
+magnificent palaces, so many splendid temples, so many rich mercantile
+establishments, had been forsaken by their owners, like the paltry
+hamlets through which he had recently passed? Daru's mission, however,
+was fruitless. Not a Muscovite was to be seen; not a particle of smoke
+arose from a single chimney; not the slightest noise issued from this
+vast and populous city: its three hundred thousand inhabitants seemed to
+be struck dumb and motionless by enchantment: it was the silence of the
+desert!</p>
+
+<p>But such was the incredulity of Napoleon that he was not yet convinced,
+and waited for further information. At length an officer, wishing to
+gratify him, or persuaded that whatever he willed must necessarily be
+accomplished, entered the city, seized five or six vagabonds, drove them
+before his horse to the emperor, and presented them to him as a
+deputation. From the first words they uttered, however, Napoleon
+detected the imposture, and perceived that they were only poor laborers.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till then that he ceased to doubt the entire evacuation of
+Moscow, and gave up all the hopes that he had built upon it. He shrugged
+his shoulders, and with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>that contemptuous look with which he met
+everything that crossed his wishes, he exclaimed, "Ah! the Russians do
+not know yet the effect which the taking of their capital will produce
+upon them!"</p>
+
+<p>It was now an hour since Murat and the long and close column of his
+cavalry had entered Moscow: they penetrated to the centre of that
+gigantic body, as yet untouched, but inanimate. Struck with profound
+astonishment at finding a solitude so complete, they replied to the
+stillness of this modern Thebes by a silence equally solemn. These
+warriors listened, with a secret shuddering, to the sound of their
+horses' steps among these deserted palaces. They were amazed to hear
+nothing but the noise they themselves made amid such numerous
+habitations. No one thought of stopping or of plundering, either from
+prudence, or because highly civilized nations respect themselves in
+enemies' capitals.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile they were silently observing this mighty city, which would
+have been truly remarkable had they met with it in a flourishing and
+populous country, but which was here in these deserts still more
+astonishing. It was like a rich and beautiful oasis. They had at first
+been struck by the sudden view of so many magnificent palaces, but they
+now perceived that they were intermingled with mean cottages: a
+circumstance which indicated the want of gradation among the classes,
+and that luxury had not been generated there, as in other countries, by
+industry, but had preceded it; whereas, in the natural order, it ought
+to be more or less its proper consequence.</p>
+
+<p>Amid these reflections, which were favored by the slowness of our march,
+the report of firearms was all at once heard: the column halted. Its
+last horses were still <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>crossing the fields; its centre was in one of
+the longest streets of the city; its head had reached the Kremlin. The
+gates of that citadel appeared to be closed; ferocious cries issued from
+within it; men and women, of savage and disgusting aspect, appeared
+fully armed upon its walls. In a state of drunken fury, they uttered the
+most horrible imprecations. Murat sent them amicable proposals, but to
+no purpose. It was found necessary to employ cannon to break open the
+gate.</p>
+
+<p>We penetrated, partly without opposition, partly by force, among these
+wretches. One of them rushed close to Murat and endeavored to kill one
+of his officers. It was thought sufficient to disarm him; but he again
+fell upon his victim, threw him to the ground, and attempted to
+suffocate him; and even after his arms were seized and held, he strove
+to tear him with his teeth. These were the only Muscovites who had
+waited our coming! and who seemed to have been left behind as a savage
+and frightful emblem of the national hatred.</p>
+
+<p>It was easy to perceive, however, that there was no unison in this
+patriotic fury. Five hundred recruits, who had been forgotten in the
+Kremlin, took no part in this scene: at the first summons they
+dispersed; and farther on we overtook a convoy of provisions, the escort
+of which immediately threw down its arms. Several thousand stragglers
+and deserters from the enemy voluntarily remained in the power of our
+advance guard. The latter left to the corps which followed the task of
+picking them up; these, again, to others, and so on; and thus they
+remained at liberty in the midst of us, till the conflagration and
+pillage of the city reminding them of their duty, and rallying in them
+one general feeling of antipathy, they went and rejoined Kutusoff.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>Murat, who had been stopped but a few moments by the Kremlin, dispersed
+this despicable crew. Ardent and indefatigable as in Italy and Egypt,
+after a march of twenty-seven hundred miles, and sixty battles fought to
+reach Moscow, he traversed that proud city without deigning to halt in
+it, and pursuing the Russian rear guard, he boldly and without
+hesitation took the road for Vladimir and Asia.</p>
+
+<p>Several thousand Cossacks, with four pieces of cannon, were retreating
+in that direction: the armistice was at an end; and Murat, tired of this
+peace of half a day, immediately ordered it to be broken by a discharge
+of carbines. But our cavalry considered the war as finished; Moscow
+appeared to them to be the goal of it; and the advanced posts of the two
+empires seemed unwilling to renew hostilities. A fresh order arrived,
+but the same hesitation prevailed. At length Murat, incensed at this
+disobedience, gave his commands in person; and the firing, with which he
+seemed to threaten Asia, but which was not destined to cease till we had
+retreated to the banks of the Seine, was renewed.</p>
+
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_TAKES_UP_HIS_QUARTERS_IN_THE_KREMLIN" id="NAPOLEON_TAKES_UP_HIS_QUARTERS_IN_THE_KREMLIN"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city discovered
+to be on fire.</b></p>
+
+<p>Napoleon did not enter Moscow till after dark. He stopped in one of the
+first houses of the Dorogomilow suburb. There he appointed Marshal
+Mortier governor of that capital. "Above all," he said to him, "no
+pillage. For this you shall be answerable to me with your life. Defend
+Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."</p>
+
+<p>That was a gloomy night: sinister reports rapidly followed each other.
+Some Frenchmen, resident in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>country, and even a Russian officer of
+police, came to give intelligence respecting the conflagration. He
+related all the particulars of the preparations that had been made for
+it. The emperor, alarmed by these accounts, strove in vain to compose
+himself to rest. He called every moment, and fatal tidings were repeated
+to him. Still he persisted in his incredulity till about two in the
+morning, when news was brought to him that the fire had actually broken
+out.</p>
+
+<p>It was at the Exchange, in the centre of the city, in its richest
+quarter. Instantly he issued orders upon orders. As soon as it was
+light, he himself hastened to the spot and threatened the Young Guard
+and Mortier. The marshal pointed out to him some houses covered with
+iron; they were closely shut up, still untouched and uninjured without,
+and yet a black smoke was already issuing from them. Napoleon dejectedly
+entered the Kremlin.</p>
+
+<p>At the sight of this half-Gothic, half-modern palace of the Ruricks and
+the Romanoffs, of their throne still standing, of the cross of the great
+Ivan, and of the finest part of the city, which is overlooked by the
+Kremlin, and which the flames, as yet confined to the bazaar, seemed
+disposed to spare, his former hopes revived. His ambition was flattered
+by this great conquest. "At length, then," he exclaimed, "I am in
+Moscow, in the ancient palace of the Czars, in the Kremlin!" He examined
+every part of it with pride, curiosity, and gratification.</p>
+
+<p>He required a statement of the resources of the city; and, in this brief
+moment given to hope, sent proposals of peace to the Emperor Alexander.
+A superior officer of the enemy had just been found in the great
+hospital: he was charged with the delivery of this letter. It was by
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>the baleful light of the flames of the bazaar that Napoleon finished
+it, and the Russian departed. He was to be the bearer of the news of the
+disaster to his sovereign, whose only answer was the conflagration of
+his capital.</p>
+
+<p>Daylight favored the efforts of the Duke of Treviso to subdue the
+flames. The incendiaries kept themselves concealed. Doubts even were
+entertained of their existence. At length, strict injunctions being
+issued, order restored, and alarm for a moment suspended, each took
+possession of a commodious house or sumptuous palace, under the idea of
+finding comforts that had been dearly purchased by long and excessive
+privations.</p>
+
+<p>Two officers had taken up their quarters in one of the buildings of the
+Kremlin. The view from thence embraced the north and west of the city.
+About midnight they were awakened by an extraordinary light. They looked
+out and beheld palaces filled with flames, which at first merely
+illuminated, but ere long totally consumed these superb and noble
+structures. They observed that the north wind drove these flames
+directly towards the Kremlin, and they became alarmed for the safety of
+that fortress, in which the flower of their army and its commander
+reposed. They were apprehensive also for the surrounding houses, where
+our soldiers, attendants, and horses, weary and exhausted, were
+doubtless buried in profound sleep. Sparks and burning fragments were
+already flying over the roofs of the Kremlin, when the wind, shifting
+from north to west, blew them in another direction.</p>
+
+<p>One of these officers, relieved from apprehension respecting his own
+corps, then composed himself again to sleep, exclaiming, "Let others
+look to it; 'tis no affair of ours"; for such was the unconcern
+produced by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>multiplicity of events and misfortunes, such the
+selfishness arising from excessive suffering and fatigue, that they left
+to each only just strength and feeling sufficient for his personal
+service and preservation.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not long before fresh and more vivid lights again awoke them.
+They beheld other flames rising in the direction which the wind had
+again taken towards the Kremlin, and they cursed French imprudence and
+want of discipline, to which they imputed this disaster. Three times did
+the wind thus change from west to north, and three times did these
+hostile fires, as if obstinately bent on the destruction of the imperial
+quarters, appear eager to follow its course.</p>
+
+<p>At this sight a strong suspicion seized their minds. Could the
+Muscovites, aware of our rash and thoughtless negligence, have conceived
+the hope of burning, with Moscow, our soldiers, heavy with wine,
+fatigue, and sleep; or, rather, had they dared to imagine that they
+should involve Napoleon in this catastrophe, believing that the loss of
+such a man would be a full equivalent for that of their capital; that it
+was a result of sufficient importance to justify the sacrifice of all
+Moscow to obtain it; that Heaven, perhaps, in order to grant them so
+signal a triumph, had decreed so great a sacrifice?</p>
+
+<p>Whether this was actually their plan we cannot tell; but nothing less
+than the emperor's good fortune was required to prevent its being
+realized. In fact, not only did the Kremlin contain, unknown to us, a
+magazine of powder, but that very night, the guards, asleep and
+carelessly posted, suffered a whole park of artillery to enter and draw
+up under the windows of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this moment that the flames were driven from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>all quarters,
+with the greatest violence, towards the Kremlin; for the wind, drawn
+towards this vast conflagration, increased every moment in strength. The
+flower of the army and the emperor himself would have been destroyed, if
+but one of the brands that flew over our heads had alighted on one of
+the powder-wagons. Thus upon a single spark out of the multitudes that
+were for several hours floating in the air, depended the fate of the
+whole army.</p>
+
+<p>At length the day, a dismal day it was, appeared; it came only to add to
+the horrors of the scene, and to take from it all its brilliancy. Many
+of the officers sought refuge in the halls of the palace. The chiefs,
+and Mortier himself, who had been contending for thirty-six hours
+against the fire, there dropped down from fatigue, and in despair.</p>
+
+<p>They said nothing, and we accused ourselves. Most of us supposed that
+want of discipline on the part of our troops and drunkenness had begun
+the disaster, and that the high wind had completed it. We viewed
+ourselves with feelings of disgust. The cry of horror which all Europe
+would not fail to set up, terrified us. Filled with consternation at so
+tremendous a catastrophe, we accosted each other with downcast looks. We
+were roused only by our eagerness to obtain intelligence; and every
+account now began to accuse the Russians alone of the disaster.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, officers arrived from all quarters, and they all agreed on this
+point. The very first night, that of the 14th, a fire-balloon had
+settled on the palace of Prince Trubetskoi, and consumed it: this had
+been the signal. Fire was now immediately set to the Exchange; and
+Russian police soldiers had been seen stirring it up with tarred lances.
+In some places, shells, perfidiously placed in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>stoves of the
+houses, had exploded and wounded the military who crowded around them.
+Retiring to other quarters still standing, they sought there for fresh
+retreats; but when on the point of entering houses that were closely
+shut up and uninhabited, they had heard faint explosions within; these
+were succeeded by a light smoke, which immediately became thick and
+black, then reddish, lastly fire was seen, and presently the whole
+edifice was involved in flames.</p>
+
+<p>All had seen hideous-looking men, covered with rags, and women
+resembling furies, wandering among these flames. These wretches,
+intoxicated with wine and with the success of their crimes, no longer
+took any pains to conceal themselves: they proceeded in triumph through
+the blazing streets; they were caught, armed with torches, striving to
+spread the conflagration; and it was necessary to strike down their
+hands with sabres to oblige them to loose their hold. It was said that
+these banditti had been let loose from the prisons by the Russian
+generals for the express purpose of burning the city; and that, in fact,
+a resolution so extreme could only have been conceived by patriotism,
+and executed by guilt.</p>
+
+<p>Orders were immediately issued to shoot all the incendiaries on the
+spot. The army was on foot. The Old Guard, which exclusively occupied
+one part of the Kremlin, was under arms: the baggage, and the horses
+ready loaded, filled the courts; we were struck dumb with astonishment,
+surprise, and disappointment at witnessing the destruction of such
+admirable quarters. Though masters of Moscow, we were forced to go and
+bivouac,<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a> without provisions, outside its gates.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>While our troops were yet struggling with the conflagration, and
+disputing their prey with the flames, Napoleon, whose sleep none had
+dared to disturb during the night, was awakened by the twofold light of
+day and of the burning city. His first feeling was that of irritation,
+and he would have stayed the devouring element by the breath of his
+command; but he soon paused, and yielded to impossibility. Surprised
+that when he had struck at the heart of an empire he should find there
+any other sentiment than that of abject submission, he felt himself
+vanquished, and surpassed in heroic determination.</p>
+
+<p>This conquest, for which he had sacrificed everything, was like a
+phantom which he had eagerly pursued, and, at the moment when he
+imagined he had grasped it, he saw it vanish from him in a mingled mass
+of smoke and flame. He was then seized with extreme agitation: he
+seemed, as it were, consumed by the fires which were around him. He rose
+every moment from his seat, paced to and fro, and again sat abruptly
+down. He traversed his apartments with hurried steps: his sudden and
+vehement gestures betrayed a painful uneasiness; he quitted, resumed,
+and again as suddenly abandoned an urgent occupation, to hasten to the
+windows and watch the progress of the flames. Short and incoherent
+exclamations burst from his laboring bosom! "What a tremendous
+spectacle! It is their own work! So many palaces! What extraordinary
+resolution! What men! These are indeed Scythians!"<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p>
+
+<p>Between the fire and his quarters there was an extensive vacant space,
+then the Moskwa and its two quays; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>and yet the panes of the windows
+against which he leaned felt already burning to the touch, and the
+constant exertions of sweepers, placed on the iron roofs of the palace,
+were not sufficient to keep them clear of the numerous flakes of fire
+which were continually lighting upon them.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment a rumor was spread that the Kremlin had been mined; and
+the fact, it was said, was confirmed later by the declarations of the
+Russians, and by written documents. Some of his attendants were beside
+themselves with fear, while the military awaited unmoved what the orders
+of the emperor and fate should decree; but he replied to their alarm
+only with a smile of incredulity.</p>
+
+<p>Still, he continued to walk about in the utmost agitation: he stopped at
+every window, to gaze on the terrible, the victorious element that was
+furiously consuming his brilliant conquest; seizing on all the bridges,
+on all the avenues to his fortress, enclosing, and, as it were,
+besieging him in it; spreading every moment wider and wider; constantly
+reducing him within narrower limits, and confining him at length to the
+site of the Kremlin alone.</p>
+
+<p>We breathed already nothing but smoke and ashes: night approached, and
+was about to add darkness to our other dangers; while the equinoctial
+gales, as if in alliance with the Russians, increased in violence. Then
+Murat and Prince Eugene hastened to the emperor's quarters: in company
+with the Prince of Neufch&acirc;tel they made their way to him, and urged him
+by their entreaties, and on their knees, to remove from this scene of
+desolation. All was in vain.</p>
+
+<p>Master, after so many sacrifices, of the palace of the Czars, he was
+bent on not yielding that conquest even to the conflagration, when all
+at once the shout of "the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>Kremlin is on fire!" passed from mouth to
+mouth, and roused us from the contemplative stupor into which we had
+been plunged. The emperor went out to ascertain the danger. Twice had
+the fire communicated to the building in which he was and twice had it
+been extinguished; but the tower of the arsenal was still burning. A
+soldier of the police had been found in it. He was brought in, and
+Napoleon caused him to be interrogated in his presence. This man was the
+incendiary; he had executed his commission at the signal given by his
+chief. It was now evident that everything was devoted to destruction,
+the ancient and sacred Kremlin not excepted.</p>
+
+<p>The gestures of the emperor bespoke disdain and vexation: the wretch was
+hurried into the first court, and there the enraged soldiers despatched
+him with their bayonets.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="THE_FIRE_COMPELS_NAPOLEON_TO_LEAVE_THE_CITY" id="THE_FIRE_COMPELS_NAPOLEON_TO_LEAVE_THE_CITY"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city.</b></p>
+
+<p>This occurrence decided Napoleon. He hastily descended the northern
+staircase, famous for the massacre of the Strelitzes,<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> and requested
+to be conducted out of the city, to the distance of a league on the road
+to St. Petersburg, towards the imperial palace of Petrowski.</p>
+
+<p>But we were besieged by an ocean of fire, which blocked up all the gates
+of the citadel, and frustrated our first attempts to escape. After some
+search, we discovered a postern-gate<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> leading between the rocks to
+the Moskwa. It was by this narrow pass that Napoleon, his officers and
+guard, made their way from the Kremlin. But what had they gained by this
+movement? They had approached <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>nearer to the fire, and could neither
+retreat nor remain where they were; and how were they to advance? how
+force a passage through the billows of this sea of flame? Those who had
+traversed the city, stunned by the tempest and blinded by the ashes,
+could no longer find their way, since the streets themselves were not
+distinguishable amid smoke and ruins.</p>
+
+<p>There was no time to be lost. The roaring of the flames around us became
+every moment more terrific. A single narrow winding street, completely
+enveloped in fire on either side, appeared rather the entrance than the
+outlet of this hell. The emperor, however, on foot, and without
+hesitation, rushed into this frightful passage. He advanced amid the
+crackling of the flames, the crash of floors, and the fall of burning
+timbers, and of fragments of red-hot iron roofs which tumbled around
+him. These ruins impeded his progress. The flames, while with impetuous
+roar they consumed the edifices between which we were proceeding,
+spreading beyond the walls, were blown out by the wind, and formed an
+arch over our heads. We walked on a ground of fire, beneath a fiery
+canopy and between two walls of fire. The intense heat burned our eyes,
+which we were nevertheless obliged to keep open and fixed on the danger.
+A consuming atmosphere parched our throats, and rendered our respiration
+short and difficult; and we were already almost suffocated by the smoke.
+Our hands were burned, either in endeavoring to protect our faces from
+the insupportable heat, or in brushing off the sparks which every moment
+fell upon our garments. In this inexpressible distress, and when a rapid
+advance seemed to be our only means of safety, our guide stopped in
+uncertainty and agitation. Here probably would have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>terminated our
+adventurous career, had not some pillagers of the first corps recognized
+the emperor amid the whirling flames: they ran up and guided him towards
+the smoking ruins of a quarter which had been reduced to ashes in the
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>It was there that we met the Prince of Eckm&uuml;hl. This marshal, who had
+been wounded at the Moskwa, had desired to be carried back among the
+flames to rescue Napoleon, or to perish with him. He threw himself into
+his arms with transport; the emperor received him kindly, but with that
+composure which in danger he never lost for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>To escape from this vast region of desolation, it was farther necessary
+to pass a long convoy of powder which was defiling amid the fire. This
+was not the least of his dangers, but it was the last, and by nightfall
+he arrived at Petrowski.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, the 17th of September, Napoleon cast his first look
+towards Moscow, hoping to see that the conflagration had subsided. But
+he beheld it again raging with the utmost violence: the city appeared
+like one vast column of fire, rising in whirling eddies to the sky,
+which it deeply colored. Absorbed by this melancholy contemplation, he
+maintained a long and gloomy silence, which he broke only by the
+exclamation, "This forebodes to us great misfortunes!"</p>
+
+<p>The effort which he had made to reach Moscow had expended all his means
+of warfare. Moscow had been the limit of his projects, the aim of all
+his hopes, and Moscow was no more! What was now to be done? Here this
+decisive genius was forced to hesitate. He who in 1805 had ordered the
+sudden and total abandonment of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>expedition prepared at an immense
+expense, for the invasion of England; and determined at Boulogne on the
+surprise and annihilation of the Austrian army, in short, on all the
+operations of the campaign between Ulm and Munich exactly as they were
+executed; this same man, who in the following year dictated at Paris
+with like infallibility all the movements of his army as far as Berlin,
+the day of his entrance into that capital, and the appointment of the
+governor whom he destined for it; he it was who, astonished in his turn,
+was now in perplexity what course to pursue. Never had he communicated
+his most daring projects to the most confidential of his ministers but
+in order for their execution; he was now, however, constrained to
+consult and put to the proof those who were around him.</p>
+
+<p>But, in doing this, he still preserved the same show of confidence and
+of determination. He declared that he would march for St. Petersburg.
+This conquest was already marked out on his maps, hitherto so prophetic:
+orders were even issued to the different corps to hold themselves in
+readiness. But this was all only a feint: it was but a better face that
+he strove to assume, or an expedient for diverting his grief at the loss
+of Moscow; so that Berthier, and more especially Bessi&egrave;res, soon
+convinced him that he had neither time, provisions, roads, nor a single
+requisite for so distant an expedition.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment he was apprised that Kutusoff, after having fled towards
+the east, had suddenly turned to the south, and thrown himself between
+Moscow and Kaluga. This was an additional circumstance against the
+expedition to St. Petersburg. There was a threefold reason for marching
+upon the beaten army, and endeavoring to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>extinguish it: to secure his
+right flank and his line of operation; to possess himself of Kaluga and
+of Tula, the one the granary, the other the arsenal of Russia; and,
+lastly, to open safe, short, new, and untouched retreat to Smolensk and
+Lithuania.<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p>
+
+<p>Some one proposed to return upon Wittgenstein and Witepsk.<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a>
+Napoleon, however, remained undecided between these different plans.
+That for the conquest of St. Petersburg alone flattered him: the others
+appeared but as ways of retreat, as acknowledgments of error; and
+whether from pride, or policy which would not admit itself to be in the
+wrong, he rejected them.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, where was he to halt in case of a retreat? He had so fully
+calculated on concluding a peace at Moscow, that he had no
+winter-quarters provided in Lithuania. Kaluga had no temptations for
+him. Wherefore lay waste fresh provinces? It would be wiser only to
+threaten them, and thus leave the Russians something to lose, in order
+to induce them to conclude a peace by which they might be preserved.
+Would it be possible to march to another battle, to fresh conquests,
+without exposing a line of operation covered with sick, stragglers,
+wounded, and convoys of all sorts? Moscow was the general rallying
+point: how could it be changed? What other name would have any
+attraction?</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, and above all, how could he relinquish a hope to which he had
+made so many sacrifices, when he knew that his letter to Alexander had
+just passed the Russian <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>advanced posts; when eight days would be
+sufficient for receiving an answer, so ardently desired; when he
+required that time to rally and reorganize his army, to collect the
+relics of Moscow, the conflagration of which had but too strongly
+sanctioned pillage, and to draw his soldiers away from that vast
+infirmary.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, scarcely a third of that army and of that capital now
+existed. But himself and the Kremlin were still standing: his renown was
+still entire, and he persuaded himself that those two great names,
+Napoleon and Moscow, combined, would be sufficient to accomplish
+everything. He determined, therefore, to return to the Kremlin, which a
+battalion of his guard had unfortunately preserved.</p>
+
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_RETURNS_TO_THE_KREMLIN" id="NAPOLEON_RETURNS_TO_THE_KREMLIN"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city.</b></p>
+
+<p>The camps which he traversed on his way thither presented an
+extraordinary sight. In the fields, in the midst of the mud, were large
+fires, kept up with mahogany furniture, windows and gilded doors. Around
+these fires, on litters of damp straw, imperfectly sheltered by a few
+boards, were seen the soldiers and their officers, splashed all over
+with mud, and blackened with smoke, seated in arm-chairs or reclining on
+silken couches. At their feet were spread, or heaped together, Cashmere
+shawls, the rarest furs of Siberia, the gold stuffs of Persia, and
+silver dishes, off which they had nothing to eat but black dough baked
+in the ashes, and half broiled and bloody horseflesh. Strange
+combination of abundance and want, of riches and filth, of luxury and
+wretchedness!</p>
+
+<p>Between the camp and the city were met troops of soldiers dragging along
+their booty, or driving before them, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>like beasts of burden, Muscovites
+bending under the weight of the pillage of their capital: for the fire
+brought to light nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, previously
+concealed in that immense city. Some of these, of both sexes, were well
+dressed: they were tradespeople. They came with the wreck of their
+property, to seek refuge at our fires. They lived pell-mell with our
+soldiers, protected by some, and tolerated, or, rather, scarcely
+remarked by others.</p>
+
+<p>About ten thousand of the enemy's troops were in the same predicament.
+For several days they wandered about among us, free, and some of them
+even still armed. Our soldiers met these vanquished Russians without the
+slightest animosity, and without thinking of making them prisoners;
+either that they considered the war at an end, or from thoughtlessness
+or pity, or because, when not in battle, the French delight in having no
+enemies. They suffered them to share their fires; nay, more, they
+allowed them to pillage in their company. But when some degree of order
+was restored, or, rather, when the officers had organized this marauding
+as a regular system of forage, the great number of these Russian
+stragglers attracted notice, and orders were given to secure them; but
+seven or eight thousand had already escaped. It was not long before we
+had to fight them.</p>
+
+<p>On entering the city the emperor was struck by a sight still more
+extraordinary: a few houses scattered here and there among the ruins
+were all that was left of the mighty Moscow. The smell issuing from this
+vast city, overthrown, burned, and calcined, was horrible. Heaps of
+ashes, and, at intervals, fragments of walls or half-demolished pillars,
+were now the only vestiges that marked the sites of streets.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>In the suburbs were found a few Russians of both sexes, covered with
+garments scorched and blackened by the fire. They flitted like spectres
+among the ruins; some of them were scratching up the earth in gardens in
+quest of vegetables, while others were disputing with the crows for the
+relics of the dead animals which their army had left behind. Farther on,
+others again were seen plunging into the Moskwa to bring out some of the
+grain which had been thrown into it by command of Rostopchin, and which
+they devoured without preparation, soured and spoiled as it was.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the sight of the booty in the camps, where everything was yet
+wanting, inflamed the soldiers, whom a sense of duty or stricter
+officers had hitherto kept with their colors. They murmured. "Why were
+they to be kept back? Why were they to perish by famine and want, when
+everything was within their reach? Was it right to allow the enemy's
+fires to destroy what might be saved? Why was such respect to be paid to
+the conflagration?" They added, that "as the inhabitants of Moscow had
+not only abandoned, but even endeavored utterly to destroy it, all that
+they could save would be fairly gained; that the remains of that city,
+like the arms of the conquered, belonged by right to the victors, as the
+Muscovites had turned their capital into a vast machine of war for the
+purpose of annihilating us."</p>
+
+<p>The best principled, and the best disciplined were those who argued
+thus, and it was impossible to reply satisfactorily to them. Exaggerated
+scruples, however, at first preventing the issuing of orders for
+pillage, it was permitted, unrestrained by regulations. Then it was,
+urged by the most imperious wants, that all hurried to share the spoil,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>soldiers of the highest class, and even officers. Their chiefs were
+obliged to shut their eyes: only such guards as were absolutely
+indispensable remained with the colors and the piled arms.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor saw his whole army dispersed over the city. His progress was
+obstructed by long files of marauders going in quest of booty or
+returning with it; by tumultuous assemblages of soldiers grouped around
+the entrances of cellars, or the doors of palaces, shops, and churches,
+which the fire had nearly reached, and which they were endeavoring to
+break into.</p>
+
+<p>His steps were impeded by the fragments of furniture of every kind which
+had been thrown out of the windows to save them from the flames, or by
+rich pillage which had been abandoned from caprice for other booty, for
+such is the way with soldiers; they are incessantly beginning their
+fortunes afresh, taking everything indiscriminately, loading themselves
+beyond measure, as if they could carry all that they find; then, after
+they have gone a few steps, compelled by fatigue to throw away
+successively the greatest part of their burden.</p>
+
+<p>The roads were obstructed by these accumulations; and the open places,
+like the camp, were turned into markets, whither every one repaired to
+exchange superfluities for necessaries. There the rarest articles, the
+value of which was not known to their possessors, were sold for the
+merest pittance; while others of little worth, but more showy
+appearance, were purchased at the most exorbitant prices. Gold, from
+being most portable, was bought at an immense loss with silver that the
+knapsacks were incapable of holding. Everywhere soldiers were seen
+seated on bales of merchandise, on heaps of sugar and coffee, amid
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>wines and the most exquisite liquors, all of which they were offering
+in exchange for a morsel of bread. Many, in a state of intoxication
+aggravated by hunger, had fallen near the flames, which, reaching them,
+put a miserable end to their lives.</p>
+
+<p>The houses and palaces which had escaped the fire served as quarters for
+the officers, who respected whatever was found in them. They beheld with
+pain this vast destruction, and the pillage which was its necessary
+consequence. Some of our best men were reproached with being too greedy
+in collecting whatever they could rescue from the flames; but their
+number was so small that they were all mentioned by name. In these
+ardent men war was a passion which presupposed the existence of many
+others. It was not covetousness, for they did not hoard; they spent
+lavishly what they had thus picked up, taking in order to give,
+believing that one hand washed the other, and that they paid for
+everything with the danger they encountered in acquiring it.</p>
+
+<p>It was amid this confusion that Napoleon again entered Moscow. He had
+allowed the pillage, hoping that his army, scattered over the ruins,
+would find much that was valuable; but when he learned that the disorder
+increased; that the Old Guard<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> itself had yielded to the temptation;
+that the Russian peasants, who were at length allured thither with
+provisions, for which he caused them to be liberally paid, that they
+might induce others to come, were robbed of what they brought to us by
+our famished soldiers; when he was informed that the different corps,
+destitute of everything, were ready to fight each other for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>relics
+of Moscow; that, finally, all our existing resources were wasted by this
+lawless freebooting, he then issued severe orders, and forbade his guard
+to leave their quarters. The churches in which our cavalry had sheltered
+themselves, were evacuated, and restored to their religious uses.<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a>
+The business of plunder was ordered to be taken in turn by the different
+corps, like any other duty, and directions were at length given for
+securing the Russian stragglers.</p>
+
+<p>But it was too late. These soldiers had fled; the affrighted peasants
+returned no more; and great quantities of provisions were wasted. The
+French army have sometimes fallen into these faults, but on the present
+occasion the fire must plead their excuse; no time was to be lost in
+anticipating the flames. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that at the
+first command of the emperor perfect order was restored.</p>
+
+<p>Most of our men behaved generously, considering the small number of
+inhabitants who remained, and the great number of enemies they met with.
+But if, in the first moments of pillage, some excesses were perpetrated,
+ought this to appear surprising in an army exasperated by such urgent
+wants, such severe sufferings, and composed of so many different
+nations?</p>
+
+<p>Misfortunes having since overwhelmed these warriors, reproaches, as in
+such circumstances is ever the case, have been raised against them. Who
+can be ignorant that similar disorders have always been the bad side of
+great wars, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>or, so to speak, the inglorious part of glory; that the
+renown of conquerors casts its shadow like everything else in this
+world? Does there exist a creature however diminutive, on every side of
+which the sun can shine at once? It is a law of nature, therefore, that
+great bodies shall cast great shadows.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="ROSTOPCHIN_SETS_FIRE_TO_HIS_COUNTRY-SEAT" id="ROSTOPCHIN_SETS_FIRE_TO_HIS_COUNTRY-SEAT"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon at
+not hearing from the Czar.</b></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Kutusoff, on leaving Moscow, had drawn Murat towards Kolomna,
+the point where the Moskwa intersects the road. Here, under favor of the
+night, he suddenly turned to the south, proceeding by the way of Podol,
+to throw himself between Moscow and Kaluga. This night march of the
+Russians around Moscow, the ashes and flames of which were wafted to
+them by the violence of the wind, was gloomy in the extreme. They were
+lighted on their march by the baleful conflagration which was consuming
+the centre of their commerce, the sanctuary of their religion, the
+cradle of their empire! Filled with horror and indignation, they kept a
+sullen silence, which was unbroken save by the dull and monotonous sound
+of their footsteps, the roaring of the flames, and the howling of the
+blast. The dismal light was frequently varied by livid and sudden
+flashes. The brows of these warriors might then be seen contracted by
+intense and unutterable grief, and the fire of their sombre and
+threatening looks answered to these flames, which they regarded as our
+work; they already betrayed the ferocious revenge which was rankling in
+their hearts, which spread throughout the empire, and of which so many
+Frenchmen were the victims.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>At that solemn moment, Kutusoff, in a firm and impressive tone,
+addressed his sovereign, and informed him of the loss of his capital. He
+stated that, "in order to save the fertile provinces of the south, and
+to keep up his communications with Tormasoff and Tchitchakoff, he had
+been obliged to abandon Moscow, but emptied of its inhabitants, who were
+its life; and," said he, "as the people are the soul of every country,
+so where the Russian people are, there will be Moscow and the empire of
+Russia."</p>
+
+<p>It is said that on receiving this intelligence Alexander was
+thunderstruck. Napoleon, it was known, built hopes on the weakness of
+his rival, and the Russians themselves dreaded the effects of that
+weakness. But the Czar disappointed as well these hopes as fears. In his
+addresses to his subjects he exhibited himself no less great than his
+misfortune: "No pusillanimous dejection!" he exclaimed; "let us vow
+redoubled courage and perseverance! The enemy is in deserted Moscow as
+in a tomb, without means of domination or even of existence. He entered
+Russia with three hundred thousand men of all countries, without union
+or any national or religious bond: he has already lost half of them by
+the sword, by famine, and by desertion: he has but the wreck of this
+army in Moscow: he is in the heart of Russia, and not a single Russian
+is at his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile our forces are increasing and closing around him. He is in
+the midst of a mighty population, encompassed by armies which are
+waiting his movements and keeping him in check. To escape from famine,
+he will soon be obliged to direct his flight through the ranks of our
+brave soldiers. Shall we then recede, when all Europe is looking on and
+encouraging us? Let us, on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>contrary, set it an example, and kiss
+the hand which has thus led us forth to be the first among the nations
+to vindicate the cause of independence and virtue." He concluded with an
+invocation to the Almighty.</p>
+
+<p>This circuitous march of Kutusoff, whether made from indecision or as a
+stratagem, was much in his favor. Murat lost all traces of him for three
+days. The Russian general employed all this interval in studying the
+ground and in intrenching himself. His advanced guard had nearly reached
+Woronowo, one of the finest domains belonging to Count Rostopchin, when
+that nobleman proceeded on before it. The Russians supposed that he had
+gone to take a last look at this splendid mansion, when all at once it
+was wrapped from their sight by clouds of smoke.</p>
+
+<p>They hurried on to extinguish the fire, but Rostopchin himself repelled
+their aid. They beheld him, amid the flames which he was encouraging,
+smiling at the demolition of this magnificent edifice, and then with a
+firm hand penning these words, which the French, shuddering with
+astonishment, afterwards read on the iron gate of a church which was
+left standing: "For eight years I have been embellishing this
+country-seat, where I have lived happily in the bosom of my family. The
+inhabitants of this estate, to the number of 1720, leave it on your
+approach, while I have set fire to my house, that it may not be polluted
+by your presence. Frenchmen, I have relinquished to you my two houses at
+Moscow, with their furniture, worth half a million of rubles. Here you
+will find nothing but ashes!"</p>
+
+<p>It was near this place that Murat came up with Kutusoff. On the 29th of
+September there was a smart engagement of cavalry and another on the 4th
+of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>October. Murat fought till nightfall, and repulsed the Russian
+force.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, the conflagration at Moscow, which commenced in the night of
+the 14th of September, suspended through our exertions during the day of
+the 15th, revived the following night, and, raging with the utmost
+violence on the 16th, 17th, and 18th, abated on the 19th: it ceased
+altogether on the 20th, and on that day Napoleon returned to the
+Kremlin. To this point he attracted the looks of all Europe. There he
+awaited his convoys, his re-enforcements, and the stragglers of his
+army; certain that his soldiers would all be rallied by his victory, by
+the allurements of a rich booty, by the imposing sight of captive
+Moscow, and, above all, by his own glory, which, from the summit of this
+immense pile of ruins, still shone attractive like a beacon upon a rock.</p>
+
+<p>Twice, however, on the 22d and 28th of September, letters from Murat had
+wellnigh drawn him from this fatal abode. They announced a battle; and
+twice the orders for departure were written, and then burned. It seemed
+as though the war was finished for the emperor, and that he was only
+waiting for an answer from St. Petersburg. He nourished his hopes with
+the recollections of Tilsit and Erfurt.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> Was it possible that at
+Moscow he should have less ascendancy over Alexander? Then, as is common
+with men who have long been the favorites of fortune, what he ardently
+wished he confidently expected.</p>
+
+<p>His genius possessed, besides, the extraordinary faculty of being able
+to throw aside the most important occupation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>whenever he pleased,
+either for the sake of variety or for rest; for in him the power of will
+surpassed that of imagination. In this respect he reigned over himself
+no less despotically than he did over others.</p>
+
+<p>Thus Paris diverted his attention from Petersburg. His accumulating
+affairs and the couriers, which in the first days succeeded each other
+without intermission, served to engage him. But the rapidity with which
+he transacted business soon left him again with nothing to do. His
+expresses,<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> which at first came from France in a fortnight, now
+ceased to arrive. A few military posts, placed in four towns reduced to
+ashes, and in wooden houses rudely palisaded, were wholly insufficient
+to guard a road of nearly two hundred and eighty miles; for we had been
+able to fix only these few steps, and at so great a distance apart, on
+so long a ladder. This too lengthened line of operation was consequently
+broken at every point where it was touched by the enemy: a few peasants,
+or a handful of Cossacks, were quite sufficient for the purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Still no answer was received from Alexander. The uneasiness of Napoleon
+increased, while his means of diverting his attention from it
+diminished. The activity of his genius, accustomed to the government of
+all Europe, had nothing with which to occupy itself but the management
+of one hundred thousand men; and then, the organization of his army was
+so perfect, that this was scarcely any occupation to him. Here
+everything was fixed: he held all the wires in his hand: he was
+surrounded by ministers who could tell him immediately, at any hour of
+the day, the position of each man in the morning or at night, whether
+with his colors, in the hospital, on leave of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>absence, or wherever else
+he might be, and that, from Moscow to Paris: to such a degree of
+perfection had the science of a concentrated administration been then
+brought, so experienced and well chosen were the officers, and so much
+was required by their commander.</p>
+
+<p>But eleven days had already elapsed: still Alexander was silent, and
+still did Napoleon hope to overcome his rival by obstinacy: thus losing
+the time which he ought to have gained, and which might have been made
+so serviceable against attack.</p>
+
+<p>From this period all his actions indicated to the Russians, still more
+strongly than at Witepsk, that their mighty foe was resolved to fix
+himself in the heart of their empire. Moscow, though in ashes, received
+a governor and municipal officers: orders also were issued to provision
+it for the winter: and a theatre was formed amid its ruins. The first
+actors of Paris, it is said, were sent for. An Italian singer strove to
+reproduce in the Kremlin the evening entertainments of the Tuileries. By
+such means Napoleon expected to dupe a government which the habit of
+reigning over ignorance and error had rendered an adept in all these
+delusions.</p>
+
+<p>He was himself sensible of the inadequacy of these means, and yet
+September was past, and October had begun. Alexander had not deigned to
+reply! it was an affront! he was exasperated. On the 3d of October,
+after a night of restlessness and irritation, he summoned his marshals.
+"Come in," said he, as soon as he perceived them; "hear the new plan
+which I have conceived: Prince Eugene, read it." They listened. "We must
+burn the remains of Moscow, and march by Twer to St. Petersburg, where
+we shall be joined by Macdonald. Murat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>and Davoust will form the rear
+guard." The emperor, all animation, fixed his sparkling eyes on his
+generals, whose rigid and silent countenances expressed nothing but
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>Then exalting himself in order to rouse them, "What!" said he, "and are
+<i>you</i> not inflamed by this idea? Was there ever so great a military
+achievement? Henceforth this conquest is the only one that is worthy of
+us! With what glory shall we be covered, and what will the whole world
+say when it learns that in three months we have conquered the two great
+capitals of the North!"</p>
+
+<p>But Davoust, as well as Daru, objected to him "the season, the want of
+supplies, a sterile desert, and artificial road, that from Twer to St.
+Petersburg runs for a hundred leagues through morasses, and which three
+hundred peasants might in a single day render impassable. Why keep
+proceeding north? Why go to meet, to provoke, and to defy the winter? it
+was already too near; and what was to become of the six thousand wounded
+still in Moscow? Were they then to be left to the mercy of Kutusoff?
+That general would not fail to follow close at our heels. We should have
+at once to attack and to defend, thus marching to a conquest as though
+we were in flight."</p>
+
+<p>These officers have declared that they themselves then proposed various
+plans: a useless trouble with a prince whose genius outstripped all
+other imaginations, and whom their objections would not have stopped,
+had he been fully determined to march on St. Petersburg. But that idea
+was in him only a sally of anger, an inspiration of despair, on finding
+himself obliged in the face of Europe to give way, to relinquish his
+conquest and to fall back.</p>
+
+<p>It was more especially a threat to frighten his officers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>as well as the
+enemy, and to bring about and to promote a negotiation which
+Caulaincourt was to open. That officer had made himself agreeable to
+Alexander; he was the only one of the grandees of Napoleon's court who
+had acquired any influence over his rival; but for some months past
+Napoleon had kept him at a distance, because he had not been able to
+induce him to approve of his expedition.</p>
+
+<p>It was nevertheless to this very man that he was now obliged to have
+recourse, and to disclose his anxiety. He sent for him; but, when alone
+with him, he hesitated. Taking him by the arm, he walked to and fro for
+a long time in great agitation, his pride preventing him from breaking
+so painful a silence: at length he yielded, but in a threatening manner.
+Caulaincourt, who had formerly been minister to Russia, was to persuade
+the enemy to solicit peace of him, as if it were by his condescension
+that it was to be granted.</p>
+
+<p>After a few words, which were scarcely articulate, he said that "he was
+about to march to St. Petersburg. He knew that the destruction of that
+city would give pain to General Caulaincourt. Russia would then rise
+against the Emperor Alexander; there would at once be a conspiracy
+against that monarch; he would be assassinated, which would be a most
+unfortunate circumstance. He esteemed that prince, and should regret
+him, both for his own sake and that of France. His disposition," he
+added, "was suited to our interests: no prince could replace him with so
+much advantage to us. He had thought, therefore, of sending General
+Caulaincourt to him, to prevent such a catastrophe."</p>
+
+<p>General Caulaincourt, however, more obstinate than disposed to flattery,
+did not alter his tone. He maintained <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>that "these overtures would be
+useless; that, unless the Russian territory was entirely evacuated,
+Alexander would listen to no proposals; that Russia was sensible of all
+her advantage at this season of the year; nay, more, that this step
+would be detrimental to himself, inasmuch as it would demonstrate the
+need which he had of peace, and betray all the embarrassment of our
+situation."</p>
+
+<p>He added, "that the more particular he was in the selection of his
+negotiator, the more clearly would he show his anxiety; that, therefore,
+he (Caulaincourt) would be more likely to fail than any other,
+especially as he would go with the certainty of failing." The emperor
+abruptly terminated the conversation by these words: "Well, then, I will
+send Lauriston."</p>
+
+<p>The latter asserts that he added fresh objections to the preceding, and
+that, being urged by the emperor, he recommended to him to begin his
+retreat that very day, by way of Kaluga. Napoleon, irritated at this,
+sharply replied, "that he liked simple plans, less circuitous routes,
+high roads, the road by which he had come, yet he would not retrace it
+but with peace." Then showing to him, as he had done to General
+Caulaincourt, the letter which he had written to Alexander, he ordered
+him to go and obtain of Kutusoff a safe conduct to St. Petersburg. The
+last words of the emperor to Lauriston were, "I want peace, I must have
+peace, I absolutely will have peace only save my honor."</p>
+
+<p>The general set out, and reached the advanced posts of the Russians on
+the 5th of October. Hostilities were instantly suspended, and an
+interview granted, at which Wolkonsky, aid-de-camp to Alexander, and
+Beningsen were present, without Kutusoff. Wilson asserts that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>Russian generals and officers, suspicious of their commander, and
+accusing him of weakness, had raised a cry of treason, and that the
+latter had not dared to leave his camp.</p>
+
+<p>As Lauriston's instructions purported that he was to address himself to
+no one but Kutusoff, he peremptorily rejected any intermediate
+communication; and seizing, as he said, this occasion for breaking off a
+negotiation which he disapproved, he retired, in spite of all the
+solicitations of Wolkonsky, with the intention of returning to Moscow.
+Had he carried this into effect, no doubt Napoleon, exasperated, would
+have fallen upon Kutusoff, overthrown him and destroyed his army, as yet
+very incomplete, and forced him into a peace. In case of less decisive
+success, he would at least have been able to retire without loss upon
+his reinforcements.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, Beningsen desired an interview with Murat. Lauriston
+waited. The chief of the Russian staff, an abler negotiator than
+soldier, strove to charm this monarch of yesterday by demonstrations of
+respect; to seduce him by praises; to deceive him with smooth words,
+breathing nothing but a weariness of war and the hope of peace; and
+Murat, tired of battles, anxious respecting their result, and, as it is
+said, regretting his throne, now that he had no hope of a better,
+suffered himself to be charmed, seduced, and deceived.</p>
+
+<p>It was soon demonstrated that the chief point in which they were all
+agreed was to deceive Murat and the emperor; and in this they succeeded.
+These details transported Napoleon with joy. Credulous from hope,
+perhaps from despair, he was for some moments dazzled by these
+appearances: eager to escape from the inward feeling which oppressed
+him, he seemed desirous to deaden it by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>resigning himself to an
+expansive joy. He therefore summoned all his generals, and triumphantly
+announced to them a speedy peace. "They had but to wait another
+fortnight. None but himself was acquainted with the Russian character.
+On the receipt of his letter St. Petersburg would be illuminated." But
+the armistice<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> proposed by Kutusoff was so unsatisfactory to him,
+that he ordered Murat to break it instantly; it nevertheless continued
+to be observed, the cause of which is not known.</p>
+
+<p>This armistice was a very singular one. If either party wished to break
+it, three hours' notice was to be sufficient. It was confined to the
+fronts of the two camps, but did not extend to their flanks: such, at
+least, was the interpretation put upon it by the Russians. Thus, we
+could not bring up a convoy, or send out a foraging party, without
+fighting; so that the war continued everywhere excepting where it could
+be favorable to us.</p>
+
+<p>As for the emperor, who was not so easily deceived, he had but a few
+moments of factitious joy. He soon complained "that an annoying warfare
+of partisans<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> hovered around him; that, notwithstanding all these
+pacific demonstrations, bodies of Cossacks were prowling on his flanks
+and in his rear. Had not one hundred and fifty dragoons of his Old Guard
+been surprised and routed by a number of these barbarians? And this two
+days after the armistice, on the road to Mojaisk, on his line of
+operation, that by which the army communicated with its magazines, its
+reinforcements, and he himself with Europe?"</p>
+
+<p>Our soldiers, and especially our cavalry, were obliged every morning to
+go to a great distance in quest of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>provisions for the evening and for
+the next day; and as the environs of Moscow and Vinkowo became gradually
+more and more drained, they were daily compelled to extend their
+excursions. Both men and horses returned worn out with fatigue, that is
+to say, such of them as returned at all; for we had to fight for every
+bushel of rye and for every truss of forage. It was a series of
+incessant surprises and skirmishes, and of continual losses. The
+peasantry took part in it. They punished with death such of their number
+as the prospect of gain had allured to our camp with provisions. Others
+set fire to their own villages to drive our foragers out of them, and to
+give them up to the Cossacks, whom they had previously summoned, and who
+kept us there in a state of siege.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the war was everywhere: in our front, on our flanks, and in our
+rear. Our army was constantly weakening, and the enemy becoming daily
+more enterprising. This conquest seemed destined to fare like many
+others, which are won in the mass, and lost piece-meal.</p>
+
+<p>Murat himself at length grew uneasy. In these daily skirmishes he had
+seen half the remnant of his cavalry melted away. At the advanced posts,
+the Russian officers, on meeting with ours, either from weariness,
+vanity, or military frankness carried to indiscretion, exaggerated the
+disasters which threatened us. Showing us those wild-looking horses,
+scarcely at all broken in, whose long manes swept the dust of the plain,
+they said, "Did not this tell us that a numerous cavalry was joining
+them from all quarters, while ours was gradually perishing? Did not the
+continual discharges of firearms within their line apprise us that a
+multitude of recruits were then training under favor of the armistice?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>And, in fact, notwithstanding the long journeys which they had to make,
+all these recruits joined the army. There was no occasion to defer
+calling them together, as in other years, till deep snows, obstructing
+all the roads excepting the high road, rendered their desertion
+impossible. Not one failed to obey the national appeal; all Russia rose:
+mothers, it was said, wept for joy on learning that their sons had been
+selected for soldiers: they hastened to acquaint them with the glorious
+intelligence, and even accompanied them to see them marked with the sign
+of the Crusaders, to hear them cry, <i>'Tis the will of God!</i></p>
+
+<p>The Russian officers added "that they were particularly astonished at
+our security on the approach of their frightful winter, which was their
+natural and most formidable ally, and which they expected every moment:
+they pitied us and urged us to fly. In a fortnight," said they, "your
+nails will drop off, and your muskets will fall from your benumbed and
+half-dead fingers."</p>
+
+<p>The language of some of the Cossack chiefs was also remarkable. They
+asked our officers "if they had not, in their own country, corn enough,
+air enough, and graves enough: in short, room enough to live and die?
+Why, then, did they come so far from home to throw away their lives, and
+to fatten a foreign soil with their blood?" They added that "this was a
+robbery of their native land, which while living it is our duty to
+cultivate, to defend, and to embellish; and to which, after our death,
+we owe our bodies, which we received from it, which it has fed, and
+which, in their turn, ought to feed it."</p>
+
+<p>The emperor was not ignorant of these warnings, but he would not suffer
+his resolution to be shaken by them. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>The uneasiness which had again
+seized him betrayed itself in angry orders. It was then that he caused
+the churches of the Kremlin to be stripped of everything that could
+serve for a trophy to the Grand Army. These objects, devoted to
+destruction by the Russians themselves, belonged, he said, to the
+conquerors, by the double right conferred by victory and by the
+conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>It required long efforts to remove the gigantic cross from the steeple
+of Ivan the Great, to the possession of which the Russians attached the
+salvation of their empire. The emperor determined that it should adorn
+the dome of the Invalides<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> at Paris. During the work it was remarked
+that a great number of ravens kept flying round this cross, and that
+Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, exclaimed that "it seemed as
+if these flocks of ill-omened birds meant to defend it." We cannot
+pretend to tell all that he thought in this critical situation, but it
+is well known that he was accessible to every kind of presentiment.</p>
+
+<p>His nights, in particular, became irksome to him. He passed part of them
+with Count Daru. It was then only that he admitted the danger of his
+situation. "From Wilna to Moscow, what submission, what point of
+support, of rest, or of retreat, marked his power? It was a vast, bare,
+and desert field of battle, in which his diminished army was
+imperceptible, insulated, and, as it were, lost in the horrors of an
+immense void. In this country of foreign manners and religion he had not
+conquered a single individual: he was, in fact, master only of the
+ground on which he stood. That which he had just quitted and left
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>behind him was no more his than that which he had not reached.
+Insufficient for these vast deserts, he was lost, as it were, in their
+immense space."</p>
+
+<p>He then reviewed the different resolutions of which he still had the
+choice. "People imagined," he said, "that he had nothing to do but
+march, without considering that it would take a month to refit his army
+and to evacuate his hospitals; that if he relinquished his wounded, the
+Cossacks would daily be seen triumphing over his sick and his
+stragglers. He would appear to fly. All Europe would resound with the
+report! Europe, which envied him, which was seeking a rival under whom
+to rally, and would imagine that it had found such a rival in
+Alexander."</p>
+
+<p>The letter of which Lauriston was the bearer to the Czar had been
+despatched on the 6th of October, and the answer to it could scarcely
+arrive before the 20th: still, in spite of so many threatening
+demonstrations, the pride, the policy, and perhaps the health of
+Napoleon induced him to pursue the worst of all courses, that of waiting
+for this answer, and of trusting to time, which was destroying him.
+Daru, as well as his other officers, was astonished to find in him no
+longer that prompt decision, variable and rapid as the occurrences which
+called it forth: they asserted that his genius could no longer
+accommodate itself to circumstances; and they placed it to the account
+of his natural persistence, which had led to his elevation, and which
+seemed destined to cause his downfall.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_DETERMINES_TO_LEAVE_MOSCOW" id="NAPOLEON_DETERMINES_TO_LEAVE_MOSCOW"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow.</b></p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, however, was completely aware of his situation. To him
+everything seemed lost if he receded in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>face of astonished Europe,
+and everything saved if he could surpass Alexander in determination. He
+appreciated but too well the means that were left him to shake the
+constancy of his rival; he knew that the diminishing number of his
+effective troops, that his situation, the season, in short, everything,
+would become daily more and more unfavorable to him; but he reckoned
+upon that magic force which his renown gave him. Hitherto that had lent
+to him a real and never failing strength: he endeavored, therefore, to
+keep up, by specious arguments, the confidence of his army, and perhaps,
+also, the faint hope that was still left to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Moscow, empty of inhabitants, no longer furnished him with anything to
+lay hold of. "It is no doubt a misfortune," he said, "but this
+misfortune is not without its advantage. Had it been otherwise, he would
+not have been able to keep order in so large a city, to overawe a
+population of three hundred thousand souls, and to sleep in the Kremlin
+but at the hazard of assassination. They have left us nothing but ruins,
+but at least we are quiet among them. Millions have no doubt slipped
+through our hands, but how many thousand millions is Russia losing! Her
+commerce is ruined for a century to come. The nation is thrown back
+fifty years, which of itself is an important result; and when the first
+moment of enthusiasm is passed, this reflection will fill them with
+consternation." The conclusion which he drew was, "that so violent a
+shock would convulse the throne of Alexander, and force that prince to
+sue for peace."</p>
+
+<p>In reviewing his different corps, their reduced battalions now presented
+so narrow a front that he was but a moment in traversing it, and this
+palpable diminution of their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>numbers evidently vexed him; either,
+therefore, to deceive his enemies or his own soldiers, he declared that
+the practice hitherto pursued of ranging the men three deep was wrong,
+and that two were sufficient; and he ordered his infantry in future to
+be drawn up in two ranks only.</p>
+
+<p>Nay, more: he even insisted that the inflexibility of the regimental
+returns should give way to this illusion. He disputed their results; and
+the obstinacy of Count Lobau could not overcome his. He was desirous, no
+doubt, of making his aid-de-camp<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> understand what he wished others
+to believe, and that nothing could shake his resolution.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the attitude of his army seconded his wishes. Most of the
+officers persevered in their confidence. The common soldiers, who saw
+their whole lives in the present, and expected but little from the
+future, were for the most part unconcerned about it, and still retained
+their thoughtlessness, the most valuable of their qualities. The
+rewards, however, which the emperor bestowed profusely upon them in the
+daily reviews, were received at best with a sedate joy, mingled with
+some degree of dejection. The vacant places about to be filled up were
+yet freshly dyed with blood: these favors were menacing.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, when leaving Wilna, many of them had thrown away
+their winter garments, that they might load themselves with provisions.
+Their shoes were worn out by the length of the march, and the rest of
+their apparel by the successive actions in which they had been engaged;
+but, in spite of all, their attitude was still lofty. They carefully
+concealed their wretched plight from the notice of the emperor, and
+appeared before him with their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>arms bright and in the best order. In
+this first court of the palace of the Czars, full sixteen hundred miles
+from their resources, and after so many battles and bivouacs, they were
+anxious to appear still clean, alert, and prompt, for herein consists
+the pride of the soldier; and here they piqued themselves upon it the
+more, on account of the difficulty, in order to astonish, and because
+man prides himself on whatever requires extraordinary effort.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor complaisantly affected to know no better, catching at
+everything to keep up his hopes; when all at once the first snows fell.
+With them fell all the illusions with which he had endeavored to
+surround himself. From that moment he thought of nothing but retreat,
+without, however, pronouncing the word, and yet no positive order for it
+could be obtained from him. He merely said that in twenty days the army
+must be in winter quarters, and he urged the departure of his wounded.
+On this as on other occasions, he would not consent to the voluntary
+relinquishment of anything, however trifling: there was a deficiency of
+horses for his artillery, now too numerous for an army so reduced; but
+it did not signify, and he flew into a passion at the proposal to leave
+part of it behind. "No; the enemy would make a trophy of it;" and he
+insisted that everything should go along with him.</p>
+
+<p>In this desert country he gave orders for the purchase of 20,000 horses,
+and he expected forage for two months to be provided on a tract where
+the most distant and dangerous excursions were not sufficient for the
+supply of the passing day. Some of his officers were astonished to hear
+orders which it was so impossible to execute; but we have already seen
+that he sometimes issued such orders to deceive his enemies, and more
+frequently to indicate to his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>own troops the extent of their
+necessities, and the exertions they were called on to make in order to
+supply them.</p>
+
+<p>His distress manifested itself only in paroxysms of ill-humor, and this
+most frequently in the morning, at his levee. There, amid his assembled
+chiefs, in whose anxious looks he imagined he could read disapprobation,
+he seemed desirous to awe them by the severity of his manner, by his
+sharp tone, and his abrupt language. From the paleness of his face,
+however, it was evident that Truth, whose best time for obtaining a
+hearing is in the stillness of night, had annoyed him grievously by her
+presence, and oppressed him with her unwelcome light. Sometimes, on
+these occasions, his bursting heart would overflow, and pour forth its
+sorrows without any restraint. His agitation was manifested at such
+times by movements of extreme impatience; but, so far from lightening
+his griefs, he only aggravated them by those acts of injustice for which
+he reproached himself, and which he was afterwards anxious to repair.</p>
+
+<p>It was only to Count Daru that he unbosomed himself frankly, but without
+any weakness. He said "he should march upon Kutusoff, crush or drive him
+back, and then turn suddenly towards Smolensk." Daru, who had before
+approved this course, replied that "it was now too late; that the
+Russian army was re-enforced, his own weakened, and his victory
+forgotten; that, the moment his troops turned their faces towards home,
+they would slip away from him by degrees; that each soldier, laden with
+booty, would try to get the start of the army, for the purpose of
+disposing of it in France." "What, then, is to be done?" exclaimed the
+emperor. "Remain here," replied Daru; "make one vast intrenched camp of
+Moscow, and pass the winter in it. He would answer for it that there
+would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>no want of bread and salt: the rest foraging on a large scale
+would supply. Such of the horses as they could not procure food for
+might be salted down. As to lodgings, if there were not houses enough,
+the cellars might make up the deficiency. Here we might stay till the
+return of spring, when our re-enforcements and all Lithuania in arms
+would come to relieve, to join us, and to complete the conquest."</p>
+
+<p>After listening to this proposal the emperor was for some time silent
+and thoughtful: he then replied, "This is a lion's counsel! But what
+would Paris say? What would they do there? What have they been doing
+there for the last three weeks that they have not heard from me? Who
+knows what would be the effect of a suspension of communication for six
+months? No: France would not accustom itself to my absence, and Prussia
+and Austria would take advantage of it."</p>
+
+<p>Still Napoleon could not make up his mind either to stay or to depart.
+Though overcome in this struggle of pertinacity, he deferred from day to
+day the avowal of his defeat. Amid the threatening storm of men and
+elements which was gathering around him, his ministers and aids-de-camp
+saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits of some new verses
+which he had received, or the regulations for one of the French theatres
+at Paris, which he took three evenings to finish. As they were
+acquainted with his deep anxiety, they could not but admire the strength
+of his genius, and the facility with which he could take off the whole
+force of his attention from, or fix it on, whatever subject he pleased.</p>
+
+<p>It was merely remarked that he prolonged his meals, which had hitherto
+been so simple and so short. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>seemed desirous of stifling thought by
+repletion. He would then pass whole hours half reclined, and as if
+torpid, awaiting with a novel in his hand the catastrophe of his
+terrible history. In contemplating this obstinate and inflexible
+character thus struggling with impossibility, his officers would observe
+to each other that, having arrived at the summit of his glory, he no
+doubt foresaw that from his first retrograde step would date its
+decline; that for this reason he continued immovable, clinging to, and
+lingering a few moments longer on, his proud elevation.</p>
+
+<p>Kutusoff, meanwhile, was gaining the time which we were losing. His
+letters to Alexander described "his army as being in the midst of
+plenty; his recruits arriving from all quarters, and being rapidly
+trained; his wounded recovering in the bosom of their families; the
+whole of the peasantry on foot, some in arms, some on the look-out from
+the tops of steeples or in our camp, while others were stealing into our
+habitations, and even into the Kremlin. Rostopchin received a daily
+report of what was passing at Moscow as regularly as before its capture.
+If they undertook to be our guides, it was for the purpose of delivering
+us into his hands. His partisans were every day bringing in some
+hundreds of prisoners. Everything concurred to destroy the enemy's army
+and to strengthen his own; to serve him and to betray us; in a word, the
+campaign, which was over for us, was but just about to begin for them."</p>
+
+<p>Kutusoff neglected no advantage. He made his camp ring with the news of
+the victory of Salamanca. "The French," said he, "are expelled from
+Madrid. The hand of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Moscow
+will be his prison, his grave, and that of the whole of his Grand Army.
+We shall soon subdue France in Russia!" <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>It was in such language that
+the Russian general addressed his troops and his emperor; and still he
+kept up appearances with Murat. At once bold and crafty, he contrived
+gradually to prepare a sudden and impetuous warfare, and to cover his
+plans for our destruction with demonstrations of kindness and honeyed
+words.</p>
+
+<p>But at length, after so many days of illusion, the charm was all at once
+dispelled. A single Cossack dissolved it. This barbarian fired at Murat,
+at the moment when that prince came as usual to show himself at the
+advanced posts. Highly exasperated, the king immediately declared to
+Miloradovitch that an armistice which had been incessantly violated was
+now at an end, and that thenceforward each party must look only to
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time he apprised the emperor that the woody country on his
+left might favor the enemy's attempts against his flank and rear; that
+his first line, being backed against a ravine, might be precipitated
+into it; that, in short, the position which he then occupied, in advance
+of a defile, was dangerous, and rendered a retrograde movement
+absolutely necessary. But Napoleon would not consent to this step,
+though he had at first pointed out Woronowo as a more secure position.
+In this war, still in his view rather political than military, he
+dreaded above all things the appearance of receding. He preferred
+risking everything rather than acknowledge to his enemies the slightest
+irresolution.</p>
+
+<p>Amid these preparations, and at the moment when Napoleon was reviewing
+Ney's divisions in the first court of the Kremlin, a report was all at
+once circulated that the sound of cannon was heard towards Vinkowo. It
+was some time before any one dared to apprise him of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>circumstance;
+some from incredulity or uncertainty, and dreading the first movement of
+his impatience; others from weakness, hesitating to provoke a terrible
+explosion or apprehensive of being sent to verify the assertion, and
+exposed to a fatiguing excursion.</p>
+
+<p>Duroc at length took courage to inform him. The emperor was at first
+agitated; but, quickly recovering himself, he continued the review. An
+aid-de-camp, young B&eacute;ranger, arrived shortly after with intelligence
+that Murat's first line had been surprised and overthrown, his left
+turned by favor of the woods, his flank attacked, and his retreat cut
+off: that twelve pieces of cannon, twenty ammunition wagons, and thirty
+wagons belonging to the train were taken, two generals killed, three or
+four thousand men lost, as well as the baggage; and, lastly, that the
+king himself was wounded. He had not been able to rescue the relics of
+his advanced guard from the enemy but by repeatedly charging their
+numerous troops, which already occupied the high road in his rear, his
+only retreat.</p>
+
+<p>Our honor, however, had been saved. The attack in front, directed by
+Kutusoff, was feeble; Poniatowski, at some leagues' distance on the
+right, made a glorious resistance; Murat and his resolute men, by almost
+superhuman exertions, checked Bagawout, who was ready to penetrate our
+left flank, and restored the fortunes of the day; while Clapar&egrave;de and
+Latour-Maubourg cleared the defile of Spaskapli, two leagues in the rear
+of our line, which was already occupied by Platoff. Two Russian generals
+were killed, and others wounded: the loss of the enemy was considerable,
+but the advantage of the attack, our cannon, our position, the victory,
+in short, was theirs.</p>
+
+<p>As for Murat, he had no longer an advanced guard. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>The armistice had
+destroyed half the remnant of his cavalry. This engagement had finished
+it; the survivors, emaciated with hunger, were so few as scarcely to
+furnish a charge. Thus had the war in earnest recommenced; and it was
+now the 18th of October.</p>
+
+<p>At these tidings Napoleon recovered the fire of his youth. A thousand
+orders, general and particular, all differing, yet all in unison and all
+necessary, burst at once from his impetuous genius. Night had not yet
+arrived, and the whole army was already in motion. The emperor himself
+quitted Moscow before daylight on the 19th of October. "Let us march
+upon Kaluga," said he, "and woe be to those whom I meet with by the
+way!"</p>
+
+<br /><a name="DEPARTURE_FROM_MOSCOW" id="DEPARTURE_FROM_MOSCOW"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle.</b></p>
+
+<p>On the southern side of Moscow, near one of its gates, is an extensive
+suburb, divided by two high roads; both run to Kaluga: that on the right
+is the more ancient, the other is quite new. It was on the first that
+Kutusoff had just beaten Murat. By the same road Napoleon left Moscow on
+the 19th of October, announcing to his officers his intention to return
+to the frontiers of Poland. One of them, Rapp, observed that "it was
+late, and that winter might overtake them by the way." The emperor
+replied "that he had been obliged to allow time to the soldiers to
+recruit themselves, and to the wounded collected at Moscow, and at other
+places, to move off towards Smolensk." Then, pointing to a still serene
+sky, he asked "if in that brilliant sun they did not recognize his
+star." But this appeal to his fortune, and the sinister expression of
+his looks, belied the security which he affected.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon entered Moscow with ninety thousand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>fighting men, and twenty
+thousand sick and wounded, and quitted it with more than a hundred
+thousand combatants. He left there with only twelve hundred sick. His
+stay, therefore, notwithstanding daily losses, had served to rest his
+infantry, to complete his stores, to augment his force by ten thousand
+men, and to protect the recovery or the retreat of a great part of his
+wounded. But on this very first day he could perceive that his cavalry
+and artillery might be said rather to crawl than to march.</p>
+
+<p>A melancholy spectacle added to the gloomy presentiments of our chief.
+The army had, ever since the preceding day, been pouring out of Moscow
+without intermission. In this column of one hundred and forty thousand
+men and about fifty thousand horses of all kinds, the hundred thousand
+combatants marching at its head with their knapsacks and their arms,
+upward of five hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and two thousand
+artillery wagons, still exhibited a formidable appearance, worthy of
+soldiers who had conquered the world. But the rest, whose numbers were
+in an alarming proportion, resembled a horde of Tartars after a
+successful invasion. They formed three or four files of almost infinite
+length, in which there was a confused mixture of chaises, ammunition
+wagons, handsome carriages, and, in short, vehicles of every kind. Here
+trophies of Russian, Turkish, and Persian colors, and the gigantic cross
+of Ivan the Great; there, long-bearded Russian peasants carrying or
+driving along our booty, of which they constituted a part; and some
+dragging even wheelbarrows filled with whatever they could remove. The
+fools were not likely to proceed in this manner till the conclusion of
+the first day, and yet their senseless avidity made them think nothing
+of battles and a march of two hundred leagues.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>Among these followers of the army were particularly remarked a multitude
+of men of all nations, without uniform and without arms, and servants
+swearing in every language, and urging by dint of shouts and blows the
+progress of elegant carriages, drawn by pigmy horses harnessed with
+ropes. These were filled with provisions, or with booty saved from the
+flames. They carried, also, many French women with their children.
+Formerly these females had been happy inhabitants of Moscow; but they
+now fled from the hatred of the Muscovites, which the invasion had drawn
+upon their heads, and the army was their only asylum.</p>
+
+<p>A few Russian girls, voluntary captives, also followed. It looked like a
+caravan, a wandering nation, or, rather, one of those armies of
+antiquity returning loaded with slaves and with spoils after a great
+devastation. It was inconceivable how the head of this column could draw
+and protect such a prodigious mass of equipages in so long a route.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the width of the road and the shouts of his escort,
+Napoleon had great difficulty in obtaining a passage through this
+immense throng. No doubt the obstruction of a defile, a few forced
+marches, or a handful of Cossacks would have been sufficient to rid us
+all of this encumbrance; but fortune or the enemy had alone a right to
+lighten us in this manner. As for the emperor, he was fully sensible
+that he could neither deprive his soldiers of this fruit of so many
+toils, nor reproach them for securing it. Besides, provisions concealed
+the booty; and was it for him, who could not give his troops the
+subsistence he should have done, to forbid their carrying it along with
+them? Lastly, in case of the failure of military <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>conveyances, these
+vehicles would be the only means of preservation for the sick and
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon therefore extricated himself in silence from the immense train
+which he drew after him, and advanced on the old road leading to Kaluga.
+He pushed on in this direction for some hours, declaring that he would
+go and beat Kutusoff on the very field of his victory. But all at once,
+about midday, opposite to the castle of Krasnopachra, where he halted,
+he suddenly turned to the right with his army, and in three marches
+across the country gained the new road to Kaluga.</p>
+
+<p>The rain, which overtook him in the midst of this man&oelig;uvre, spoiled
+the cross-roads, and obliged him to halt in them. This was a most
+unfortunate circumstance. It was with difficulty that our cannon were
+drawn out of the sloughs.</p>
+
+<p>At any rate, the emperor had masked his movement by Ney's corps and the
+remnants of Murat's cavalry, which had remained behind the Motscha and
+at Woronowo. Kutusoff, deceived by this feint, was still waiting for the
+Grand Army on the old road, while, on the 23d of October, the whole of
+it had been transferred to the new one, and had but one march to make in
+order to pass quietly by him, and to get between him and Kaluga.</p>
+
+<p>On the first day of this flanking march, a letter was sent from Berthier
+to Kutusoff, as a last attempt at peace, or perhaps merely as a ruse. No
+satisfactory answer was returned to it.</p>
+
+<p>On the 23d the imperial quarters were at Borowsk. That night was an
+agreeable one for the emperor: he was informed that, at six in the
+evening, Delzons with his division, who was four leagues in advance of
+him, had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>found the town of Malo-jaroslavetz and the woods which command
+it unoccupied: this was a strong position within reach of Kutusoff, and
+the only point where he could cut us off from the new road to Kaluga.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor wished at first to secure that advantage by his presence:
+the order to march was even given, but shortly after withdrawn, we know
+not why. He passed the whole of that evening on horseback, not far from
+Borowsk, on the left of the road, the side on which he supposed Kutusoff
+to be. He reconnoitered the ground in the midst of a heavy rain, as if
+he anticipated that it might become a field of battle. Next day, the
+24th, he learned that the Russians had disputed the possession of the
+town with Delzons. Either from confidence or uncertainty in his plans,
+this intelligence appeared to give him very little concern.</p>
+
+<p>He quitted Borowsk, therefore, late and leisurely, when the noise of a
+very smart engagement reached where he was; he then became uneasy,
+hastened to an eminence and listened. "Had the Russians anticipated him?
+Was his man&oelig;uvre thwarted? Had he not used sufficient expedition in
+that march, the object of which was to pass the left flank of Kutusoff?"</p>
+
+<p>The emperor was still listening: the noise increased. "Is it then a
+battle?" he exclaimed. Every discharge agitated him, for the chief point
+with him was no longer to conquer, but to preserve, and he urged on with
+all possible speed, Davoust accompanying him; but he and that marshal
+did not reach the field of battle till dark, when the firing was already
+subsiding, and the whole was over.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor saw the close of the battle, but without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>being able to
+assist the viceroy.<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> A band of Cossacks from Twer had nearly
+captured one of his officers, who was only a very short distance from
+him.</p>
+
+<p>At this time an officer, sent by Prince Eugene, came to him and
+explained the whole affair. "The troops had," he said, "in the first
+place, been obliged to cross the Louja at the foot of the town, at the
+bottom of an elbow which the river makes in its course, and then to
+climb a steep hill. It is on this precipitous declivity, broken by
+pointed crags, that the town is built. Beyond is an elevated plain,
+surrounded with woods, from which run three roads, one in front coming
+from Kaluga, and two on the left, from Lectazowo, the seat of the
+intrenched camp of Kutusoff."</p>
+
+<p>After crossing the Louja by a narrow bridge, the high road from Kaluga
+runs along the bottom of a ravine which ascends to the town, and then
+enters it. The enemy in mass occupied this hollow way; Delzons and his
+Frenchmen rushed upon them pell-mell; the Russians were broken and
+overthrown; they gave way, and presently our bayonets glistened on the
+heights.</p>
+
+<p>Delzons, conceiving himself sure of the victory, announced it as won. He
+had nothing but a pile of buildings to storm; but his soldiers
+hesitated. He himself advanced, and was encouraging them by his words,
+actions, and example, when a ball struck him in the forehead, and
+extended him on the ground. His brother threw himself upon him, covered
+him with his body, clasped him in his arms, and was striving to bear him
+out of the fire and the fray, when a second ball hit him also, and both
+expired together.</p>
+
+<p>This loss left a great void, which required to be filled. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>Guilleminot
+succeeded Delzons, and the first thing he did was to throw a hundred men
+into a church and the yard around it, in the walls of which they made
+loopholes. This church stood on the left of the high road, which it
+commanded, and to its possession we owed the victory. Five times during
+the day was this post passed by the Russian columns as they were
+pursuing ours, and five times did its fire, seasonably poured upon their
+flank and rear, harass them and retard their progress: afterward, when
+we resumed the offensive, this position placed them between two fires,
+and ensured the success of our attacks.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had that general made this disposition when he was assailed by
+a host of the enemy: he was driven back towards the bridge, where the
+viceroy had stationed himself in order to judge how to act and to
+prepare his reserves. At first the re-enforcements which he sent came up
+but slowly one after another; and, as is almost always the case where
+there is this tardy movement, being singly inadequate to any great
+effort, each was successively destroyed without result.</p>
+
+<p>At length the whole of the 14th division was engaged; and the combat was
+carried for the third time to the heights. But when the French had
+passed the houses, advanced beyond the central point from which they had
+set out, and reached the plain where they were exposed, and where the
+circle expanded, they could advance no farther; overwhelmed by the fire
+of a whole Russian army, they were daunted and shaken; fresh columns
+incessantly came up: our thinned ranks gave way and were broken; the
+obstacles of the ground increased their confusion; and at length they
+retired precipitately, and abandoned everything.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>Meanwhile, the shells having set fire to the wooden town behind them, in
+their retreat they were stopped by the conflagration: one fire drove
+them back upon another; the Russian recruits, wrought up to a pitch of
+fanatic fury, closely pursued them; our soldiers became enraged; they
+fought man to man; some were seen seizing each other with one hand and
+striking with the other, until both rolled down the precipices into the
+flames without quitting their hold. There the wounded expired, either
+suffocated by the smoke or consumed by the flames.</p>
+
+<p>The 15th division was still left. The viceroy summoned it: as it
+advanced, it threw a brigade into the suburb on the left, and another
+into the town on the right. It consisted of Italians, recruits, who had
+never before been in action. They ascended, shouting enthusiastically,
+ignorant of the danger or despising it, from that singular disposition
+which renders life less dear in its flower than in its decline, either
+because while young we fear death less from the feeling of its distance,
+or because at that age, rich in years and lavish of everything, we are
+prodigal of life as the wealthy are of their fortune.</p>
+
+<p>The shock was terrible: everything was reconquered for the fourth time,
+and speedily lost again in like manner. More eager to begin than their
+seniors, these young troops were sooner disheartened, and returned
+flying to the old battalions, which supported them, and were obliged to
+lead them back to danger.</p>
+
+<p>The Russians, imboldened by their constantly increasing numbers and by
+success, descended by their right to gain possession of the bridge and
+to cut off our retreat. Prince Eugene had nothing left but his last
+reserve: he and his guard, therefore, now took part in the combat. At
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>this sight, and in obedience to his call, the remains of the 13th,
+14th, and 15th divisions resumed their courage: they made a last and
+desperate effort, and for the fifth time the combat was transferred to
+the heights.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, Colonel Peraldi and the Italian troops overthrew with
+their bayonets the Russians who were already approaching the left of the
+bridge: infuriated by the smoke and the fire through which they had
+passed, and encouraged by their success and the havoc which they made,
+they pushed forward without stopping on the elevated plain, and
+endeavored to make themselves masters of the enemy's cannon; but one of
+those deep clefts with which the soil of Russia is intersected stopped
+them in the midst of a destructive fire, their ranks opened, the enemy's
+cavalry attacked them, and they were driven back to the very gardens of
+the suburb. There they paused and rallied: all, both French and
+Italians, obstinately defended the upper avenues of the town, and the
+Russians, being at length repulsed, drew back and concentrated
+themselves on the road to Kaluga, between the woods and
+Malo-jaroslavetz.</p>
+
+<p>In this manner did 18,000 Italians and French, crowded together at the
+bottom of a ravine, defeat 50,000 Russians, posted over their heads, and
+seconded by all the obstacles that a town built on a steep declivity is
+capable of presenting.</p>
+
+<p>The army, however, surveyed with sorrow this field of battle, where
+seven generals and 4000 French and Italians had been killed or wounded.
+The sight of the enemy's loss afforded no consolation; it was not twice
+the amount of ours, and their wounded would be saved. It was moreover
+recollected, that in a similar situation, Peter I., in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>sacrificing ten
+Russians for one Swede, thought that he was not sustaining merely an
+equal loss, but that he was gaining even by so terrible a bargain. But
+what caused the greatest pain was the reflection that this sanguinary
+conflict might have been spared.<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_HOLDS_A_COUNCIL_OF_WAR" id="NAPOLEON_HOLDS_A_COUNCIL_OF_WAR"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 11. Napoleon holds a council of war and decides to retreat northward.</b></p>
+
+<p>Do you recollect, comrades, that fatal field? Can you still figure to
+yourselves the blood-stained ruins of that town, those deep ravines, and
+the woods which surround that elevated plain, and mark it, as it were,
+for a field of combat? On the one side were the French, quitting the
+north, from which they sought to fly; on the other, at the entrance of
+the wood, were the Russians, guarding the south, and striving to drive
+us back upon their all-subduing winter. In the midst of this plain,
+between the two armies, was Napoleon, his steps and his eyes wandering
+from south to west, along the roads to Kaluga and Medyn, both which were
+closed against him. On that to Kaluga were Kutusoff and one hundred and
+twenty thousand men, ready to dispute with him sixty miles of defiles;
+towards Medyn he beheld a numerous cavalry: it was Platoff and those
+same hordes which had just penetrated the flank of the army, traversed
+it through and through, and burst forth, laden with booty, to form again
+on his right flank, where re-enforcements and artillery were waiting for
+them. It was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>on that side that the eyes of the emperor were fixed the
+longest; it was principally in regard to it that he listened to reports
+of his officers, and consulted his maps: until, oppressed with regret
+and gloomy forebodings, he slowly returned to his headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>Murat, Prince Eugene, Berthier, Davoust and Bessi&egrave;res followed him. This
+miserable habitation of an obscure artisan contained within it an
+emperor, two kings, and three generals. Here they were about to decide
+the fate of Europe, and of the army which had conquered it. Smolensk was
+the goal. Should they march thither by Kaluga, Medyn, or Mojaisk?
+Napoleon was seated at a table, his head supported by his hands, which
+concealed his features, as well as the anguish which they no doubt
+expressed.</p>
+
+<p>A silence fraught with such imminent perils was for some time respected,
+until Murat, whose actions were always the result of impetuous feeling,
+became weary of this hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>"Give him but the remnant of his cavalry and that of the Guard," he
+said, "and he would force his way into Russian forests and the Russian
+battalions, overthrow all before him, and open anew to the army the road
+to Kaluga."</p>
+
+<p>Here Napoleon, raising his head, extinguished all his fire by saying
+that "we had exhibited temerity enough already; that we had done but too
+much for glory, and it was now high time to give up thinking of anything
+but how to save the rest of the army."</p>
+
+<p>Bessi&egrave;res, either because his pride revolted at the idea of being put
+under the command of the King of Naples, or from a desire to preserve
+uninjured the cavalry of the Guard, which he had formed, for which he
+was answerable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>to Napoleon, and which he exclusively commanded, finding
+himself supported, then ventured to add, that "neither the army nor even
+the Guard had sufficient spirit left for such efforts." The marshal
+concluded by giving his opinion in favor of retreat, which the emperor
+approved by his silence.</p>
+
+<p>The Prince of Eckm&uuml;hl then immediately said that, "as a retreat seemed
+decided upon, he proposed that it should be by Medyn and Smolensk." But
+Murat here interrupted him; and, whether from enmity, or from that
+discouragement which usually succeeds the rejection of a rash measure,
+he declared himself astonished "that any one should dare propose so
+imprudent a step to the emperor. Had Davoust sworn the destruction of
+the army? Would he have so long and heavy a column trail along in utter
+uncertainty, without guides, and on an unknown track, within reach of
+Kutusoff, presenting its flank to all the attacks of the enemy? Would
+he, Davoust, defend it? When in our rear Borowsk and Vere&iuml;a would lead
+us without danger to Mojaisk, why reject that safe route? There
+provisions must have been already collected, there everything was known
+to us, and we could not be misled by any traitor."</p>
+
+<p>At these words, Davoust, burning with a rage which he could scarcely
+repress, replied that "he proposed a retreat through a fertile country,
+by an untouched, plentiful, and well supplied route, where the villages
+were still standing, and by the shortest road, that the enemy might not
+be able to cut us off, as on the route by Mojaisk to Smolensk,
+recommended by Murat. And what a route! a desert of sand and ashes,
+where convoys of wounded would increase our embarrassment, where we
+should meet with nothing but ruins, traces of blood, skeletons, and
+famine!</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>"Moreover, though he deemed it his duty to give his opinion when it was
+asked, he was ready to obey orders contrary to it with the same zeal as
+if they were consonant with his suggestions; but that the emperor alone
+had a right to impose silence on him, and not Murat, who was not his
+sovereign, and never should be!"</p>
+
+<p>The quarrel growing warm, Bessi&egrave;res and Berthier interposed. As for the
+emperor, still absorbed and in the same attitude, he appeared insensible
+to what was passing. At length he broke up the council with the words,
+"Well, gentlemen, I will decide."</p>
+
+<p>He decided on retreat, and by that road which would carry him most
+speedily to a distance from the enemy; but it required another desperate
+effort before he could bring himself to give an order of march so new to
+him. So painful, indeed, was this effort, that in the inward struggle
+which it produced he lost the use of his senses.</p>
+
+<p>It is a remarkable fact, that he issued orders for this retreat
+northward at the very moment that Kutusoff and his Russians, dismayed at
+their defeat at Malo-jaroslavetz, were retiring towards the south.</p>
+
+<p>From that moment Napoleon had nothing in his view but Paris, just as on
+leaving Paris he saw nothing but Moscow. It was on the 26th of October
+that the fatal movement of our retreat commenced. Davoust, with
+twenty-five thousand men, remained as a rear-guard. While by advancing a
+few paces, without being aware of it, he was spreading consternation
+among the Russians, the Grand Army, in astonishment, was turning its
+back on them. It marched with downcast eyes, as if ashamed and humbled.
+In the midst of it, its commander, gloomy and silent, seemed to be
+anxiously measuring his line of communication with the fortresses on the
+Vistula.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>For the space of more than two hundred and fifty leagues it offered but
+two points where he could halt and rest, the first Smolensk, the second
+Minsk. He had made those towns his two great dep&ocirc;ts, where immense
+magazines were established.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, however, reckoned upon the Duke of Belluno and his thirty-six
+thousand fresh troops. That corps had been at Smolensk ever since the
+beginning of September. He relied also upon detachments being sent from
+his dep&ocirc;ts, on the sick and wounded who had recovered, and on the
+stragglers, who would be rallied and formed at Wilna into marching
+battalions. All these would successively come into line, and fill up the
+chasms made in his ranks by the sword, famine, and disease. He should
+therefore have time to regain that position on the Dwina and the
+Borysthenes, where he wished it to be believed that his presence, added
+to that of Victor, Saint-Cyr, and Macdonald, would overawe
+Wittgenstein,<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> check Kutusoff, and threaten the Czar Alexander even
+in his second capital.</p>
+
+<p>He accordingly announced that he was going to take post on the Dwina.
+But it was not in truth, upon that river and the Borysthenes that his
+thoughts rested: he was sensible that it was not with a harassed and
+reduced army that he could guard the interval between those two rivers
+and their courses, which the ice would speedily seal.</p>
+
+<p>It was therefore a hundred leagues beyond Smolensk, in a more compact
+position, behind the morasses of the Berezina&mdash;to Minsk, that it was
+necessary to repair in search of winter quarters, from which he was then
+forty marches distant.</p>
+
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEONS_ATTEMPT_TO_DESTROY_THE_KREMLIN" id="NAPOLEONS_ATTEMPT_TO_DESTROY_THE_KREMLIN"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin: view of the
+battle-field of Borodino.</b></p>
+
+<p>Napoleon had arrived quite pensive at Vere&iuml;a,<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> when Mortier
+presented himself before him. But I here discover, that, hurried along
+in the relation just as we then were in reality, by the rapid succession
+of violent scenes and memorable events, my attention has been diverted
+from occurrences worthy of notice. On the 23d of October, at half past
+one in the morning, the air was shaken by a tremendous explosion, which
+for a moment startled both armies, though amid such mighty anticipations
+scarcely anything then much excited their astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>Mortier had obeyed his orders: the Kremlin was no more.<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> Barrels of
+powder had been placed in all the halls of the palaces of the Czars, and
+one hundred and eighty-three thousand pounds under the vaults which
+supported them. The marshal, with eight thousand men, had remained on
+this volcano, which a single Russian shell might have exploded. Here he
+covered the march of the army upon Kaluga, and the retreat of our
+different convoys towards Mojaisk.</p>
+
+<p>Among these eight thousand men there were scarcely two thousand on whom
+Mortier could rely; the others were dismounted cavalry, men of different
+countries and regiments, under new officers, with dissimilar habits,
+with no common recollections, in short, without any bond of union,
+forming a rabble rather than an organized body, and who could scarcely
+fail in a short time to disperse.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>This marshal, therefore, was looked upon as a doomed man. The other
+chiefs, his old companions in glory, had left him with tears in their
+eyes, as well as the emperor himself, who said to him "that he relied on
+his good fortune; but still, in war, we must sometimes make part of a
+sacrifice." Mortier resigned himself without hesitation to his fate. His
+orders were to defend the Kremlin, and on retreating to blow it up, and
+to burn what still remained of the city. It was on the 21st of October,
+that Napoleon sent him his last commands. After executing them, the
+marshal was to march upon Vere&iuml;a, and to form the rear guard of the
+army.</p>
+
+<p>In this letter Napoleon particularly recommended to him "to put the men
+still remaining in the hospitals into the carriages belonging to the
+young rear guard, those of the dismounted cavalry, and any others that
+he might find. The Romans," he added, "awarded a civic crown to him who
+had saved a citizen: so many soldiers as he should save, so many crowns
+would the Duke of Treviso deserve."</p>
+
+<p>At length, after four days' resistance, the French bade a final adieu to
+that fatal city. They carried with them four hundred wounded, and, on
+retiring, deposited in a safe and secret place a firework, skilfully
+prepared, which was already slowly consuming: the rate of its burning
+had been minutely calculated, so that it was known precisely at what
+hour the fire would reach the immense collection of powder buried among
+the foundations of these devoted palaces.</p>
+
+<p>Mortier hastened his flight; but as he was retiring, some greedy
+Cossacks and miserable-looking Muscovites, allured probably by the
+prospect of pillage, approached: they listened, and, imboldened by the
+apparent quiet which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>pervaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate
+into it: they ascended; and their greedy hands were already stretched
+forth to lay hold on their plunder, when in an instant they were all
+hurled into the air with the buildings they had come to pillage, and
+with thirty thousand stand of arms that had been left in them; and soon
+their mangled limbs, mingled with fragments of walls and shattered
+weapons, thrown to a great distance, descended in a horrible shower.</p>
+
+<p>The earth shook under the feet of Mortier: at Fominsko&eacute;, thirty miles
+off, the emperor heard the explosion; and in that indignant tone in
+which he sometimes addressed Europe, he published the following day a
+bulletin, at Borowsk, announcing that "the Kremlin, the arsenal, the
+magazines, were all destroyed; that that ancient citadel, which dated
+from the origin of the monarchy, and was the first palace of the Czars,
+no longer existed; that Moscow was now but a heap of ruins, without
+importance either political or military. He had abandoned it to Russian
+beggars and plunderers, in order to march against Kutusoff, to throw
+himself on the left wing of that general, to drive him back, and then to
+proceed quietly to the banks of the Dwina, where he should take up his
+winter quarters." Then, apprehensive lest he should appear to be
+retreating, he added that "there he should be within eighty leagues of
+Wilna and of St. Petersburg, a double advantage; that is to say, twenty
+marches nearer to his resources and his object." By this remark he hoped
+to give to his retreat the air of an offensive movement.</p>
+
+<p>It was on this occasion he declared that "he had refused to give orders
+for the entire destruction of the country which he was quitting: he felt
+a repugnance to aggravate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>the miseries of its inhabitants. To punish
+the Russian incendiary, and a few wretches who made war like Tartars, he
+would not ruin nine thousand proprietors, and leave two hundred thousand
+serfs, innocent of all these barbarities, absolutely destitute of
+resources."</p>
+
+<p>On the 28th of October we again beheld Mojaisk.<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> That town was still
+full of wounded: some were carried away, and the rest collected together
+and abandoned, as at Moscow, to the generosity of the Russians. Napoleon
+had proceeded but a short distance from that place when the winter
+began. Thus, after an obstinate combat, and ten days' marching and
+countermarching, the army, which had brought from Moscow only fifteen
+rations of flour per man, had advanced but three days' march on its
+retreat. It was in want of provisions, and now overtaken by the winter.</p>
+
+<p>Some leagues from Mojaisk we had to cross the Kologa. It was but a large
+rivulet: two trees, the same number of props, and a few planks were
+sufficient to ensure the passage; but such was the confusion and
+inattention that the emperor was detained there. Several pieces of
+cannon, which it was attempted to get across by fording, were lost. It
+seemed as if each corps was marching separately, as if there were no
+staff, no general order, no common tie, nothing, in short, that bound
+them together. In fact, the elevation of the chiefs rendered them too
+independent of each other. The emperor himself had become so exceedingly
+great, that he was at an immeasurable distance from the details of his
+army; while Berthier, holding an intermediate place between him and
+officers, all of whom were kings, princes, or marshals, was obliged to
+act with a great deal of caution. He was, besides, incompetent to his
+situation.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>The emperor, stopped by the frivolous obstacle of a broken bridge,
+confined himself to a gesture expressive of dissatisfaction and
+contempt, to which Berthier replied only by a look of resignation. On
+this particular point he had received no orders from the emperor: he
+therefore conceived that he was not to blame; for Berthier was a
+faithful echo, a mirror, and nothing more. Always ready, clear, and
+distinct, he, so to speak, exactly repeated the emperor, reflected him,
+but added nothing of his own; and what Napoleon forgot was never
+supplied.</p>
+
+<p>After passing the Kologa we marched on, absorbed in thought, when some
+of us, raising our eyes, uttered a cry of horror. Each one instantly
+looked about him, and there lay stretched before us a plain trampled,
+bare, and devastated, all the trees cut down within a few feet from the
+surface, and farther off craggy hills, the highest of which appeared
+misshapen, and bore a striking resemblance to an extinguished volcano.
+The ground around us was everywhere covered with fragments of helmets
+and cuirasses, with broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and
+standards dyed with blood.</p>
+
+<p>On this desolate spot<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> lay thirty thousand half-devoured corpses;
+while a pile of skeletons on the summit of one of the hills overlooked
+the whole. It seemed as though Death had here fixed his throne.
+Presently the cry was heard, "It is the field of the great battle!"
+forming a long and doleful murmur. The emperor passed quickly by. No one
+stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy were urging us on: we merely turned
+our faces as we marched along to take a last melancholy look at the vast
+grave of so many <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>companions in arms, uselessly sacrificed, and whose
+remains we were obliged to leave behind, unheeded and uninterred.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_REACHES_VIAZMA" id="NAPOLEON_REACHES_VIAZMA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma. Battle near that place.</b></p>
+
+<p>At length the emperor reached Viazma.<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> He here halted to wait for
+Prince Eugene and Davoust, and to reconnoitre the road to Medyn and
+Yucknow, which at this place unites with the high road to Smolensk. It
+was this cross-road which might possibly bring the Russian army from
+Malo-jaroslavetz on his passage. But on the first of November, after
+waiting thirty-six hours and seeing no indications of that army, he
+again set out, wavering between the hope that Kutusoff had fallen
+asleep, and the fear lest he might have left Viazma on his right, and
+proceeded two marches farther to cut off his retreat. He left Ney,
+however, at Viazma to collect the first and fourth corps, and to
+relieve, by forming the rear guard, Davoust, whom he judged to be
+fatigued.</p>
+
+<p>He complained of the tardiness of the latter, and wrote to reproach him
+with being still five marches behind, when he ought to have been no more
+than three: the genius of that marshal he considered too methodical to
+direct, in a suitable manner, so irregular a march.</p>
+
+<p>But this delay was accounted for by the fact that Davoust had found a
+marsh without a bridge, and completely encumbered with wagons. He had
+dragged them out of the slough in sight of the enemy, and so near them
+that their fires lighted his labors, and the sound of their drums
+mingled with that of his own voice. For the marshal and his generals
+could not yet resolve on abandoning <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>to the enemy so many trophies; nor
+did they make up their minds to it until after fruitless exertions, and
+in the last extremity.</p>
+
+<p>The road they were traversing was crossed at short intervals by marshy
+hollows. A slope, slippery as glass with the ice, hurried the carriages
+into them, and there they stuck fast: to draw them out it was necessary
+to climb on the opposite side a similar slope, where the horses, whose
+shoes were worn entirely smooth, could obtain no footing, and where
+every moment they and their drivers dropped down exhausted together. The
+famished soldiers immediately fell upon these luckless animals and tore
+them to pieces; then at fires, kindled with the remains of their
+carriages, they broiled the yet bleeding flesh, and devoured it.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the artillerymen, a chosen corps, and their officers, all
+brought up in the first military school in the world, kept off these
+unfortunate wretches whenever they could, and took the horses from their
+own carriages and wagons, which they abandoned to save the guns. To
+these they harnessed their horses, nay, even themselves; while the
+Cossacks, observing their disasters from a distance, though they dared
+not attack, with their light pieces mounted on sledges, threw their
+balls among these disorderly groups, and increased the confusion.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d of November, Prince Eugene was advancing towards Viazma,
+preceded by his equipages and his artillery, when the first light of day
+all at once discovered to him his retreat threatened by an army on his
+left, behind him his rear guard cut off, and on his left the plain
+covered with stragglers and scattered vehicles, fleeing before the
+lances of the enemy. At the same time, towards Viazma <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>he heard Marshal
+Ney, who should have assisted him, fighting for his own preservation.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, Compans, one of Davoust's generals, joined the Italian
+rear guard with his division. These cleared a passage for themselves,
+and while, united with the viceroy, they were warmly engaged, Davoust
+with his column passed rapidly behind them, along the left side of the
+high road, then crossing it, as soon as he had got beyond them, he
+claimed his place in the order of battle, took the right wing, and found
+himself between Viazma and the Russians. Prince Eugene gave up to him
+the ground which he had been defending, and crossed to the other side of
+the road. The enemy then began to extend himself in front of them, and
+endeavored to outflank their wings.</p>
+
+<p>Miloradovitch, the Russian general, left to himself, now tried to break
+the French line of battle; but he could penetrate it by his fire alone,
+which made dreadful havoc in our ranks. Eugene and Davoust were growing
+weak; and, as they heard another action in the rear of their right, they
+imagined that the rest of the Russian army was approaching Viazma by the
+Yuknof road, the outlet of which Ney was defending.</p>
+
+<p>It was only, however, an advanced guard: but they were alarmed at the
+noise of this engagement in the rear of their own, threatening their
+retreat. The action had now continued ever since seven in the morning,
+and night was approaching: the baggage must by this time have got away,
+and the French generals began to retire.</p>
+
+<p>This retrograde movement increased the ardor of the enemy, and but for a
+memorable effort of the 25th, 57th, and 85th regiments, and the
+protection of a ravine, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>Davoust's corps would have been broken, turned
+by its right, and destroyed. Prince Eugene, who was not so briskly
+attacked, was able to effect his retreat more rapidly through Viazma;
+but the Russians followed him thither, and had penetrated into the town
+at the very time when Davoust, pursued by 20,000 men, and overwhelmed by
+eighty pieces of cannon, in his turn attempted to pass.</p>
+
+<p>Morand's division first entered the place: it was marching on with
+confidence, under the idea that the action was over, when the Russians,
+who were concealed by the windings of the streets, suddenly fell upon
+it. The surprise was complete, and the confusion great: Morand
+nevertheless rallied and encouraged his men, retrieved matters, and
+fought his way through.</p>
+
+<p>It was Compans who put an end to the affair. He closed the march with
+his division. Finding himself too closely pressed by the bravest troops
+of Miloradovitch, he turned about, dashed in person at the most eager,
+overthrew them, and having thus made them fear him, he finished his
+retreat without farther molestation. This conflict, glorious to each,
+was in its result disastrous to all. It was, unhappily, without unity or
+order. There were troops enough to conquer had there not been too many
+commanders. It was not till near two o'clock that the latter met to
+concert their man&oelig;uvres, and these were even then executed without
+harmony.</p>
+
+<p>When at length the river, the town of Viazma, night, mutual fatigue, and
+Marshal Ney had established a barrier between them and the enemy, the
+danger being adjourned and the bivouacs established, the numbers were
+counted. Several pieces of cannon which had been broken, the baggage,
+and four thousand killed or wounded were found <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>missing. Many of the
+soldiers, too, had dispersed. Their honor had been saved, but there were
+immense gaps in their ranks. It was necessary to close them up, to bring
+everything within a narrower compass, to form what remained into a more
+compact whole. Each regiment scarcely composed a battalion, each
+battalion scarcely a platoon. The soldiers remaining had no longer their
+accustomed places, comrades, or officers.</p>
+
+<p>This sad reorganization took place by the light of the conflagration of
+Viazma, and during the successive discharges of the cannon of Ney and
+Miloradovitch, the thunders of which were prolonged amid the double
+gloom of the night and of the forests. Several times the remnants of
+these brave battalions, conceiving they were attacked, crawled to their
+arms. The next morning, when they again fell into their ranks, they were
+astonished at the smallness of their numbers.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="DREADFUL_SNOW-STORM_ON_THE_6TH_OF_NOVEMBER" id="DREADFUL_SNOW-STORM_ON_THE_6TH_OF_NOVEMBER"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effects upon the
+troops.</b></p>
+
+<p>The spirits of the troops were nevertheless still supported by the
+example of their leaders, by the hopes of finding all their wants
+supplied at Smolensk, and still more by the aspect of a yet brilliant
+sun, that universal source of hope and life, which seemed to contradict
+and deny the spectacles of despair and death that already encompassed
+us.</p>
+
+<p>But on the 6th of November the heavens changed. Their azure disappeared.
+The army marched enveloped in a chilling mist. This mist became thicker,
+and presently a blinding storm of snow descended upon it. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>seemed as
+if the sky itself were falling, and uniting with the earth and our
+enemies to complete our destruction. All objects rapidly changed their
+appearance, becoming utterly confounded, and not to be recognized any
+more: we proceeded without knowing where we were, without perceiving the
+point to which we were bound; everything was converted into an obstacle
+to stop our progress. While we were struggling with the tempest of wind
+and snow, the latter, driven by the storm, lodged and accumulated in
+every hollow, concealing unknown abysses, which perfidiously opened
+beneath our feet. There the soldiers were ingulfed, and the weakest,
+resigning themselves to their fate, found their grave in these
+treacherous pits.</p>
+
+<p>Those who followed turned aside; but the tempest, driving into their
+faces the snow that was descending from the sky and that which it raised
+from the earth, seemed resolved to arrest their farther progress. The
+Russian winter, in this new form, attacked them at every point: it
+penetrated through their light garments, and their rent and worn-out
+shoes. Their wet clothes froze to their bodies: an icy envelope encased
+them, and stiffened all their limbs. A piercing and violent wind almost
+prevented respiration; and, seizing their breath the moment it was
+exhaled, converted it into icicles, which hung from their beards all
+about their mouths.</p>
+
+<p>The miserable creatures still crawled shivering along, till the snow,
+gathering in balls on the soles of their shoes, or a fragment of some
+broken article, a branch of a tree, or the body of one of their
+comrades, encountered in the way, caused them to stumble and fall. There
+their groans were unheeded; the snow soon covered them; slight hillocks
+marked the spots where they lay: there was their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>only grave. The road,
+like a cemetery, was thickly studded with these elevations; the most
+intrepid and the most indifferent were affected; they passed quickly on
+with averted looks. But before them and around them there was nothing
+but snow; this immense and dismal uniformity extended farther than the
+eye could reach; the imagination was astounded: it seemed a vast
+winding-sheet which Nature had thrown over the army. The only objects
+not enveloped by it were some gloomy pines, trees of the tombs, with
+their funereal verdure and their gigantic and motionless trunks
+completing the solemnity of a general mourning, and of an army dying
+amid nature already dead.</p>
+
+<p>Everything, even to their very arms, still offensive at
+Malo-jaroslavetz, but since defensive only, now turned against our men.
+They seemed to their frozen limbs an insupportable weight. In the falls
+they experienced, they dropped almost unperceived from their hands, and
+were broken or buried in the snow. If they rose again it was without
+them: they had not thrown them away, but hunger and cold had wrested
+them from their grasp. The fingers of others were frozen to the muskets
+they still held, depriving them of the motion necessary to keep up some
+degree of warmth and of life.</p>
+
+<p>We soon met with numbers of men belonging to all the different corps,
+sometimes singly, sometimes in troops. They had not basely deserted
+their colors: it was cold and exhaustion which had separated them from
+them. In this mortal struggle, at once general and individual, they had
+parted from each other, and there they were, disarmed, vanquished,
+defenceless, without leaders, obeying nothing but the most urgent
+instinct of self-preservation.</p>
+
+<p>Most of them, attracted by the sight of by-paths, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>dispersed themselves
+over the country in hopes of finding bread and shelter for the coming
+night; but on their first passage all had been laid waste to the extent
+of seven or eight leagues: they met only with Cossacks and an armed
+population, which gathered around them, wounded and stripped them naked,
+and then left them, with bursts of savage laughter, to perish in the
+snow. These people, who had risen at the call of Alexander and Kutusoff,
+and who had not then learned, as they since have, to avenge nobly a
+country which they had been unable to defend, hovered on both flanks of
+the army under favor of the woods. Those whom they did not despatch with
+their pikes and hatchets, they drove back to the fatal and all-devouring
+high road.</p>
+
+<p>Night then came on: a night of sixteen hours! But on that snow, which
+covered everything, where were they to halt, where sit, where lie down,
+where find even a root to satisfy their hunger, or dry wood to kindle a
+fire? Fatigue, darkness, and repeated orders nevertheless stopped those
+whom their moral and physical strength and the efforts of their officers
+had still kept together. They strove to establish themselves; but the
+tempest, not yet subsided, dispersed the first preparations for
+bivouacs. The pines, laden with frost, obstinately resisted ignition;
+while the snow, which still continued to fall from the sky, and that on
+the ground, which melted with the effect of the first heat, extinguished
+their kindling fires, and, with them, the strength and spirits of the
+men.</p>
+
+<p>When at length the flames gained the ascendancy, the officers and
+soldiers around them commenced preparing their wretched repast: it
+consisted of lean and ragged pieces of flesh torn from the horses that
+had given out, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>and at most a few spoonfuls of rye flour mixed with
+snow-water. The next morning circular ranges of soldiers extended
+lifeless marked the sites of the bivouacs, and the ground about them was
+strewed with the bodies of several thousand horses.</p>
+
+<p>From that day we began to place less reliance on one another. In that
+vivacious army, susceptible of all impressions, and taught to reason by
+an advanced civilization, despondency and neglect of discipline rapidly
+spread, the imagination knowing no bounds in evil any more than in good.
+Henceforward, at every bivouac, at every difficult passage, nay, every
+moment, some portion separated from the yet organized lines and fell
+into disorder. There were some, however, who were proof against this
+widespread contagion of insubordination and despair. These were
+officers, non-commissioned officers, and the firmest among the soldiers.
+They were extraordinary men; they encouraged one another by repeating
+the name of Smolensk, which town they knew they were approaching, and
+where they had been promised that all their wants should be supplied.</p>
+
+<p>It was thus, after this deluge of snow, and the increase of cold which
+it foreboded, that each one, whether officer or soldier, either
+preserved or lost his fortitude, according to his disposition, age, or
+constitution; while he who of all our leaders had hitherto been the most
+strict in enforcing discipline, now paid but little attention to it.
+Thrown out of his established ideas of regularity, order, and method, he
+was seized with despair at the sight of such universal confusion: and
+conceiving, before the rest, that all was lost, he felt himself ready to
+abandon all.</p>
+
+<p>From this point for some distance, nothing remarkable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>occurred in the
+imperial column except that it was found necessary to throw the spoils
+of Moscow into the Lake of Semlewo; cannon, Gothic armor, the ornaments
+of the Kremlin, and the cross of Ivan the Great, were all buried in its
+waters. Trophies, glory, those acquisitions to which we had sacrificed
+everything, all now became a burden to us: our object was no longer to
+embellish life, but to preserve it. In this vast wreck, the army, which
+might be compared to a mighty ship tossed by the most tremendous of
+tempests, threw without hesitation into that sea of ice and snow
+everything that could burden or impede its progress.</p>
+
+<p>The attitude of Napoleon was the same that he retained throughout the
+whole of this dismal retreat. It was grave, silent, and resigned:
+suffering much less in body than others, but far more in mind, and
+brooding with speechless agony over his misfortunes. At that moment
+General Charpentier sent him from Smolensk a convoy of provisions.
+Bessi&egrave;res wished to take possession of them; but the emperor instantly
+ordered them to be forwarded to the Prince of Moskwa, saying that "those
+who were fighting must eat before the rest." At the same time, he sent
+word to Ney "to defend himself long enough to allow him some stay at
+Smolensk, where the army should eat, rest, and be reorganized."</p>
+
+<p>The Russians, however, advanced under favor of a wood and of our
+forsaken carriages, whence they kept up a fire of musketry on Ney's
+troops. Half of the latter, whose icy arms froze their stiffened
+fingers, became discouraged; they gave way, excusing themselves by their
+want of firmness on the preceding day, and fleeing because they had
+before fled, which but for this, they would have considered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>as
+impossible. But Ney, rushing in among them, seized one of their muskets,
+and led them back to action, which he was himself the first to renew;
+exposing his life like a private soldier, with a firelock in his hand,
+the same as though he had been neither possessed of wealth, nor power,
+nor consideration; in short, as if he had still everything to gain, when
+in fact he had everything to lose. But, though he had again turned
+soldier, he ceased not to be general: he took advantage of the ground,
+supported himself against a height, and covered his approach by
+occupying a palisaded house. His generals and colonels, among whom he
+particularly remarked Fezenzac, strenuously seconded him; and the enemy,
+who had expected to pursue, was obliged to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>By this action Ney afforded the army a respite of twenty-four hours; and
+it profited by it to proceed towards Smolensk. The next day, and every
+succeeding day, he displayed the same heroism. Between Viazma and
+Smolensk he fought ten whole days.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="DEFEAT_AND_ENTIRE_DISSOLUTION_OF_PRINCE_EUGENES" id="DEFEAT_AND_ENTIRE_DISSOLUTION_OF_PRINCE_EUGENES"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at the
+passage of the Wop.</b></p>
+
+<p>On the 13th of November Ney was approaching that city, which he was not
+to enter till the ensuing day, and had faced about to beat off the
+enemy, when all at once the hills upon which he intended to support his
+left were seen covered with a multitude of fugitives. In their terror,
+these unfortunate wretches fell, and rolled down to where he was upon
+the frozen snow, which they stained with their blood. A band of
+Cossacks, which was soon perceived in the midst of them, sufficiently
+accounted for this disorder. The astonished marshal, having caused <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>this
+horde of enemies to be dispersed, discovered behind it the army of
+Italy, returning completely stripped, without baggage and without
+cannon.</p>
+
+<p>Platoff had kept it besieged, as it were, all the way from
+Dorogobouje.<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> Near that town Prince Eugene had quitted the high
+road, and, in order to proceed towards Witepsk, had taken that which,
+two months before, had brought him from Smolensk; but the Wop, which,
+when he had crossed it before, was a mere brook, and had scarcely been
+noticed, he now found swollen into a river. It ran over a muddy bed, and
+was bounded by two steep banks. It was found necessary to cut a passage
+in these precipitous and frozen banks, and to give orders for the
+demolition of the neighboring houses during the night, for the purpose
+of building a bridge with the materials. But those who had taken shelter
+in them opposed their being destroyed; and, as the viceroy was more
+beloved than feared, his instructions were not obeyed. The
+bridge-builders became disheartened, and when daylight, with the
+Cossacks, appeared, the bridge, after being twice broken down, was at
+last abandoned.</p>
+
+<p>Five or six thousand soldiers still in order, twice the number of
+disbanded men, the sick and wounded, upward of a hundred pieces of
+cannon, ammunition-wagons, and a multitude of vehicles of every kind,
+lined the bank and covered a league of ground. An attempt was made to
+ford the river through the floating ice which was carried along by its
+current. The first guns that were attempted to be got over reached the
+opposite bank; but the water kept rising every moment, while at the same
+time the bed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>of the stream at the place of passage was continually
+deepened by the wheels and by the efforts of the horses. One carriage
+stuck fast, others did the same, and at length the stoppage became
+general.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the day was advancing; the men were exhausting themselves in
+vain efforts: hunger, cold, and the Cossacks became pressing, and the
+viceroy finally found himself compelled to order his artillery and all
+his baggage to be left behind. A distressing spectacle ensued. The
+owners were allowed scarcely a moment to part from their effects: while
+they were selecting from them such articles as they most needed, and
+loading their horses with them, a multitude of soldiers came rushing up:
+they fell in preference upon the vehicles of luxury; these they broke in
+pieces and rummaged every part, avenging their poverty on the wealth,
+and their privations on the superfluities they here found, and snatching
+them from the Cossacks, who were in the meantime looking on at a
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>But it was provisions of which most of them were in quest. They threw
+aside embroidered clothes, pictures, ornaments of every kind, and gilt
+bronzes for a few handfuls of flour. In the evening it was a strange
+sight to behold the mingled riches of Paris and of Moscow, the luxuries
+of two of the largest cities in the world, lying scattered and despised
+on the snow of the desert.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, most of the artillerymen spiked their guns in despair,
+and scattered their powder about. Others laid a train with it as far as
+some ammunition-wagons, which had been left at a considerable distance
+behind our baggage. They waited till the most eager of the Cossacks had
+come up to them, and when a great number, greedy of plunder, had
+collected about them, they threw a brand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>from a bivouac upon the train.
+The fire ran, and in a moment reached its destination; the wagons were
+blown up, the shells exploded, and such of the Cossacks as were not
+killed on the spot dispersed in dismay.</p>
+
+<p>The army of Italy, thus completely dismantled, soaked in the waters of
+the Wop, without food, without shelter, passed the night on the snow
+near a village where its officers expected to find lodgings for
+themselves. Their soldiers, however, beset its wooden houses. They
+rushed like madmen, and in swarms, on every habitation, profiting by the
+darkness, which prevented them from recognizing their officers or being
+known by them. They tore down everything, doors, windows, and even the
+woodwork of the roofs, feeling but little compunction in compelling
+others, be they who they might, to bivouac like themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Their generals attempted in vain to drive them off: they took their
+blows without a murmur or the least opposition, but without
+desisting&mdash;even the men of the royal and imperial guards; for,
+throughout the whole army, such were the scenes that occurred every
+night. The unfortunate fellows kept silently but actively at work on the
+wooden walls, which they pulled in pieces on every side at once, and
+which, after vain efforts, their officers were obliged to relinquish to
+them, for fear they would fall upon their own heads. It was an
+extraordinary mixture of perseverance in their design and of respect for
+the anger of their superiors.</p>
+
+<p>Having kindled good fires, they spent the night in drying themselves,
+amid the shouts, imprecations, and groans of those who were still
+crossing the torrent, or who, slipping from its banks, were precipitated
+into it and drowned.</p>
+
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>
+<br /><a name="THE_GRAND_ARMY_REACHES_SMOLENSK" id="THE_GRAND_ARMY_REACHES_SMOLENSK"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk.</b></p>
+
+<p>At length the army once more came in sight of Smolensk: it had reached
+the goal so often announced to it of all its sufferings. The soldiers
+exultingly pointed it out to each other. There was that land of promise
+where their hunger was to find abundance, their fatigue rest; where
+bivouacs in a cold of nineteen degrees would be forgotten in houses
+warmed by good fires. There they would enjoy refreshing sleep; there
+they might repair their apparel; there they would be furnished with new
+shoes, and clothing adapted to the climate.</p>
+
+<p>At this sight, the corps of picked men, the veteran regiments, and a few
+other soldiers alone kept their ranks; the rest ran forward with all
+possible speed. Thousands of men, chiefly unarmed, covered the two steep
+banks of the Borysthenes: they crowded in masses around the lofty walls
+and gates of the city; but this disorderly multitude, with their haggard
+faces begrimed with dirt and smoke, their tattered uniforms, and the
+grotesque habiliments which they had substituted in place of them: in
+short, with their strange, hideous looks, and their impetuous ardor,
+excited alarm. It was believed, that if the irruption of this crowd,
+maddened with hunger, were not repelled, that a general pillage would be
+the consequence, and the gates were closed against it.</p>
+
+<p>It was also hoped that by exercising this rigor these men would be
+forced again to rally about their standards. A horrible struggle between
+order and disorder now commenced in the remnant of this unfortunate
+army. In vain did they entreat, weep, threaten, strive to burst open the
+gates, and even drop down dead at the feet of their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>comrades placed to
+repel them; they found the latter inexorable, and were forced to wait
+the arrival of the first troops that were still officered and in order.</p>
+
+<p>These were the Old and the Young Guard; and it was not till after them
+that the disbanded men were allowed to enter: the latter, and the other
+corps which arrived in succession, from the 8th to the 14th, believed
+that their admission had been delayed merely to give more rest and more
+provisions to this favored guard. Their sufferings rendered them unjust:
+they execrated it. "Were they, then, to be forever sacrificed to this
+privileged class; fellows kept for mere parade, who were never foremost
+but at reviews, festivals, and distributions? Was the army to put up
+with their leavings, always to wait till they had glutted themselves?"
+It was useless to tell them in reply, that to attempt to save all was
+the way to lose all; that it was necessary to keep at least one corps
+entire, and to give the preference to that which in the last extremity
+would be capable of making the most powerful effort.</p>
+
+<p>At length these poor creatures were admitted into that Smolensk for
+which they had so long ardently wished, while the banks of the
+Borysthenes were strewed with their expiring companions, the weakest of
+whom impatience and several hours' waiting had brought to that state.
+Others, again, were left on the icy steep, which they had to climb to
+reach the upper town. The rest ran to the magazines, where many fell
+exhausted while they beset the doors; for here also they were repulsed.
+"Who were they?" it was asked. "To what corps did they belong? What had
+they to prove it? The persons appointed to distribute the provisions
+were responsible for them: they had orders to deliver them only to
+authorized <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>officers bringing receipts, for which alone they could
+exchange the rations committed to their care." These poor famished
+creatures had no officers, nor could they tell where their regiments
+were: two-thirds of the army were in this predicament.</p>
+
+<p>These miserable men then dispersed themselves through the streets,
+having no longer any hope but in pillage. But horses dissected to the
+very bones everywhere denoted a famine; the doors and windows of the
+houses had been all broken and torn away to feed the fires of the
+bivouacs; they found no shelter in them, no winter quarters prepared, no
+wood. The sick and wounded were left in the streets, in the carts which
+had brought them. It was again, it was always the same fatal high road,
+passing through a town which was but an empty name: it was a new bivouac
+among deceitful ruins, colder even than the forests they had just
+quitted.</p>
+
+<p>Then only did these disorganized troops seek their colors: they rejoined
+them for a moment in order to obtain food; but all the bread that could
+be baked had been distributed; and there was no biscuit, no butcher's
+meat. Rye flour, dry vegetables, and spirits were dealt out to them. It
+required the most strenuous efforts to prevent the detachments of the
+different corps from murdering each other at the doors of the magazines;
+and when, after long formalities, their wretched fare was at last
+delivered to them, the soldiers refused to carry it to their regiments;
+they fell upon their sacks, snatched out of them a few pounds of flour,
+and ran to secrete themselves till they had devoured it. The same was
+the case with the spirits; and the next day the houses were found full
+of the bodies of these miserable creatures.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>In short, that Smolensk, which the army had looked forward to, as the
+term of their sufferings, marked, as it were, only their commencement.
+Inexpressible hardships still awaited us: we had yet to march forty days
+under that yoke of iron. Some, already borne down by present miseries,
+sank under the frightful prospect of those which were before them.
+Others sternly resolved to battle with their destiny; and, finding they
+had nothing to rely on but themselves, they determined to live at all
+hazards.</p>
+
+<p>Thenceforward, according as they found themselves the stronger or the
+weaker, by violence or stealth they plundered their companions of their
+subsistence, of their garments, and of the gold with which they had
+filled their knapsacks instead of provisions. These wretches, whom
+despair had thus made robbers, then threw away their arms to save their
+infamous booty, profiting by the general confusion, an obscure name, a
+uniform no longer distinguishable, and night: in short, by every kind of
+concealment favorable to cowardice and guilt. If works already published
+had not exaggerated these horrors, I should have passed over in silence
+such terrible details; for atrocities so extreme were, after all,
+comparatively rare, and justice was dealt to the most criminal.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th of November the emperor arrived amid this scene of
+desolation. He shut himself up in one of the houses in the new square,
+and never quitted it till the 14th to resume his retreat. He had
+calculated upon fifteen days' provisions and forage for an army of one
+hundred thousand men; but there was not more than half this quantity of
+flour, rice, and spirits, and no meat at all. Cries of rage were now
+directed against the principal individual appointed to provide these
+supplies; and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>commissary saved his life only by prostrating himself
+on his knees at the feet of Napoleon, and remaining in that posture for
+a long time. But the reasons which he assigned for his failure did more
+for him than his supplications.</p>
+
+<p>Many of these reasons were well founded. A chain of other magazines had
+been formed from Smolensk to Minsk and Wilna. These two towns were, in a
+still greater degree than Smolensk, centres of provisioning, of which
+the fortresses of the Vistula formed the first line. The total quantity
+of provisions, indeed, distributed over this space was incalculable; the
+efforts for transporting them thither had been gigantic; while the
+result was little better than nothing. Scattered over such a vast
+extent, immense as they were, they were found wholly insufficient.</p>
+
+<p>Thus great expeditions are crushed by their own weight. Human limits had
+been surpassed: the genius of Napoleon, in attempting to soar above
+time, climate, and distance, had, as it were, lost itself in space;
+great as was its measure, it had gone beyond it.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon had been at Smolensk for five days. It was known that Ney had
+received orders to arrive there as late as possible, and Eugene to halt
+for two days at a point near Smolensk. Then it was not the necessity of
+waiting for the army of Italy which detained him! To what, then, must we
+attribute this delay, in the midst of famine, disease, and when the
+winter and three hostile armies were gradually surrounding us?</p>
+
+<p>The emperor no doubt fancied that by dating his despatches for five days
+from that city, he would give to his disorderly flight the appearance of
+a slow and glorious retreat. In the same spirit, no doubt, he had
+ordered the destruction of the towers which surrounded Smolensk, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>from
+the wish, as he expressed it, of not being again stopped short by its
+walls! as if there were any idea of our returning to a place which we
+were not even sure that we should ever get out of.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor, however, made an effort that was not altogether fruitless.
+This was to rally under one commander all that remained of the cavalry;
+when it was found that of this force, thirty-seven thousand strong at
+the passage of the Niemen, there now remained only eight hundred men on
+horseback. He gave the command of these to Latour-Maubourg; and, whether
+from the esteem felt for him, or from the general indifference, no one
+objected to it.</p>
+
+<p>This army, which left Moscow one hundred thousand strong, in
+five-and-twenty days had been reduced to thirty-six thousand men, while
+the artillery had lost three hundred and fifty of their cannon; and yet
+these feeble remains continued as before to be divided into eight
+armies, which were encumbered with sixty thousand unarmed stragglers,
+and a long train of cannon and baggage.</p>
+
+<p>Whether it was the encumbrance of so many men and carriages, or a
+mistaken sense of security, which led the emperor to order a day's
+interval between the departure of each marshal, is uncertain; but most
+probably it was the latter. Be that, however, as it may, he, Eugene,
+Davoust, and Ney, quitted Smolensk in succession; and Ney was not to
+leave it till the 16th or 17th. He had orders to make the artillery
+dismount the cannon left behind, and bury them; to destroy the
+ammunition, to drive all the stragglers before him, and to blow up the
+towers which surrounded the city.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>Kutusoff, meanwhile, was waiting for us at some leagues' distance,
+prepared to cut in pieces, one after the other, those remnants of corps
+thus extended and parcelled out.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_LEAVES_SMOLENSK" id="NAPOLEON_LEAVES_SMOLENSK"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasno&euml;.</b></p>
+
+<p>It was on the 14th of November, about five in the morning, that the
+imperial column at last quitted Smolensk. Its march was still firm, but
+gloomy and silent as night, like the mute and sombre aspect of the
+country through which it was advancing.</p>
+
+<p>This stillness was only interrupted by the cracking of the whips applied
+to the horses, and by short and violent imprecations when they met with
+ravines, and when down these icy declivities, men, horses, and artillery
+were rolling in the darkness one over the other. The first day they
+advanced five leagues, and the artillery of the guard took twenty-two
+hours to get over that distance.</p>
+
+<p>Kutusoff, at the same time, with the bulk of his army, moved forward,
+and took a position in the rear of these advanced corps, within reach of
+them all, felicitating himself on the success of his man&oelig;uvres,
+which, after all, would inevitably have failed, owing to his tardiness,
+had it not been for our want of foresight; for this was a contest of
+errors, in which, ours being the greatest, we narrowly escaped total
+destruction. Having made these dispositions, the Russian commander must
+have believed that the French army was entirely in his power; but this
+belief saved us. Kutusoff was wanting to himself at the moment of
+action; his old age executed only half, and that badly, the plans which
+it had wisely combined.</p>
+
+<p>During the time that all these masses were arranging <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>themselves round
+Napoleon, he remained perfectly tranquil in a miserable hut, the only
+one left standing in Korythnia, apparently quite unconscious of all
+these movements of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, which were
+surrounding him in all directions; at least he sent no orders to the
+three corps which had halted at Smolensk, to expedite their march, and
+he himself waited for daylight to proceed.</p>
+
+<p>His column was advancing without precaution, preceded by a crowd of
+stragglers, all eager to reach Krasno&euml;, when, at two leagues from that
+place, a line of Cossacks, extending from the heights on our left across
+the great road, appeared before them. Seized with astonishment, these
+stragglers instantly halted: they had looked for nothing of the kind,
+and with their first impressions were led to believe that relentless
+fate had traced upon the snow between them and Europe that long, black,
+and motionless line as the fatal term assigned to their hopes.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly a Russian battery began firing. Their balls crossed the road.
+The German corps became confused and made no attempt to meet this
+attack. But a wounded officer who chanced to be there assumed the
+command of the Germans, and the men obeyed him as if he had been their
+rightful leader. On seeing this advanced column of Germans march forward
+in such good order, the enemy confined himself to attacking it with his
+artillery, which it disregarded and soon left behind. When it came to
+the turn of the Old Guard to pass through this fire, they closed their
+ranks around Napoleon like a movable fortress, proud of the honor of
+protecting him. Their band of music expressed their satisfaction. When
+the danger was greatest, it played the well-known air, "<i>Where can one
+be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>happier than in the bosom of his family?</i>" But the emperor, whom
+nothing escaped, stopped them with the exclamation, "Rather play, '<i>Let
+us watch for the safety of the empire!</i>'" words much better suited to
+the feelings which then occupied him, and to the general condition of
+affairs.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time, the enemy's fire becoming troublesome, he gave orders
+to silence it, and in two hours he reached Krasno&euml;.</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th, before daylight, Napoleon issued his orders, armed himself,
+and going out on foot at the head of his Old Guard, began his march. But
+it was not towards Poland, his ally, that he directed it, nor towards
+France, where he would still be received as the head of a new dynasty,
+and the Emperor of the West. His words on grasping his sword on this
+occasion were, "I have sufficiently acted the emperor; it is time I
+should become the general." He turned back upon eighty thousand of the
+enemy, plunging into the thickest of them, in order to draw all their
+efforts against himself, to make a diversion in favor of Davoust and
+Ney, and to rescue them from a country, the gates of which were closed
+against them.</p>
+
+<p>Daylight at last appeared, exhibiting on the one part the Russian
+battalions and batteries, which on three sides, in front, on our right,
+and in our rear, bounded the horizon, and on the other Napoleon, with
+his six thousand guards, advancing with a firm step, and proceeding to
+take his place in the centre of that terrible circle. At the same time,
+Mortier, a few yards in front of the emperor, deployed,<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> in the face
+of the whole Russian army, with the five thousand men still remaining to
+him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>Here, then, it was made evident that renown is something more than a
+vain shadow, that it is real strength, and doubly powerful from the
+inflexible pride which it imparts to its favorites, and the timid
+precautions it imposes on those who venture to attack it. The enemy had
+only to march forward without man&oelig;uvring, or even firing; their mass
+alone was sufficient to crush Napoleon with all his feeble battalions;
+still they did not dare come to close quarters with him. They were awed
+at the presence of the conqueror of Egypt and of Europe. The Pyramids,
+Marengo, Austerlitz, Friedland, a host of victories seemed to rise
+between him and the astounded Russians. Might we not also fancy that, in
+the eyes of that passive and superstitious people, a renown so
+extraordinary appeared like something supernatural? that they regarded
+it as wholly beyond their power, or, at least, believed that they could
+safely assail it only from a distance? and, in short, that against that
+Old Guard, that living fortress, that column of granite, as it had been
+called by its leader, human efforts were impotent, or that cannon alone
+could demolish it?</p>
+
+<p>But every moment strengthened the enemy and weakened Napoleon. The noise
+of artillery, as well as Clapar&egrave;de, apprised him that in the rear of
+Krasno&euml; and his army Beningsen was proceeding to take possession of the
+road to Liady, and entirely cut off his retreat. The east, the west, and
+the south were flashing with the enemy's fires; one side alone remained
+open, that of the north and the Dnieper, towards an eminence, at the
+foot of which were the high road and the emperor. We fancied we saw the
+enemy already covering this eminence with his cannon. In that situation
+they would have been just over Napoleon's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>head, and might have crushed
+him at a few yards' distance. He was apprised of his danger, cast his
+eyes for an instant towards the height, and uttered merely these words,
+"Very well, let one of my battalions take possession of it." Immediately
+afterward, without giving farther heed to it, his whole attention was
+directed to the perilous situation of Mortier.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately, some troops which Davoust had rallied and the appearance of
+another troop of his stragglers, attracted the enemy's attention.
+Mortier availed himself of it. He gave orders to the three thousand men
+he had still remaining to retreat slowly in the face of their fifty
+thousand enemies. "Do you hear, soldiers?" cried General Laborde, "the
+marshal orders ordinary time! Ordinary time, soldiers!" And this brave
+and unfortunate troop, dragging with them some of their wounded, under a
+shower of balls and grape-shot, retired as deliberately from this field
+of carnage as they would have done from a field of man&oelig;uvre.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_REACHES_DOMBROWNA_AND_ORCHA" id="NAPOLEON_REACHES_DOMBROWNA_AND_ORCHA"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a council.</b></p>
+
+<p>As soon as Mortier had succeeded in placing Krasno&euml; between him and
+Beningsen, he was in safety.</p>
+
+<p>The next day the march was resumed, though with reluctance. The
+impatient stragglers took the lead, and all of them got the start of
+Napoleon: he was on foot with a stick in his hand, walking slowly and
+hesitatingly, and halting every quarter of an hour, as if unwilling to
+tear himself away from that old Russia, whose frontier he was then
+passing, and in which he had left his unfortunate companions in arms.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>In the evening he reached Dombrowna,<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> a wooden town, and inhabited
+as well as Liady: a novel sight for an army, which had for three months
+seen nothing but ruins. At last, then, we had emerged from Russia
+proper, and her deserts of snow and ashes, and were entering into a
+friendly and inhabited country, whose language we understood. The
+weather just then became milder, a thaw began, and we received some
+provisions.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the winter, the enemy, solitude, and, with some, famine and
+bivouacs, all ceased at once; but it was too late. The emperor saw that
+his army was destroyed: every moment the name of Ney escaped from his
+lips, with expressions of the deepest grief. That night he was heard
+groaning and exclaiming "that the misery of his poor soldiers cut him to
+the heart, and yet that he could not succor them without establishing
+himself in some place: but where was it possible for him to stop without
+ammunition, provisions, or artillery? He was no longer strong enough to
+halt: he must reach Minsk as quickly as possible."</p>
+
+<p>He had scarcely spoken the words, when a Polish officer arrived with the
+news that Minsk itself, his magazine, his retreat, his only hope, had
+just fallen into the hands of the Russians, Tchitchakoff having entered
+it on the 16th. Napoleon at first was mute, and completely overpowered
+by this last blow; but immediately afterward, elevating himself in
+proportion to his danger, he coolly replied, "Very well! we have now
+nothing to do but to clear ourselves a passage with our bayonets."</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon then turned to his Old Guard, and, stopping in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>front of each
+battalion, "Grenadiers!"<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> said he, to them, "we are retreating
+without being conquered by the enemy; let us not be vanquished by
+ourselves! Set an example to the army. Several of you have already
+deserted your colors, and even thrown away your arms. I have no wish to
+have recourse to military laws to put a stop to this disorder, but
+appeal entirely to your sense of duty. Do justice to yourselves. To your
+own honor I commit the maintenance of your discipline!"</p>
+
+<p>The other troops he addressed in a similar style. These few words were
+quite sufficient to the old grenadiers, who probably had no occasion for
+them. The others received them with acclamations; but an hour afterward,
+when the march was resumed, they were entirely forgotten. As to his rear
+guard, throwing the blame of this wild alarm mostly upon it, he sent an
+angry message to Davoust on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>At Orcha we found rather an abundant supply of provisions, a bridge
+equipage of sixty boats, with all its appurtenances, which we burned,
+and thirty-six pieces of cannon, with their horses, which were
+distributed between Davoust, Eugene, and Latour-Maubourg.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon entered Orcha with six thousand guards, the remains of
+thirty-five thousand! Eugene, with eighteen hundred soldiers, the
+remains of forty-two thousand! and Davoust, with four thousand, the
+remains of seventy thousand!</p>
+
+<p>This marshal had lost everything, was actually without linen, and
+emaciated with hunger. He seized upon a loaf, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>which was offered him by
+one of his comrades, and voraciously devoured it. A handkerchief was
+given him to wipe his face, which was white with frost. He exclaimed
+"that none but men with constitutions of iron could support such trials;
+that it was physically impossible to resist them; that there were limits
+to human strength, the utmost of which had been exceeded."</p>
+
+<p>The emperor made fruitless efforts to check this general despondency.
+When alone, he was heard compassionating the sufferings of his soldiers;
+but in their presence, even upon that point, he wished to appear
+inflexible. He issued a proclamation, "ordering all who had deserted
+their ranks to return to them: if they did not, he would strip the
+officers of their commissions, and the soldiers should be shot."</p>
+
+<p>A threat like this produced no impression whatever upon men who had
+become insensible, or were reduced to despair, fleeing not from danger,
+but from suffering, and caring as little for the death with which they
+were menaced as for the life that was offered them.</p>
+
+<p>But Napoleon's confidence increased with his perils: in his eyes, this
+handful of men, in these deserts of snow and ice, was still the Grand
+Army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! nor was there any affectation
+in this firmness: we were certain of it, when in this very town, we saw
+him burn, with his own hands, everything belonging to him that might
+serve as a trophy to the enemy, in the event of his fall.</p>
+
+<p>But everything was now changed: two hostile armies were opposing his
+retreat; and the question to be decided was, through which of them he
+should cut his way. As he knew nothing of the Lithuanian forests into
+which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>he was about penetrating, he summoned such of his officers as had
+been through them, in order to obtain information.</p>
+
+<p>The emperor began by remarking that "too great familiarity with victory
+was often the precursor of great disasters, but that recrimination was
+now out of the question." He then mentioned the capture of Minsk, and,
+admitting the skilfulness of Kutusoff's persevering man&oelig;uvres on the
+right flank, he said that "it was his intention to abandon his line of
+operations on Minsk, unite with the Dukes of Belluno and Reggio, cut his
+way through Wittgenstein's army, and regain Wilna by turning the sources
+of the Berezina." Jomini combated this plan.</p>
+
+<p>Finally Napoleon decided upon Borizoff.<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> But he said, "that it was
+cruel to retreat without fighting, to present the appearance of flight.
+Had he only a magazine, some point of support which would allow him to
+halt, he would prove to Europe that he still knew how to fight and how
+to conquer."</p>
+
+<p>All these were mere illusions. At Smolensk, where he arrived first, and
+from which he was the first to depart, he had rather been informed of
+his disasters than witnessed them himself. At Krasno&euml;, where our
+miseries had been more fully unfolded before him, the peril by which we
+were surrounded had diverted his attention from them; but at Orcha he
+could contemplate, at one view and leisurely, the whole extent of his
+misfortunes.</p>
+
+<p>At Smolensk, thirty-six thousand combatants, one hundred and fifty
+cannon, the army-chest, and the hope of life, and of breathing at
+liberty on the other side of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>Berezina, still remained; here there
+were scarcely ten thousand soldiers, almost without clothing or shoes,
+entangled amid a crowd of dying men, with but a few cannon, and a
+plundered army-chest.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="ARRIVAL_OF_MARSHAL_NEY" id="ARRIVAL_OF_MARSHAL_NEY"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney.</b></p>
+
+<p>Being at length, on the 20th of November, compelled to quit Orcha, he
+left there Eugene, Mortier, and Davoust, and halted after a march of six
+miles from that place, still inquiring for Marshal Ney, who was
+advancing by a different route, and still expecting him. The same
+feeling of grief pervaded the portion of the army remaining at Orcha. As
+soon as the most pressing wants allowed a moment's rest, the thoughts
+and looks of every one were directed towards the Russian bank. They
+listened for any warlike sounds which might announce the arrival of Ney,
+or, rather, his last desperate struggle with the foe; but nothing was to
+be seen but parties of the enemy, who were already menacing the bridges
+of the Borysthenes.</p>
+
+<p>After exhausting all their conjectures, they had relapsed into a gloomy
+silence, when suddenly they heard the steps of horses, and then the
+joyful cry, "Marshal Ney is safe! here are some Polish cavalry come to
+announce his approach!" One of his officers now galloped in, and
+informed them that the marshal was advancing on the right bank of the
+Borysthenes, and had sent him to ask for assistance.</p>
+
+<p>When the two corps, Eugene's and Ney's, fairly recognized each other,
+they could no longer be kept in their ranks. Soldiers, officers,
+generals, all rushed forward together. The soldiers of Eugene, eagerly
+grasping the hands of those of Ney, held them with a joyful mixture of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>astonishment and curiosity, and embraced them with the tenderest
+sympathy. They lavished upon them the refreshments and brandy which they
+had just received, and overwhelmed them with questions. Then they
+proceeded in company towards Orcha, all burning with impatience,
+Eugene's soldiers to hear, and Ney's to relate, their story.</p>
+
+<p>The officers of Ney stated that on the 17th of November they had quitted
+Smolensk with twelve cannon, six thousand infantry, and three hundred
+cavalry, leaving there five thousand sick to the mercy of the enemy; and
+that, had it not been for the noise of Platoff's artillery and the
+explosion of the mines, their marshal would never have been able to draw
+from the ruins of that city seven thousand unarmed stragglers who had
+taken shelter among them. They dwelt upon the attentions which their
+leader had shown to the wounded, and to the women and their children,
+proving upon this occasion that the bravest are also the most humane.</p>
+
+<p>At the gates of the city an unnatural action struck them with a horror
+that they still felt in all its force. A mother abandoned her little
+son, only five years old: in spite of his cries and tears, she drove him
+away from her sledge, which was too heavily laden. She exclaimed, at the
+same time, with a distracted air, that "<i>he</i> had never seen France! <i>he</i>
+would not regret it! but <i>she</i> knew France! <i>she</i> was resolved to see
+France once more!" Twice did Ney himself replace the unfortunate child
+in the arms of his mother, and twice did she cast him from her on the
+frozen snow.</p>
+
+<p>This solitary crime, amid a thousand instances of the most devoted and
+sublime tenderness, they did not leave unpunished. The unnatural parent
+was herself abandoned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>to the snow from which her infant was snatched,
+and intrusted to another mother: this little orphan was then in their
+ranks; he was afterward seen at the Berezina, then at Wilna, again at
+Kowno, and finally escaped from all the horrors of the retreat.</p>
+
+<p>Frustrated in his plans Ney instead of advancing to join Napoleon was
+compelled to order his men to return towards Smolensk. At these words
+they were struck motionless with astonishment. Even his aid-de-camp
+could not believe his ears: he remained silent, like one who does not
+comprehend what he hears, and looked at his general in amazement. But
+the marshal briefly repeating the same order in a still more imperative
+tone, they were no longer at any loss, but all recognized in it
+resolution taken, a resource discovered, that self-confidence which
+inspires others with the same feeling, and a spirit which rises superior
+to its situation, however perilous it may be. They instantly obeyed,
+and, without the slightest hesitation, turned their backs on their own
+army, on the emperor, and on France. Once more they returned into that
+fatal Russia. Their retrograde march had lasted an hour: again they came
+to the field of battle marked by the remains of the army of Italy; there
+they halted, and the marshal, who had remained with the rear guard, then
+joined them.</p>
+
+<p>Their eyes followed all his movements. What did he intend doing? and,
+whatever might be his plan, where would he direct his steps, without a
+guide, in an unknown country? But, while they were thus perplexing
+themselves, he, with his warlike instinct, had halted on the edge of a
+ravine of such depth as to make it evident that there was a stream at
+the bottom of it. By clearing away <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>the snow and breaking the ice, this
+fact was soon established: and then, consulting his map, he exclaimed,
+"This is one of the streams which flow into the Dnieper: this must be
+our guide, and we must follow it; it will lead us to that river, which
+we must cross, and on the other side we shall be safe." Accordingly, he
+immediately proceeded in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>A lame peasant was the only inhabitant they could discover; but even
+this was an unlooked-for piece of good fortune. He told them that they
+were within the distance of a league from the Dnieper, but that it was
+not fordable there, and could not yet be frozen over. "It must be so,"
+the marshal remarked; but when he was reminded that a thaw had just
+commenced, he added, "it does not signify; we must pass, as there is no
+other resource."</p>
+
+<p>At last at about eight o'clock, after passing through a village, they
+soon came to the termination of the ravine, and the Russian, who walked
+before, halted and pointed out to them the river.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, about midnight, the passage began; but the first persons who
+ventured on the ice called out that it was bending under them, that it
+was sinking, that they were up to their knees in water; and immediately
+after that frail support was heard cracking and splitting, as in the
+breaking up of a frost. All halted in consternation.</p>
+
+<p>Ney ordered them to pass only one at a time: they proceeded with
+caution, not knowing sometimes in the dark whether they were placing
+their feet on the ice or into a chasm; for there were places where they
+were obliged to clear large fissures, and jump from one piece to
+another, at the risk of falling between them and disappearing forever.
+The first hesitated, but those who were behind kept calling to them to
+make more haste.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>When at last, after several of these dreadful panics, they reached the
+opposite bank and fancied themselves safe, a perpendicular steep,
+slippery as glass, opposed their landing, and many were again thrown
+back upon the ice, either bruised by it, or breaking it in their fall.
+It would seem, indeed, as though this Russian river and its banks had
+contributed with regret, by surprise, and by compulsion, as it were, to
+their escape.</p>
+
+<p>But what they spoke of as being the most painful of all, were the
+trouble and distraction of the females and of the sick, when it became
+necessary for them to abandon, along with the baggage, the remains of
+their fortune, their provisions, and, in short, all their resources both
+for the present and the future. They were seen stripping themselves,
+selecting, throwing away, taking up again, and falling at length through
+exhaustion and grief upon the frozen bank of the river. The narrators
+appeared to shudder again at the recollection of the horrible sight of
+so many men scattered over that abyss, of the continual noise of persons
+falling, of the cries of such as sank in, and, above all, of the wailing
+and despair of the wounded, who, from their carts, which could not be
+trusted to this weak support, stretched out their hands to their
+companions, and entreated them not to leave them behind.</p>
+
+<p>Their leader at length determined to attempt the passage of several
+wagons, loaded with these poor creatures; but in the middle of the
+stream the ice sank down and separated. Then were heard proceeding from
+the gulf, first cries of anguish long and piercing, then stifled and
+feeble groans, quickly succeeded by an awful silence. All had
+disappeared!</p>
+
+<p>But at length Ney had succeeded in reaching Orcha; from this time
+forward he was the hero of the retreat.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>When Napoleon, who was two leagues farther on, heard that Ney had again
+made his appearance, he leaped and shouted for joy, exclaiming, "Then I
+have saved my honor! I would have given three hundred millions from my
+exchequer sooner than have lost such a man."</p>
+
+<br /><a name="CAPTURE_OF_MINSK_BY_THE_RUSSIANS" id="CAPTURE_OF_MINSK_BY_THE_RUSSIANS"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians.</b></p>
+
+<p>The army had thus for the third and last time repassed the Dnieper, a
+river half Russian and half Polish, but having its source in Russia. It
+runs from east to west as far as Orcha, where it appears as if it would
+penetrate into Poland; but there the high lands of Lithuania oppose its
+farther progress, and compel it to turn abruptly towards the south, and
+to become the frontier of the two countries.</p>
+
+<p>Kutusoff and his eighty thousand Russians halted before this feeble
+obstacle. Hitherto they had been rather the spectators than the authors
+of our calamities; but from this time we saw them no more, and were at
+last delivered from the punishment of their joy.</p>
+
+<p>On the 22d of November the army had a disagreeable march from Orcha to
+Borizoff, on a wide road skirted by a double row of large birch-trees,
+the snow having melted, and the mud being very deep. The weakest here
+found their graves; and those of our wounded who, in expectation of a
+continuance of the frost, had exchanged their wagons for sleighs, were
+left behind, and fell into the hands of the Cossacks.</p>
+
+<p>It was during the early part of the march to Borizoff that the news of
+the fall of Minsk<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> became generally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>known in the army. The leaders
+themselves now began to look around them with consternation; and, after
+witnessing such a succession of frightful spectacles their imagination
+depicted a still more fatal futurity. In their private conversation they
+did not hesitate to say that, "like Charles XII. in Russia, Napoleon had
+carried his army to Moscow only to destroy it."</p>
+
+<p>Deploring, then, the rash obstinacy of the stay at Moscow, and the fatal
+hesitation at Malo-jaroslavetz, they proceeded to reckon up their
+losses. Since their departure from Moscow they had lost all their
+baggage, five hundred cannon, thirty-one standards, twenty-seven
+generals, forty thousand prisoners, and sixty thousand dead: all that
+remained were forty thousand unarmed stragglers and eight thousand
+effective soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to the loss of Minsk the governor of that place had been
+negligently chosen. He was, it was said, one of those men who undertake
+everything, who promise everything, and who do nothing. On the 16th of
+November he lost that capital, and with it four thousand seven hundred
+sick, the warlike stores, and two million rations of provisions. It was
+five days since the news of this loss had reached Dombrowna, and the
+news of a still greater calamity came on the heels of it.</p>
+
+<p>This same governor had retreated towards Borizoff. There he neglected to
+inform Oudinot, who was only at the distance of two marches, to come to
+his assistance; and failed to support Dombrowski, who made a hasty march
+thither: the result was that the latter was overpowered by the fire of
+the Russian artillery, which took him in flank, and, attacked by a force
+more than double his own, he was driven across the river, and out of the
+town as far as the Moscow road.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>This disaster was wholly unexpected by Napoleon. Finally, when the
+emperor learned at Dombrowna the loss of Minsk, he had no suspicion that
+Borizoff was in such imminent danger, as when he passed the next day
+through Orcha he had the whole of his bridge-equipage burned.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the day immediately subsequent to that fatal catastrophe, at
+the distance of three marches from Borizoff, and upon the high road,
+that an officer arrived and announced to Napoleon this fresh disaster.
+The emperor, striking the ground with his stick, and casting a furious
+look to heaven, pronounced these words: "Is it, then, written above that
+we shall now commit nothing but faults?"</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Marshal Oudinot, who was already marching towards Minsk,
+totally ignorant of what had happened, halted on the 21st. In the middle
+of the night General Brownkowski arrived to announce to him his own
+defeat, as well as that of General Dombrowski;<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> that Borizoff was
+taken, and that the Russians were following close at his heels.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, every disaster which Napoleon could anticipate had occurred;
+the melancholy conformity, therefore, of his situation with that of the
+Swedish conqueror, threw his mind into such a state of agitation that
+his health became still more seriously affected than it had been at
+Malo-jaroslavetz. Among the expressions he made use of, loud enough to
+be overheard, was this: "See what happens when we heap faults on
+faults!"</p>
+
+<p>His orders, however, displayed decision. Oudinot had just sent to inform
+him of his determination to overthrow Lambert: this he approved of, and
+he also urged him to make himself master of a passage across the
+Berezina, either <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>above or below Borizoff. He was desirous that by the
+24th the place for this passage should be fixed on and the preparations
+begun, and that he should be apprised of it, in order to make his march
+correspond. Far from thinking of making his escape through the midst of
+these three hostile armies, his only idea now was to beat Tchitchakoff
+and retake Minsk.</p>
+
+<p>It is true that, eight hours afterward, in a second letter to the Duke
+of Reggio, he resigned himself to crossing the Berezina near Veselowo,
+and by retreating directly upon Wilna, by Vileika, to avoid the Russian
+admiral.</p>
+
+<p>But on the 24th he learned that the passage could only be attempted near
+Studzianka; that at that spot the river was only fifty-four fathoms
+wide, and six feet deep; and that they would land on the opposite side
+in a marsh, under the fire of a commanding position strongly occupied by
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="MARCH_THROUGH_THE_FOREST_OF_MINSK" id="MARCH_THROUGH_THE_FOREST_OF_MINSK"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina.</b></p>
+
+<p>All hope of passing between the Russian armies was thus lost: driven by
+the armies of Kutusoff and Wittgenstein upon the Berezina, there was no
+alternative but to cross that river in the teeth of the army of
+Tchitchakoff, which lined its banks.</p>
+
+<p>After having made his preparations, Napoleon plunged into the gloomy and
+immense forest of Minsk, in which there was only here and there an open
+spot surrounding some wretched hamlet or single habitation. The noise of
+Wittgenstein's artillery filled it with its echoes. The Russian general
+came rushing from the north upon the right flank of our expiring column,
+and he brought back <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>with him the winter which had quitted us at the
+same time with Kutusoff. The news of his threatening march accelerated
+our steps, and our motley array of from forty to fifty thousand men,
+women, and children hurried through the forest as rapidly as their
+weakness and the slipperiness of the ground, from the frost again
+setting in, would allow.</p>
+
+<p>These forced marches, commenced before daylight, and not terminating
+until after its close, dispersed all who had previously been together.
+They lost themselves in the double darkness of the forest and of the
+night. They halted in the evening, and resumed their march in the
+morning, in obscurity, at random, and without hearing the signal: the
+dissolution of the remains of the corps was now completed; all were
+mixed and confounded together.</p>
+
+<p>In this last stage of helplessness and confusion, as we were approaching
+Borizoff, we heard loud cries before us. Some rushed forward, fancying
+it was an attack. It was Victor's army, which had been feebly driven
+back by Wittgenstein to the right side of our road, where it remained
+waiting for us. Still, quite complete and full of animation, it received
+the emperor, as soon as he made his appearance, with the customary but
+now long-forgotten acclamations.</p>
+
+<p>Of our disasters it had heard nothing: they had been carefully concealed
+even from its leaders. When, therefore, instead of that grand column
+which had conquered Moscow, its soldiers perceived behind Napoleon only
+a train of spectres covered with tattered vestments of every kind,
+women's pelisses, pieces of carpet, or dirty cloaks, half burned and
+riddled by the fires, and with nothing but rags on their feet, their
+consternation was extreme. They seemed terrified at the sight of those
+unfortunate soldiers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>as they defiled before them, with emaciated
+frames, faces black with dirt, and hideous bristly beards, unarmed,
+shameless, marching confusedly, with their heads bent, and their eyes
+fixed on the ground and silent, like a troop of captives.</p>
+
+<p>But what astonished them more than all was to see the number of generals
+and officers of every grade, scattered about and insulated, seemingly
+only occupied about themselves, and thinking of nothing but to save the
+wrecks of their property or their persons: they were marching pell-mell
+with the soldiers, who did not notice them, to whom they had no longer
+any commands to give, and of whom they had nothing to expect, all ties
+between them being dissolved, and all distinctions of rank obliterated
+by the common misery.</p>
+
+<p>It was, indeed, merely the shadow of an army, but it was the shadow of
+the Grand Army. It felt conscious that nature alone had vanquished it.
+The presence of Napoleon animated it. To him it had long been accustomed
+to look, not for its means of support, but to lead it to victory. This
+was its first unfortunate campaign, and it had had so many fortunate
+ones: it only required to be able to follow him. He alone who had
+elevated his soldiers so high, and now sunk them so low, was yet able to
+save them. He was still, therefore, cherished in the heart of his army,
+like hope in the heart of man.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, amid so many beings who might have reproached him with their
+misfortunes, he marched on without the least fear, speaking to one and
+all without affectation, certain of being respected as long as glory
+could command respect. Knowing perfectly that he belonged to us as much
+as we to him, his renown being, as it were, common <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>national property,
+we should have sooner turned our arms against ourselves (which was the
+case with many), as being a minor suicide, than against him.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the men fell and died at his feet; and, though they were in the
+most frightful delirium, their sufferings never gave its wanderings the
+turn of reproach, but of entreaty. And in fact, did not he share the
+common danger? Who of them all risked so much as he? Who had suffered
+the greatest loss in this disaster?</p>
+
+<p>If any imprecations were ever uttered, it was not in his presence; for
+it seemed that, of all misfortunes, that of incurring his displeasure
+was still the greatest: so rooted was their confidence in, and their
+submission to, that man who had subjected the world to them; whose
+genius, hitherto uniformly victorious and invincible, had assumed the
+place of their free-will; and who, having had so long in his hands the
+book of pensions, of rank, and of history, had found wherewithal to
+satisfy not only covetous spirits, but also every generous heart.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of the night of the 25th of November, Napoleon made them
+sink the first trestle in the muddy bed of the Berezina River. But to
+crown our misfortunes, the rising of the waters had made the traces of
+the ford entirely disappear. It required the most incredible efforts on
+the part of our unfortunate engineers, who were plunged in the water up
+to their mouths, and had to contend with the floating pieces of ice
+which were carried along by the stream. Many of them perished from the
+cold, or were drowned by the cakes of ice being violently driven against
+them by the current and wind.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th, Napoleon, with about five thousand guards, and Ney's corps,
+now reduced to six hundred men, crossed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>the Berezina about two o'clock
+in the afternoon: he posted himself in reserve to Oudinot, and secured
+the outlet from the bridges against the efforts of the Russians.</p>
+
+<p>He had been preceded by a crowd of baggage and stragglers, and numbers
+of them continued to cross the river after him as long as daylight
+lasted.</p>
+
+<p>But Partouneaux with his division was not so fortunate. At every point
+where he attempted to pass, he encountered the enemy's fires, and was
+obliged to turn back: in this way he wandered about for several hours
+altogether at random, in plains covered with snow, in the midst of a
+violent tempest. At every step he saw his soldiers pierced through by
+the cold, and exhausted with hunger and fatigue, falling half dead into
+the hands of the Russian cavalry, who pursued him without intermission.</p>
+
+<p>This unfortunate general was still struggling with the heavens, with
+men, and with his own despair, when he felt even the ground giving way
+under his feet. In fact, deceived by the snow, he was marching upon a
+lake, which not being frozen sufficiently hard to bear him, he had
+fallen in and was on the point of being drowned, and then only did he
+yield and give up his arms.</p>
+
+<p>While this catastrophe was accomplishing, his other three brigades,
+being more and more hemmed in upon the road, lost all power of movement.
+They delayed their surrender, however, till the next morning, first by
+fighting, and then by parleying: at length they all fell, one after the
+other, and a common misfortune again united them with their general.</p>
+
+<p>Of the whole division, a single battalion only escaped.</p>
+
+<p>During the whole of that day, the 28th, the situation of the ninth corps
+under General Victor, was so much the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>more critical, as a weak and
+narrow bridge was its only means of retreat; in addition to which its
+avenues were obstructed by the baggage and the stragglers. By degrees,
+as the action became warmer, the terror of these poor wretches increased
+their disorder. First of all they had been alarmed by the rumors of a
+serious engagement; then their terror was increased by seeing the
+wounded returning from it; and, last of all, they were thrown into the
+utmost consternation by the batteries of the Russian left wing, some
+shot from which began to fall among them.</p>
+
+<p>They had been already crowding one upon the other, and the immense
+multitude heaped upon the bank pell-mell with the horses and carriages,
+formed there a most alarming encumbrance. It was about the middle of the
+day that the first Russian balls fell into the midst of this chaos, and
+they were the signal of universal despair.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was, as in all cases of extremity, that the real dispositions of
+men exhibited themselves without disguise, and actions were witnessed,
+some of them the most base, and others the most noble and even sublime.
+In accordance with their character, some furious and determined, with
+sword in hand, cleared for themselves a horrible passage. Others, still
+more cruel, opened a way for their wagons by driving them without mercy
+over the crowds of unfortunate persons who stood in their way, and
+crushed them to death. Their detestable avarice made them sacrifice
+their companions in misfortune to the preservation of their baggage.
+Others again, seized with a pusillanimous terror, wept, supplicated, and
+sank under the influence of a passion which completed the exhaustion of
+their strength. Some were observed (and these were principally the sick
+and wounded) who, renouncing life, went aside, and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>resigned to their
+fate, sat themselves down, gazing with a fixed and motionless eye on the
+snow which was shortly to be their winding-sheet.</p>
+
+<p>Numbers of those who started first among this crowd of desperadoes,
+missing the bridge, attempted to scale it by the sides, but the greater
+part were pushed into the river. There were seen women in the midst of
+the stream and among the masses of floating ice, with their children in
+their arms, raising them by degrees as they felt themselves sinking, and
+when completely submerged, their stiffened arms still holding them above
+the water.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of this horrible disorder, the artillery bridge gave way
+and broke down. The column entangled in this narrow passage in vain
+attempted to retrograde. The crowds which were following behind,
+ignorant of the calamity, and not hearing the cries of those before
+them, kept urging them on until they pushed them into the gulf, into
+which they in their turn were precipitated.</p>
+
+<p>Every one then attempted to pass by the other bridge. A great number of
+large ammunition wagons, heavy carriages and cannon crowded to it from
+all parts. Pressed on by their drivers and carried rapidly along over a
+rough and unequalled declivity, in the midst of masses of men, they
+ground to pieces the poor wretches who were unfortunate enough to get
+between them, until at length the greater part, furiously encountering
+each other, were overturned, killing in their fall those who were around
+them. Multitudes pressed against these obstacles, and becoming entangled
+among them, were thrown down, and crushed to pieces by other multitudes
+as they successively stumbled upon them.</p>
+
+<p>Thus these miserable creatures were rolling one upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>the other, and
+nothing was heard but cries of rage and of anguish. In this frightful
+confusion, those who were trodden and crushed under the feet of their
+companions, struggling to lay hold of them with their nails and teeth,
+were, like so many enemies, trampled upon without mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Among them were wives and mothers, calling in tones of distraction upon
+their husbands and their children, from whom they had been separated but
+a moment before, never again to be united. Stretching out their arms,
+they entreated to be allowed to pass in order to rejoin them: but they
+were hurried backward and forward with the crowd, until at length,
+overcome by the pressure, they sank without being so much as noticed.
+Amid the howling of a violent tempest, the discharge of cannon, the
+whistling of balls, the explosion of shells, vociferations, groans, and
+frightful oaths, this infuriated crowd heard not the cries of the
+victims it was swallowing up.</p>
+
+<p>The more fortunate gained the bridge by scrambling over heaps of
+wounded, of women and children thrown down and half suffocated, whom
+they again trampled beneath their feet in their attempts to reach it.
+When at last they reached the narrow defile, they fancied that they were
+safe; but the fall of a horse, or the breaking or displacing of a plank,
+again arrested everything.</p>
+
+<p>There was also at the outlet of the bridge, on the other side, a morass,
+into which many horses and carriages had sunk, a circumstance which
+greatly embarrassed and retarded the entrance. Then it was that, in that
+infuriated column, crowded together, on a single plank of safety, there
+arose a terrible struggle, in which the weakest least fortunately
+situated were plunged into the river by their more powerful or more
+successful comrades. The latter, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>without so much as turning their
+heads, and hurried along by the instinct of self-preservation, pushed on
+towards the goal with unabated fury, regardless of the imprecations of
+rage and despair uttered by their companions or officers whom they had
+thus sacrificed.</p>
+
+<p>But, on the other hand, how many noble instances there were of devotion!
+and why are time and space denied me to relate them? Soldiers, and even
+officers, harnessed themselves to sledges, to snatch from that fatal
+bank their sick or wounded comrades. Farther off, and out of reach of
+the crowd, were seen soldiers, motionless and watching over their dying
+commanders, who had confided themselves to their care: in vain did the
+latter conjure them to think only of their own preservation; they
+refused; and sooner than abandon their expiring leaders, resolved to
+take their chance of slavery or death.</p>
+
+<p>Above the first passage, where young Lauriston had thrown himself into
+the river, in order more promptly to execute the orders of Napoleon, a
+little boat, carrying a mother and her two children, was upset and sank
+under the ice: an artilleryman, who, like the others, was struggling on
+the bridge to open a passage for himself, observed the accident, and all
+at once, unmindful of his own life, he threw himself into the river, and
+by great exertion succeeded in saving one of the three victims. It was
+the youngest of the two children: the poor little thing kept calling for
+his mother in tones of despair, when the brave artilleryman was heard
+telling him "not to cry; that he had not rescued him from the water only
+to desert him on the bank; that he should want for nothing; and that he
+would be his father and his family."</p>
+
+<p>The night of the 28th added to all these calamities. Its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>darkness was
+insufficient to conceal from the artillery of the Russians its miserable
+victims. Amid the snow, which covered everything, the course of the
+river, the black mass of men, horses, and carriages, and the noise
+proceeding from them, were enough to enable the enemy's artillerymen
+unerringly to direct their fire.</p>
+
+<p>At about nine o'clock in the evening their desolation became complete,
+when Victor commencing his retreat, his divisions opened for themselves
+a passage through these despairing wretches, whom they had till then
+been protecting. A rear guard, however, having been left, the multitude,
+benumbed with cold, or still anxious to preserve their baggage, refused
+to avail themselves of the last night for crossing to the opposite
+shore. In vain were their wagons set fire to, in order to tear them from
+them; it was only the appearance of daylight which brought them again,
+but too late, to the entrance of the bridge, which they once more
+besieged. At half past eight in the morning, seeing the Russians
+approaching, General Ebl&eacute; set fire to it by Napoleon's orders; then
+those who were left on the eastern side of the river "realized that they
+had lost their last chance."</p>
+
+<p>A multitude of wagons and of cannon, several thousand men and women, and
+some children, were thus abandoned on the hostile bank. They were seen
+wandering in desolate troops on the borders of the river. Some plunged
+into it in order to swim across; others ventured themselves on the
+pieces of ice which were floating along; and some there were who threw
+themselves headlong upon the timbers of the burning bridge, which,
+sinking under them, exposed them at the same time to the horrors of a
+twofold death. Shortly after, the bodies of many of these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>unfortunate
+creatures, wedged in the ice, were seen collecting against the trestles
+of the bridge. The rest awaited the Russians. The Russian general did
+not show himself upon the heights until an hour after Ebl&eacute;'s departure;
+and without having gained a victory, he reaped all the fruits of one.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon remained till the last moment on these melancholy banks, near
+the ruins of Brilowa, unsheltered and at the head of his guard,
+one-third of which was destroyed by the storm. During the day they stood
+to their arms, and were drawn up in order of battle; at night they
+bivouacked in a square round their leader; and there the old grenadiers
+incessantly kept feeding their fires. They sat on their knapsacks, with
+their elbows planted upon their knees, and their hands supporting their
+heads; slumbering in this manner, doubled upon themselves, that one limb
+might warm the other, and that they might feel less the emptiness of
+their stomachs.</p>
+
+<p>About these bivouacs were collected men of all classes, of all ranks, of
+all ages; ministers, generals, administrators. Among them was remarked
+an elderly nobleman of by-gone days, when light and brilliant graces
+held sovereign sway. This general officer of sixty was seen sitting on
+the snow-covered trunk of some tree, occupying himself with unruffled
+gayety every morning in adjusting the details of his toilet: in the
+midst of a hurricane he had his hair elegantly dressed, and powdered
+with the nicest care, amusing himself in this manner with all our
+calamities, and with the fury of the elements which assailed him.</p>
+
+<p>Near him were officers of scientific corps, still finding subjects for
+discussion. Imbued with the spirit of an age which a few discoveries
+have encouraged to hope for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>explanations of everything, these
+individuals, amid the acute sufferings we were enduring from the north
+wind, were seeking to divine the cause of its unvarying direction. The
+theory was advanced that, since his departure for the antarctic pole,
+the sun, by heating the southern hemisphere, had rarefied all its
+currents of air, elevated them, and left on the surface of that zone a
+vacuum, into which the currents of air of ours, which were lower on
+account of being more dense, were violently rushing. That thus the
+northern pole, loaded with these denser vapors, which had been
+collecting and cooling since the preceding summer, was discharging them
+by an impetuous and icy current, which swept over the Russian territory,
+and stiffened or destroyed everything it encountered in its course.</p>
+
+<p>Others of these officers were remarking with curious attention the
+regular six-sided crystallization of each one of the flakes of snow
+which covered their garments.</p>
+
+<p>The phenomena of the simultaneous appearance of several distinct images
+of the sun, reflected to the eye by means of the icy particles suspended
+in the atmosphere, was also a subject for observation, and several times
+momentarily diverted their thoughts from their sufferings.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="NAPOLEON_ABANDONS_THE_GRAND_ARMY" id="NAPOLEON_ABANDONS_THE_GRAND_ARMY"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army and sets out for Paris.</b></p>
+
+<p>On the 29th the emperor quitted the banks of the Berezina, pushing on
+before him the crowd of disbanded soldiers, and marching with the ninth
+corps, which was already disorganized. The day before, the second and
+ninth corps and Dombrowski's division presented a total of fourteen
+thousand men; and now, with the exception of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>about six thousand, they
+had no longer any form of division, brigade, or regiment.</p>
+
+<p>Night, hunger, cold, the fall of many of their officers, the loss of the
+baggage on the other side of the river, the example of such a number of
+runaways, and the much more revolting sight of the wounded abandoned on
+both sides of the river, and left weltering in despair on the snow,
+which was dyed with their blood: everything, in short, contributed to
+discourage them; and they were now confounded with the mass of disbanded
+men who had come from Moscow.</p>
+
+<p>The whole still formed sixty thousand men, but without the least order
+or unity. All marched pell-mell, cavalry, infantry, artillery, French
+and Germans: there was no longer either wing or centre. The artillery
+and carriages drove on through this tumultuous crowd with no other
+instructions than to proceed as rapidly as possible.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d of December Napoleon arrived in the morning at
+Malodeczno,<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> which was the last point where the Russian general,
+Tchitchakoff was likely to get the start of him. Some provisions were
+found there, the forage was abundant, the day beautiful, the sun bright,
+and the cold bearable. There also the couriers, who had been so long
+kept back, arrived all at once. The Poles were immediately directed
+onward to Warsaw through Olita, and the dismounted cavalry by Merecz to
+the Niemen; while the rest of the army was to follow the high road,
+which they had again regained.</p>
+
+<p>Up to that time Napoleon seemed to have entertained no idea of quitting
+his army. But about the middle of that day he suddenly informed Daru and
+Duroc of his determination to set off immediately for Paris.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>Daru did not see the necessity of it. He objected "that the
+communication with France was again opened, and the most dangerous
+crisis passed; and that at every retrograde step he would now be meeting
+the re-enforcements sent him from Paris and from Germany." The emperor's
+reply was, "that he no longer felt himself sufficiently strong to leave
+Prussia between him and France. And besides, what necessity was there
+for his remaining at the head of a routed army? Murat and Eugene would
+be sufficient to direct it, and Ney to cover its retreat.</p>
+
+<p>"His return to France had become indispensable, in order to secure her
+tranquillity and to summon her to arms; to take measures there for
+keeping the Germans steady in their fidelity to him; and, finally, to
+return with fresh and adequate forces to the assistance of his Grand
+Army.</p>
+
+<p>"But, in order to effect these objects, it was necessary that he should
+travel alone over four hundred leagues of the territories of his allies:
+and that he might do so without danger, his resolution should be there
+unforeseen, his passage unknown, and the rumor of his disastrous retreat
+still uncertain; that he would, in short, precede the news of it, and
+anticipate the effect it might produce on them, and the defections to
+which it might give rise. He had, therefore, no time to lose, and the
+moment for his departure had already arrived."</p>
+
+<p>Such were the motives assigned by Napoleon; and General Caulaincourt
+immediately received orders secretly to prepare for his departure. The
+rendezvous was fixed at Smorgoni,<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> and the time the night of the 5th
+of December.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>When Napoleon reached Smorgoni all the marshals were summoned. As they
+successively entered, he took each one aside in private, and first of
+all secured their approbation of his plan, gaining some by his
+arguments, and others by confidential communications.</p>
+
+<p>His manner was kind and flattering to them all; and afterward, having
+assembled them at his table, he complimented them for their brilliant
+actions during the campaign. As to himself, the only confession he made
+of his temerity was couched in these words: "If I had been born to the
+throne, if I had been a Bourbon, it would have been easy for me not to
+have committed any faults."</p>
+
+<p>When their interview was over, he made Prince Eugene read to them his
+twenty-ninth bulletin; after which, declaring aloud what he had confided
+to each of them privately, he told them "that he was about to depart
+that very night with Duroc, Caulaincourt and Lobau, for Paris; that his
+presence there was indispensable for France as well as for the remains
+of his unfortunate army. It was there only that he could take measures
+for keeping the Austrians and Prussians in check. These nations would
+certainly pause before they declared war against him, when they saw him
+at the head of the French nation, and a fresh army of twelve hundred
+thousand men."</p>
+
+<p>He added, that "he had ordered Ney to proceed to Wilna, there to
+reorganize the army; that Rapp would second him, and afterward go to
+Dantzic, Lauriston to Warsaw, and Narbonne to Berlin; that his own guard
+would remain with the army; but that it would be necessary to strike a
+blow at Wilna, and stop the enemy there. There they would find
+re-enforcements, provisions, and ammunition of all sorts; that afterward
+they would go into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>winter quarters on the other side of the Niemen; and
+that he hoped the Russians would not pass the Vistula before his
+return."</p>
+
+<p>He said, in concluding, "I leave the King of Naples to command the army.
+I hope that you will yield him the same obedience that you would to
+myself, and that the greatest harmony will prevail among you."</p>
+
+<p>As it was now ten o'clock at night, he rose, affectionately pressed
+their hands, embraced them all&mdash;and departed.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who were drawn up in
+an avenue as he passed, bidding them adieu merely by forced and
+melancholy smiles: their good wishes, equally silent, and expressed only
+by respectful gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut
+themselves up in a carriage.</p>
+
+<p>His escort at first consisted only of Poles, afterwards of the
+Neapolitans of the Royal Guard. This corps consisted of between six and
+seven hundred men when it left Wilna to meet the emperor: it perished
+almost entirely in that short passage, though the winter was its only
+adversary. That very night the Russians surprised and afterward
+abandoned a town through which the escort had to pass; and Napoleon was
+within an hour of falling into that affray.</p>
+
+<p>He met the Duke of Bassano at Miedniki, a village about thirty miles
+west of Smorgoni. His first words to him were "that he had no longer an
+army; that for several days past he had been marching in the midst of a
+troop of disbanded men, wandering to and fro in search of subsistence;
+that they might still be rallied by giving them bread, shoes, clothing,
+and arms; but that the duke's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>military administration had anticipated
+nothing, and his orders had not been executed." But upon Murat replying,
+by showing him a statement of the immense stores of provisions and
+clothing collected at Wilna, he exclaimed "that he gave him fresh life;
+that he would forthwith give him an order to transmit to Murat and
+Berthier, to halt for eight days in that capital, there to rally the
+army, and infuse into it sufficient heart and strength to continue the
+retreat less deplorably."</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of Napoleon's journey was effected without molestation. He
+went round Wilna by its suburbs, crossed Wilkoski, where he exchanged
+his carriage for a sleigh, and stopped during the 10th at Warsaw, to ask
+the Poles for a levy of ten thousand Cossacks, and to promise them that
+he would speedily return at the head of three hundred thousand men. From
+thence he rapidly traversed Silesia,<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> visited Dresden and its
+monarch, and finally reached Paris, where he suddenly made his
+appearance on the 19th of December, two days after the arrival of his
+twenty-ninth bulletin.</p>
+
+<p>From Malo-jaroslavetz to Smorgoni, this master of Europe had been no
+more than the general of a dying and disbanded army; from Smorgoni to
+the Rhine he was an unknown fugitive, travelling through a hostile
+country; beyond the Rhine he again found himself the master and the
+conqueror of Europe. A brief blast of the gale of prosperity once more
+and for the last time swelled his sails.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, his generals, whom he left at Smorgoni, approved of his
+departure, and, far from being discouraged, placed all their hopes in
+it. The army had now only to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>flee; the road was open, and the Russian
+frontier at a very short distance. They were getting within reach of a
+re-enforcement of eighteen thousand men, all fresh troops, of a great
+city, and immense magazines. Murat and Berthier, abandoned to
+themselves, fancied they were quite competent to direct the flight. But
+in the midst of such frightful disorder, it required a Napoleon for a
+rallying-point, and he had just disappeared. In the mighty chasm which
+he left, Murat was scarcely perceptible.</p>
+
+<p>It was then but too clearly seen that a great man is not to be replaced;
+either that the pride of his followers can no longer stoop to obey
+another, or that, having always thought of, foreseen, and ordered
+everything himself, he had formed good instruments, skilful lieutenants,
+but no commanders.</p>
+
+<p>The very first night a general refused to obey. The marshal who
+commanded the rear guard was almost the only one who returned to the
+royal headquarters. Three thousand men of the Old and the Young Guard
+were still there. This was the whole of the Grand Army, and of that
+gigantic body there remained nothing but the head. But at the news of
+Napoleon's departure, these veterans, spoiled by the habit of being
+commanded only by the conqueror of Europe, being no longer supported by
+the honor of serving him, and scorning to act as guards to another, gave
+way in their turn, and voluntarily fell into disorder.</p>
+
+<p>Henceforward there was no longer fraternity in arms; there was an end to
+all society, to all ties; the excess of misery had completely brutified
+them. Hunger, devouring hunger, had reduced these unfortunate men to
+that brutal instinct of self-preservation which constitutes the sole
+understanding of ferocious animals, and which is ready to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>sacrifice
+everything to itself; nature, wild and barbarous around them, seemed to
+have communicated to them all its savageness. The strongest despoiled
+the weakest; they rushed about the dying, and frequently waited not for
+their last breath. When a horse fell, you might have fancied you saw a
+famished pack of hounds: they surrounded him, they tore him to pieces,
+and quarrelled among themselves for his remains like ravenous dogs.</p>
+
+<p>The greater number, however, preserved sufficient moral strength to
+provide for their own safety without injuring others; but this was the
+last effort of their virtue. If either leader or comrade fell by their
+side or under the wheels of the cannon, in vain did they call for
+assistance, in vain did they invoke the names of a common country, a
+common religion, and a common cause; they could not even obtain a
+passing look. The merciless cold of the climate had passed into their
+comrades' hearts: its rigor had contracted their feelings no less than
+their features. With the exception of a few of the commanders, all were
+absorbed by their sufferings, and terror left no room for compassion.</p>
+
+<p>There were a few, however, who still stood firm, as it were, against
+both heaven and earth: these protected and assisted the weakest; but
+their number was deplorably small.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="SUFFERINGS_OF_THE_GRAND_ARMY" id="SUFFERINGS_OF_THE_GRAND_ARMY"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure. Arrival
+at Wilna.</b></p>
+
+<p>On the 6th of December, the very day after Napoleon's departure, the sky
+exhibited a more dreadful appearance. Icy particles were seen floating
+in the air, and the birds fell stiff and frozen to the earth. The
+atmosphere was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>motionless and silent: it seemed as if everything in
+nature which possessed life and movement, even the wind itself, had been
+seized, chained, and, as it were, congealed by a universal death. Not a
+word or a murmur was then heard: there was nothing but the gloomy
+silence of despair, and the tears which proclaimed it.</p>
+
+<p>We crept along in the midst of this empire of death like doomed spirits.
+The dull and monotonous sound of our steps, the cracking of the frost,
+and the feeble groans of the dying, were the only interruptions to this
+doleful and universal silence. Anger and imprecations there were none,
+nor anything which indicated a remnant of warmth; scarcely was strength
+enough left to utter a prayer; and most of the men fell without even
+complaining, either from weakness or resignation, or because people
+complain only when they look for kindness, and fancy they are pitied.</p>
+
+<p>Such of our soldiers as had hitherto been the most persevering here lost
+heart entirely. Sometimes the snow sank beneath their feet, but more
+frequently, its glassy surface refusing them support, they slipped at
+every step, and tottered along from one fall to another. It seemed as
+though this hostile soil were leagued against them; that it
+treacherously escaped from under their efforts; that it was constantly
+leading them into snares, as if to embarrass and retard their march, and
+to deliver them up to the Russians in pursuit of them, or to their
+terrible climate.</p>
+
+<p>And, in truth, whenever, for a moment, they halted from exhaustion, the
+winter, laying his icy hand upon them, was ready to seize his victims.
+In vain did these unhappy creatures, feeling themselves benumbed, raise
+themselves up, and, already deprived of the power of speech, and plunged
+into a stupor, proceed a few steps like automatons: their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>blood froze
+in their veins, like water in the current of rivulets, congealing the
+heart, and then flying back to the head; and these dying men staggered
+as if they had been intoxicated. From their eyes, reddened and inflamed
+by the constant glare of the snow, by the want of sleep, and the smoke
+of the bivouacs, there flowed real tears of blood; their bosoms heaved
+with deep and heavy sighs; they looked towards heaven, at us, and on the
+earth, with an eye dismayed, fixed, and wild, as expressive of their
+farewell, and, it might be, of their reproaches against the barbarous
+nature which was tormenting them. It was not long before they fell upon
+their knees, and then upon their hands; their heads still slowly moved
+for a few minutes alternately to the right and left, and from their open
+mouths some sounds of agony escaped; at last, they fell flat upon the
+snow, burying their faces in it, and their sufferings were at an end.</p>
+
+<p>Their comrades passed by them without moving a step out of their way,
+that they might not, by the slightest curve, prolong their journey, and
+without even turning their heads; for their beards and hair were so
+stiffened with ice that every movement was painful. Nor did they even
+pity them; for, in fact, what had they lost by dying? what had they left
+behind them? They suffered so much, they were still so far from France,
+so much divested of all feelings of country by the surrounding prospect
+and by misery, that every dear illusion was broken, and hope almost
+destroyed. The greater number, therefore, had from necessity, from the
+habit of seeing death constantly around them, and from the prevailing
+feeling, become careless of dying, sometimes treating it with contempt;
+but generally, on seeing these unfortunates stretched on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>snow, and
+instantly stiffened, contenting themselves with the thought that they
+had no more wants, that they were at rest, that their sufferings were
+over. And, indeed, death, in a situation quiet, certain, and uniform,
+may be felt as a strange event, a frightful contrast, a terrible change;
+but in this tumult, this violent and ceaseless movement of a life of
+action, danger, and suffering, it appeared nothing more than a
+transition, a slight alteration, an additional removal, which excited
+little alarm.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the last days of the Grand Army: its last nights were still
+more frightful. Those whom they surprised marching together, far from
+every habitation, halted on the borders of the woods: there they lighted
+their fires, before which they remained the whole night, erect and
+motionless like spectres. They seemed as if they could not possibly have
+enough of the heat: they kept so close to it as to burn their clothes,
+as well as the frozen parts of their body, which the fire decomposed.
+The most dreadful pain then compelled them to stretch themselves on the
+ground, and the next day they attempted in vain to rise.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, such as the winter had almost wholly spared, and who
+still retained some portion of courage, prepared their melancholy meal.
+It had consisted, ever since they left Smolensk, of some slices of
+horseflesh broiled, and a little rye-meal made into a sort of gruel with
+snow-water, or kneaded into paste, which they seasoned, for want of
+salt, with the powder of their cartridges.</p>
+
+<p>The sight of these fires was constantly attracting fresh spectres, who
+were driven back by the first comers. These poor wretches wandered about
+from one bivouac to another, until, struck by the frost and despair
+together, and giving <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>themselves up for lost, they laid themselves down
+upon the snow behind their more fortunate comrades, and there expired.
+Many of them, destitute of the means and the strength necessary to cut
+down the lofty fir-trees, made vain attempts to set fire to them as they
+were standing; but death speedily surprised them, and they might be seen
+in every sort of attitude, stiff and lifeless about their trunks.</p>
+
+<p>Under the vast sheds erected by the sides of the high road in some parts
+of the way, scenes of still greater horror were witnessed. Officers and
+soldiers all rushed precipitately into them, and crowded together in
+heaps. There, like so many cattle, they pressed upon each other around
+the fires, and as the living could not remove the dead from the circle,
+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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>Yet this was the same army which had been formed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>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.</p>
+
+<p>The capital of Lithuania was still ignorant of our disasters, when, all
+at once, forty thousand famished soldiers filled it with groans and
+lamentations. At this unlooked-for sight, its inhabitants became alarmed
+and shut their doors. Deplorable then was it to see these troops of
+wretched wanderers in the streets, some furious and others despairing,
+threatening or entreating, endeavoring to break open the doors of the
+houses and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>magazines, or dragging themselves to the hospitals.
+Everywhere they were repulsed: at the magazines, from most unseasonable
+formalities, as, from the dissolution of the corps and the mingling of
+the soldiers, all regular distribution had become impossible.</p>
+
+<p>There had been collected there sufficient flour and bread to last for
+forty days, and butchers' meat for thirty-six days, for one hundred
+thousand men. Not a single commander ventured to step forward and give
+orders for giving out these provisions to all who came for them. The
+commissaries who had them in charge were afraid of being made
+responsible for them; and the others dreaded the excesses to which the
+famished soldiers would give themselves up when everything was at their
+discretion. These commissaries were, besides, ignorant of our desperate
+situation; and when there was scarcely time for pillage, had they been
+so inclined, our unfortunate comrades were left for several hours to die
+of hunger at the very doors of these immense magazines, filled with
+whatever they stood in need of, all of which fell into the enemy's hands
+the following day.</p>
+
+<p>At last, the exertions of several of the commanders, as Eugene and
+Davoust, the compassion of the Lithuanians, and the avarice of the Jews,
+opened some places of refuge. Nothing could be more remarkable than the
+astonishment manifested by these unfortunate men at finding themselves
+once more in inhabited houses. How delicious did a loaf of leavened
+bread appear to them, and how inexpressible the pleasure of eating it
+seated! and, afterward, with what admiration were they struck at seeing
+a scanty battalion still under arms, in regular order, and uniformly
+dressed! They seemed to have returned from the very extremities <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>of the
+earth, so much had the violence and persistency of their sufferings
+wrested and torn them from all their habits, so deep had been the abyss
+from which they had escaped!</p>
+
+<p>But scarcely had they begun to taste these sweets, when the cannon of
+the Russians were heard thundering over their heads and upon the city.
+These menacing sounds, the shouts of the officers, the drums beating to
+arms, and the wailings and clamor of an additional multitude of
+fugitives which had just arrived, filled Wilna with fresh confusion.</p>
+
+<p>Every one thought much more of disputing his life with famine and the
+cold than with the enemy. But when the cry of "Here are the Cossacks"
+was heard (which for a long time had been the only signal which the
+greater number obeyed), it was instantly echoed through the whole city,
+and the rout again began.</p>
+
+<p>This city contained a large proportion of the baggage of the army, and
+of its treasures, its provisions, a crowd of enormous wagons, loaded
+with the emperor's equipage, a large quantity of artillery, and a large
+number of wounded men. Our retreat had come upon them like an unexpected
+tempest, almost like a thunderbolt. Some were terrified and thrown into
+confusion, while consternation kept others motionless. Bearers of
+orders, soldiers, horses, and carriages, were seen hurrying about in all
+directions, crossing and overturning each other.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of this tumult, several of the commanders pushed forward
+out of the city towards Kowno, with all the troops they could contrive
+to muster; but at the distance of a league from the latter place this
+heavy and frightened column encountered the height and the ravine of
+Ponari.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>During our conquering advance, this woody hillock had only appeared to
+our soldiers a fortunate accident of the ground, from which they could
+discover the whole plain of Wilna, and take a survey of their enemies.
+Its rough but sharp declivity had then scarcely been remarked. During a
+regular retreat, it would have presented an excellent position for
+turning round and stopping the enemy; but in a disorderly flight, where
+everything which, in other circumstances, might have been of service,
+became injurious; where, in our precipitation and disorder, everything
+was turned against us, this hill and its defile became an insurmountable
+obstacle, a wall of ice, against which all our efforts were powerless.
+It arrested everything, baggage, treasure, and wounded; and the evil was
+sufficiently great, in this long series of disasters, to form an epoch.</p>
+
+<p>Here, in fact, it was that money, honor, and all remains of discipline
+and strength were completely lost. After fifteen hours of fruitless
+effort, when the drivers and the soldiers of the escort saw the King of
+Naples and the whole column of fugitives passing them by the sides of
+the hill; when they heard the noise of the enemy's cannon and musketry
+coming nearer and nearer every instant, and saw Ney himself retreating
+with three thousand men; when, at last, turning their eyes upon
+themselves, they beheld the hill completely covered with cannon and
+carriages, broken or overturned, and men and horses fallen to the
+ground, and expiring one upon the other&mdash;then it was that they gave up
+all idea of saving anything, and determined only to anticipate the enemy
+by becoming plunderers themselves.</p>
+
+<p>One of the covered wagons of treasure, which burst of itself, served as
+a signal; every one now rushed to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>others; they were immediately
+broken open, and the most valuable effects taken from them. The soldiers
+of the rear guard, who were passing at the time of this disorder, threw
+away their arms to join in the plunder; they became so eagerly engaged
+in it as neither to hear, in fact, the whistling of the enemy's balls,
+nor to pay the slightest attention to the howlings of the Cossacks, who
+were at their heels.</p>
+
+<p>It is even said that the Cossacks got mixed among them without being
+observed; that for some minutes, French and Tartars were confounded in
+the same greediness; forgetting they were at war, and pillaging together
+the same treasure-wagons. Two millions of gold and silver then
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>But amid all these horrors there were noble acts of devotion. Those
+there were who abandoned everything to save some of the unfortunate
+wounded by carrying them on their shoulders; while others, unable to
+extricate their half-frozen comrades from the throng, sacrificed their
+lives in defending them either against their own countrymen, or from the
+blows of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>On the most exposed part of the hill, an officer of the emperor, Colonel
+the Count de Turenne, repulsed the Cossacks, and in defiance of their
+cries of rage and their fire, he distributed before their eyes the
+private treasure of Napoleon to the guards whom he found within his
+reach. These brave men, fighting with one hand, and collecting the
+spoils of their leader with the other, succeeded in saving them. Long
+afterward, when they were out of all danger, each man faithfully
+restored what had been intrusted to him. Not a single piece of money was
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>This catastrophe at Ponari was the more disgraceful, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>it might easily
+have been foreseen, and no less easily prevented: for the hill could
+have been turned by its sides. The property we here abandoned, however,
+was at least of some use by arresting the pursuit of the Cossacks. While
+these were busy in collecting their plunder, Ney, at the head of a few
+hundred French and Bavarians, supported the retreat as far as &Eacute;v&eacute;. As
+this was his last effort, we must not neglect to describe the close of
+that retreat which he had continued uninterruptedly, and in the most
+methodical manner, ever since he left Viazma on the 3d of November.</p>
+
+<br /><a name="CONCLUSION" id="CONCLUSION"></a>
+<p class="cen"><b>&sect; 24. Conclusion.</b></p>
+
+<p>Finally Ney and his men arrived at Kowno, which was the last town of the
+Russian empire. On the 13th of December, after marching forty-six days
+under the most terrible sufferings, they once more came in sight of a
+friendly country. Instantly, without halting, or looking behind them,
+the greater part plunged into, and dispersed themselves in, the forests
+of Prussian Poland. Some there were, however, who, on their arrival on
+the friendly bank of the Niemen, turned round; and there, when they cast
+a last look on that land of horrors from which they were escaping, and
+found themselves on the same spot whence, five months before, their
+countless eagles<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> had taken their victorious flight, tears gushed
+from their eyes and they broke out into exclamations of the most
+poignant sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>"This, then, was the bank which they had studded with their bayonets!
+this the allied country which had disappeared, only five months before,
+under the steps of their immense army, and which then seemed to them to
+be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>metamorphosed into moving hills and plains of men and horses! These
+were the same valleys from which, under the rays of a brilliant sun, had
+poured forth the three long columns of dragoons and cuirassiers,
+resembling three rivers of glittering iron and brass. And now, men,
+arms, eagles, horses, the sun itself, and even this frontier river,
+which they had crossed replete with ardor and hope, had all disappeared.
+The Niemen was now only a lengthened line of masses of ice, arrested and
+chained to each other by the increasing severity of the winter. Instead
+of the three French bridges, brought from a distance of five hundred
+leagues, and thrown across it with such audacious promptitude, a Russian
+bridge alone was standing. Finally, in place of those innumerable
+warriors, of their four hundred thousand comrades, who had been so often
+their partners in victory, and who had dashed onward with so much pride
+and joy into the territory of Russia, they now saw issuing from these
+pale and frozen deserts only a thousand infantry and horsemen still
+under arms, nine cannon, and twenty thousand miserable wretches covered
+with rags, with downcast looks, hollow eyes, cadaverous and livid
+complexions, and long beards matted with frost; some disputing in
+silence the narrow passage of the bridge, which, in spite of their small
+numbers, did not suffice for the eagerness of their flight; others
+fleeing dispersed over the rough ice of the river, toiling and dragging
+themselves along from one point to another: this was the whole Grand
+Army! and even many of these fugitives were recruits who had just joined
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>Two kings, one prince, eight marshals, followed by a few officers,
+generals on foot, dispersed, and without attendants: finally, a few
+hundred men of the Old Guard, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>still armed&mdash;these were the remains of
+the Grand Army&mdash;these alone represented it!</p>
+
+<p>Or rather, I should say, it still breathed only in Marshal Ney!
+Comrades! allies! enemies! here I invoke your testimony; let us pay the
+homage which is due to the memory of an unfortunate hero: the facts
+alone will suffice.</p>
+
+<p>All were flying, and Murat himself, traversing Kowno as he had done
+Wilna, first gave, and then withdrew, an order, to rally at Tilsit, and
+subsequently fixed upon Gumbinnen. Ney then entered Kowno, accompanied
+only by his aids-de-camp, for all besides had given way or fallen around
+him. From the time of his leaving Viazma, this was the fourth rear guard
+which had been worn out and disappeared in his hands. But winter and
+famine, far more than the Russians, had destroyed them. For the fourth
+time he remained alone before the enemy, and, still undismayed, he
+sought for a fifth rear guard.</p>
+
+<p>Several thousand soldiers covered the market-place and the neighboring
+streets; but they were laid out stiff before the liquor-shops which they
+had broken open, and where they drank the cup of death, from which they
+had vainly hoped they were to inhale fresh life.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the only succors which Murat had left him; and Ney found
+himself alone in Russia, with seven hundred foreign recruits. At Kowno,
+as it had been after the disasters of Viazma, of Smolensk, of the
+Berezina, and of Wilna, it was to him that the honor of our arms and all
+the peril of the last steps of our retreat were again confided.</p>
+
+<p>On the 14th, at daybreak, the Russians commenced their attack. One of
+their columns made a hasty advance from the Wilna road, while another
+crossed the Niemen on the ice above the town, landed on the Prussian
+territory, and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>proud of being the first to cross its frontier, marched
+to the bridge of Kowno, to close that outlet upon Ney, and completely
+cut off his retreat.</p>
+
+<p>Ney, though abandoned by all, neither gave himself up nor his post.
+After vain efforts to detain these fugitives, he collected their
+muskets, which were still loaded, became once more a common soldier,
+and, with only four others, kept facing thousands of the enemy. His
+audacity stopped them; it made some of his artillerymen, too, ashamed,
+and they imitated their marshal: besides it gave time to his aid-de-camp
+and to General G&eacute;rard, to collect thirty soldiers, and to Generals Ledru
+and Marchand to collect the only battalion which remained.</p>
+
+<p>But at that moment a second attack of the Russians commenced on the
+other side of the Niemen, and near the bridge of Kowno: it was then half
+past two o'clock. Ney sent Ledru, Marchand, and their four hundred men
+forward to retake and secure that passage. As for himself, without
+giving way, or disquieting himself farther as to what was passing in his
+rear, he kept on fighting at the head of his thirty men, and maintained
+himself until night at the Wilna gate. He then traversed the town and
+crossed the Niemen, constantly fighting, retreating, but never flying,
+marching after all the others, supporting to the last moment the honor
+of our arms, and for the hundredth time during the last forty days and
+forty nights, putting his life and liberty in jeopardy to save a few
+more Frenchmen. Finally, he was the last of the Grand Army that quitted
+that fatal Russia, showing to the world how courage battles with ill
+fortune, and proving that with heroes even the greatest disasters turn
+to glory.<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>General Dumas was seated in the French headquarters on the Prussian side
+of the Niemen when a man entered wrapped in a long cloak. His face was
+blackened with gunpowder, his hair singed with fire. "At last," said he,
+"I am here." "But who are you?" asked General Dumas in astonishment. "I
+am the rear guard of the Grand Army&mdash;I am Marshal Ney. I have fired the
+last shot on the bridge of Kowno, I have thrown my musket into the
+river, and I have walked here across the forest."</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon had entered Russia with an army of over six hundred thousand
+men. Not more than eighty thousand recrossed the Niemen, and many of
+them did not live to reach their homes.<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>Thus ended the Russian campaign. Thus did the star of the North triumph
+over that of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>Comrades, my task is done; it is now for you to bear your testimony to
+the truth of the picture. Its colors will no doubt appear pale to your
+eyes and to your hearts, which are still full of these great
+recollections. But who does not know that an action is always more
+eloquent than its description; and that, if great historians are
+produced by great men, the former are still more rare than the latter?</p>
+
+<h5>FOOTNOTES:</h5>
+
+
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> <b>Moscow</b>: the ancient capital of Russia is situated on
+the Moskwa river (a tributary of the Oka), from which the city derives
+its name. It first appears in history in the middle of the twelfth
+century. It early became the metropolis and seat of government, and
+continued so until a short time after the founding of St. Petersburg by
+Peter the Great, in 1703.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">For centuries Moscow was both the political and religious centre of the
+empire. Here the Czars were crowned, here they resided, here they were
+buried. Here, too, the patriarch, or former head of the Russian church,
+had his residence, amid cathedrals, monasteries, and shrines, which have
+always been regarded with peculiar reverence.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">To the Russian peasant the city still remains sacred. It is the heart,
+as it were, of his native land. He cherishes toward it the same feeling
+which the devout Mohammedan does for Mecca, or the devout Catholic for
+Rome. He calls it "Our Holy Mother Moscow"; and when he comes in sight
+of its gilded spires and cupolas he makes the sign of the cross, falls
+upon his knees, and utters a prayer.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">In the centre of Moscow stands the Kremlin, or fortress&mdash;for so the
+Tartar name is usually translated. This famous stronghold marks the
+original settlement. It covers nearly a hundred acres, and is situated
+on an eminence on the left bank of the river. It is triangular in shape,
+and is surrounded by a lofty stone wall, considerably more than a mile
+in extent, which is pierced with five gates and surmounted by eighteen
+commanding towers.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">The Kremlin is almost a city in itself. Besides extensive barracks and
+an arsenal, with other government buildings, it contains the ancient
+palace of the Czars, a monastery, and several noted churches, one of
+which is the oldest and most venerated in Russia.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">Formerly the entire fortification was encompassed by a broad, deep moat.
+This has been filled up, and now forms a spacious boulevard, with
+pleasure gardens, a library, a museum, and the great bazaar or market,
+where all kinds of merchandise are offered for sale.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">At the time of the French invasion Moscow is supposed to have had a
+population of at least 325,000; at the present time it has more than
+double that number.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">Napoleon entered the city September 14, 1812. That very night it was set
+on fire, and the conflagration continued until the whole place, outside
+the Kremlin, was practically a heap of bricks and ashes.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">During the fire Napoleon was obliged to leave his quarters in the
+fortress and establish them in a suburb of the city, but later he
+returned to the Kremlin.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">He evacuated Moscow on October 19, not quite five weeks after he entered
+it. He found it a great metropolis. He left it a mass of ruins, where
+nothing any longer existed to support life.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> <b>Serfs</b>: these serfs were slaves in all but name, and
+were bought and sold like cattle. They were emancipated by law in 1861,
+the whole number throughout Russia then being over 21,000,000.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> <b>Czar</b>: the correct Russian spelling of this word is said
+to be Tsar, which is now gradually coming into use in English. The title
+was first assumed by Ivan IV. (Ivan the Terrible) in 1533.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> <b>Ruble</b> (or Rouble): a Russian silver coin worth about
+seventy-five cents.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> <b>Smolensk</b>: see Introduction, "Napoleon."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> <b>Rostopchin</b>: (Ros-top-chen').</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> <b>Kutusoff</b>: commander-in-chief of the Russian army.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> <b>Muscovite</b>: a native of Muscovy, an old name for
+Russia.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> Rostopchin denied, in a work which he published, that he
+set fire to the city. He insisted that it was done by the French,
+together with the rabble of Moscow. It is now thought that the governor
+began the work of destruction, which was completed partly by the
+Russians and partly by the French.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> <b>Cossacks</b>: a race of people inhabiting the south of
+Russia. On account of their great skill in horsemanship they are largely
+employed in the Russian army as cavalry.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> <b>Moskwa</b>: the French often spoke of the battle of
+Borodino as the Battle of the Moskwa, though it is not on that river,
+but on the Kologa, a tributary of it. The accounts of the number killed
+differ.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> <b>Kolomna gate</b>: a gate leading to Kolomna, a town on the
+Moskwa River.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> <b>Miloradovitch</b>: a Russian general.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> <b>Mazeppa</b>: a Pole, who having been detected in a crime
+was bound to the back of a wild horse and carried by the animal to the
+country of the Cossacks. There he became head of the Cossack forces, and
+when Peter the Great attempted to seize that country, Mazeppa formed an
+alliance with Charles XII. of Sweden for the independence of the
+Cossacks.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> <b>Dorogomilow</b>: the name of a quarter of the city.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> <b>Daru</b>: a distinguished French author and statesman who
+accompanied Napoleon in his Russian campaign.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> <b>Boyars</b>: nobles, or men of rank.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> <b>Bivouac</b> (biv-wak'): to encamp without tents or
+shelter.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> <b>Scythians</b>: a race of fierce barbarians, formerly
+inhabiting the country north and east of the Black Sea. Napoleon
+intimates that these men are their descendants.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> <b>Strelitzes</b>: a body of military guards that revolted
+under Peter the Great.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> <b>Postern-gate</b>: a small rear or side gate.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> <b>Lithuania</b>: a province of Russia bordering on the Niemen
+and hence near supplies.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> <b>Witepsk</b>: a point passed on the march to Moscow, about
+midway from the Niemen; here the Russian general, Wittgenstein, appears
+to have been stationed.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> <b>Old Guard</b>: the emperor's body-guard, composed of a
+large force of veterans.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> "Napoleon also took measures for relieving the
+unfortunate of all classes. He ordered lists to be made of all the
+citizens whom the conflagration had deprived of the means of
+subsistence, opened houses of refuge for them, and supplied them with
+food."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> <b>Tilsit and Erfurt</b>: at these places Napoleon had
+negotiated treaties, greatly in favor of the French, with the Czar of
+Russia.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> <b>Expresses</b>: messengers.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> <b>Armistice</b>: a temporary suspension of hostilities.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> <b>Partisans</b>: soldiers detached to intercept convoys of
+provisions and the like.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> <b>Invalides</b>: one of the great public buildings at Paris;
+a soldiers' home and hospital. Napoleon is buried here.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> <b>Aid-de-camp</b>: an officer who carries orders and directs
+movements for a general.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> <b>The viceroy</b>: Prince Eugene.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> The indecisive battle of Malo-jaroslavetz, a town about
+fifty miles southwest of Moscow, compelled Napoleon to give up his
+original plan of retreat, which would have taken him through an
+unexhausted country to the southward, and forced him to go back to the
+north, retracing his steps by the route he came.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> <b>Wittgenstein</b>: commander of one division of the Russian
+forces, held a position on the Dwina River and later on the Berezina, a
+tributary of the Dnieper.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> <b>Vere&iuml;a</b>: a village about twenty-five miles northwest of
+Malo-jaroslavetz.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> <b>Kremlin</b>: it was afterward found that the fortress was
+but slightly injured.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> <b>Mojaisk</b>: about ten miles northwest of Vere&iuml;a and
+seventy west of Moscow.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> The battle-field of Borodino, which Napoleon had fought
+on his march to Moscow. See Introduction.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> <b>Viazma</b>: about fifty miles west of Borodino.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> <b>Dorogobouje</b>: a town about fifty miles west of Viazma
+and nearly two hundred west of Moscow. It is situated on the river Wop,
+a branch of the Dnieper.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> <b>Deployed</b>: formed a more extended front or line.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> <b>Dombrowna</b>: a town about fifty miles west of Smolensk
+and two hundred from Moscow.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> <b>Grenadiers</b>: these were men of long service and
+acknowledged bravery. Originally these soldiers threw hand grenades or
+small explosive shells. When these grenades went out of use the name
+grenadiers was still retained.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> <b>Borizoff</b>: a town on the Berezina River, about 320 miles
+southwest of Moscow, and about 75 west of Orcha.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> <b>Minsk</b>: a town on a tributary of the Berezina River,
+about 400 miles southwest of Moscow. Here Napoleon had immense stores of
+provisions, clothing, and ammunition. He was pushing forward to reach
+this place.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Polish generals in Napoleon's Grand Army.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> <b>Malodeczno</b>: a town about seventy miles west of the
+Berezina River.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> <b>Smorgoni</b>: a village about thirty-five miles northwest
+of Malodeczno, and four hundred and fifty southwest of Moscow.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> <b>Silesia</b>: a province of southeastern Prussia.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> <b>Eagles</b>: Napoleon's colors were surmounted by the figure
+of an eagle.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> Marshal Ney, whom Napoleon called "the bravest of the
+brave," fought under the emperor in several subsequent battles. When
+Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to Elba, Ney supported the government
+of his successor and enemy, Louis XVIII. On the escape of Napoleon from
+Elba, in the spring of 1815, Ney was sent with an army against him, but
+instead of fighting for Louis XVIII., he took service under his old
+commander. At Waterloo he led the Old Guard, those men who could die but
+never surrender. After the final fall of Napoleon, Marshal Ney was tried
+and sentenced to be shot for treason to the government of Louis XVIII.,
+whose cause he had deserted. Wellington tried to save his life, but in
+vain. If courage can expiate faults, then his are buried in his grave.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> On Napoleon's arrival in Paris he began at once to raise
+a fresh army. It has been said that it was "an army of boys," for France
+had lost most of her fighting men on the battle-field, or in Russia. In
+1813 he was defeated at Leipsic, and obliged to retreat across the
+Rhine. The next year he abdicated and retired to Elba.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">In the spring of 1815 he escaped from Elba, and raising an army fought
+and lost the battle of Waterloo.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">After his second abdication he was sent an exile to St. Helena, where he
+died about six years later (1821). His remains were brought to Paris in
+1840, and interred under the dome of the Hotel des Invalides, or
+Soldiers' Hospital. Above his tomb one reads these words: "I desire that
+my ashes shall repose on the banks of the Seine, among the French
+people, whom I have so greatly loved."</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
+<a name="INDEX_TO_NOTES" id="INDEX_TO_NOTES"></a>
+<br />
+<h2>INDEX TO NOTES.</h2>
+
+<p class="cen">WITH PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a></p>
+<br />
+
+
+<ul><li> A-ch&aelig;&acute;ans, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  A-ch&#257;&acute;i-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Ad-ra-my&#774;t&acute;ti-um.</li>
+
+<li>  &AElig;&#772;-n&#275;&acute;as.</li>
+
+<li>  &AElig;&#772;-ni-&#257;&acute;n&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  &#256;-g&#257;&acute;si-as.</li>
+
+<li>  &#256;-g&#277;s-i-l&#257;&acute;us.</li>
+
+<li>  &#256;&acute;gi-&#259;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Aid-de-camp, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ajaccio (A-yat&acute;ch&#333;).</li>
+
+<li>  Alexander the Great, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  &#258;l-ki-bi&acute;a-d&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Altar, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Amnesty, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Am-ph&#299;p&acute;o-lis.</li>
+
+<li>  A-nab&acute;a-sis, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  &#258;n-ax-&#299;b&acute;i-&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  An-tal&acute;ki-d&#259;s.</li>
+
+<li>  An-t&#259;n&acute;dr&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  An-t&#301;l&acute;e-&#335;n.</li>
+
+<li>  &#258;p-ol-l&#335;n&acute;i-d&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Arcadian, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  &#256;-ri-&aelig;&acute;us.</li>
+
+<li>  &#258;r-is-tar&acute;chus.</li>
+
+<li>  A-r&#301;s&acute;te-&#259;s.</li>
+
+<li>  A-ris&acute;ton.</li>
+
+<li>  &#258;r-is-t&#335;n&acute;y-m&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Ar&acute;me-n&#275;.</li>
+
+<li>  Ar&acute;mis-t&#301;ce, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Array, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ar&acute;te-m&#301;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Ar-te-m&#301;s-&#301;&acute;&#335;n, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ar-tax-erx&acute;&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  A-si&acute;da-t&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  A-tar&acute;ne&#363;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Athenian catastrophe, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Augereau (&#332;zh-r&#333;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Augury, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Banished, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Barbarians, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Barras (Bar-rah&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Bas&acute;i-as.</li>
+
+<li>  Beauharnais (B&#333;-ar-n&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  B&eacute;ranger (B&#257;-ron-zh&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Berthier (Ber-te-&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Bessi&egrave;res (B&#277;s-s&#275;-air&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Billeted, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Bi-san&acute;the.</li>
+
+<li>  Bi-thy&#774;n&acute;i-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Bi&acute;ton.</li>
+
+<li>  Bitumen (Be-tu&acute;men), <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Bivouac (B&#301;v&acute;wak), <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  B&oelig;-o&acute;ti-a.</li>
+
+<li>  B&oelig;otian dialect, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Bo-is&acute;kus.</li>
+
+<li>  B&#333;&acute;re-&#259;s, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Borizoff, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Borodino, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Bo-ry&#774;s&acute;the-n&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Bos&acute;pho-r&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Boulogne (Boo-l&#333;n&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Boyars, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Br&#259;s&acute;i-das.</li>
+
+<li>  Bras-i-di&acute;as.</li>
+
+<li>  Brienne (Br&#299;-&#277;n&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Burial, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  By-zan&acute;ti-um, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Carbines, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Car-p&aelig;&acute;an dance, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Cashier, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Caulaincourt (K&#333;-lan-koor&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Chal-k&#275;&acute;don.</li>
+
+<li>  Chal&acute;y-b&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Char-m&#299;&acute;nus.</li>
+
+<li>  Charpentier (Shar-pon-t&#275;-&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Cheir-is&acute;o-ph&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Cher-so-n&#275;&acute;sus, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></li>
+
+<li>  Chry-s&#335;p&acute;o-lis.</li>
+
+<li>  Cities, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Clapar&egrave;de (Clap-ar-aid&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Compans (Con-pan&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Convention, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Corn, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Corselet, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Cossacks, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Covenant, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Cubit, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Cuirass, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Cy-re&acute;ian Greeks, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Cy-re&acute;ian Persians, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Czar, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Dance, Carp&aelig;an, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Dance, Pyrrhic, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Dar&acute;da-n&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  D&#259;r&acute;ic, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Da-ri&acute;us.</li>
+
+<li>  Daru&acute;, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Davoust (Da-voo&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  De-in&acute;ar-chus.</li>
+
+<li>  D&#277;k-e-l&#299;&acute;a.</li>
+
+<li>  Delta, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Delzons (Del-zon&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Demagogues, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  D&#277;m-a-r&#257;&acute;tus.</li>
+
+<li>  Democrat and Philosopher, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  De-mok&acute;ra-t&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Deployed, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Der-ky&#774;l&acute;li-das.</li>
+
+<li>  Dex-ip&acute;pus.</li>
+
+<li>  D&#299;-&#257;&acute;si-a, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  D&#299;-o-d&#333;&acute;rus.</li>
+
+<li>  Dnieper (Nee&acute;per).</li>
+
+<li>  Dombrowna, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Dorogobouje, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Dorogomilow, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Dra-kon&acute;ti-&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Dri&acute;l&aelig;.</li>
+
+<li>  Dumas (Du-mah&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Duroc (Du-rok&acute;).<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Eagles, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ears bored, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ebl&eacute; (Eb-l&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Eckm&uuml;hl (Ek&acute;m&#299;l).</li>
+
+<li>  Ek-b&#259;t&acute;a-na.</li>
+
+<li>  E-le&acute;i-ans.</li>
+
+<li>  Ephesus, Temple of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  E-pis&acute;the-n&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  E-r&#275;&acute;tri-a.</li>
+
+<li>  E-r&#275;&acute;tri-an, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Erfurt, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Es-th&#333;&acute;ni-a.</li>
+
+<li>  &#274;-te-o-n&#299;&acute;kus.</li>
+
+<li>  E&#363;-klei&acute;d&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  E&#363;-ry&#774;l&acute;o-chus.</li>
+
+<li>  &Eacute;v&eacute; (&#256;-v&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Expresses, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Festivals, Olympic, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Fishery, Thunny, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Friedland (Freed&acute;land).<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  G&eacute;rard (Zh&#257;-rar&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Gl&ucirc;s (Gloos).</li>
+
+<li>  Gods, The, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Gon&acute;gy-l&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Gor&acute;gi-&#335;n.</li>
+
+<li>  Gracious, Zeus The, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Great King, The, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Greaves, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Grenadiers, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Guard, The Old, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Guilleminot (Gweel-me-n&#333;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Gy&#772;-l&#301;p&acute;pus.</li>
+
+<li>  Gym&acute;ni-as.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Ha&acute;lys.</li>
+
+<li>  Har&acute;pa-s&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Hek-a-ton&acute;y-mus.</li>
+
+<li>  Hellas, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Hellen&acute;ic, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  H&#277;r-a-klei&acute;d&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  H&#277;r-ak-l&#275;&acute;ot-ic.</li>
+
+<li>  H&#277;r&acute;a-kl&#275;s, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Herald, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Heralds, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  He-rod&acute;o-tus.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Inflated skins, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Invalides (An-val-eed&acute;), <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  I-&#333;&acute;ni-a, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Irrigation, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Javelin, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Jomini (Zho-me-ne&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Judges, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  K&aelig;&acute;n&aelig;.</li>
+
+<li>  Ka-&#299;&acute;kus.</li>
+
+<li>  Kal&acute;p&#275;.</li>
+
+<li>  Kal-lim&acute;a-chus.</li>
+
+<li>  Kar-du&acute;ki-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Ken-tr&#299;&acute;t&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Ker&acute;a-s&#365;s, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ki-lik&acute;i-a, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  King, The Great, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Kle-an&acute;der.</li>
+
+<li>  Kle-&#257;&acute;nor.</li>
+
+<li>  Kle-ar&acute;chus.</li>
+
+<li>  Kle-ar&acute;e-tus.</li>
+
+<li>  Kle-on&acute;y-m&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Knidus (N&#299;&acute;dus).</li>
+
+<li>  Knight, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></li>
+
+<li>  K&oelig;-ra&acute;ti-das.</li>
+
+<li>  Kolomna gate, 173.</li>
+
+<li>  Kor-o-n&#275;&acute;a.</li>
+
+<li>  Kor&acute;y-las.</li>
+
+<li>  Ko-rys-the&acute;ni-a.</li>
+
+<li>  K&#333;-ty-&#335;&acute;ra.</li>
+
+<li>  Krasno&euml; (Kras-no&acute;e).</li>
+
+<li>  Kretan, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Kremlin, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ktesias (T&#275;&acute;si-&#259;s).</li>
+
+<li>  Ku-nax&acute;a, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Kutusoff, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ky-nis&acute;kus.</li>
+
+<li>  Ky&#774;z&acute;i-k&#365;s.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  La&ccedil;-e-d&aelig;&acute;mon.</li>
+
+<li>  La&ccedil;-e-d&aelig;-mo&acute;ni-ans.</li>
+
+<li>  Lamp&acute;sa-k&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  La-ris&acute;sa.</li>
+
+<li>  Latour-maubourg (La-toor&acute;-m&#333;-boor&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Lebure&acute;.</li>
+
+<li>  Ledru&acute;.</li>
+
+<li>  Lefebvre (L&#277;-f&#277;v&acute;vr).</li>
+
+<li>  Libations, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Lithuania, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Lobau (L&#333;-b&#333;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Lon-ti&acute;ni.</li>
+
+<li>  Lotos-eaters, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Lyd&acute;i-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Ly&acute;kon.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Machiavel (Mak&acute;i-a-vel).</li>
+
+<li>  M&aelig;-sa&acute;d&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Mag-n&#275;&acute;t&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  M&#257;-kr&#333;&acute;-n&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Malodeczno, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Malo-jaro-slavetz, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Man-ti-n&#275;&acute;a.</li>
+
+<li>  Man-ti-nei&acute;a.</li>
+
+<li>  Marchand (Mar-shon&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Ma-ri-an-dy&#772;&acute;n&#299;.</li>
+
+<li>  Mar-o-nei&acute;a.</li>
+
+<li>  Marshal Ney (Nay), <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mazeppa, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Media, Wall of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Me-dos&acute;ar-des.</li>
+
+<li>  M&#277;g-a-by&#772;&acute;zus.</li>
+
+<li>  Meg&acute;a-ra.</li>
+
+<li>  Meg-a&acute;rian, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mercenaries, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Merchant ships, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mi-le&acute;sians, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mi-l&#275;&acute;tus, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Miloradovitch, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mil-t&#299;&acute;a-d&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Mil-to-ky&acute;th&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Mi&acute;n&aelig;, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Minsk, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mith-ri-d&#257;&acute;t&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Mojaisk, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mortier (Mor-t&#275;-&#257;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Moscow, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Moskwa, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  M&#335;s-y-noe&acute;k&#299;.</li>
+
+<li>  Munich (Mu&acute;nik).</li>
+
+<li>  Murat (Mu-rah&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Muscovite, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  My&#774;&acute;si-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Mysian, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Mysians, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Ne&acute;on.</li>
+
+<li>  Neufch&acirc;tel (N&#363;f-shah-t&#277;l&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Ney, Marshal (Nay), 311.</li>
+
+<li>  Niemen (Nee&acute;men).</li>
+
+<li>  N&#299;-kar&acute;chus.</li>
+
+<li>  N&#299;&acute;ki-as.</li>
+
+<li>  Ni-kom&acute;a-ch&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Nineveh, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  &#334;d&acute;ry-s&aelig;.</li>
+
+<li>  &#334;d-rys&acute;ian, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  O-dys&acute;seus, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Old Guard, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Olympic Festivals, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  O-ly&#774;m&acute;pi-a, Temple of, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  O-neir&acute;us, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Oph-ry-n&#275;&acute;um.</li>
+
+<li>  O&acute;pis.</li>
+
+<li>  O-ron&acute;tas.</li>
+
+<li>  Oudinot (Oo-de-n&#333;&acute;).<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  P&aelig;&acute;an, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Paphlagonian horse, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li>
+
+<li>  P&#257;&acute;ri-um.</li>
+
+<li>  Partisans, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Partouneaux (Par-too-n&#333;&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Pa-rys&acute;a-tis.</li>
+
+<li>  P&#277;l-o-pon-n&#275;&acute;si-ans, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  P&#277;l-o-pon-n&#275;&acute;sus.</li>
+
+<li>  Per&acute;ga-m&#365;s, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Peraldi (Per-al&acute;d&#301;).</li>
+
+<li>  Pe-rin&acute;thus.</li>
+
+<li>  Per&acute;i-kl&#275;s, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Phalanx, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Pha-li&acute;nus.</li>
+
+<li>  Phar-na-b&#257;&acute;zus.</li>
+
+<li>  Pha-si-&#257;&acute;ni.</li>
+
+<li>  Pha&acute;sis, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ph&#275;&acute;rae.</li>
+
+<li>  Phi-l&#275;&acute;si-us.</li>
+
+<li>  Phil-hellen&acute;ic, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Philo-Laco&acute;ni-an, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Phli-a&acute;si-an, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ph&#335;l&acute;o-&#275;.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></li>
+
+<li>  Phry-nis&acute;k&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Phys&acute;kus.</li>
+
+<li>  Pino (P&#275;no&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Pipe, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Pi-sid&acute;i-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Pisid&acute;ians, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Pol-y-&aelig;&acute;n&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Po-ly&#774;k&acute;ra-t&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  P&#335;l-y-n&#299;&acute;kus.</li>
+
+<li>  Poniatowski (P&#333;-ni-a-tow&acute;ski).</li>
+
+<li>  Pontoons, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Postern-gate, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Pr&#333;k&acute;l&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Pro-pon&acute;tis, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Pr&#335;x&acute;e-n&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Pyrrhic Dance, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Reggio (Red&acute;j&#333;).</li>
+
+<li>  Regnier (R&#257;-ne-&#257;).</li>
+
+<li>  Reins, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Rhodian, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Rostopchin, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ru&acute;ble, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Sacrifice, 2, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Sacrificed, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  St. Cyr (San Seer&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Sam&acute;o-las.</li>
+
+<li>  Sar&acute;dis.</li>
+
+<li>  Sa&acute;trap, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Scu-ta&acute;ri.</li>
+
+<li>  Scythians, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  S&eacute;gur (S&#257;gur&acute;).</li>
+
+<li>  Se-l&#299;&acute;nus.</li>
+
+<li>  Se-ly&#772;m&acute;bri-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Serfs, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ses&acute;a-me, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Se&#363;&acute;th&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Sikon&acute;yan.</li>
+
+<li>  S&#299;-l&#257;&acute;nus.</li>
+
+<li>  S&#299;-l&#275;&acute;si-a, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  S&#299;-n&#333;&acute;pe.</li>
+
+<li>  S&#299;t&acute;ta-k&#275;.</li>
+
+<li>  Skil&acute;lus.</li>
+
+<li>  Skins, Inflated, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Sky-thi&acute;ni.</li>
+
+<li>  Smorgoni, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Sneeze, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Sok&acute;ra-t&#275;s, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  So-ph&aelig;n&acute;e-t&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Sophists, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  So-t&#277;r&acute;i-das.</li>
+
+<li>  St&#257;t&acute;ers, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Strelitzes, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Strike our tents, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Sy-ko&acute;ni-ans.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Talent, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  T&#257;&acute;o-chi.</li>
+
+<li>  Targeteers, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Tchitchakoff (Chich&acute;a-k&#335;f).</li>
+
+<li>  Te-l&#277;b&acute;o-&#259;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Temple of Ephesus, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Temple of Olympia, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Th&#275;&acute;b&#275;.</li>
+
+<li>  Th&#275;&acute;ch&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Ther-m&#333;&acute;don.</li>
+
+<li>  Tho&acute;rax.</li>
+
+<li>  Thra&acute;ki-on, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Thunny fishery, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Thu-ri&acute;an, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ti-&#257;&acute;ra, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  T&#301;b-a-r&#275;&acute;n&#299;.</li>
+
+<li>  Til&acute;sit, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  T&#299;-m&#257;&acute;si-&#335;n.</li>
+
+<li>  Ti-me-sil-a&acute;&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  T&#301;m-e-s&#299;th&acute;e-&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  T&#299;r-i-b&#257;&acute;zus.</li>
+
+<li>  Tis-sa-pher&acute;n&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Tra-p&#275;&acute;zus.</li>
+
+<li>  Traverse, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Tribute, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Tri-phy&#774;l&acute;i-a.</li>
+
+<li>  Tr&#299;&acute;r&#275;me, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Tr&#333;&acute;ad, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Tuileries (Tweel&acute;re).</li>
+
+<li>  Turrets, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Twer (Wer).<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Ve-re&acute;i-a, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Viazma, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Viceroy, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Wall of Media, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  War, The, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Witepsk, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Wittgenstein, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Xan&acute;thi-kl&#275;s.</li>
+
+<li>  X&#277;n&acute;o-ph&#335;n.<br /><br /></li>
+
+
+<li>  Z&#259;b&acute;a-t&#365;s.</li>
+
+<li>  Za-kyn&acute;thus.</li>
+
+<li>  Ze&#363;s, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li>
+
+<li>  Ze&#363;s, The Gracious, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /><br /></li>
+</ul>
+
+<h5>FOOTNOTES:</h5>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> In the classical names <i>ch</i> has the sound of <i>k</i>, e.g.
+Achaia (A-k&#257;&acute;i-a); the diphthong <i>&aelig;</i> has the sound of long <i>&#275;</i>,
+e.g. &AElig;neas (&#274;-n&#275;&acute;as), K&aelig;n&aelig; (K&#275;&acute;n&#275;); <i>&#275;s</i> at the end of a
+word has the sound of <i>eez</i>, e.g. Apollonid&#275;s
+(&#258;p-ol-l&#335;n&acute;i-deez); <i>ti</i> in B&oelig;otia has the sound of <i>she</i>, e.g.
+(B&#275;-&#333;&acute;she-ah). The Russian names may be pronounced as English.</p>
+</div>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>
+<h2>CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.</h2>
+
+<p><i>In forming the mind and taste of the young, is it not better to use
+authors who have already lived long enough to afford some guaranty that
+they may survive the next twenty years?</i></p>
+
+<p><b>"Children derive impulses of a wonderful and important kind from hearing
+things that they cannot entirely comprehend."</b>&mdash;<span class="smcap">Sir Walter
+Scott.</span></p>
+
+<p>It is now some five or six years since we began publishing the Classics
+for Children, and the enterprise, which at first seemed a novel one, may
+fairly be said to have passed the stage of experiment.</p>
+
+<p>It has been the aim to present the best and most suitable literature in
+our language in as complete a form as possible; and in most cases but
+few omissions have been found necessary. Whether judged from the
+literary, the ethical, or the educational standpoint, each of the books
+has attained the rank of a masterpiece.</p>
+
+<p>The series places within reach of all schools an abundant supply of
+supplementary reading-matter. This is its most obvious merit.</p>
+
+<p>It is reading-matter, too, which, by the force of its own interest and
+excellence, will do much, when fairly set in competition, to displace
+the trashy and even harmful literature so widely current.</p>
+
+<p>It is believed also that constant dwelling upon such models of simple,
+pure, idiomatic English is the easiest and on all accounts the best way
+for children to acquire a mastery of their mother-tongue.</p>
+
+<p>A large portion of the course has been devoted to history and biography,
+as it has seemed specially desirable to supplement the brief,
+unsatisfactory outlines of history with full and life-like readings.</p>
+
+<p>The annotation has been done with modesty and reserve, the editors
+having aimed to let the readers come into direct acquaintance with the
+author.</p>
+
+<p>The books are all printed on good paper, and are durably and
+attractively bound in 12mo. A distinctive feature is the large, clear
+type. Illustrations have been freely used when thought desirable. The
+prices are as low as possible. It has been felt that nothing would be
+gained by making the books a little cheaper at the expense of crowding
+the page with fine type and issuing them in a style that would neither
+attract nor last.</p>
+
+<p>The best proof of the need of such a course is the universal approbation
+with which it has been received.</p>
+
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 35%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>
+<h2>CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.</h2>
+
+<p class="cen">Choice Literature; Full Notes; Large Type; Firm Binding; Low Prices.</p>
+
+
+<ul><li>   <i><b>Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales.</b></i>
+  <ul class="nest">
+  <li>*<span class="smcap">First Series</span>: Supplementary to the Third Reader.</li>
+  <li>*<span class="smcap">Second Series</span>: Supplementary to the Fourth Reader.</li>
+  </ul>
+</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>&AElig;sop's Fables,</b></i> with selections from Krilof and La Fontaine.</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>Kingsley's Water-Babies:</b></i> A Story for a Land-Baby.</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>Ruskin's King of the Golden River:</b></i> A Legend of Stiria.</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>The Swiss Family Robinson.</b></i> Abridged.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Robinson Crusoe.</b></i> Concluding with his departure from the island.</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>Kingsley's Greek Heroes.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>Martineau's Peasant and Prince.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.</b></i> "Meas. for Meas." omitted.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Tales of a Grandfather.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Lady of the Lake.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Church's Stories of the Old World.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Talisman.</b></i> Complete.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Quentin Durward.</b></i> Slightly abridged.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Irving's Sketch Book.</b></i> Six selections, including <b>"Rip van Winkle."</b></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Guy Mannering.</b></i> Complete.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Ivanhoe.</b></i> Complete.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Johnson's Rasselas:</b></i> Prince of Abyssinia.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Gulliver's Travels.</b></i> The Voyages to Lilliput <b>and Brobdingnag</b>.</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>Plutarch's Lives.</b></i> From Clough's Translation.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Hale's Arabian Nights.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Scott's Rob Roy.</b></i> Complete.</li>
+
+<li>  *<i><b>Life of Franklin.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Washington and His Country.</b></i> Irving and Fiske.</li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Selections from Ruskin.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>Tom Brown at Rugby.</b></i></li>
+
+<li>   <i><b>The Two Retreats.</b></i> Xenophon's and Napoleon's.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<br />
+<p class="cen">GINN &amp; COMPANY, Publishers,</p>
+
+<p class="cen"><span class="smcap">Boston, New York, and Chicago.</span></p>
+
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen">Transcriber's Note:</p>
+<br />
+Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in
+the original document have been preserved.<br />
+<br />
+Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br />
+<br />
+Page &nbsp;180 &nbsp;&nbsp;soltitude changed to solitude<br />
+Page &nbsp;192 &nbsp;&nbsp;Echm&uuml;hl changed to Eckm&uuml;hl<br />
+Page &nbsp;212 &nbsp;&nbsp;Winkowo changed to Vinkowo<br />
+Page &nbsp;296 &nbsp;&nbsp;Maret changed to Murat<br />
+Page &nbsp;315 &nbsp;&nbsp;Augerau changed to Augereau<br />
+Page &nbsp;315 &nbsp;&nbsp;Charpontier changed to Charpentier<br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by 
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Ségur
+
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+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Segur
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Two Great Retreats of History
+
+Author: George Grote
+        Count Philippe-Paul de Segur
+
+Editor: David Henry Montgomery
+
+Release Date: August 22, 2008 [EBook #26390]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Barbara Kosker, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+
+  TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY.
+
+
+   I. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.
+
+  II. NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+
+
+
+  _WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES_
+
+  By
+
+  D. H. M.
+
+
+
+
+  BOSTON, U.S.A.: PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY. 1889.
+
+
+
+
+  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by
+
+  GINN & COMPANY,
+
+  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+
+  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
+
+
+
+
+  TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.
+
+
+
+
+PREFATORY NOTE.
+
+
+The two following selections contain, first, Grote's account of the
+Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, taken from his "History of Greece,"
+and, secondly, an abridgment of Count Segur's narrative of Napoleon's
+retreat from Russia.
+
+Grote's History, based on Xenophon's, is given entire, with the
+exception that, in a very few instances, some slight verbal change has
+been made in order to better adapt the work to school use.
+
+Two maps are furnished, an introduction is prefixed to each selection,
+and all needed notes subjoined.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+
+
+  TABLE OF CONTENTS.
+
+  I. Retreat of the Ten Thousand.
+                                                                     PAGE
+  Sketch of Cyrus the Younger (Introductory to the Retreat of the
+  Ten Thousand)                                                         v
+
+  Sec.  1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+        retreat                                                         1
+
+  Sec.  2. Commencement of the retreat                                     6
+
+  Sec.  3. Negotiations with Tissaphernes                                 10
+
+  Sec.  4. Treachery of Tissaphernes                                      19
+
+  Sec.  5. Xenophon's dream and its results                               29
+
+  Sec.  6. The Greeks cross the Zab                                       42
+
+  Sec.  7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian Mountains     50
+
+  Sec.  8. March through Armenia; great suffering from cold and
+        hunger                                                         60
+
+  Sec.  9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea                      70
+
+  Sec. 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward
+        the Ten Thousand                                               75
+
+  Sec. 11. Plans of the army for the future                               79
+
+  Sec. 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward                    82
+
+  Sec. 13. Plan of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea          88
+
+  Sec. 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations             95
+
+  Sec. 15. The army passes by sea to Sinope                              104
+
+  Sec. 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises
+        of Anaxibius and their results                                116
+
+  Sec. 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium                       120
+
+  Sec. 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers                             123
+
+  Sec. 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthes offers to hire
+        them                                                          128
+
+  Sec. 20. The army enters the service of Seuthes                        135
+
+  Sec. 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia                   138
+
+  Sec. 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion                  143
+
+
+  II. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow.
+
+  Sketch of Napoleon (Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow)        152
+
+  Sec.  1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar                    157
+
+  Sec.  2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army;
+        preparations for the destruction of the city                  162
+
+  Sec.  3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow                 168
+
+  Sec.  4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city    175
+
+  Sec.  5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city
+        discovered to be on fire                                      182
+
+  Sec.  6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city                   190
+
+  Sec.  7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city          195
+
+  Sec.  8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of
+        Napoleon at not hearing from the Czar                         201
+
+  Sec.  9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow                           215
+
+  Sec. 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle                       224
+
+  Sec. 11. Napoleon holds a council of war, and decides to retreat
+        northward                                                     233
+
+  Sec. 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin; view of the
+        battle-field of Borodino                                      238
+
+  Sec. 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma; battle near that place               243
+
+  Sec. 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effect
+        upon the troops                                               247
+
+  Sec. 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at
+        the passage of the Wop                                        253
+
+  Sec. 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk                               257
+
+  Sec. 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoe                   263
+
+  Sec. 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a
+        council                                                       267
+
+  Sec. 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney                                        272
+
+  Sec. 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians                              277
+
+  Sec. 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina    280
+
+  Sec. 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army, and sets out for Paris      291
+
+  Sec. 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure;
+        arrival at Wilna                                              298
+
+  Sec. 24. Conclusion                                                    308
+
+  Index to notes and list of proper names with their pronunciation    316
+
+
+
+
+MAPS.
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+  1. The advance and the retreat of the Ten Thousand, facing        1
+
+  2. The advance and the retreat of Napoleon in his Russian
+     campaign, facing                                               1
+
+
+
+
+SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER.
+
+(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.)
+
+
+In the year 423 B.C. Darius Nothus ascended the throne of Persia. That
+country was then the greatest empire in the world, and had an area
+nearly equal to that of the United States. The capital of this seemingly
+powerful realm was the ancient city of Babylon on the lower Euphrates.
+Here the Great King, as he was styled, had his principal palace, from
+which he issued orders to his twenty or more satraps or governors whose
+provinces extended in name at least from the shores of the Mediterranean
+to the banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.
+
+Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but
+unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be known in
+history. The eldest was Artaxerxes, a youth of but little character; and
+the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided qualities of his mother. In
+order to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, the founder of the
+Persian Empire, who died more than a hundred years earlier, he is
+commonly called Cyrus the Younger.
+
+He was his mother's favorite, and as he was born after Darius assumed
+the crown, while Artaxerxes was born before that date, Parysatis seems
+to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the true heir to the
+throne, since he was in fact the _king's_ eldest son. Through her
+influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia and the adjacent provinces of
+western Asia Minor when he was but sixteen. This position, since it made
+him the military ruler of that populous and wealthy section of country,
+was one of great importance, and doubtless had no small influence in
+shaping the young man's future career.
+
+In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, to Babylon,
+and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to Artaxerxes,
+who, from his remarkable memory which appears to have been his chief
+characteristic, got the title of Artaxerxes Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly
+was not deficient in this mental quality, for he seems to have
+remembered his mother's suggestions about his being the rightful heir to
+the throne so well, that at the coronation of Artaxerxes he plotted his
+assassination; or at least, Tissaphernes, a neighboring satrap,[1]
+accused him of it. Cyrus, who appears to have had no adequate defence to
+make, was forthwith arrested and would probably have been summarily put
+to death--for in Persia the law's delays were unknown--had not Parysatis
+interfered. Realizing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward and,
+clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about him, and
+pressed his neck to hers in such a way that the executioner must have
+beheaded her with the same stroke with which he decapitated Cyrus.
+
+The prayers and entreaties of Parysatis saved the young man's life, and
+he was even permitted to return to Sardis and resume his power. He went;
+but with no intention of remaining in that subordinate position. Not
+only was he resolved to be revenged on Tissaphernes, but he was equally
+determined to overthrow the mild Artaxerxes and convince him of the
+mistake of yielding to a woman's tears.
+
+Cyrus had learned from his residence on the Mediterranean coast, how far
+superior Greek soldiers were to the troops of Persia. The former would
+not only fight from patriotic motives, but what was more, they would
+readily fight outside of Greece, if they were paid well for it; the
+latter would only fight when they were flogged to it, and officers had
+to carry whips to drive them into battle by the sting of the lash.
+
+Under the pretext that he was about to engage in a local and private
+war with his enemy Tissaphernes, Cyrus managed to gradually collect an
+army of about ten thousand Greeks whom Klearchus, an ex-governor of
+Byzantium, hired for him. These ten thousand were the real core of the
+expedition, though in addition a hundred thousand Asiatics were to form
+the bulk of it. With this force the young satrap believed that he could
+take Babylon and with it that title of Great King which he coveted. It
+was true that Artaxerxes would meet him with an army of ten men to his
+one; but, as Cyrus said, mere "numbers and noise" did not tell on the
+battle-field, and "numbers and noise" were all that the Persian
+sovereign had to rely on.
+
+When all was ready, Cyrus set out from Sardis on his memorable march in
+the spring of 401. Among the Greeks was a volunteer named Xenophon, who
+had been persuaded to go by his friend Proxenus, a general in the army
+of Cyrus. Xenophon, as we shall see, eventually saved his countrymen
+from destruction, and became not only the leader, but the historian of
+the expedition.
+
+With the exception of Klearchus, none of the army seem to have known the
+real object of the campaign, but supposed that Cyrus was going to attack
+the Pisidians, robber tribes that inhabited the mountainous country
+southeast of Sardis. Artaxerxes appears to have been equally in the
+dark, and though he knew Cyrus was advancing in the direction of
+Babylon, he thought that his ultimate purpose was to make war on
+Tissaphernes, and so gave himself no more trouble about the matter.
+
+All went well with Cyrus and his Greek mercenaries until they reached
+that city of Tarsus in Cilicia, which was later to become famous as the
+birthplace of the apostle Paul. When they reached that place, Xenophon's
+countrymen saw that they had been deceived, and that Cyrus evidently had
+some greater foe in view than the rough banditti of the Pisidian
+highlands. At first they were on the point of mutinying, and of stoning
+Klearchus to give proper emphasis to their feelings; but sober second
+thought showed them that it was doubtful whether they would gain
+anything by such a course. Klearchus, who was quite equal to the
+emergency, bade them reflect that they were now a long distance from
+home, and that Cyrus had it in his power to make it difficult for them
+to get back without his permission. Next, they were promised a decided
+increase of pay if they would keep on. These considerations so
+influenced the Greeks that they finally resolved to continue their march
+and take the chances of war. Cyrus still refused to divulge his real
+purpose; and though there cannot be much doubt that the Ten Thousand
+felt pretty reasonably certain what it was, yet they probably believed
+he had chances enough of success to make it worth their while to run the
+risk with him.
+
+Accordingly the army resumed their forward movement, following the trend
+of the coast round the Gulf of Issus, and then striking southeasterly
+again, until some time in the summer they reached and crossed the
+Euphrates at Thapsacus. From that point they marched down the left bank
+of the river, through the hilly desert of Arabia, toward the great city
+of Babylon. Early in September they reached a point on the Tigris,
+nearly opposite Bagdad, and about two days' march from Kunaxa, a place
+not very far northwest of the Persian capital.
+
+Up to this time Cyrus had met with no opposition, though he was daily
+expecting to see the advance-guard of his brother's army. Before going
+further he thought it prudent to hold a grand review of his troops,
+which he did at midnight, as it was now reported that Artaxerxes, with
+an army of over a million, was coming to give him battle.
+
+But the million did not make their appearance, and so Cyrus decided to
+keep on until he should encounter them. The next day the invading army
+reached a trench which had evidently been recently dug to obstruct their
+advance. It stretched across the plain between the Euphrates and the
+Tigris, in connection with the ruins of the old Median Wall, built
+probably in the days of Nebuchadnezzar as one of the defences of
+Babylon. This trench was eighteen feet deep, thirty feet wide, and
+upwards of forty miles in length; it stopped short of the Euphrates by
+only twenty feet. Over that narrow strip of ground, which the Persian
+king might easily have held with a small number of resolute men, the
+Cyreian forces passed, with no one to hinder them. The great trench, on
+which so much labor had been expended, was, therefore, not only useless
+as a defence to Artaxerxes, but it was a positive encouragement to Cyrus
+and his men, for it revealed the inefficiency and the cowardice of the
+Persians. The whole army now moved rapidly forward, confident of an easy
+victory, many even supposing that Artaxerxes would make no stand at all,
+but abandon his capital to them. The Great King, however, was not so
+hopelessly pusillanimous as that; for, when Cyrus reached Kunaxa, scouts
+brought word that the enemy's hosts were not far behind. This time the
+intelligence was correct. That very afternoon a great cloud of white
+dust rolled up from the plain, and as it kept advancing the invaders
+caught sight of the flash of brazen armor and a forest of spears.
+
+When all was ready for the battle to begin, the Greeks, not waiting to
+be attacked, charged on the run against the Persian left wing. The
+Persians, who seem to have thought that on such an occasion absence of
+body was a good deal better than presence of mind, waited just long
+enough to hear the Greeks give a fierce shout to Mars, accompanied by a
+significant clatter of spears and shields. That satisfied them, and,
+turning like a flock of frightened sheep, they ran for their lives.
+
+Cyrus, who had refused to put on a helmet, now dashed into the fight
+with uncovered head, making straight for King Artaxerxes, who occupied
+the centre of his army. "I see the man!" he cried, and, hurling his
+lance, he struck and slightly wounded the Great King; but that
+fratricidal blow was the last, for just then a javelin pierced Cyrus
+under the eye, and he fell from his horse and was slain. His head and
+right hand were then cut off to serve as a warning to traitors. The
+native or Asiatic troops, seeing the disaster, fled, and did not stop
+till they had reached a former camp eight miles away.
+
+Meanwhile the victorious Ten Thousand, knowing nothing of what had
+happened to Cyrus, pursued the Persians as long as light lasted; then
+when the sun had set they returned to find that their camp had been
+plundered by the enemy, and that they must go to bed supperless. It was
+not until sunrise of the next day that they learned that Cyrus was dead;
+that their companions in arms had fled; and that they were left a mere
+handful of men without a leader, and without provisions, in the heart of
+the enemy's country.
+
+How to retreat from such a position was the supreme question. They could
+not return the way they came, for that road led them through the desert,
+where it would be impossible to get food. If they were to get back alive
+they must take the northern route to the shores of the Black Sea. This
+would lead them through a fertile but rough country, in which they would
+have to find their way as best they could across rivers and over
+mountains, harassed by the Persians in the rear, and encountering savage
+tribes who would dispute their progress. At the shortest such a march
+would be about six hundred miles even in an air line, with prospect of
+something like six hundred more before they reached the Mediterranean.
+
+After many delays, this latter course was the one they finally resolved
+to take, and owing to Xenophon's courage and resolution it turned out
+successfully.
+
+After eight months of wandering, hardships, and peril, they all came in
+sight of the Euxine, and perhaps no shipwrecked sailors clinging to a
+raft ever cried "Land!" "Land!" with more joy than those Greeks who had
+climbed a hill-top shouted "The Sea!" "The Sea!"
+
+Thanks to their own bravery, to their able leader, and finally to
+Persian vacillation and cowardice, this little army had now reached a
+place of safety. It was long, however, before they got back to their
+native country, and when they did, they were not to arrive at its shores
+asleep, on shipboard, as the much wandering and storm-tossed Ulysses
+came to his beloved Ithaca.
+
+It is doubtful, indeed, how many of them ever got back to their Spartan
+or Athenian homes, for we know that most of them could not make up their
+minds to live quiet lives of peace again; but preferred fighting in
+behalf of the independence of the Ionian cities which Greece had planted
+on the coast of Asia Minor.
+
+Such was the Retreat of the Ten Thousand. If we may accept the judgment
+of Rollin, a once noted historian, it has never had a parallel in
+history. If we consider its results, it certainly merits all that Rollin
+claims for it, for it convinced the Greek people that the apparent power
+of the Persian empire was utterly unreal. They saw that, as Cyrus had
+said, its only strength was in "numbers and noise." This conviction
+grew, and two generations after Xenophon's return, it led to that grand
+invasion of Persia by Alexander the Great which was to revolutionize the
+ancient world.
+
+What, then, had the retreat of the Greeks accomplished? First, it proved
+that ten thousand men not afraid to die are worth more than a million
+who lack that courage; and next, though it was a retreat, yet it
+suggested that advance which eventually spread the Greek language, Greek
+culture and Greek civilization in countries where they were before
+unknown.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Tissaphernes was a satrap of Caria, a province of Asia Minor south
+of Lydia.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS. FOR XENOPHON'S
+ANABASIS.]
+
+[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF EUROPE SHOWING PRINCIPAL BATTLES OF
+NAPOLEON.]
+
+
+
+
+RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.
+
+
+Sec. 1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to
+retreat.
+
+The first triumphant feeling of the Greek troops at Kunaxa[2] was
+exchanged, as soon as they learnt the death of Cyrus, for dismay and
+sorrow; accompanied by unavailing repentance for the venture into which
+he and Klearchus had seduced them. Probably Klearchus himself too
+repented, and with good reason, of having displayed, in his manner of
+fighting the battle, so little foresight, and so little regard either to
+the injunctions or to the safety of Cyrus. Nevertheless he still
+maintained the tone of a victor in the field, and after expressions of
+grief for the fate of the young prince, desired Prokles and Glus to
+return to Ariaeus, with the reply, that the Greeks on their side were
+conquerors without any enemy remaining; that they were about to march
+onward against Artaxerxes; and that if Ariaeus would join them, they
+would place him on the throne which had been intended for Cyrus. While
+this reply was conveyed to Ariaeus by his particular friend Menon along
+with the messengers, the Greeks procured a meal as well as they could,
+having no bread, by killing some of the baggage animals; and by kindling
+fire to cook their meat, from the arrows, the wooden Egyptian shields
+which had been thrown away on the field, and the baggage carts.
+
+Before any answer could be received from Ariaeus, heralds[3] appeared
+coming from Artaxerxes; among them being Phalinus, a Greek from
+Zakynthus, and the Greek surgeon Ktesias of Knidus, who was in the
+service of the Persian king. Phalinus, an officer of some military
+experience and in the confidence of Tissaphernes, addressed himself to
+the Greek commanders; requiring them on the part of the King, since he
+was now victor and had slain Cyrus, to surrender their arms and appeal
+to his mercy. To this summons, painful in the extreme to a Grecian ear,
+Klearchus replied that it was not the practice for victorious men to lay
+down their arms. Being then called away to examine the sacrifice[4]
+which was going on, he left the interview to the other officers, who met
+the summons of Phalinus by an emphatic negative. "If the King thinks
+himself strong enough to ask for our arms unconditionally, let him come
+and try to seize them."--"The King (rejoined Phalinus) thinks that you
+are in his power, being in the midst of his territory, hemmed in by
+impassable rivers, and encompassed by his innumerable subjects."--"Our
+arms and our valor are all that remain to us (replied a young Athenian);
+we shall not be fools enough to hand over to you our only remaining
+treasures, but shall employ them still to have a fight for _your_
+treasure." But though several spoke in this resolute tone, there were
+not wanting others disposed to encourage a negotiation; saying that
+they had been faithful to Cyrus as long as he lived, and would now be
+faithful to Artaxerxes, if he wanted their services in Egypt or anywhere
+else. In the midst of this parley Klearchus returned, and was requested
+by Phalinus to return a final answer on behalf of all. He at first asked
+the advice of Phalinus himself; appealing to the common feeling of
+Hellenic[5] patriotism, and anticipating, with very little judgment,
+that the latter would encourage the Greeks in holding out. "If (replied
+Phalinus) I saw one chance out of ten thousand in your favor, in the
+event of a contest with the King, I should advise you to refuse the
+surrender of your arms. But as there is no chance of safety for you
+against the King's consent, I recommend you to look out for safety in
+the only quarter where it presents itself." Sensible of the mistake
+which he had made in asking the question, Klearchus rejoined--"That is
+_your_ opinion: now report our answer. We think we shall be better
+friends to the King, if we are to be his friends,--or more effective
+enemies, if we are to be his enemies,--with our arms, than without
+them." Phalinus, in retiring, said that the King proclaimed a truce so
+long as they remained in their present position--but war, if they moved,
+either onward or backward. And to this Klearchus acceded, without
+declaring which he intended to do.
+
+Shortly after the departure of Phalinus, the envoys despatched to Ariaeus
+returned; communicating his reply that the Persian grandees would never
+tolerate any pretensions on his part to the crown, and that he intended
+to depart early the next morning on his return; if the Greeks wished to
+accompany him, they must join him during the night. In the evening,
+Klearchus, convening the generals and the captains, acquainted them that
+the morning sacrifice had been of a nature to forbid their marching
+against the King--a prohibition, of which he now understood the reason,
+from having since learnt that the King was on the other side of the
+Tigris, and therefore out of their reach--but that it was favorable for
+rejoining Ariaeus. He gave directions accordingly for a night-march back
+along the Euphrates, to the station where they had passed the last night
+but one prior to the battle. The other Grecian generals, without any
+formal choice of Klearchus as chief, tacitly acquiesced in his orders,
+from a sense of his superior decision and experience, in an emergency
+when no one knew what to propose. The night-march was successfully
+accomplished, so that they joined Ariaeus at the preceding station about
+midnight; not without the alarming symptom, however, that Miltokythes
+the Thracian deserted to the King at the head of 340 of his countrymen,
+partly horse, partly foot.
+
+The first proceeding of the Grecian generals was to exchange solemn
+oaths of reciprocal fidelity and fraternity with Ariaeus. According to an
+ancient and impressive practice, a bull, a wolf, a boar, and a ram, were
+all slain, and their blood allowed to run into the hollow of a shield;
+in which the Greek generals dipped a sword, and Ariaeus, with his chief
+companions, a spear. The latter, besides the promise of alliance,
+engaged also to guide the Greeks in good faith down to the Asiatic
+coast. Klearchus immediately began to ask what route he proposed to
+take; whether to return by that along which they had come up, or by any
+other. To this Ariaeus replied, that the road along which they had
+marched was impracticable for retreat, from the utter want of
+provisions through seventeen days of desert; but that he intended to
+choose another road, which, though longer, would be sufficiently
+productive to furnish them with provisions. There was, however, a
+necessity (he added), that the first two or three days' marches should
+be of extreme length, in order that they might get out of the reach of
+the king's forces, who would hardly be able to overtake them afterwards
+with any considerable numbers.
+
+They had now come 93 days' march from Ephesus, or 90 from Sardis. The
+distance from Sardis to Kunaxa is 1464 miles. There had been at least 96
+days of rest, enjoyed at various places, so that the total of time
+elapsed must have at least been 189 days, or a little more than half a
+year: but it was probably greater, since some intervals of rest are not
+specified in number of days.
+
+How to retrace their steps was now the problem, apparently insoluble. As
+to the military force of Persia in the field, indeed, not merely the
+easy victory at Kunaxa, but still more the undisputed march throughout
+so long a space, left them no serious apprehension. In spite of this
+great extent, population, and riches, they had been allowed to pass
+through the most difficult and defensible country, and to ford the broad
+Euphrates, without a blow: nay, the King had shrunk from defending the
+long trench which he had specially caused to be dug for the protection
+of Babylonia. But the difficulties which stood between them and their
+homes were of a very different character. How were they to find their
+way back, or obtain provisions, in defiance of a numerous hostile
+cavalry, which, not without efficiency even in a pitched battle, would
+be most formidable in opposing their retreat? The line of their upward
+march had all been planned, with supplies furnished, by Cyrus:--yet
+even under such advantages, supplies had been on the point of failing,
+in one part of the march. They were now, for the first time, called upon
+to think and provide for themselves; without knowledge of either roads
+or distances--without trustworthy guides--without any one to furnish or
+even to indicate supplies--and with a territory all hostile, traversed
+by rivers which they had no means of crossing. Klearchus himself knew
+nothing of the country, nor of any other river except the Euphrates; nor
+does he indeed in his heart seem to have conceived retreat as
+practicable without the consent of the King. The reader who casts his
+eye on a map of Asia, and imagines the situation of this Greek division
+on the left bank of the Euphrates, near the parallel of latitude 33 deg.
+30'--will hardly be surprised at any measure of despair, on the part
+either of general or soldiers. And we may add that Klearchus had not
+even the advantage of such a map, or probably of any map at all, to
+enable him to shape his course.
+
+In this dilemma, the first and most natural impulse was to consult
+Ariaeus; who (as has been already stated) pronounced, with good reason,
+that return by the same road was impracticable; and promised to conduct
+them home by another road--longer indeed, yet better supplied.
+
+
+Sec. 2. Commencement of the Retreat.
+
+At daybreak on the ensuing morning, they began their march in an
+easterly direction, anticipating that before night they should reach
+some villages of the Babylonian territory, as in fact they did; yet not
+before they had been alarmed in the afternoon by the supposed approach
+of some of the enemy's horse, and by evidences that the enemy were not
+far off, which induced them to slacken their march for the purpose of
+more cautious array.[6] Hence they did not reach the first villages
+before dark; these too had been pillaged by the enemy while retreating
+before them, so that only the first-comers under Klearchus could obtain
+accommodation, while the succeeding troops, coming up in the dark,
+pitched as they could without any order. The whole camp was a scene of
+clamor, dispute, and even alarm, throughout the night. No provisions
+could be obtained. Early the next morning Klearchus ordered them under
+arms; and desiring to expose the groundless nature of the alarm, caused
+the herald[7] to proclaim, that whoever would denounce the person who
+had let the ass[8] into the camp on the preceding night, should be
+rewarded with a talent[9] of silver.
+
+What was the project of route entertained by Ariaeus, we cannot
+ascertain; since it was not farther pursued. For the effect of the
+unexpected arrival of the Greeks as if to attack the enemy--and even the
+clamor and shouting of the camp during the night--so intimidated the
+Persian commanders, that they sent heralds the next morning to treat
+about a truce. The contrast between this message, and the haughty
+summons of the preceding day to lay down their arms, was sensibly felt
+by the Grecian officers, and taught them that the proper way of dealing
+with the Persians was by a bold and aggressive demeanor. When Klearchus
+was apprised of the arrival of the heralds, he desired them at first to
+wait at the outposts until he was at leisure: then, having put his
+troops into the best possible order, with a phalanx[10] compact on every
+side to the eye, and the unarmed persons out of sight, he desired the
+heralds to be admitted. He marched out to meet them with the most showy
+and best-armed soldiers immediately around him, and when they informed
+him that they had come from the King with instructions to propose a
+truce, and to report on what conditions the Greeks would agree to it,
+Klearchus replied abruptly--"Well then--go and tell the King, that our
+first business must be to fight; for we have nothing to eat, nor will
+any man presume to talk to Greeks about a truce, without first providing
+dinner for them." With this reply the heralds rode off, but returned
+very speedily; thus making it plain that the King, or the commanding
+officer, was near at hand. They brought word that the King thought their
+answer reasonable, and had sent guides to conduct them to a place where
+they would obtain provisions, if the truce should be concluded.
+
+After an affected delay and hesitation, in order to impose upon the
+Persians, Klearchus concluded the truce, and desired that the guides
+should conduct the army to those quarters where provisions could be had.
+He was most circumspect in maintaining exact order during the march,
+himself taking charge of the rear guard. The guides led them over many
+ditches and channels, full of water, and cut for the purpose of
+irrigation[11]; some so broad and deep that they could not be crossed
+without bridges. The army had to put together bridges for the occasion,
+from palm-trees either already fallen, or expressly cut down. This was a
+troublesome business, which Klearchus himself superintended with
+peculiar strictness. He carried his spear in the left hand, his stick in
+the right; employing the latter to chastise any soldier who seemed
+remiss--and even plunging into the mud and lending his own hands in aid
+wherever it was necessary. As it was not the usual season of irrigation
+for crops he suspected that the canals had been filled on this occasion
+expressly to intimidate the Greeks, by impressing them with the
+difficulties of their prospective march; and he was anxious to
+demonstrate to the Persians that these difficulties were no more than
+Grecian energy could easily surmount.
+
+At length they reached certain villages indicated by their guides for
+quarters and provisions; and here for the first time they had a sample
+of that unparalleled abundance of the Babylonian territory, which
+Herodotus is afraid to describe with numerical precision. Large
+quantities of corn,[12]--dates not only in great numbers, but of such
+beauty, freshness, size, and flavor, as no Greek had ever seen or
+tasted, insomuch that fruit like what was imported into Greece, was
+disregarded and left for the slaves--wine and vinegar, both also made
+from the date-palm; these are the luxuries which Xenophon is eloquent in
+describing, after his recent period of scanty fare and anxious
+apprehension; not without also noticing the headaches which such new and
+luscious food, in unlimited quantity, brought upon himself and others.
+
+
+Sec. 3. Negotiations with Tissaphernes.
+
+After three days passed in these restorative quarters, they were visited
+by Tissaphernes, accompanied by four Persian grandees and a suite of
+slaves. The satrap[13] began to open a negotiation with Klearchus and
+the other generals. Speaking through an interpreter, he stated to them
+that the vicinity of his province to Greece impressed him with a strong
+interest in favor of the Cyreian Greeks,[14] and made him anxious to
+rescue them out of their present desperate situation; that he had
+solicited the King's permission to save them, as a personal recompense
+to himself for having been the first to forewarn him of the schemes of
+Cyrus, and for having been the only Persian who had not fled before the
+Greeks at Kunaxa; that the King had promised to consider this point, and
+had sent him in the mean time to ask the Greeks what their purpose was
+in coming up to attack him; and that he trusted the Greeks would give
+him a conciliatory answer to carry back, in order that he might have
+less difficulty in realizing what he desired for their benefit. To this
+Klearchus, after first deliberating apart with the other officers,
+replied, that the army had come together, and had even commenced their
+march, without any purpose of hostility to the King; that Cyrus had
+brought them up the country under false pretences, but that they had
+been ashamed to desert him in the midst of danger, since he had always
+treated them generously; that since Cyrus was now dead, they had no
+purpose of hostility against the King, but were only anxious to return
+home; that they were prepared to repel hostility from all quarters, but
+would be not less prompt in requiting favor or assistance. With this
+answer Tissaphernes departed, and returned on the next day but one,
+informing them that he had obtained the King's permission to save the
+Grecian army--though not without great opposition, since many Persian
+counsellors contended that it was unworthy of the King's dignity to
+suffer those who had assailed him to escape. "I am now ready (said he)
+to conclude a covenant[15] and exchange oaths with you; engaging to
+conduct you safely back into Greece, with the country friendly, and with
+a regular market for you to purchase provisions. You must stipulate on
+your part always to pay for your provisions, and to do no damage to the
+country: if I do not furnish you with provisions to buy, you are then at
+liberty to take them where you can find them." Well were the Greeks
+content to enter into such a covenant, which was sworn, with hands given
+upon it, by Klearchus, the other generals, and the captains on their
+side--and by Tissaphernes with the King's brother-in-law on the other.
+Tissaphernes then left them, saying that he would go back to the King,
+make preparations, and return to reconduct the Greeks home; going
+himself to his own province.
+
+The statements of Ktesias, though known to us only indirectly, and not
+to be received without caution, afford ground for believing that Queen
+Parysatis decidedly wished success to her son Cyrus in his contest for
+the throne--that the first report conveyed to her of the battle of
+Kunaxa, announcing the victory of Cyrus, filled her with joy, which was
+exchanged for bitter sorrow when she was informed of his death,--that
+she caused to be slain with horrible tortures all those, who, though
+acting in the Persian army and for the defence of Artaxerxes, had any
+participation in the death of Cyrus--and that she showed favorable
+dispositions towards the Cyreian Greeks. It may seem probable, farther,
+that her influence may have been exerted to procure for them an
+unimpeded retreat, without anticipating the use afterwards made by
+Tissaphernes (as will soon appear) of the present convention.[16] And in
+one point of view the Persian king had an interest in facilitating their
+retreat. For the very circumstance which rendered retreat difficult,
+also rendered the Greeks dangerous to him in their actual position. They
+were in the heart of the Persian Empire, within seventy miles of
+Babylon; in a country not only teeming with fertility, but also
+extremely defensible; especially against cavalry, from the multiplicity
+of canals, as Herodotus observed respecting Lower Egypt. And Klearchus
+might say to his Grecian soldiers--what Xenophon was afterwards
+preparing to say to them at Kalpe on the Euxine Sea, and what Nikias
+also affirmed to the unhappy Athenian army whom he afterwards conducted
+away from Syracuse[17]--that wherever they sat down, they were
+sufficiently numerous and well-organized to become at once a city. A
+body of such troops might effectually assist, and would perhaps
+encourage, the Babylonian population to throw off the Persian yoke, and
+to relieve themselves from the prodigious tribute[18] which they now
+paid to the satrap. For these reasons, the advisers of Artaxerxes
+thought it advantageous to convey the Greeks across the Tigris out of
+Babylonia, beyond all possibility of returning thither. This was at any
+rate the primary object of the convention. And it was the more necessary
+to conciliate the goodwill of the Greeks, because there seems to have
+been but one bridge over the Tigris; which bridge could only be reached
+by inviting them to advance considerably farther into the interior of
+Babylonia.
+
+Such was the state of fears and hopes on both sides, at the time when
+Tissaphernes left the Greeks, after concluding his convention. For
+twenty days did they await his return, without receiving from him any
+communication; the Cyreian Persians[19] under Ariaeus being encamped near
+them. Such prolonged and unexplained delay became, after a few days, the
+source of much uneasiness to the Greeks; the more so, as Ariaeus received
+during this interval several visits from his Persian kinsmen, and
+friendly messages from the King, promising amnesty[20] for his recent
+services under Cyrus. Of these messages the effects were painfully felt,
+in manifest coldness of demeanor on the part of his Persian troops
+towards the Greeks. Impatient and suspicious, the Greek soldiers
+impressed upon Klearchus their fears, that the King had concluded the
+recent convention only to arrest their movements, until he should have
+assembled a larger army and blocked up more effectually the roads
+against their return. To this Klearchus replied--"I am aware of all that
+you say. Yet if we now strike our tents,[21] it will be a breach of the
+convention, and a declaration of war. No one will furnish us with
+provisions: we shall have no guides: Ariaeus will desert us forthwith, so
+that we shall have his troops as enemies instead of friends. Whether
+there be any other river for us to cross, I know not; but we know that
+the Euphrates itself can never be crossed, if there be an enemy to
+resist us. Nor have we any cavalry,--while cavalry is the best and most
+numerous force of our enemies. If the King, having all these advantages,
+really wishes to destroy us, I do not know why he should falsely
+exchange all these oaths and solemnities, and thus make his own word
+worthless in the eyes both of Greeks and barbarians."[22]
+
+Such words from Klearchus are remarkable, as they testify his own
+complete despair of the situation--certainly a very natural
+despair--except by amicable dealing with the Persians; and also his
+ignorance of geography and the country to be traversed. This feeling
+helps to explain his imprudent confidence afterwards in Tissaphernes.
+
+That satrap, however, after twenty days, at last came back, with his
+army prepared to return to Ionia[23]--with the King's daughter, whom he
+had just received in marriage--and with another grandee named Orontas.
+Tissaphernes took the conduct of the march, providing supplies for the
+Greek troops to purchase; while Ariaeus and his division now separated
+themselves altogether from the Greeks, and became intermingled with the
+other Persians. Klearchus and the Greeks followed them, at the distance
+of about three miles in the rear, with a separate guide for themselves;
+not without jealousy and mistrust, sometimes shown in individual
+conflicts, while collecting wood or forage, between them and the
+Persians of Ariaeus. After three days' march (that is, apparently, three
+days, calculated from the moment when they began their retreat with
+Ariaeus) they came to the Wall of Media,[24] and passed through it,
+prosecuting their march onward through the country on its other or
+interior side. It was of bricks cemented with bitumen,[25] 100 feet
+high, and 20 feet broad; it was said to extend a length of about 70
+miles, and to be not far distant from Babylon. Two days of farther
+march, computed at 28 miles, brought them to the Tigris. During these
+two days they crossed two great ship-canals, one of them over a
+permanent bridge, the other over a temporary bridge laid on seven boats.
+Canals of such magnitude must probably have been two among the four
+stated by Xenophon to be drawn from the river Tigris, each of them about
+three miles and a half distant from the other. They were 100 feet broad,
+and deep enough even for heavy vessels; they were distributed by means
+of numerous smaller channels and ditches for the irrigation of the soil;
+and they were said to fall into the Euphrates; or rather perhaps they
+terminated in one main larger canal cut directly from the Euphrates to
+the Tigris, each of them joining this larger canal at a different point
+of its course. Within less than two miles of the Tigris was a large and
+populous city named Sittake, near which the Greeks pitched their camp,
+on the verge of a beautiful park or thick grove full of all kinds of
+trees; while the Persians all crossed the Tigris, at the neighboring
+bridge.
+
+As Proxenus and Xenophon were here walking in front of the camp after
+supper, a man was brought up who had asked for the former at the
+advanced posts. This man said that he came with instructions from
+Ariaeus. He advised the Greeks to be on their guard, as there were troops
+concealed in the adjoining grove, for the purpose of attacking them
+during the night--and also to send and occupy the bridge over the
+Tigris, since Tissaphernes intended to break it down, in order that the
+Greeks might be caught without possibility of escape between the river
+and the canal. On discussing this information with Klearchus, who was
+much alarmed by it, a young Greek present remarked that the two matters
+stated by the informant contradicted each other; for that if
+Tissaphernes intended to attack the Greeks during the night, he would
+not break down the bridge, so as both to prevent his own troops on the
+other side from crossing to aid, and to deprive those on this side of
+all retreat if they were beaten,--while, if the Greeks were beaten,
+there was no escape open to them, whether the bridge continued or not.
+This remark induced Klearchus to ask the messenger, what was the extent
+of ground between the Tigris and the canal. The messenger replied that
+it was a great extent of country, comprising many large cities and
+villages. Reflecting on this communication, the Greek officers came to
+the conclusion that the message was a stratagem on the part of
+Tissaphernes to frighten them and hasten their passage across the
+Tigris; under the apprehension that they might conceive the plan of
+seizing or breaking the bridge and occupying a permanent position in the
+spot where they were; which was an island, fortified on one side by the
+Tigris,--on the other sides, by intersecting canals between the
+Euphrates and the Tigris. Such an island was a defensible position,
+having a most productive territory with numerous cultivators, so as to
+furnish shelter and means of hostility for all the King's enemies:
+Tissaphernes calculated that the message now delivered would induce the
+Greeks to become alarmed with their actual position, and to cross the
+Tigris with as little delay as possible. At least this was the
+interpretation which the Greek officers put upon his proceeding; an
+interpretation highly plausible, since, in order to reach the bridge
+over the Tigris, he had been obliged to conduct the Greek troops into a
+position sufficiently tempting for them to hold--and since he knew that
+his own purposes were purely treacherous. But the Greeks, officers as
+well as soldiers, were animated only by the wish of reaching home. They
+trusted, though not without misgivings, in the promise of Tissaphernes
+to conduct them; and never for a moment thought of taking permanent post
+in this fertile island. They did not however neglect the precaution of
+sending a guard during the night to the bridge over the Tigris, which no
+enemy came to assail. On the next morning they passed over it in a body,
+in cautious and mistrustful array, and found themselves on the eastern
+bank of the Tigris,--not only without attack, but even without sight of
+a single Persian, except Glus the interpreter and a few others watching
+their motions.
+
+After having crossed by a bridge laid upon thirty-seven pontoons,[26]
+the Greeks continued their march to the northward upon the eastern side
+of the Tigris, for four days to the river Physkus; said to be seventy
+miles. The Physkus was 100 feet wide, with a bridge, and the large city
+of Opis near it. Here, at the frontier of Assyria and Media, the road
+from the eastern regions to Babylon joined the road northerly on which
+the Greeks were marching. An illegitimate brother of Artaxerxes was seen
+at the head of a numerous force, which he was conducting from Susa and
+Ekbatana as a reinforcement to the royal army. This great host halted to
+see the Greeks pass by; and Klearchus ordered the march in column of two
+abreast, employing himself actively to maintain an excellent array, and
+halting more than once. The army thus occupied so long a time in passing
+by the Persian host that their numbers appeared greater than the
+reality, even to themselves; while the effect upon the Persian
+spectators was very imposing. Here Assyria ended and Media began. They
+marched, still in a northerly direction, for six days through a portion
+of Media almost unpeopled, until they came to some flourishing villages
+which formed a portion of the domain of Queen Parysatis; probably these
+villages, forming so marked an exception to the desert character of the
+remaining march, were situated on the Lesser Zab, which flows into the
+Tigris, and which Xenophon must have crossed, though he makes no mention
+of it. According to the order of march stipulated between the Greeks and
+Tissaphernes, the latter only provided a supply of provisions for the
+former to purchase; but on the present halt, he allowed the Greeks to
+plunder the villages, which were rich and full of all sorts of
+subsistence--yet without carrying off the slaves. The wish of the satrap
+to put an insult on Cyrus, as his personal enemy, through Parysatis,
+thus proved a sentence of ruin to these unhappy villagers. Five more
+days' march, called seventy miles, brought them to the banks of the
+river Zabatus, or the Greater Zab, which flows into the Tigris near a
+town now called Senn. During the first of these five days, they saw on
+the opposite side of the Tigris a large town called Kaenae, from whence
+they received supplies of provisions, brought across by the inhabitants
+upon rafts supported by inflated skins.[27]
+
+
+Sec. 4. Treachery of Tissaphernes.
+
+On the banks of the Great Zab they halted three days--days of serious
+and tragical moment. Having been under feelings of mistrust, ever since
+the convention with Tissaphernes, they had followed throughout the whole
+march, with separate guides of their own, in the rear of his army,
+always maintaining their encampment apart. During their halt on the Zab,
+so many various manifestations occurred to aggravate the mistrust, that
+hostilities seemed on the point of breaking out between the two camps.
+To obviate this danger Klearchus demanded an interview with
+Tissaphernes, represented to him the threatening attitude of affairs,
+and insisted on the necessity of coming to a clear understanding. He
+impressed upon the satrap that, over and above the solemn oaths which
+had been interchanged, the Greeks on their side could have no
+conceivable motive to quarrel with him; that they had everything to hope
+from his friendship, and everything to fear, even to the loss of all
+chance of safe return, from his hostility; that Tissaphernes also could
+gain nothing by destroying them, but would find them, if he chose, the
+best and most faithful instruments for his own aggrandizement and for
+conquering the Mysians and Pisidians[28]--as Cyrus had experienced while
+he was alive. Klearchus concluded his protest by requesting to be
+informed, what malicious reporter had been filling the mind of
+Tissaphernes with causeless suspicions against the Greeks.
+
+"Klearchus (replied the satrap), I rejoice to hear such excellent sense
+from your lips. You remark truly, that if you were to meditate evil
+against me, it would recoil upon yourselves. I shall prove to you, in my
+turn, that you have no cause to mistrust either the King or me. If we
+had wished to destroy you, nothing would be easier. We have
+superabundant forces for the purpose: there are wide plains in which you
+would be starved--besides mountains and rivers which you would be unable
+to pass, without our help. Having thus the means of destroying you in
+our hands, and having nevertheless bound ourselves by solemn oaths to
+save you, we shall not be fools and knaves enough to attempt it now,
+when we should draw upon ourselves the just indignation of the gods. It
+is my peculiar affection for my neighbors the Greeks--and my wish to
+attach to my own person, by ties of gratitude, the Greek soldiers of
+Cyrus--which have made me eager to conduct you to Ionia[29] in safety.
+For I know that when you are in my service, though the King is the only
+man who can wear his tiara[30] erect _upon his head_, I shall be able to
+wear mine erect upon _my heart_, in full pride and confidence."
+
+So powerful was the impression made upon Klearchus by these assurances,
+that he exclaimed--"Surely those informers deserve the severest
+punishment, who try to put us at enmity, when we are such good friends
+to each other, and have so much reason to be so." "Yes (replied
+Tissaphernes), they deserve nothing less: and if you, with the other
+generals and captains, will come into my tent tomorrow, I will tell you
+who the calumniators are." "To-be-sure I will (rejoined Klearchus), and
+bring the other generals with me. I shall tell you at the same time who
+are the parties that seek to prejudice us against you." The conversation
+then ended, the satrap detaining Klearchus to dinner, and treating him
+in the most hospitable and confidential manner.
+
+On the next morning, Klearchus communicated what had passed to the
+Greeks, insisting on the necessity that all the generals should go to
+Tissaphernes pursuant to his invitation; in order to re-establish that
+confidence which unworthy calumniators had shaken, and to punish such of
+the calumniators as might be Greeks. So emphatically did he pledge
+himself for the good faith and philhellenic[31] dispositions of the
+satrap, that he overruled the opposition of many among the soldiers;
+who, still continuing to entertain their former suspicions, remonstrated
+especially against the extreme imprudence of putting all the generals at
+once into the power of Tissaphernes. The urgency of Klearchus prevailed.
+Himself with four other generals--Proxenus, Menon, Agias, and
+Sokrates--and twenty captains--went to visit the satrap in his tent;
+about 200 of the soldiers going along with them, to make purchases for
+their own account in the Persian camp-market.
+
+On reaching the quarters of Tissaphernes--distant nearly three miles
+from the Persian camp according to habit--the five generals were
+admitted into the interior, while the captains remained at the entrance.
+A purple flag, hoisted from the top of the tent, betrayed too late the
+purpose for which they had been invited to come. The captains, with the
+Grecian soldiers who had accompanied them, were surprised and cut down,
+while the generals in the interior were detained, put in chains, and
+carried up as prisoners to the Persian court. Here Klearchus, Proxenus,
+Agias, and Sokrates, were beheaded, after a short imprisonment. Queen
+Parysatis, indeed, from affection to Cyrus, not only furnished many
+comforts to Klearchus in the prison (by the hands of her surgeon
+Ktesias), but used all her influence with her son Artaxerxes to save
+his life; though her efforts were counteracted, on this occasion, by the
+superior influence of Queen Stateira, his wife. The rivalry between
+these two royal women, doubtless arising out of many other circumstances
+besides the death of Klearchus, became soon afterwards so furious, that
+Parysatis caused Stateira to be poisoned.
+
+Menon was not put to death along with the other generals. He appears to
+have taken credit at the Persian court for the treason of entrapping his
+colleagues into the hands of Tissaphernes. But his life was only
+prolonged to perish a year afterwards in disgrace and torture--probably
+by the requisition of Parysatis, who thus avenged the death of
+Klearchus. The queen-mother had always power enough to perpetrate
+cruelties, though not always to avert them. She had already brought to a
+miserable end every one, even faithful defenders of Artaxerxes,
+concerned in the death of her son Cyrus.
+
+Though Menon thought it convenient, when brought up to Babylon, to boast
+of having been the instrument through whom the generals were entrapped
+into the fatal tent, this boast is not to be treated as matter of fact.
+For not only does Xenophon explain the catastrophe differently, but in
+the delineation which he gives of Menon, dark and odious as it is in the
+extreme, he does not advance any such imputation; indirectly, indeed, he
+sets it aside.
+
+Unfortunately for the reputation of Klearchus, no such reasonable excuse
+can be offered for his credulity, which brought himself as well as his
+colleagues to so melancholy an end, and his whole army to the brink of
+ruin. It appears that the general sentiment of the Grecian army, taking
+just measure of the character of Tissaphernes, was disposed to greater
+circumspection in dealing with him. Upon that system Klearchus himself
+had hitherto acted; and the necessity of it might have been especially
+present to _his_ mind, since he had served with the Lacedaemonian fleet
+at Miletus[32] in 411 B.C., and had therefore had fuller experience than
+other men in the army, of the satrap's real character. On a sudden he
+now turns round, and on the faith of a few verbal declarations, puts all
+the military chiefs into the most defenceless posture and the most
+obvious peril, such as hardly the strongest grounds for confidence could
+have justified. Though the remark of Machiavel is justified by large
+experience--that from the short-sightedness of men and their obedience
+to present impulse, the most notorious deceiver will always find new
+persons to trust him--still such misjudgment on the part of an officer
+of age and experience is difficult to explain. Polyaenus intimates that
+beautiful women, exhibited by the satrap at his first banquet to
+Klearchus alone, served as a lure to attract him with all his colleagues
+to the second; while Xenophon imputes the error to continuance of a
+jealous rivalry with Menon. The latter, it appears, having always been
+intimate with Ariaeus; had been thus brought into previous communication
+with Tissaphernes, by whom he had been well received, and by whom he was
+also encouraged to lay plans for detaching the whole Grecian army from
+Klearchus so as to bring it all under his (Menon's) command into the
+services of the satrap. Such at least was the suspicion of Klearchus;
+who, jealous in the extreme of his own military authority, tried to
+defeat the scheme by bidding still higher himself for the favor of
+Tissaphernes. Imagining that Menon was the unknown calumniator who
+prejudiced the satrap against him, he hoped to prevail on the satrap to
+disclose his name and dismiss him. Such jealousy seems to have robbed
+Klearchus of his customary prudence. We must also allow for another
+impression deeply fixed in his mind; that the salvation of the army was
+hopeless without the consent of Tissaphernes, and therefore, since the
+latter had conducted them thus far in safety, when he might have
+destroyed them before, that his designs at the bottom could not be
+hostile.
+
+Notwithstanding these two great mistakes--one on the present occasion,
+one previously, at the battle of Kunaxa, in keeping the Greeks on the
+right contrary to the order of Cyrus--both committed by Klearchus, the
+loss of that officer was doubtless a great misfortune to the army;
+while, on the contrary, the removal of Menon was a signal
+benefit--perhaps a condition of ultimate safety. A man so treacherous
+and unprincipled as Xenophon depicts Menon, would probably have ended by
+really committing towards the army that treason, for which he falsely
+took credit at the Persian court in reference to the seizure of the
+generals.
+
+The impression entertained by Klearchus, respecting the hopeless
+position of the Greeks in the heart of the Persian territory after the
+death of Cyrus was perfectly natural in a military man who could
+appreciate all the means of attack and obstruction which the enemy had
+it in their power to employ. Nothing is so unaccountable in this
+expedition as the manner in which such means were thrown away--the
+spectacle of Persian impotence. First, the whole line of upward march,
+including the passage of the Euphrates, left undefended; next, the long
+trench dug across the frontier of Babylonia, with only a passage of
+twenty feet wide left near the Euphrates, abandoned without a guard;
+lastly, the line of the Wall of Media and the canals which offered such
+favorable positions for keeping the Greeks out of the cultivated
+territory of Babylonia, neglected in like manner, and a convention
+concluded whereby the Persians engaged to escort the invaders safe to
+the Ionian coast, beginning by conducting them through the heart of
+Babylonia, amidst canals affording inexpugnable defences if the Greeks
+had chosen to take up a position among them. The plan of Tissaphernes,
+as far as we can understand it, seems to have been, to draw the Greeks
+to some considerable distance from the heart of the Persian empire, and
+then to open his schemes of treasonable hostility, which the imprudence
+of Klearchus enabled him to do, on the banks of the Great Zab, with
+chances of success such as he could hardly have contemplated. We have
+here a fresh example of the wonderful impotence of the Persians. We
+should have expected that, after having committed so flagrant an act of
+perfidy, Tissaphernes would at least have tried to turn it to account;
+that he would have poured with all his forces and all his vigor on the
+Grecian camp, at the moment when it was unprepared, disorganized, and
+without commanders. Instead of which, when the generals (with those who
+accompanied them to the Persian camp) had been seized or slain, no
+attack whatever was made except by small detachments of Persian cavalry
+upon individual Greek stragglers in the plain. One of the companions of
+the generals, an Arcadian,[33] named Nikarchus, ran wounded into the
+Grecian camp, where the soldiers were looking from afar at the horsemen
+scouring the plain without knowing what they were about,--exclaiming
+that the Persians were massacring all the Greeks, officers as well as
+soldiers. Immediately the Greek soldiers hastened to put themselves in
+defence, expecting a general attack to be made upon their camp; but no
+more Persians came near than a body of about 300 horse, under Ariaeus and
+Mithridates (the confidential companions of the deceased Cyrus),
+accompanied by the brother of Tissaphernes. These men, approaching the
+Greek lines as friends, called for the Greek officers to come forth, as
+they had a message to deliver from the King. Accordingly, Kleanor and
+Sophaenetus with an adequate guard, came to the front, accompanied by
+Xenophon, who was anxious to hear news about Proxenus. Ariaeus then
+acquainted them that Klearchus, having been detected in a breach of the
+convention to which he had sworn, had been put to death; that Proxenus
+and Menon, who had divulged his treason, were in high honor at the
+Persian quarters. He concluded by saying--"The King calls upon you to
+surrender your arms, which now (he says) belong to him, since they
+formerly belonged to his slave Cyrus."
+
+The step here taken seems to testify a belief on the part of these
+Persians, that the generals being now in their power the Grecian
+soldiers had become defenceless, and might be required to surrender
+their arms, even to men who had just been guilty of the most deadly
+fraud and injury towards them. If Ariaeus entertained such an
+expectation, he was at once undeceived by the language of Kleanor and
+Xenophon, which breathed nothing but indignant reproach; so that he soon
+retired and left the Greeks to their own reflections.
+
+While their camp yet remained unmolested, every man within it was a prey
+to the most agonizing apprehensions. Ruin appeared impending and
+inevitable, though no one could tell in what precise form it would come.
+The Greeks were in the midst of a hostile country, nearly 1200 miles
+from home, surrounded by enemies, blocked up by impassable mountains and
+rivers, without guides, without provisions, without cavalry to aid their
+retreat, without generals to give orders. A stupor of sorrow and
+conscious helplessness seized upon all. Few came to the evening muster;
+few lighted fires to cook their suppers; every man lay down to rest
+where he was; yet no man could sleep, for fear, anguish, and yearning
+after relatives whom he was never again to behold.
+
+Amidst the many causes of despondency which weighed down this forlorn
+army, there was none more serious than the fact, that not a single man
+among them had now either authority to command, or obligation to take
+the initiative. Nor was any ambitious candidate likely to volunteer his
+pretensions, at a moment when the post promised nothing but the maximum
+of difficulty as well as of hazard. A new, self-kindled light--and
+self-originated stimulus--was required, to vivify the embers of
+suspended hope and action, in a mass paralyzed for the moment, but every
+way capable of effort. And the inspiration now fell, happily for the
+army, upon one in whom a full measure of soldierly strength and courage
+was combined with the education of an Athenian, a democrat, and a
+philosopher.[34]
+
+
+Sec. 5. Xenophon's Dream and its Results.
+
+It is in true Homeric vein, and in something like Homeric language, that
+Xenophon (to whom we owe the whole narrative of the expedition)
+describes his dream, or the intervention of Oneirus,[35] sent by
+Zeus,[36] from which this renovating impulse took its rise. Lying
+mournful and restless like his comrades, he caught a short repose; when
+he dreamt that he heard thunder, and saw the burning thunderbolt fall
+upon his paternal house, which became forthwith encircled by flames.
+Awaking, full of terror, he instantly sprang up; upon which the dream
+began to fit on and blend itself with his waking thoughts, and with the
+cruel realities of his position. His pious and excited fancy generated a
+series of shadowy analogies. The dream was sent by Zeus the King, since
+it was from him that thunder and lightning proceeded. In one respect,
+the sign was auspicious--that a great light had appeared to him from
+Zeus in the midst of peril and suffering. But on the other hand, it was
+alarming, that the house had appeared to be completely encircled by
+flames, preventing all egress, because this seemed to indicate that he
+would remain confined where he was in the Persian dominions, without
+being able to overcome the difficulties which hedged him in. Yet
+doubtful as the promise was, it was still the message of Zeus addressed
+to himself, serving as a stimulus to him to break through the common
+stupor and take the initiative movement. "Why am I lying here? Night is
+advancing; at daybreak the enemy will be on us, and we shall be put to
+death with tortures. Not a man is stirring to take measures of defence.
+Why do I wait for any man older than myself, or for any man of a
+different city, to begin?"
+
+With these reflections, interesting in themselves, and given with
+Homeric vivacity, he instantly went to convene the captains who had
+served under his late friend Proxenus. He impressed upon them
+emphatically the necessity of standing forward to put the army in a
+posture of defence. "I cannot sleep, fellow-soldiers; neither, I
+presume, can you, under our present perils. The enemy will be upon us at
+daybreak--prepared to kill us all with tortures, as his worst enemies.
+For my part, I rejoice that his villanous perjury has put an end to a
+truce by which we were the great losers; a truce, under which we,
+mindful of our oaths, have passed through all the rich possessions of
+the King, without touching anything except what we could purchase with
+our own scanty means. Now, we have our hands free: all these rich spoils
+stand between us and him, as prizes for the better man. The gods, who
+preside over the match, will assuredly be on the side of us, who have
+kept our oaths in spite of strong temptations, against these perjurers.
+Moreover, our bodies are more enduring, and our spirit more gallant,
+than theirs. They are easier to wound, and easier to kill, than we are,
+under the same favor of the gods as we experienced at Kunaxa.
+
+"Probably others also are feeling just as we feel. But let us not wait
+for any one else to come as monitors to us: let us take the lead, and
+communicate the stimulus of honor to others. Do you show yourselves now
+the best among the captains--more worthy of being generals than the
+generals themselves. Begin at once, and I desire only to follow you. But
+if you order me into the front rank, I shall obey without pleading my
+youth as an excuse--accounting myself to be of complete maturity, when
+the purpose is to save myself from ruin."
+
+All the captains who heard Xenophon cordially concurred in his
+suggestion, and desired him to take the lead in executing it. One captain
+alone--Apollonides, speaking in the Boeotian dialect[37]--protested
+against it as insane; enlarging upon their desperate position, and
+insisting upon submission to the King as the only chance of safety. "How?
+(replied Xenophon). Have you forgotten the courteous treatment which we
+received from the Persians in Babylonia when we replied to their demand
+for the surrender of our arms by showing a bold front? Do not you see the
+miserable fate which has befallen Klearchus, when he trusted himself
+unarmed in their hands, in reliance on their oaths? And yet you scout our
+exhortations to resistance, again advising us to go and plead for
+indulgence! My friends, such a Greek as this man, disgraces not only his
+own city, but all Greece besides. Let us banish him from our councils,
+cashier[38] him, and make a slave of him to carry baggage." "Nay
+(observed Agasias of Stymphalus), the man has nothing to do with Greece:
+I myself have seen his ears bored, like a true Lydian."[39] Apollonides
+was degraded accordingly.
+
+Xenophon with the rest then distributed themselves in order to bring
+together the chief remaining officers in the army, who were presently
+convened, to the number of about one hundred. The senior captain of the
+earlier body next desired Xenophon to repeat to this larger body the
+topics upon which he had just before been insisting. Xenophon obeyed,
+enlarging yet more emphatically on the situation, perilous, yet not
+without hope--on the proper measures to be taken--and especially on the
+necessity that they, the chief officers remaining, should put themselves
+forward prominently, first fix upon effective commanders, then
+afterwards submit the names to be confirmed by the army, accompanied
+with suitable exhortations and encouragement. His speech was applauded
+and welcomed, especially by the Lacedaemonian general Cheirisophus, who
+had joined Cyrus with a body of 700 heavy-armed foot-soldiers at Issus
+in Kilikia.[40] Cheirisophus urged the captains to retire forthwith, and
+agree upon their commanders instead of the five who had been seized;
+after which the herald must be summoned, and the entire body of soldiers
+convened without delay. Accordingly Timasion of Dardanus was chosen
+instead of Klearchus; Xanthikles in place of Sokrates; Kleanor in place
+of Agias; Philesius in place of Menon; and Xenophon instead of
+Proxenus. The captains, who had served under each of the departed
+generals, separately chose a successor to the captain thus promoted. It
+is to be recollected that the five now chosen were not the only generals
+in the camp; thus for example, Cheirisophus had the command of his own
+separate division, and there may have been one or two others similarly
+placed. But it was now necessary for all the generals to form a Board
+and act in concert.
+
+At daybreak the newly-constituted Board of generals placed proper
+outposts in advance, and then convened the army in general assembly, in
+order that the new appointments might be submitted and confirmed. As
+soon as this had been done, probably on the proposition of Cheirisophus
+(who had been in command before), that general addressed a few words of
+exhortation and encouragement to the soldiers. He was followed by
+Kleanor, who delivered, with the like brevity, an earnest protest
+against the perfidy of Tissaphernes and Ariaeus. Both of them left to
+Xenophon the task, alike important and arduous at this moment of
+despondency, of setting forth the case at length,--working up the
+feelings of the soldiers to that pitch of resolution which the emergency
+required,--and above all extinguishing all those inclinations to
+acquiesce in new treacherous proposals from the enemy, which the perils
+of the situation would be likely to suggest.
+
+Xenophon had equipped himself in his finest military costume at this his
+first official appearance before the army, when the scales seemed to
+tremble between life and death. Taking up the protest of Kleanor against
+the treachery of the Persians, he insisted that any attempt to enter
+into convention or trust with such liars, would be utter ruin--but that
+if energetic resolution were taken to deal with them only at the point
+of the sword, and punish their misdeeds, there was good hope of the
+favor of the gods and of ultimate preservation. As he pronounced this
+last word, one of the soldiers near him happened to sneeze.[41]
+Immediately the whole army around shouted with one accord the accustomed
+invocation to Zeus the Preserver; and Xenophon, taking up the accident,
+continued--"Since, fellow-soldiers, this omen from Zeus the Preserver
+has appeared at the instant when we were talking about preservation, let
+us here vow to offer the preserving sacrifice to that god, and at the
+same time to sacrifice to the remaining gods as well as we can, in the
+first friendly country which we may reach. Let every man who agrees with
+me hold up his hand." All held up their hands: all then joined in the
+vow, and shouted the paean.[42]
+
+This accident, so dexterously turned to profit by the rhetorical skill
+of Xenophon, was eminently beneficial in raising the army out of the
+depression which weighed them down, and in disposing them to listen to
+his animating appeal. Repeating his assurances that the gods were on
+their side, and hostile to their perjured enemy, he recalled to their
+memory the great invasions of Greece by Darius and Xerxes,--how the vast
+hosts of Persia had been disgracefully repelled. The army had shown
+themselves on the field of Kunaxa worthy of such forefathers; and they
+would for the future be yet bolder, knowing by that battle of what
+stuff the Persians were made. As for Ariaeus and his troops, alike
+traitors and cowards, their desertion was rather a gain than a loss. The
+enemy were superior in horsemen: but men on horseback were after all
+only men, half occupied in the fear of losing their seats--incapable of
+prevailing against infantry firm on the ground,--and only better able to
+run away. Now that the satrap refused to furnish them with provisions to
+buy, they on their side were released from their covenant, and would
+take provisions without buying. Then as to the rivers; those were indeed
+difficult to be crossed, in the middle of their course; but the army
+would march up to their sources, and could then pass them without
+wetting the knee. Or indeed, the Greeks might renounce the idea of
+retreat, and establish themselves permanently in the King's own country,
+defying all his force, like the Mysians and Pisidians.[43] "If (said
+Xenophon) we plant ourselves here at our ease in a rich country, with
+these tall, stately and beautiful Median and Persian women for our
+companions--we shall be only too ready, like the Lotos-eaters,[44] to
+forget our way home. We ought first to go back to Greece, and tell our
+countrymen that if they remain poor, it is their own fault, when there
+are rich settlements in this country awaiting all who choose to come,
+and who have courage to seize them. Let us burn our baggage wagons and
+tents, and carry with us nothing but what is of the strictest necessity.
+Above all things, let us maintain order, discipline, and obedience to
+the commanders, upon which our entire hope of safety depends. Let every
+man promise to lend his hand to the commanders in punishing any
+disobedient individuals; and let us thus show the enemy that we have ten
+thousand persons like Klearchus, instead of that one whom they have so
+perfidiously seized. Now is the time for action. If any man, however
+obscure, has anything better to suggest, let him come forward and state
+it; for we have all but one object--the common safety."
+
+It appears that no one else desired to say a word, and that the speech
+of Xenophon gave unqualified satisfaction; for when Cheirisophus put the
+question, that the meeting should sanction his recommendations, and
+finally elect the new generals proposed--every man held up his hand.
+Xenophon then moved that the army should break up immediately, and march
+to some well-stored villages, rather more than two miles distant; that
+the march should be in a hollow square, with the baggage in the centre;
+that Cheirisophus, as a Lacedaemonian, should lead the van; while
+Kleanor, and the other senior officers, would command on each
+flank,--and himself with Timasion, as the two youngest of the generals,
+would lead the rear guard.
+
+This proposition was at once adopted, and the assembly broke up;
+proceeding forthwith to destroy, or distribute among one another, every
+man's superfluous baggage--and then to take their morning meal previous
+to the march.
+
+The scene just described is interesting and illustrative in more than
+one point of view. It exhibits that susceptibility to the influence of
+persuasive discourse which formed so marked a feature in the Grecian
+character--a resurrection of the collective body out of the depth of
+despair, under the exhortation of one who had no established ascendency,
+nor anything to recommend him, except his intelligence, his oratorical
+power, and his community of interest with themselves. Next, it
+manifests, still more strikingly, the superiority of Athenian training
+as compared with that of other parts of Greece. Cheirisophus had not
+only been before in office as one of the generals, but was also a native
+of Sparta, whose supremacy and name was at that moment all-powerful;
+Kleanor had been before, not indeed a general, but a captain, or one in
+the second rank of officers:--he was an elderly man--and he was an
+Arcadian, while more than the numerical half of the army consisted of
+Arcadians and Achaeans.[45] Either of these two therefore, and various
+others besides, enjoyed a sort of prerogative, or established
+starting-point, for taking the initiative in reference to the dispirited
+army. But Xenophon was comparatively a young man, with little military
+experience:--he was not an officer at all, either in the first or second
+grade, but simply a volunteer, companion of Proxenus:--he was moreover a
+native of Athens, a city at that time unpopular among the great body of
+Greeks, and especially of Peloponnesians,[46] with whom her recent long
+war had been carried on. Not only therefore he had no advantages
+compared with others, but he was under positive disadvantages. He had
+nothing to start with except his personal qualities and previous
+training; in spite of which we find him not merely the prime mover, but
+also the superior person for whom the others make way. In him are
+exemplified those peculiarities of Athens, attested not less by the
+denunciation of her enemies than by the panegyric of her own
+citizens,--spontaneous and forward impulse, as well in conception as in
+execution--confidence under circumstances which made others
+despair--persuasive discourse and publicity of discussion, made
+subservient to practical business, so as at once to appeal to the
+intelligence, and stimulate the active zeal, of the multitude. Such
+peculiarities stood out more remarkably from being contrasted with the
+opposite qualities in Spartans--mistrust in conception, slackness in
+execution, secrecy in counsel, silent and passive obedience. Though
+Spartans and Athenians formed the two extremities of the scale, other
+Greeks stood nearer on this point to the former than to the latter.
+
+If, even in that encouraging autumn which followed immediately upon the
+great Athenian catastrophe[47] before Syracuse, the inertia of Sparta
+could not be stirred into vigorous action without the vehemence of the
+Athenian Alkibiades--much more was it necessary, under the depressing
+circumstances which now overclouded the unofficered Grecian army, that
+an Athenian bosom should be found as the source of new life and
+impulse. Nor would any one, probably, except an Athenian, either have
+felt or obeyed the promptings to stand forward as a volunteer at that
+moment, when there was every motive to decline responsibility, and no
+special duty to impel him. But if by chance a Spartan or an Arcadian had
+been found thus forward, he would have been destitute of such talents as
+would enable him to work on the minds of others--of that flexibility,
+resource, familiarity with the temper and movements of an assembled
+crowd, power of enforcing the essential views and touching the opportune
+chords, which Athenian democratical training imparted. Even Brasidas and
+Gylippus, individual Spartans of splendid merit, and equal or superior
+to Xenophon in military resource, would not have combined with it that
+political and rhetorical accomplishment which the position of the latter
+demanded. Obvious as the wisdom of his propositions appears, each of
+them is left to him not only to initiate, but to enforce: Cheirisophus
+and Kleanor, after a few words of introduction, consign to him the duty
+of working up the minds of the army to the proper pitch.
+
+How well he performed this, may be seen by his speech to the army, which
+bears in its general tenor a remarkable resemblance to that of
+Perikles[48] addressed to the Athenian public in the second year of the
+war,[49] at the moment when the miseries of the epidemic, combined with
+those of invasion, had driven them almost to despair. It breathes a
+strain of exaggerated confidence, and an undervaluing of real dangers,
+highly suitable for the occasion, but which neither Perikles nor
+Xenophon would have employed at any other moment. Throughout the whole
+of his speech, and especially in regard to the accidental sneeze near at
+hand which interrupted the beginning of it, Xenophon displayed that
+skill and practice in dealing with a numerous audience, and a given
+situation, which characterized more or less every educated Athenian.
+Other Greeks, Lacedaemonians or Arcadians, could act, with bravery and in
+concert; but the Athenian Xenophon was among the few who could think,
+speak, and act, with equal efficiency. It was this threefold
+accomplishment which an aspiring youth was compelled to set before
+himself as an aim, in the democracy of Athens; and which the
+Sophists[50] as well as the democratical institutions--both of them so
+hardly depreciated by most critics--helped and encouraged him to
+acquire. It was this threefold accomplishment, the exclusive possession
+of which, in spite of constant jealousy on the part of Boeotian officers
+and comrades of Proxenus, elevated Xenophon into the most ascendent
+person of the Cyreian army, from the present moment until the time when
+it broke up,--as will be seen in the subsequent history.
+
+I think it the more necessary to notice this fact,--that the
+accomplishments whereby Xenophon leaped on a sudden into such
+extraordinary ascendency, and rendered such eminent service to his army,
+were accomplishments belonging in an especial manner to the Athenian
+democracy and education--because Xenophon himself has throughout his
+writings treated Athens not merely without the attachment of a citizen,
+but with feelings more like the positive antipathy of an exile. His
+sympathies are all in favor of the perpetual drill, the mechanical
+obedience, the secret government proceedings, the narrow and prescribed
+range of ideas, the silent and deferential demeanor, the methodical,
+though tardy, action--of Sparta. Whatever may be the justice of his
+preference, certain it is, that the qualities whereby he was himself
+enabled to contribute so much both to the rescue of the Cyreian army,
+and to his own reputation--were Athenian far more than Spartan.
+
+While the Grecian army, after sanctioning the propositions of Xenophon,
+were taking their morning meal before they commenced their march,
+Mithridates, one of the Persians previously attached to Cyrus, appeared
+with a few horsemen on a mission of pretended friendship. But it was
+soon found out that his purposes were treacherous, and that he came
+merely to seduce individual soldiers to desertion--with a few of whom he
+succeeded. Accordingly, the resolution was taken to admit no more
+heralds or envoys.
+
+
+Sec. 6. The Greeks cross the Zab.
+
+Disembarrassed of superfluous baggage, and refreshed, the army now
+crossed the Great Zab River, and pursued their march on the other side,
+having their baggage and attendants in the centre, and Cheirisophus
+leading the van, with a select body of 300 heavy-armed foot-soldiers. As
+no mention is made of a bridge, we are to presume that they forded the
+river,--which furnishes a ford still commonly used, at a place between
+thirty and forty miles from its junction with the Tigris. When they had
+got a little way forward, Mithridates again appeared with a few hundred
+cavalry and bowmen. He approached them like a friend; but as soon as he
+was near enough, suddenly began to harass the rear with a shower of
+missiles. What surprises us most, is, that the Persians, with their very
+numerous force, made no attempt to hinder them from crossing so very
+considerable a river; for Xenophon estimates the Zab at 400 feet
+broad,--and this seems below the statement of modern travellers, who
+inform us that it contains not much less water than the Tigris; and
+though usually deeper and narrower, cannot be much narrower at any
+fordable place. It is to be recollected that the Persians, habitually
+marching in advance of the Greeks, must have reached the river first,
+and were therefore in possession of the crossing, whether bridge or
+ford. Though on the watch for every opportunity of perfidy, Tissaphernes
+did not dare to resist the Greeks, even in the most advantageous
+position, and ventured only upon sending Mithridates to harass the rear;
+which he executed with considerable effect. The bowmen and darters of
+the Greeks, few in number, were at the same time inferior to those of
+the Persians; and when Xenophon employed his rear-guard, heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers and light-armed foot-soldiers, to charge and repel them,
+he not only could never overtake any one, but suffered much in getting
+back to rejoin his own main body. Even when retiring, the Persian
+horseman could discharge his arrow or cast his javelin[51] behind him
+with effect; a dexterity which the Parthians exhibited afterwards still
+more signally, and which the Persian horsemen of the present day
+parallel with their carbines.[52] This was the first experience which
+the Greeks had of marching under the harassing attack of cavalry. Even
+the small detachment of Mithridates greatly delayed their progress; so
+that they accomplished little more than two miles, reaching the villages
+in the evening, with many wounded, and much discouragement.
+
+"Thank Heaven" (said Xenophon in the evening, when Cheirisophus
+reproached him for imprudence in quitting the main body to charge
+cavalry, whom yet he could not reach), "Thank Heaven, that our enemies
+attacked us with a small detachment only, and not with their great
+numbers. They have given us a valuable lesson, without doing us any
+serious harm." Profiting by the lesson, the Greek leaders organized
+during the night and during the halt of the next day, a small body of
+fifty cavalry; with 200 Rhodian[53] slingers, whose slings, furnished
+with leaden bullets, both carried farther and struck harder than those
+of the Persians hurling large stones. On the ensuing morning, they
+started before daybreak, since there lay in their way a ravine
+difficult to pass. They found the ravine undefended (according to the
+usual stupidity of Persian proceedings), but when they had got nearly a
+mile beyond it, Mithridates reappeared in pursuit with a body of 4000
+horsemen and darters. Confident from his achievement of the preceding
+day, he had promised, with a body of that force, to deliver the Greeks
+into the hands of the satrap. But the latter were now better prepared.
+As soon as he began to attack them, the trumpet sounded,--and forthwith
+the horsemen, slingers, and darters, issued forth to charge the
+Persians, sustained by the heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the rear. So
+effective was the charge, that the Persians fled in dismay,
+notwithstanding their superiority in number; while the ravine so impeded
+their flight that many of them were slain, and eighteen prisoners made.
+The Greek soldiers of their own accord mutilated the dead bodies, in
+order to strike terror into the enemy. At the end of the day's march,
+they reached the Tigris, near the deserted city of Larissa, the vast,
+massive, and lofty brick walls of which (25 feet in thickness, 100 feet
+high, seven miles in circumference) attested its former grandeur. Near
+this place was a stone pyramid, 100 feet in breadth, and 200 feet high;
+the summit of which was crowded with fugitives out of the neighboring
+villages. Another day's march up the course of the Tigris brought the
+army to a second deserted city called Mespila, nearly opposite to the
+modern city of Mosul. Although these two cities, which seem to have
+formed the continuation of (or the substitute for) the once colossal
+Nineveh[54] or Ninus, were completely deserted,--yet the country around
+them was so well furnished with villages and population, that the Greeks
+not only obtained provisions, but also strings for the making of new
+bows, and lead for bullets to be used by the slingers.
+
+During the next day's march, in a course generally parallel with the
+Tigris, and ascending the stream, Tissaphernes, coming up along with
+some other grandees, and with a numerous army, enveloped the Greeks both
+in flanks and rear. In spite of his advantage of numbers, he did not
+venture upon any actual charge, but kept up a fire of arrows, darts, and
+stones. He was however so well answered by the newly-trained archers and
+slingers of the Greeks, that on the whole they had the advantage, in
+spite of the superior size of the Persian bows, many of which were taken
+and effectively employed on the Grecian side. Having passed the night in
+a well-stocked village, they halted there the next day in order to stock
+themselves with provisions, and then pursued their march for four
+successive days along a level country, until on the fifth day they
+reached hilly ground with the prospect of still higher hills beyond. All
+this march was made under unremitting annoyance from the enemy, insomuch
+that though the order of the Greeks was never broken, a considerable
+number of their men were wounded. Experience taught them, that it was
+inconvenient for the whole army to march in one inflexible, undivided,
+hollow square; and they accordingly constituted six regiments of 100 men
+each, subdivided into companies of 50, and smaller companies of 25, each
+with a special officer (conformably to the Spartan practice) to move
+separately on each flank, and either to fall back, or fall in, as might
+suit the fluctuations of the central mass, arising from impediments in
+the road or menaces of the enemy. On reaching the hills, in sight of an
+elevated citadel or palace, with several villages around it, the Greeks
+anticipated some remission of the Persian attack. But after having
+passed over one hill, they were proceeding to ascend the second, when
+they found themselves assailed with unwonted vigor by the Persian
+cavalry from the summit of it, whose leaders were seen flogging on the
+men to the attack. This charge was so efficacious, that the Greek light
+troops were driven in with loss, and forced to take shelter within the
+ranks of the heavy-armed foot-soldiers. After a march both slow and full
+of suffering, they could only reach their night-quarters by sending a
+detachment to get possession of some ground above the Persians, who thus
+became afraid of a double attack.
+
+The villages which they now reached were unusually rich in provisions;
+magazines of flour, barley, and wine, having been collected there for
+the Persian satrap. They reposed here three days, chiefly in order to
+tend the numerous wounded, for whose necessities, eight of the most
+competent persons were singled out to act as surgeons. On the fourth day
+they resumed their march, descending into the plain. But experience had
+now satisfied them that it was imprudent to continue in march under the
+attack of cavalry, so that when Tissaphernes appeared and began to
+harass them, they halted at the first village, and when thus in station,
+easily repelled him. As the afternoon advanced, the Persian assailants
+began to retire; for they were always in the habit of taking up their
+night-post at a distance of near seven miles from the Grecian position;
+being very apprehensive of nocturnal attack in their camp, when their
+horses were tied by the leg and without either saddle or bridle. As
+soon as they had departed, the Greeks resumed their march, and made so
+much advance during the night, that the Persians did not overtake them
+either on the next day or the day after.
+
+On the ensuing day, however, the Persians, having made a forced march by
+night, were seen not only in advance of the Greeks, but in occupation of
+a spur of high and precipitous ground overhanging immediately the road
+whereby the Greeks were to descend into the plain. When Cheirisophus
+approached, he at once saw that descent was impracticable in the face of
+an enemy thus posted. He therefore halted, sent for Xenophon from the
+rear, and desired him to bring forward the light-armed foot-soldiers to
+the van. But Xenophon, though he obeyed the summons in person and
+galloped his horse to the front, did not think it prudent to move the
+light-armed foot-soldiers from the rear, because he saw Tissaphernes,
+with another portion of the army, just coming up; so that the Grecian
+army was at once impeded in front, and threatened by the enemy closing
+upon them behind. The Persians on the high ground in front could not be
+directly assailed. But Xenophon observed, that on the right of the
+Grecian army, there was an accessible mountain summit yet higher, from
+whence a descent might be made for a flank attack upon the Persian
+position. Pointing out this summit to Cheirisophus, as affording the
+only means of dislodging the troops in front, he urged that one of them
+should immediately hasten with a detachment to take possession of it and
+offered to Cheirisophus the choice either of going, or staying with the
+army. "Choose for yourself," said Cheirisophus. "Well then (said
+Xenophon), I will go; since I am the younger of the two." Accordingly,
+at the head of a select detachment from the van and centre of the army,
+he immediately commenced his flank march up the steep ascent to this
+highest summit. So soon as the enemy saw their purpose, they also
+detached troops on their side, hoping to get to the summit first; and
+the two detachments were seen mounting at the same time, each struggling
+with the utmost efforts to get before the other,--each being encouraged
+by shouts and clamor from the two armies respectively.
+
+As Xenophon was riding by the side of his soldiers, cheering them on and
+reminding them that their chance of seeing their country and their
+families all depended upon success in the effort before them, a
+Sikyonian heavy-armed foot-soldier in the ranks, named Soteridas, said
+to him--"You and I are not on an equal footing, Xenophon. You are on
+horseback:--I am painfully struggling upon foot, with my shield to
+carry." Stung with this taunt, Xenophon sprang from his horse, pushed
+Soteridas out of his place in the ranks, took his shield as well as his
+place, and began to march forward afoot along with the rest. Though thus
+weighed down at once by the shield belonging to a heavy-armed
+foot-soldier, and by the heavy cuirass[55] of a horseman (who carried no
+shield), he nevertheless put forth all his strength to advance under
+such double incumbrance, and to continue his incitement to the rest. But
+the soldiers around him were so indignant at the proceeding of
+Soteridas, that they reproached and even struck him, until they
+compelled him to resume his shield as well as his place in the ranks.
+Xenophon then remounted and ascended the hill on horseback as far as the
+ground permitted; but was obliged again to dismount presently, in
+consequence of the steepness of the uppermost portion. Such energetic
+efforts enabled him and his detachment to reach the summit first. As
+soon as the enemy saw this, they desisted from their ascent, and
+dispersed in all directions; leaving the forward march open to the main
+Grecian army, which Cheirisophus accordingly conducted safely down into
+the plain. Here he was rejoined by Xenophon on descending from the
+summit. All found themselves in comfortable quarters, amidst several
+well-stocked villages on the banks of the Tigris. They acquired moreover
+an additional booty of large droves of cattle, intercepted when on the
+point of being transported across the river; where a considerable body
+of horse was seen assembled on the opposite bank.
+
+Though here disturbed only by some desultory attacks on the part of the
+Persians, who burnt several of the villages which lay in their forward
+line of march, the Greeks became seriously embarrassed whither to direct
+their steps; for on their left flank was the Tigris, so deep that their
+spears found no bottom,--and on their right, mountains of exceeding
+height. As the generals and the captains were taking counsel, a Rhodian
+soldier came to them with a proposition for transporting the whole army
+across to the other bank of the river by means of inflated skins, which
+could be furnished in abundance by the animals in their possession. But
+this ingenious scheme, in itself feasible, was put out of the question
+by the view of the Persian cavalry on the opposite bank; and as the
+villages in their front had been burnt, the army had no choice except to
+return back one day's march to those in which they had before halted.
+Here the generals again deliberated, questioning all their prisoners as
+to the different bearings of the country. The road from the south was
+that in which they had already marched from Babylon and Media; that to
+the westward, going to Lydia and Ionia, was barred to them by the
+interposing Tigris; eastward (they were informed) was the way to
+Ekbatana and Susa; northward, lay the rugged and inhospitable mountains
+of the Karduchians,--fierce freemen who despised the Great King, and
+defied all his efforts to conquer them; having once destroyed a Persian
+invading army of 120,000 men. On the other side of Karduchia, however,
+lay the rich Persian satrapy of Armenia, wherein both the Euphrates and
+the Tigris could be crossed near their sources, and from whence they
+could choose their farther course easily towards Greece. Like Mysia,
+Pisidia, and other mountainous regions, Karduchia was a free territory
+surrounded on all sides by the dominions of the Great King, who reigned
+only in the cities and on the plains.
+
+
+Sec. 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian mountains.
+
+Determining to fight their way across these difficult mountains into
+Armenia, but refraining from any public announcement, for fear that the
+passes should be occupied beforehand--the generals sacrificed[56]
+forthwith, in order that they might be ready for breaking up at a
+moment's notice. They then began their march a little after midnight, so
+that soon after daybreak they reached the first of the Karduchian
+mountain-passes, which they found undefended. Cheirisophus, with his
+front division and all the light troops, made haste to ascend the pass,
+and having got over the first mountain, descended on the other side to
+some villages in the valley or nooks beneath; while Xenophon, with the
+heavy-armed and the baggage, followed at a slower pace,--not reaching
+the villages until dark, as the road was both steep and narrow. The
+Karduchians, taken completely by surprise, abandoned the villages as the
+Greeks approached, and took refuge on the mountains; leaving to the
+intruders plenty of provisions, comfortable houses, and especially,
+abundance of copper vessels. At first the Greeks were careful to do no
+damage, trying to invite the natives to amicable colloquy. But none of
+the latter would come near, and at length necessity drove the Greeks to
+take what was necessary for refreshment. It was just when Xenophon and
+the rear-guard were coming in at night, that some few Karduchians first
+set upon them; by surprise and with considerable success--so that if
+their numbers had been greater, serious mischief might have ensued.
+
+Many fires were discovered burning on the mountains, an indication of
+resistance during the next day; which satisfied the Greek generals that
+they must lighten the army, in order to ensure greater expedition as
+well as a fuller complement of available hands during the coming march.
+They therefore gave orders to burn all the baggage except what was
+indispensable, and to dismiss all the prisoners; planting themselves in
+a narrow strait, through which the army had to pass, in order to see
+that their directions were executed. The women, however, of whom there
+were many with the army, could not be abandoned; and it seems farther
+that a considerable stock of baggage was still retained: nor could the
+army make more than slow advance, from the narrowness of the road and
+the harassing attack of the Karduchians, who were now assembled in
+considerable numbers. Their attack was renewed with double vigor on the
+ensuing day, when the Greeks were forced, from want of provisions, to
+hasten forward their march, though in the midst of a terrible
+snow-storm. Both Cheirisophus in the front and Xenophon in the rear,
+were hard pressed by the Karduchian slingers and bowmen; the latter, men
+of consummate skill, having bows three cubits[57] in length, and arrows
+of more than two cubits, so strong that the Greeks when they took them
+could dart them as javelins. These archers, amidst the rugged ground and
+narrow paths, approached so near and drew the bow with such surprising
+force, resting one extremity of it on the ground, that several Greek
+warriors were mortally wounded even through both shield and corselet[58]
+into the reins,[59] and through the brazen helmet into their heads;
+among them especially, two distinguished men, a Lacedaemonian named
+Kleonymus and an Arcadian named Basias. The rear division, more roughly
+handled than the rest, was obliged continually to halt to repel the
+enemy, under all the difficulties of the ground, which made it scarcely
+possible to act against nimble mountaineers. On one occasion, however, a
+body of these latter were entrapped into an ambush, driven back with
+loss, and (what was still more fortunate) two of their number were made
+prisoners.
+
+Thus impeded, Xenophon sent frequent messages entreating Cheirisophus to
+slacken the march of the van division; but instead of obeying,
+Cheirisophus only hastened the faster, urging Xenophon to follow him.
+The march of the army became little better than a rout, so that the rear
+division reached the halting place in extreme confusion; upon which
+Xenophon proceeded to remonstrate with Cheirisophus for prematurely
+hurrying forward and neglecting his comrades behind. But the
+other--pointing out to his attention the hill before them, and the steep
+path ascending it, forming their future line of march, which was beset
+with numerous Karduchians--defended himself by saying that he had
+hastened forward in hopes of being able to reach this pass before the
+enemy, in which attempt however he had not succeeded.
+
+To advance farther on this road appeared hopeless; yet the guides
+declared that no other could be taken. Xenophon then bethought him of
+the two prisoners whom he had just captured, and proposed that these two
+should be questioned also. They were accordingly interrogated apart; and
+the first of them--having persisted in denying, notwithstanding all
+menaces, that there was any road except that before them--was put to
+death under the eyes of the second prisoner. This latter, on being then
+questioned, gave more comfortable intelligence; saying that he knew of a
+different road, more circuitous, but easier and practicable even for
+beasts of burden, whereby the pass before them and the occupying enemy
+might be turned; but that there was one particular high position
+commanding the road, which it was necessary to master beforehand by
+surprise, as the Karduchians were already on guard there. Two thousand
+Greeks, having the guide bound along with them, were accordingly
+despatched late in the afternoon, to surprise this post by a
+night-march; while Xenophon, in order to distract the attention of the
+Karduchians in front, made a feint of advancing as if about to force the
+direct pass. As soon as he was seen crossing the ravine which led to
+this mountain, the Karduchians on the top immediately began to roll down
+vast masses of rock, which bounded and dashed down the roadway in such a
+manner as to render it unapproachable. They continued to do this all
+night, and the Greeks heard the noise of the descending masses long
+after they had returned to their camp for supper and rest.
+
+Meanwhile the detachment of 2000, marching by the circuitous road, and
+reaching in the night the elevated position (though there was another
+above yet more commanding) held by the Karduchians, surprised and
+dispersed them, passing the night by their fires. At daybreak, and under
+favor of a mist, they stole silently towards the position occupied by
+the other Karduchians in front of the main Grecian army. On coming near
+they suddenly sounded their trumpets, shouted aloud, and commenced the
+attack, which proved completely successful. The defenders, taken
+unprepared, fled with little resistance, and scarcely any loss, from
+their activity and knowledge of the country; while Cheirisophus and the
+main Grecian force, on hearing the trumpet which had been previously
+concerted as the signal, rushed forward and stormed the height in front;
+some along the regular path; others climbing up as they could and
+pulling each other up by means of their spears. The two bodies of Greeks
+thus joined each other on the summit, so that the road became open for
+farther advance.
+
+Xenophon, however, with the rear-guard marched on the circuitous road
+taken by the 2000, as the most practicable for the baggage animals, whom
+he placed in the centre of his division--the whole array covering a
+great length of ground, since the road was very narrow. During this
+interval the dispersed Karduchians had rallied, and reoccupied two or
+three high peaks, commanding the road--from whence it was necessary to
+drive them. Xenophon's troops stormed successively these three
+positions, the Karduchians not daring to come to close combat, yet
+making destructive use of their missiles. A Grecian guard was left on
+the hindermost of the three peaks, until all the baggage train should
+have passed by. But the Karduchians, by a sudden and well-timed
+movement, contrived to surprise this guard, slew two out of the three
+leaders with several soldiers, and forced the rest to jump down the
+crags as they could, in order to join their comrades in the road.
+Encouraged by such success the assailants pressed nearer to the marching
+army, occupying a crag over against that lofty summit on which Xenophon
+was posted. As it was within speaking distance, he endeavored to open a
+negotiation with them in order to get back the bodies of the slain. To
+this demand the Karduchians at first acceded, on condition that their
+villages should not be burnt; but finding their numbers every moment
+increasing, they resumed the offensive. When Xenophon with the army had
+begun his descent from the last summit, they hurried onward in crowds to
+occupy it; beginning again to roll down masses of rock, and renew their
+fire of missiles, upon the Greeks. Xenophon himself was here in some
+danger, having been deserted by his shield-bearer; but he was rescued by
+an Arcadian heavy-armed foot-soldier named Eurylochus, who ran to give
+him the benefit of his own shield as a protection for both in the
+retreat.
+
+After a march thus painful and perilous, the rear division at length
+found themselves in safety among their comrades, in villages with
+well-stocked houses and abundance of corn and wine. So eager however
+were Xenophon and Cheirisophus to obtain the bodies of the slain for
+burial, that they consented to purchase them by surrendering the guide,
+and to march onward without any guide: a heavy sacrifice in this unknown
+country, attesting their great anxiety about the burial.[60]
+
+For three more days did they struggle and fight their way through the
+narrow and rugged paths of the Karduchian mountains, beset throughout by
+these formidable bowmen and slingers; whom they had to dislodge at every
+difficult turn, and against whom their own Kretan[61] bowmen were found
+inferior indeed, but still highly useful. Their seven days' march
+through this country, with its free and warlike inhabitants, were days
+of the utmost fatigue, suffering, and peril; far more intolerable than
+any thing which they had experienced from Tissaphernes and the Persians.
+Right glad were they once more to see a plain, and to find themselves
+near the banks of the river Kentrites, which divided these mountains
+from the hillocks and plains of Armenia--enjoying comfortable quarters
+in villages, with the satisfaction of talking over past miseries.
+
+Such were the apprehensions of Karduchian invasion, that the Armenian
+side of the Kentrites for a breadth of 15 miles was unpeopled and
+destitute of villages. But the approach of the Greeks having become
+known to Tiribazus, satrap of Armenia, the banks of the river were lined
+with his cavalry and infantry to oppose their passage; a precaution,
+which if Tissaphernes had taken at the Great Zab at the moment when he
+perfidiously seized Klearchus and his colleagues, the Greeks would
+hardly have reached the northern bank of that river. In the face of such
+obstacles, the Greeks nevertheless attempted the passage of the
+Kentrites, seeing a regular road on the other side. But the river was
+200 feet in breadth (only half the breadth of the Zab), above their
+breasts in depth, extremely rapid, and with a bottom full of slippery
+stones; insomuch that they could not hold their shields in the proper
+position, from the force of the stream; while if they lifted the shields
+above their heads, they were exposed defenceless to the arrows of the
+satrap's troops. After various trials, the passage was found
+impracticable, and they were obliged to resume their encampment on the
+left bank. To their great alarm, they saw the Karduchians assembling on
+the hills in their rear, so that their situation, during this day and
+night, appeared nearly desperate. In the night Xenophon had a dream--the
+first which he has told us since his dream on the terrific night after
+the seizure of the generals--but on this occasion, of augury[62] more
+unequivocally good. He dreamt that he was bound in chains, but that his
+chains on a sudden dropt off spontaneously; on the faith of which, he
+told Cheirisophus at daybreak that he had good hopes of preservation;
+and when the generals offered sacrifice, the victims were at once
+favorable. As the army were taking their morning meal, two young Greeks
+ran to Xenophon with the auspicious news that they had accidentally
+found another ford near half a mile up the river, where the water was
+not even up to their middle, and where the rocks came so close on the
+right bank that the enemy's horse could offer no opposition. Xenophon,
+starting from his meal in delight, immediately offered libations[63] to
+those gods who had revealed both the dream to himself in the night, and
+the unexpected ford afterwards to these youths; two revelations which he
+ascribed to the same gods.
+
+Presently they marched in their usual order, Cheirisophus commanding the
+van and Xenophon the rear, along the river to the newly-discovered ford;
+the enemy marching parallel with them on the opposite bank. Having
+reached the ford, halted, and grounded arms, Cheirisophus placed a
+wreath on his head, took off his clothes, and then resumed his arms,
+ordering all the rest to resume their arms also. Each company of 100 men
+was then arranged in column or single file, with Cheirisophus himself in
+the centre. Meanwhile the prophets were offering sacrifice to the river.
+So soon as the signs were pronounced to be favorable, all the soldiers
+shouted the paean, and all the women joined in chorus with their feminine
+yell. Cheirisophus then, at the head of the army, entered the river and
+began to ford it; while Xenophon, with a large portion of the rear
+division, made a feint of hastening back to the original ford, as if he
+were about to attempt the passage there. This distracted the attention
+of the enemy's horse; who became afraid of being attacked on both sides,
+galloped off to guard the passage at the other point, and opposed no
+serious resistance to Cheirisophus. As soon as the latter had reached
+the other side, and put his division into order, he marched up to
+attack the Armenian infantry, who were on the high banks a little way
+above; but this infantry, deserted by its cavalry, dispersed without
+awaiting his approach. The handful of Grecian cavalry, attached to the
+division of Cheirisophus, pursued and took some valuable spoils.
+
+As soon as Xenophon saw his colleague successfully established on the
+opposite bank, he brought back his detachment to the ford over which the
+baggage and attendants were still passing, and proceeded to take
+precautions against the Karduchians on his own side who were assembling
+in the rear. He found some difficulty in keeping his rear division
+together, for many of them, in spite of orders, quitted their ranks and
+went to look after the women or their baggage in the crossing of the
+water. The light-armed foot-soldiers and bowmen, who had gone over with
+Cheirisophus, but whom that general now no longer needed, were directed
+to hold themselves prepared on both flanks of the army crossing, and to
+advance a little way in the water in the attitude of men just about to
+recross. When Xenophon was left with only the diminished rear-guard, the
+rest having got over,--the Karduchians rushed upon him, and began to
+shoot and sling. But on a sudden, the Grecian heavy-armed foot-soldiers
+charged with their accustomed paean, upon which the Karduchians took to
+flight--having no arms for close combat on the plain. The trumpet now
+being heard to sound, they ran away so much the faster; while this was
+the signal, according to orders before given by Xenophon, for the Greeks
+to suspend their charge, to turn back, and to cross the river as
+speedily as possible. By favor of this able manoeuvre, the passage was
+accomplished by the whole army with little or no loss, about midday.
+
+
+Sec. 8. March through Armenia. Great suffering from cold and hunger.
+
+They now found themselves in Armenia; a country of even, undulating
+surface, but very high above the level of the sea, and extremely cold at
+the season when they entered it--December. Though the strip of land
+bordering on Karduchia furnished no supplies, one long march brought
+them to a village, containing abundance of provisions, together with a
+residence of the satrap Tiribazus; after which, in two farther marches
+they reached the river Teleboas, with many villages on its banks. Here
+Tiribazus himself, appearing with a division of cavalry, sent forward
+his interpreter to request a conference with the leaders; which being
+held, it was agreed that the Greeks should proceed unmolested through
+his territory, taking such supplies as they required,--but should
+neither burn nor damage the villages. They accordingly advanced onward
+for three days, computed at about 52 miles, or three pretty full days'
+march; without any hostility from the satrap, though he was hovering
+within less than two miles of them. They then found themselves amidst
+several villages, wherein were regal or satrapical residences with a
+plentiful stock of bread, meat, wine, and all sorts of vegetables. Here,
+during their nightly bivouac,[64] they were overtaken by so heavy a fall
+of snow that the generals on the next day distributed the troops into
+separate quarters among the villages. No enemy appeared near, while the
+snow seemed to forbid any rapid surprise. Yet at night, the scouts
+reported that many fires were discernible, together with traces of
+military movements around; insomuch that the generals thought it prudent
+to put themselves on their guard, and again collected the army into one
+bivouac. Here in the night they were overwhelmed by a second fall of
+snow still heavier than the preceding; sufficient to cover over the
+sleeping men and their arms, and to benumb the cattle. The men however
+lay warm under the snow and were unwilling to rise, until Xenophon
+himself set the example of rising and employing himself without his arms
+in cutting wood and kindling a fire. Others followed his example, and
+great comfort was found in rubbing themselves with pork-fat, oil of
+almonds or of sesame,[65] or turpentine. Having sent out a clever scout
+named Demokrates, who captured a native prisoner, they learned that
+Tiribazus was laying plans to intercept them in a lofty mountain pass
+lying farther on in their route; upon which they immediately set forth,
+and by two days of forced march, surprising in their way the camp of
+Tiribazus, got over the difficult pass in safety. Three days of
+additional march brought them to the Euphrates river--that is, to its
+eastern branch, now called Murad. They found a ford and crossed it,
+without having the water higher than the waist; and they were informed
+that its sources were not far off.
+
+Their four days of march, next on the other side of the Euphrates, were
+toilsome and distressing in the extreme; through a plain covered with
+deep snow (in some places six feet deep), and at times in the face of a
+north wind so intolerably chilling and piercing, that at length one of
+the prophets urged the necessity of offering sacrifices to Boreas[66];
+upon which (says Xenophon), the severity of the wind abated
+conspicuously, to the evident consciousness of all. Many of the slaves
+and beasts of burthen, and a few even of the soldiers, perished: some
+had their feet frost-bitten, others became blinded by the snow, others
+again were exhausted by hunger. Several of these unhappy men were
+unavoidably left behind; others lay down to perish, near a warm spring
+which had melted the snow around, from extremity of fatigue and sheer
+wretchedness, though the enemy were close upon the rear. It was in vain
+that Xenophon, who commanded the rear-guard, employed his earnest
+exhortations, prayers, and threats, to induce them to move forward. The
+sufferers, miserable and motionless, answered only by entreating him to
+kill them at once. So greatly was the army disorganized by wretchedness,
+that we hear of one case in which a soldier, ordered to carry a disabled
+comrade, disobeyed the order, and was about to bury him alive. Xenophon
+made a sally, with loud shouts and clatter of spear with shield, in
+which even the exhausted men joined,--against the pursuing enemy. He was
+fortunate enough to frighten them away, and drive them to take shelter
+in a neighboring wood. He then left the sufferers lying down, with
+assurance that relief should be sent to them on the next day,--and went
+forward; seeing all along the line of march the exhausted soldiers lying
+on the snow, without even the protection of a watch. He and his
+rear-guard as well as the rest were obliged thus to pass the night
+without either food or fire, distributing scouts in the best way that
+the case admitted. Meanwhile Cheirisophus with the van division had got
+into a village, which they reached so unexpectedly, that they found the
+women fetching water from a fountain outside the wall, and the head-man
+of the village in his house within. This division here obtained rest and
+refreshment, and at daybreak some of their soldiers were sent to look
+after the rear. It was with delight that Xenophon saw them approach, and
+sent them back to bring up in their arms, into the neighboring village,
+those exhausted soldiers who had been left behind.
+
+Repose was now indispensable after the recent sufferings. There were
+several villages near at hand, and the generals, thinking it no longer
+dangerous to divide the army, quartered the different divisions among
+them according to lot. Polykrates an Athenian, one of the captains in
+the division of Xenophon, requested his permission to go at once and
+take possession of the village assigned to him, before any of the
+inhabitants could escape. Accordingly, running at speed with a few of
+the swiftest soldiers, he came upon the village so suddenly as to seize
+the head-man with his newly-married daughter, and several young horses
+intended as a tribute for the king. This village, as well as the rest,
+was found to consist of houses excavated in the ground (as the Armenian
+villages are at the present day), spacious within, but with a narrow
+mouth like a well, entered by a descending ladder. A separate entrance
+was dug for conveniently admitting the cattle. All of them were found
+amply stocked with live cattle of every kind, wintered upon hay; as well
+as with wheat, barley, vegetables, and a sort of barley-wine or beer in
+tubs, with the grains of barley on the surface. Reeds or straws without
+any joint in them, were lying near, through which they sucked the
+liquid: Xenophon did his utmost to conciliate the head-man (who spoke
+Persian, and with whom he communicated through the Perso-Grecian
+interpreter of the army), promising him that not one of his relations
+should be maltreated, and that he should be fully remunerated if he
+would conduct the army safely out of the country, into that of the
+Chalybes which he described as being adjacent. By such treatment the
+head-man was won over, promised his aid, and even revealed to the Greeks
+the subterranean cellars wherein the wine was deposited; while Xenophon,
+though he kept him constantly under watch, and placed his youthful son
+as a hostage under the care of Episthenes, yet continued to treat him
+with studied attention and kindness. For seven days did the fatigued
+soldiers remain in these comfortable quarters, refreshing themselves and
+regaining strength. They were waited upon by the native youths, with
+whom they communicated by means of signs. The uncommon happiness which
+all of them enjoyed after their recent sufferings, stands depicted in
+the lively details given by Xenophon, who left here his own exhausted
+horse, and took young horses in exchange, for himself and the other
+officers.
+
+After this week of repose, the army resumed its march through the snow.
+The head-man, whose house they had replenished as well as they could,
+accompanied Cheirisophus in the van as guide, but was not put in chains
+or under guard: his son remained as an hostage with Episthenes, but his
+other relations were left unmolested at home. As they marched for three
+days, without reaching a village, Cheirisophus began to suspect his
+fidelity, and even became so out of humor, though the man affirmed that
+there were no villages in the track, as to beat him--yet without the
+precaution of putting him afterwards in fetters. The next night,
+accordingly, this head-man made his escape; much to the displeasure of
+Xenophon, who severely reproached Cheirisophus first for his harshness,
+and next for his neglect. This was the only point of difference between
+the two (says Xenophon) during the whole march; a fact very honorable to
+both, considering the numberless difficulties against which they had to
+contend. Episthenes retained the head-man's youthful son, carried him
+home in safety, and became much attached to him.
+
+Condemned thus to march without a guide, they could do no better than
+march up the course of the river; and thus, from the villages which had
+proved so cheering and restorative, they proceeded seven days' march all
+through snow, up the river Phasis; a river not verifiable, but certainly
+not the same as is commonly known under that name by Grecian
+geographers: it was 100 feet in breadth. Two more days' march brought
+them from this river to the foot of a range of mountains near a pass
+occupied by an armed body of Chalybes, Taochi, and Phasiani.
+
+Observing the enemy in possession of this lofty ground, Cheirisophus
+halted until all the army came up, in order that the generals might take
+counsel. Here Kleanor began by advising that they should storm the pass
+with no greater delay than was necessary to refresh the soldiers. But
+Xenophon suggested that it was far better to avoid the loss of life
+which must be incurred, and to amuse the enemy by feigned attack, while
+a detachment should be sent by stealth at night to ascend the mountain
+at another point and turn the position. "However (continued he, turning
+to Cheirisophus), stealing a march upon the enemy is more your trade
+than mine. For I understand that you the full citizens and peers at
+Sparta, practise stealing from your boyhood upward; and that it is held
+noway base, but even honorable, to steal such things as the law does not
+distinctly forbid. And to the end that you may steal with the greatest
+effect, and take pains to do it in secret, the custom is, to flog you if
+you are found out. Here then, you have an excellent opportunity of
+displaying your training. Take good care that we be not found out in
+stealing an occupation of the mountain now before us; for if we _are_
+found out, we shall be well beaten."
+
+"Why, as for that (replied Cheirisophus), you Athenians also, as I
+learn, are capital hands at stealing the public money--and that too in
+spite of prodigious peril to the thief: nay, your most powerful men
+steal most of all--at least if it be the most powerful men among you who
+are raised to official command. So that this is a time for _you_ to
+exhibit _your_ training, as well as for me to exhibit mine."
+
+We have here an interchange of raillery between the two Grecian
+officers, which is not an uninteresting feature in the history of the
+expedition. The remark of Cheirisophus, especially, illustrates that
+which I noted in a former chapter as true both of Sparta and Athens--the
+readiness to take bribes, so general in individuals clothed with
+official power; and the readiness, in official Athenians, to commit such
+peculation, in spite of serious risk of punishment. Now this chance of
+punishment proceeded altogether from those accusing orators commonly
+called demagogues,[67] and from the popular judicature whom they
+addressed. The joint working of both greatly abated the evil, yet was
+incompetent to suppress it. But according to the pictures commonly
+drawn of Athens, we are instructed to believe that the crying public
+evil was,--too great a license of accusation, and too much judicial
+trial. Assuredly such was not the conception of Cheirisophus; nor shall
+we find it borne out by any fair appreciation of the general evidence.
+When the peculation of official persons was thus notorious in spite of
+serious risks, what would it have become if the door had been barred to
+accusing demagogues, and if the numerous popular judges[68] had been
+exchanged for a select few judges of the same stamp and class as the
+official men themselves?
+
+Enforcing his proposition, Xenophon now informed his colleagues that he
+had just captured a few guides, by laying an ambush for certain native
+plunderers who beset the rear; and that these guides acquainted him that
+the mountain was not inaccessible, but pastured by goats and oxen. He
+farther offered himself to take command of the marching detachment. But
+this being overruled by Cheirisophus, some of the best among the
+captains, Aristonymus, Aristeas, and Nikomachus, volunteered their
+services and were accepted. After refreshing the soldiers, the generals
+marched with the main army near to the foot of the pass, and there took
+up their night-station, making demonstrations of a purpose to storm it
+the next morning. But as soon as it was dark, Aristonymus and his
+detachment started, and ascending the mountain at another point,
+obtained without resistance a high position on the flank of the enemy,
+who soon however saw them and despatched a force to keep guard on that
+side. At daybreak those two detachments came to conflict on the heights,
+in which the Greeks were completely victorious; while Cheirisophus was
+marching up the pass to attack the main body. His light troops,
+encouraged by seeing this victory of their comrades, hastened on to the
+charge faster than their heavy-armed foot-soldiers could follow. But the
+enemy were so dispirited by seeing themselves turned, that they fled
+with little or no resistance. Though only a few were slain, many threw
+away their light shields of wicker or woodwork, which became the prey of
+the conquerors.
+
+Thus masters of the pass, the Greeks descended to the level ground on
+the other side, where they found themselves in some villages
+well-stocked with provisions and comforts; the first in the country of
+the Taochi. Probably they halted here some days; for they had seen no
+villages, either for rest or for refreshment, during the last nine days'
+march, since leaving those Armenian villages in which they had passed a
+week so eminently restorative, and which apparently had furnished them
+with a stock of provisions for the onward journey. Such halt gave time
+to the Taochi to carry up their families and provisions into
+inaccessible strongholds, so that the Greeks found no supplies, during
+five days' march through the territory. Their provisions were completely
+exhausted, when they arrived before one of these strongholds, a rock on
+which were seen the families and the cattle of the Taochi; without
+houses or fortification, but nearly surrounded by a river, so as to
+leave only one narrow ascent, rendered unapproachable by vast rocks
+which the defenders hurled or rolled from the summit. By an ingenious
+combination of bravery and stratagem, in which some of the captains much
+distinguished themselves, the Greeks overcame this difficulty, and took
+the height. The scene which then ensued was awful. The Taochian women
+seized their children, flung them over the precipice, and then cast
+themselves headlong also, followed by the men. Almost every soul thus
+perished, very few surviving to become prisoners. An Arcadian captain
+named AEneas, seeing one of them in a fine dress about to precipitate
+himself with the rest, seized him with a view to prevent it. But the man
+in return grasped him firmly, dragged him to the edge of the rock, and
+leaped down to the destruction of both. Though scarcely any prisoners
+were taken, however, the Greeks obtained abundance of oxen, asses, and
+sheep, which fully supplied their wants.
+
+They now entered into the territory of the Chalybes, which they were
+seven days in passing through. These were the bravest warriors whom they
+had seen in Asia. Their equipment was a spear of fifteen cubits long,
+with only one end pointed--a helmet, greaves,[69] stuffed corselet, with
+a kilt or dependent flaps--a short sword which they employed to cut off
+the head of a slain enemy, displaying the head in sight of their
+surviving enemies with triumphant dance and song. They carried no
+shield; perhaps because the excessive length of the spear required the
+constant employment of both hands--yet they did not shrink from meeting
+the Greeks occasionally in regular, stand-up fight. As they had carried
+off all their provisions into hill-forts, the Greeks could obtain no
+supplies, but lived all the time upon the cattle which they had acquired
+from the Taochi. After seven days of march and combat--the Chalybes
+perpetually attacking their rear--they reached the river Harpasus (400
+feet broad), where they passed into the territory of the Skythini. It
+rather seems that the territory of the Chalybes was mountainous; that of
+the Skythini was level, and contained villages, wherein they remained
+three days, refreshing themselves, and stocking themselves with
+provisions.
+
+
+Sec. 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea.
+
+Four days of additional march brought them to a sight, the like of which
+they had not seen since Opis and Sittake on the Tigris in Babylonia--a
+large and flourishing city called Gymnias; an indication of the
+neighborhood of the sea, of commerce, and of civilization. The chief of
+this city received them in a friendly manner, and furnished them with a
+guide, who engaged to conduct them, after five days' march, to a hill
+from whence they would have a view of the sea. This was by no means
+their nearest way to the sea, for the chief of Gymnias wished to send
+them through the territory of some neighbors to whom he was hostile;
+which territory, as soon as they reached it, the guide desired them to
+burn and destroy. However, the promise was kept, and on the fifth day,
+marching still apparently through the territory of the Skythini, they
+reached the summit of a mountain called Theches, from whence the Euxine
+Sea was visible.
+
+An animated shout from the soldiers who formed the van-guard testified
+the impressive effect of this long-deferred spectacle, assuring, as it
+seemed to do, their safety and their return home. To Xenophon and to the
+rear-guard--engaged in repelling the attack of natives who had come
+forward to revenge the plunder of their territory--the shout was
+unintelligible. They at first imagined that the natives had commenced
+attack in front as well as in the rear, and that the van-guard was
+engaged in battle. But every moment the shout became louder, as fresh
+men came to the summit and gave vent to their feelings; so that Xenophon
+grew anxious, and galloped up to the van with his handful of cavalry to
+see what had happened. As he approached, the voice of the overjoyed
+crowd was heard distinctly crying out _Thalatta! Thalatta!_ (The sea!
+the sea!), and congratulating each other in ecstasy. The main body, the
+rear-guard, the baggage-soldiers driving up their horses and cattle
+before them, became all excited by the sound, and hurried up breathless
+to the summit. The whole army, officers and soldiers, were thus
+assembled, manifesting their joyous emotions by tears, embraces, and
+outpourings of enthusiastic sympathy. With spontaneous impulse they
+heaped up stones to decorate the spot by a monument and commemorative
+trophy; putting on the stones such homely offerings as their means
+afforded--sticks, hides, and a few of the wicker shields just taken from
+the natives. To the guide, who had performed his engagement of bringing
+them in five days within sight of the sea, their gratitude was
+unbounded. They presented him with a horse, a silver bowl, a Persian
+costume, and ten darics[70] in money; besides several of the soldiers'
+rings, which he especially asked for. Thus loaded with presents, he left
+them, having first shown them a village wherein they could find
+quarters--as well as the road which they were to take through the
+territory of the Makrones.
+
+When they reached the river which divided the land of the Makrones from
+that of the Skythini, they perceived the former assembled in arms on
+the opposite side to resist their passage. The river not being fordable,
+they cut down some neighboring trees to provide the means of crossing.
+While these Makrones were shouting and encouraging each other aloud, a
+light-armed foot-soldier in the Grecian army came to Xenophon, saying
+that he knew their language, and that he believed this to be his
+country. He had been a slave at Athens, exported from home during his
+boyhood--he had then made his escape (probably during the Peloponnesian
+War, to the garrison of Dekeleia), and afterwards taken military
+service. By this fortunate accident, the generals were enabled to open
+negotiations with the Makrones, and to assure them that the army would
+do them no harm, desiring nothing more than a free passage and a market
+to buy provisions. The Makrones, on receiving such assurances in their
+own language from a countryman, exchanged pledges of friendship with the
+Greeks, assisted them to pass the river, and furnished the best market
+in their power during the three days' march across their territory.
+
+The army now reached the borders of the Kolchians, who were found in
+hostile array, occupying the summit of a considerable mountain which
+formed their frontier. Here Xenophon, having marshalled the soldiers for
+attack, with each company of 100 men in single file, instead of marching
+up the hill in phalanx, or continuous front with only a scanty
+depth--addressed to them the following pithy encouragement--"Now,
+fellow-soldiers, these enemies before us are the only impediment that
+keeps us away from reaching the point at which we have been so long
+aiming. We must even eat them raw, if in any way we can do so."
+
+Eighty of these formidable companies of heavy-armed foot-soldiers, each
+in single file, now began to ascend the hill; the light-armed
+foot-soldiers and bowmen being partly distributed among them, partly
+placed on the flanks. Cheirisophus and Xenophon, each commanding on one
+wing, spread their light-armed foot-soldiers in such a way as to
+outflank the Kolchians, who accordingly weakened their centre in order
+to strengthen their wings. Hence the Arcadian light-armed foot-soldiers
+and heavy-armed foot-soldiers in the Greek centre were enabled to attack
+and disperse the centre with little resistance; and all the Kolchians
+presently fled, leaving the Greeks in possession of their camp, as well
+as of several well-stocked villages in their rear. Amidst these villages
+the army remained to refresh themselves for several days. It was here
+that they tasted the grateful, but unwholesome honey, which this region
+still continues to produce--unaware of its peculiar properties. Those
+soldiers who ate little of it were like men greatly intoxicated with
+wine; those who ate much, were seized with the most violent vomiting and
+diarrhoea, lying down like madmen in a state of delirium. From this
+terrible distemper some recovered on the ensuing day, others two or
+three days afterwards. It does not appear that any one actually died.
+
+Two more days' march brought them to the sea, at the Greek maritime city
+of Trapezus or Trebizond, founded by the inhabitants of Sinope on the
+coast of the Kolchian territory. Here the Trapezuntines received them
+with kindness and hospitality, sending them presents of bullocks,
+barley-meal, and wine. Taking up their quarters in some Kolchian
+villages near the town, they now enjoyed, for the first time since
+leaving Tarsus, a safe and undisturbed repose during thirty days, and
+were enabled to recover in some degree from the severe hardships which
+they had undergone. While the Trapezuntines brought produce for sale
+into the camp, the Greeks provided the means of purchasing it by
+predatory incursions against the Kolchians on the hills. Those Kolchians
+who dwelt under the hills and on the plain were in a state of
+semi-dependence upon Trapezus; so that the Trapezuntines mediated on
+their behalf and prevailed on the Greeks to leave them unmolested, on
+condition of a contribution of bullocks.
+
+These bullocks enabled the Greeks to discharge the vow which they had
+made, on the proposition of Xenophon, to Zeus the Preserver, during that
+moment of dismay and despair which succeeded immediately on the massacre
+of their generals by Tissaphernes. To Zeus the Preserver, to
+Herakles[71] the Conductor, and to various other gods, they offered an
+abundant sacrifice on their mountain camp overhanging the sea; and after
+the festival ensuing, the skins of the victims were given as prizes to
+competitors in running, wrestling, boxing, and other contests. The
+superintendence of such festival games, so fully accordant with Grecian
+usage and highly interesting to the army, was committed to a Spartan
+named Drakontius; a man whose destiny recalls that of Patroklus and
+other Homeric heroes--for he had been exiled as a boy, having
+unintentionally killed another boy with a short sword. Various
+departures from Grecian customs however were admitted. The matches took
+place on the steep and stony hill-side overhanging the sea, instead of
+on a smooth plain; and the numerous hard falls of the competitors
+afforded increased interest to the by-standers. The captive non-Hellenic
+boys were admitted to run for the prize, since otherwise a boy-race
+could not have been obtained. ["Horses also ran; and they had to gallop
+down the steep, and, turning round in the sea, to come up again to the
+altar.[72] In the descent, many rolled down; but in the ascent, against
+the exceedingly steep ground, the horses could scarcely get up at a
+walking pace. There was consequently great shouting, and laughter, and
+cheering from the people."[73]] Lastly, the animation of the scene, as
+well as the ardor of the competitors, was much enhanced by the number of
+the women present.
+
+
+Sec. 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten
+Thousand.
+
+We now commence a third act in the history of this memorable body of
+men. After having followed them from Sardis to Kunaxa as mercenaries[74]
+to procure the throne for Cyrus--then from Kunaxa to Trapezus as men
+anxious only for escape, and purchasing their safety by marvellous
+bravery, endurance, and organization--we shall now track their
+proceedings among the Greek colonies on the Euxine and at the Bosphorus
+of Thrace, succeeded by their struggles against the meanness of the
+Thracian prince Seuthes, as well as against the treachery and arbitrary
+harshness of the Lacedaemonian commanders Anaxibius and Aristarchus.
+
+Trapezus, now Trebizond, where the army had recently found repose, was a
+colony from Sinope, as were also Kerasus and Kotyora farther westward;
+each of them receiving a governor from the mother-city, and paying to
+her an annual tribute. All these three cities were planted on the narrow
+strip of land dividing the Euxine from the elevated mountain range
+which so closely borders on its southern coast. At Sinope itself, the
+land stretches out into a defensible peninsula, with a secure harbor,
+and a large breadth of adjacent fertile soil. So tempting a site invited
+the Milesians,[75] even before the year 600 B.C., to plant a colony
+there, and enabled Sinope to attain much prosperity and power. Farther
+westward, not more than a long day's journey for a rowing vessel from
+Byzantium, was situated the Megarian[76] colony of Herakleia, in the
+territory of the Mariandyni.
+
+The native tenants of this line of coast, upon which the Greek settlers
+intruded themselves (reckoning from the westward), were the Bythynian
+Thracians, the Mariandyni, the Paphlagonians, the Tibareni, Chalybes,
+Mosynoeki, Drilae, and Kolchians. Here as elsewhere, these natives found
+the Greek seaports useful, in giving a new value to inland produce, and
+in furnishing the great men with ornaments and luxuries to which they
+would otherwise have had no access. The citizens of Herakleia had
+reduced into dependence a considerable portion of the neighboring
+Mariandyni, and held them in a relation resembling that of the natives
+of Esthonia and Lavonia to the German colonies in the Baltic. Some of
+the Kolchian villages were also subject in the same manner to the
+Trapezuntines; and Sinope doubtless possessed a similar inland dominion
+of greater or less extent. But the principal wealth of this important
+city arose from her navy and maritime commerce; from the rich thunny
+fishery[77] attached to her promontory; from the olives in her
+immediate neighborhood, which was a cultivation not indigenous, but only
+naturalized by the Greeks on the seaboard; from the varied produce of
+the interior, comprising abundant herds of cattle, mines of silver,
+iron, and copper, in the neighboring mountains, wood for ship-building,
+as well as for house-furniture, and native slaves. The case was similar
+with the three colonies of Sinope, more to the eastward--Kotyora,
+Kerasus, and Trapezus; except that the mountains which border on the
+Euxine, gradually approaching nearer and nearer to the shore, left to
+each of them a more confined strip of cultivable land. For these cities
+the time had not yet arrived to be conquered and absorbed by the inland
+monarchies around them, as Miletus and the cities on the western coast
+of Asia Minor had been. The Paphlagonians were at this time the only
+native people in those regions who formed a considerable aggregated
+force, under a prince named Korylas; a prince tributary to Persia, yet
+half independent--since he had disobeyed the summons of Artaxerxes to
+come up and help in repelling Cyrus--and now on terms of established
+alliance with Sinope, though not without secret designs, which he wanted
+only force to execute, against that city. The other native tribes to the
+eastward were mountaineers both ruder and more divided; warlike on their
+own heights, but little capable of any aggressive combinations.
+
+Though we are told that Perikles had once despatched a detachment of
+Athenian colonists to Sinope, and had expelled from thence the despot
+Timesilaus,--yet neither that city nor any of her neighbors appear to
+have taken part in the Peloponnesian war, either for or against Athens;
+nor were they among the number of tributaries to Persia. They doubtless
+were acquainted with the upward march of Cyrus, which had disturbed all
+Asia; and probably were not ignorant of the perils and critical state of
+his Grecian army. But it was with a feeling of mingled surprise,
+admiration, and alarm, that they saw that army descend from the
+mountainous region, hitherto only recognized as the abode of Kolchians,
+Makrones, and other analogous tribes, among whom was perched the mining
+city of Gymnias.
+
+Even after all the losses and extreme sufferings of the retreat the
+Greeks still numbered, when mustered at Kerasus, 8600 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, with light-armed foot-soldiers, bowmen, and slingers,
+making a total of above 10,000 military persons. Such a force had never
+before been seen in the Euxine. Considering both the numbers and the
+now-acquired discipline and self-confidence of the Cyreians, even Sinope
+herself could have raised no force capable of meeting them in the field.
+Yet they did not belong to any city, nor receive orders from any
+established government. They were like those mercenary armies which
+marched about in Italy during the fourteenth century, under the generals
+called Condottieri, taking service sometimes with one city, sometimes
+with another. No one could predict what schemes they might conceive, or
+in what manner they might deal with the established communities on the
+shores of the Euxine. If we imagine that such an army had suddenly
+appeared in Sicily, a little time before the Athenian expedition against
+Syracuse, it would have been probably enlisted by Leontini and Katana in
+their war against Syracuse. If the inhabitants of Trapezus had wished to
+throw off the dominion of Sinope,--or if Korylas the Paphlagonian were
+meditating war against that city--here were formidable auxiliaries to
+second their wishes. Moreover there were various tempting sites, open to
+the formation of a new colony, which, with so numerous a body of
+original Greek settlers, would probably have overtopped Sinope herself.
+There was no restraining cause to reckon upon, except the general
+Hellenic sympathies and education of the Cyreian army; and what was of
+not less importance, the fact that they were not mercenary soldiers by
+permanent profession, such as became so formidably multiplied in Greece
+during the next generation--but established citizens who had come out on
+a special service under Cyrus, with the full intention, after a year of
+lucrative enterprise, to return to their homes and families. We shall
+find such gravitation towards home steadily operative throughout the
+future proceedings of the army. But at the moment when they first
+emerged from the mountains, no one could be sure that it would be so.
+There was ample ground for uneasiness among the Euxine Greeks,
+especially the Sinopians, whose supremacy had never before been
+endangered.
+
+
+Sec. 11. Plans of the army for the future.
+
+An undisturbed repose of thirty days enabled the Cyreians to recover
+from their fatigues, to talk over their past dangers, and to take pride
+in the anticipated effect which their unparalleled achievement could not
+fail to produce in Greece. Having discharged their vows and celebrated
+their festival to the gods, they held an assembly to discuss their
+future proceedings; when a Thurian[78] soldier named Antileon
+exclaimed--"Comrades, I am already tired of packing up, marching,
+running, carrying arms, falling into line, keeping watch, and fighting.
+Now that we have the sea here before us, I desire to be relieved from
+all these toils, to sail the rest of the way, and to arrive in Greece
+outstretched and asleep, like Odysseus."[79] This pithy address being
+received with vehement acclamations, and warmly responded to by all,
+Cheirisophus offered, if the army chose to empower him, to sail
+forthwith to Byzantium,[80] where he thought he could obtain from his
+friend the Lacedaemonian admiral Anaxibius, sufficient vessels for
+transport. His proposition was gladly accepted; and he departed to
+execute the project.
+
+Xenophon then urged upon the army various resolutions and measures,
+proper for the regulation of affairs during the absence of Cheirisophus.
+The army would be forced to maintain itself by marauding expeditions
+among the hostile tribes in the mountains. Such expeditions accordingly
+must be put under regulation: neither individual soldiers, nor small
+companies, must be allowed to go out at pleasure, without giving notice
+to the generals; moreover, the camp must be kept under constant guard
+and scouts, in the event of surprise from a retaliating enemy. It was
+prudent also to take the best measures in their power for procuring
+vessels; since, after all, Cheirisophus might possibly fail in bringing
+an adequate number. They ought to borrow a few ships of war from the
+Trapezuntines, and detain all the merchant ships[81] which they saw;
+unshipping the rudders, placing the cargoes under guard, and
+maintaining the crew during all the time that the ships might be
+required for transport of the army. Many such merchant vessels were
+often sailing by; so that they would thus acquire the means of
+transport, even though Cheirisophus should bring few or none from
+Byzantium. Lastly, Xenophon proposed to require the Grecian cities to
+repair and put in order the road along the coast, for a land-march;
+since, perhaps, with all their efforts, it would be found impossible to
+get together a sufficient stock of transports.
+
+All the propositions of Xenophon were readily adopted by the army,
+except the last. But the mere mention of a renewed land-march excited
+such universal murmurs of repugnance, that he did not venture to put
+that question to the vote. He took upon himself however to send messages
+to the Grecian cities, on his own responsibility; urging them to repair
+the roads, in order that the departure of the army might be facilitated.
+And he found the cities ready enough to carry his wishes into effect, as
+far as Kotyora.
+
+The wisdom of these precautionary suggestions of Xenophon soon appeared;
+for Cheirisophus not only failed in his object, but was compelled to
+stay away for a considerable time. An armed ship with fifty oars was
+borrowed from the Trapezuntines, and committed to the charge of a
+Lacedaemonian provincial, named Dexippus, for the purpose of detaining
+the merchant vessels passing by. This man having violated his trust, and
+employed the ship to make his own escape out of the Euxine, a second was
+obtained and confided to an Athenian, Polykrates; who brought in
+successively several merchant vessels. These the Greeks did not
+plunder, but secured the cargoes under adequate guard, and only reserved
+the vessels for transports. It became however gradually more and more
+difficult to supply the camp with provisions. Though the army was
+distributed into suitable detachments for plundering the Kolchian
+villages on the hills, and seizing cattle and prisoners for sale, yet
+these expeditions did not always succeed; indeed on one occasion, two
+Grecian companies got entangled in such difficult ground, that they were
+destroyed to a man. The Kolchians united on the hills in increased and
+menacing numbers, insomuch that a larger guard became necessary for the
+camp; while the Trapezuntines--tired of the protracted stay of the army,
+as well as desirous of exempting from pillage the natives in their own
+immediate neighborhood--conducted the detachments only to villages alike
+remote and difficult of access. It was in this manner that a large force
+under Xenophon himself, attacked the lofty and rugged stronghold of the
+Drilae--the most warlike nation of mountaineers in the neighborhood of
+the Euxine, well-armed, and troublesome to Trapezus by their incursions.
+After a difficult march and attack, which Xenophon describes in
+interesting detail, and wherein the Greeks encountered no small hazard
+of ruinous defeat--they returned, in the end completely successful, and
+with a plentiful booty.
+
+
+Sec. 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward.
+
+At length, after long awaiting in vain the reappearance of Cheirisophus,
+increasing scarcity and weariness determined them to leave Trapezus. A
+sufficient number of vessels had been collected to serve for the
+transport of the women, of the sick and wounded, and of the baggage. All
+these were accordingly placed on board under the command of Philesius
+and Sophaenetus, the two oldest generals; while the remaining army
+marched by land, along a road which had been just made good under the
+representations of Xenophon. In three days they reached Kerasus,[82]
+another maritime colony of the Sinopians, still in the territory called
+Kolchian; there they halted ten days, mustered and numbered the army,
+and divided the money acquired by the sale of their prisoners. Eight
+thousand six hundred heavy-armed foot-soldiers, out of a total probably
+greater than eleven thousand, were found still remaining; besides
+targeteers[83] and various light troops.
+
+During the halt at Kerasus, the declining discipline of the army became
+manifest as they approached home. Various acts of outrage occurred,
+originating now, as afterwards, in the intrigues of treacherous
+officers. A captain named Klearetus persuaded his company to attempt the
+plunder of a Kolchian village near Kerasus, which had furnished a
+friendly market to the Greeks, and which rested secure on the faith of
+peaceful relations. He intended to make off separately with the booty in
+one of the vessels: but his attack was repelled, and he himself slain.
+The injured villagers despatched three elders as heralds, to remonstrate
+with the Grecian authorities; but these heralds, being seen in Kerasus
+by some of the repulsed plunderers, were slain. A partial tumult then
+ensued, in which even the magistrates of Kerasus were in great danger,
+and only escaped the pursuing soldiers by running into the sea. This
+enormity, though it occurred under the eyes of the generals, immediately
+before their departure from Kerasus, remained without inquiry or
+punishment, from the numbers concerned in it.
+
+Between Kerasus and Kotyora, there was not then (nor is there now) any
+regular road. This march cost the Cyreian army not less than ten days,
+by an inland track departing from the seashore, and through the
+mountains inhabited by the native tribes Mosynoeki and Chalybes. The
+latter, celebrated for their iron works, were under dependence to the
+former. As the Mosynoeki refused to grant a friendly passage across
+their territory, the army were compelled to fight their way through it
+as enemies, with the aid of one section of these people themselves;
+which alliance was procured for them by the Trapezuntine Timesitheus,
+who was consul or agent of the Mosynoeki and understood their language.
+The Greeks took the mountain fastnesses of this people, and plundered
+the wooden turrets[84] which formed their abodes. Of their peculiar
+fashions Xenophon gives an interesting description which I have not
+space to copy. The territory of the Tibareni was more easy and
+accessible. This people met the Greeks with presents, and tendered a
+friendly passage. But the generals at first declined the presents,
+preferring to treat them as enemies and plunder them; which in fact they
+would have done, had they not been deterred by unfavorable sacrifices.
+
+Near Kotyora, which was situated on the coast of the Tibareni, yet on
+the borders of Paphlagonia, they remained forty-five days, still
+awaiting the appearance of Cheirisophus with the transports to carry
+them away by sea. The Sinopian governor did not permit them to be
+welcomed in so friendly a manner as at Trapezus. No market was provided
+for them, nor were their sick admitted within the walls. But the
+fortifications of the town were not so constructed as to resist a Greek
+force, the like of which had never before been seen in those regions.
+The Greek generals found a weak point, made their way in, and took
+possession of a few houses for the accommodation of their sick; keeping
+a guard at the gate to secure free egress, but doing no farther violence
+to the citizens. They obtained their victuals partly from the Kotyorite
+villages, partly from the neighboring territory of Paphlagonia, until at
+length envoys arrived from Sinope to remonstrate against their
+proceedings.
+
+These envoys presented themselves before the assembled soldiers in the
+camp, when Hekatonymus, the chief and most eloquent among them, began by
+complimenting the army upon their gallant exploits and retreat. He then
+complained of the injury which Kotyora, and Sinope as the mother-city of
+Kotyora, had suffered at their hands, in violation of common Hellenic
+kinship. If such proceedings were continued, he intimated that Sinope
+would be compelled in her own defence to seek alliance with the
+Paphlagonian prince Korylas, or any other barbaric auxiliary who would
+lend them aid against the Greeks. Xenophon replied that if the
+Kotyorites had sustained any damage, it was owing to their own ill-will
+and to the Sinopian governor in the place; that the generals were under
+the necessity of procuring subsistence for the soldiers, with house-room
+for the sick, and that they had taken nothing more; that the sick men
+were lying within the town, but at their own cost, while the other
+soldiers were all encamped without; that they had maintained cordial
+friendship with the Trapezuntines, and requited all their good offices;
+that they sought no enemies except through necessity, being anxious only
+again to reach Greece; and that as for the threat respecting Korylas,
+they knew well enough that that prince was eager to become master of the
+wealthy city of Sinope, and would speedily attempt some such enterprise
+if he could obtain the Cyreian army as his auxiliaries.
+
+This judicious reply shamed the colleagues of Hekatonymus so much, that
+they went the length of protesting against what he had said, and of
+affirming that they had come with propositions of sympathy and
+friendship to the army, as well as with promises to give them an
+hospitable reception at Sinope, if they should visit that town on their
+way home. Presents were at once sent to the army by the inhabitants of
+Kotyora, and a good understanding established.
+
+Such an interchange of goodwill with the powerful city of Sinope was an
+unspeakable advantage to the army--indeed an essential condition to
+their power of reaching home. If they continued their march by land, it
+was only through Sinopian guidance and mediation that they could obtain
+or force a passage through Paphlagonia; while for a voyage by sea, there
+was no chance of procuring a sufficient number of vessels except from
+Sinope, since no news had been received of Cheirisophus. On the other
+hand, that city had also a strong interest in facilitating their transit
+homeward, and thus removing formidable neighbors, for whose ulterior
+purposes there could be no guarantee. After some preliminary
+conversation with the Sinopian envoys, the generals convoked the army in
+assembly, and entreated Hekatonymus and his companions to advise them
+as to the best mode of proceeding westward to the Bosphorus.
+Hekatonymus, after apologizing for the menacing insinuations of his
+former speech, and protesting that he had no other object in view except
+to point out the safest and easiest plan of route for the army, began to
+unfold the insuperable difficulties of a march through Paphlagonia. The
+very entrance into the country must be achieved through a narrow
+aperture in the mountains, which it was impossible to force if occupied
+by the enemy. Even assuming this difficulty to be surmounted, there were
+spacious plains to be passed over, wherein the Paphlagonian horse,[85]
+the most numerous and bravest in Asia, would be found almost
+irresistible. There were also three or four great rivers, which the army
+would be unable to pass--the Thermodon and the Iris, each 300 feet in
+breadth--the Halys, nearly a quarter of a mile in breadth--the
+Parthenius, also very considerable. Such an array of obstacles (he
+affirmed) rendered the project of marching through Paphlagonia
+impracticable; whereas the voyage by sea from Kotyora to Sinope, and
+from Sinope to Herakleia, was easy; and the transit from the latter
+place either by sea to Byzantium, or by land across Thrace, yet easier.
+
+Difficulties like these, apparently quite real, were more than
+sufficient to determine the vote of the army, already sick of marching
+and fighting, in favor of the sea voyage; though there were not wanting
+suspicions of the sincerity of Hekatonymus. But Xenophon, in
+communicating to the latter the decision of the army, distinctly
+apprised him that they would on no account permit themselves to be
+divided; that they would either depart or remain all in a body; and
+that vessels must be provided sufficient for the transport of all.
+Hekatonymus desired them to send envoys of their own to Sinope to make
+the necessary arrangements. Three envoys were accordingly sent--Ariston,
+an Athenian, Kallimachus, an Arcadian, and Samolas, an Achaean; the
+Athenian, probably, as possessing the talent of speaking in the Sinopian
+senate or assembly.
+
+During the absence of the envoys, the army still continued near Kotyora,
+with a market provided by the town, and with traders from Sinope and
+Herakleia in the camp. Such soldiers as had no money wherewith to
+purchase, subsisted by pillaging the neighboring frontier of
+Paphlagonia. But they were receiving no pay; every man was living on his
+own resources; and instead of carrying back a handsome purse to Greece,
+as each soldier had hoped when he first took service under Cyrus, there
+seemed every prospect of their returning poorer than when they left
+home. Moreover, the army was now moving onward without any definite
+purpose, with increasing dissatisfaction and decreasing discipline;
+insomuch that Xenophon foresaw the difficulties which would beset the
+responsible commanders when they should come within the stricter
+restraints and obligations of the Grecian world.
+
+
+Sec. 13. Plans of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea.
+
+It was these considerations which helped to suggest to him the idea of
+employing the army on some enterprise of conquest and colonization on
+the Euxine itself; an idea highly flattering to his personal ambition,
+especially as the army was of unrivalled efficiency against an enemy,
+and no such second force could ever be got together in those distant
+regions. His patriotism as a Greek was inflamed with the thoughts of
+procuring for Hellas[86] a new self-governing city, occupied by a
+considerable Hellenic population, possessing a spacious territory, and
+exercising dominion over many neighboring natives. He seems to have
+thought first of attacking and conquering some established non-Hellenic
+city; an act which his ideas of international morality did not forbid,
+in a case where he had contracted no special convention with the
+inhabitants--though he (as well as Cheirisophus) strenuously protested
+against doing wrong to any innocent Hellenic community. He contemplated
+the employment of the entire force in capturing Phasis or some other
+native city; after which, when the establishment was once safely
+effected, those soldiers who preferred going home to remaining as
+settlers, might do so without emperiling those who stayed, and probably
+with their own purses filled by plunder and conquest in the
+neighborhood. To settle as one of the richest proprietors and
+chiefs,--perhaps even the recognized founder, like Agnon at
+Amphipolis,--of a new Hellenic city such as could hardly fail to become
+rich, powerful, and important--was a tempting prospect for one who had
+now acquired the habits of command. Moreover, the sequel will prove how
+correctly Xenophon appreciated the discomfort of leading the army back
+to Greece without pay and without certain employment.
+
+It was the practice of Xenophon, and the advice of his master,
+Sokrates,[87] in grave and doubtful cases where the most careful
+reflection was at fault, to recur to the inspired authority of an oracle
+or a prophet, and to offer sacrifice, in full confidence that the gods
+would vouchsafe to communicate a special revelation to such persons as
+they favored. Accordingly Xenophon, previous to any communication with
+the soldiers respecting his new project, was anxious to ascertain the
+will of the gods by a special sacrifice; for which he invoked the
+presence of Silanus, the chief prophet in the army. This prophet (as I
+have already mentioned), before the battle of Kunaxa, had assured Cyrus
+that Artaxerxes would not fight for ten days--and the prophecy came to
+pass; which made such an impression on Cyrus, that he rewarded him with
+the prodigious present of 3000 darics or ten Attic talents. While others
+were returning poor, Silanus, having contrived to preserve this sum
+through all the hardships of the retreat, was extremely rich, and
+anxious only to hasten home with his treasure in safety. He heard with
+strong repugnance the project of remaining on the Euxine, and determined
+to traverse[88] it by intrigue. As far as concerned the sacrifices,
+indeed, which he offered apart with Xenophon he was obliged to admit
+that the indications of the victims were favorable; Xenophon himself
+being too familiar with the process to be imposed upon. But he at the
+same time tried to create alarm by declaring that a nice inspection
+disclosed evidence of treacherous snares laid for Xenophon; which latter
+indications he himself began to realize by spreading reports among the
+army that the Athenian general was laying clandestine plans for keeping
+them away from Greece without their own concurrence.[89]
+
+Thus prematurely and insidiously divulged, the scheme found some
+supporters, but a far larger number of opponents; especially among those
+officers who were jealous of the ascendency of Xenophon. Timasion and
+Thorax employed it as a means of alarming the Herakleotic and Sinopian
+traders in the camp; telling them that unless they provided not merely
+transports, but also pay for the soldiers, Xenophon would find means to
+detain the army in the Euxine, and would employ the transports when they
+arrived not for the homeward voyage, but for his own projects of
+acquisition. This news spread so much terror both at Sinope and
+Herakleia that large offers of money were made from both cities to
+Timasion, on condition that he would ensure the departure of the army,
+as soon as the vessels should be assembled at Kotyora. Accordingly these
+officers, convening an assembly of the soldiers, protested against the
+duplicity of Xenophon in thus preparing momentous schemes without any
+public debate or decision. And Timasion, seconded by Thorax, not only
+strenuously urged the army to return, but went so far as to promise to
+them, on the faith of the assurances from Herakleia and Sinope, future
+pay on a liberal scale, to commence from the first new moon after their
+departure; together with a hospitable reception in his native city of
+Dardanus on the Hellespont, from whence they could make incursions on
+the rich neighboring satrapy of Pharnabazus.
+
+It was not, however, until these attacks were repeated from more than
+one quarter--until the Achaeans Philesius and Lykon had loudly accused
+Xenophon of underhand manoeuvring to cheat the army into remaining
+against their will--that the latter rose to repel the imputation; saying
+that all he had done was, to consult the gods whether it would be better
+to lay his project before the army or keep it in his own bosom. The
+encouraging answer of the gods, as conveyed through the victims and
+testified even by Silanus himself, proved that the scheme was not
+ill-conceived; nevertheless (he remarked) Silanus had begun to lay
+snares for him, obtaining by his own proceedings a collateral indication
+which he had announced to be visible in the victims. "If (added
+Xenophon) you had continued as destitute and unprovided, as you were
+just now--I should still have looked out for a resource in the capture
+of some city which would have enabled such of you as chose, to return at
+once; while the rest stay behind to enrich themselves. But now there is
+no longer any necessity; since Herakleia and Sinope are sending
+transports, and Timasion promises pay to you from the next new moon.
+Nothing can be better; you will go back safely to Greece, and will
+receive pay for going thither. I desist at once from my scheme, and call
+upon all who were favorable to it to desist also. Only let us all keep
+together until we are on safe ground; and let the man who lags behind
+or runs off, be condemned as a wrongdoer."
+
+Xenophon immediately put this question to the vote, and every hand was
+held up in its favor. There was no man more disconcerted with the vote
+than the prophet Silanus, who loudly exclaimed against the injustice of
+detaining any one desirous to depart. But the soldiers put him down with
+vehement disapprobation, threatening that they would assuredly punish
+him if they caught him running off. His intrigue against Xenophon thus
+recoiled upon himself, for the moment. But shortly afterwards, when the
+army reached Herakleia, he took his opportunity for clandestine flight,
+and found his way back to Greece with the 3000 darics.
+
+If Silanus gained little by his manoeuvre, Timasion and his partners
+gained still less. For so soon as it became known that the army had
+taken a formal resolution to go back to Greece, and that Xenophon
+himself had made the proposition, the Sinopians and the Herakleots felt
+at their ease. They sent the transport vessels, but withheld the money
+which they had promised to Timasion and Thorax. Hence these officers
+were exposed to dishonor and peril; for having positively engaged to
+find pay for the army, they were now unable to keep their word. So keen
+were their apprehensions, that they came to Xenophon and told him that
+they had altered their views, and that they now thought it best to
+employ the newly-arrived transports in conveying the army, not to
+Greece, but against the town and territory of Phasis[90] at the eastern
+extremity of the Euxine. Xenophon replied, that they might convene the
+soldiers and make the proposition, if they chose; but that he would have
+nothing to say to it. To make the very proposition themselves, for which
+they had so much inveighed against Xenophon, was impossible without some
+preparation; so that each of them began individually to sound his
+captains, and get the scheme suggested by them. During this interval,
+the soldiery obtained information of the manoeuvre, much to their
+discontent and indignation; of which Neon (the lieutenant of the absent
+Cheirisophus) took advantage, to throw the whole blame upon Xenophon;
+alleging that it was he who had converted the other officers to his
+original project, and that he intended, as soon as the soldiers were on
+shipboard, to convey them fraudulently to Phasis instead of to Greece.
+There was something so plausible in this glaring falsehood, which
+represented Xenophon as the author of the renewed project, once his
+own--and something so improbable in the fact that the other officers
+should spontaneously have renounced their own strong opinions to take up
+his--that we can hardly be surprised at the ready credence which Neon's
+calumny found among the army. Their exasperation against Xenophon became
+so intense, that they collected in fierce groups; and there was even a
+fear that they would break out into mutinous violence, as they had
+before done against the magistrates of Kerasus.
+
+Well knowing the danger of such spontaneous and informal assemblages,
+and the importance of the habitual solemnities of convocation and
+arrangement, to ensure either discussion or legitimate defence--Xenophon
+immediately sent round the herald to summon the army into the regular
+place of assembly with customary method and ceremony. The summons was
+obeyed with unusual alacrity, and Xenophon then addressed
+them--refraining, with equal generosity and prudence, from saying
+anything about the last proposition which Timasion and others had made
+to him. Had he mentioned it, the question would have become one of life
+and death between him and those other officers.
+
+
+Sec. 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations.
+
+"Soldiers (said he), I understand that there are some men here
+calumniating me, as if I were intending to cheat you and carry you to
+Phasis. Hear me then, in the name of the gods. If I am shown to be doing
+wrong, let me not go from hence unpunished; but if, on the contrary, my
+calumniators are proved to be the wrong-doers, deal with them as they
+deserve. You surely well know where the sun rises and where he sets; you
+know that if a man wishes to reach Greece, he must go westward--if to
+the barbaric territories, he must go eastward. Can any one hope to
+deceive you on this point, and persuade you that the sun rises on _this_
+side, and sets on _that_? Can any one cheat you into going on shipboard
+with a wind which blows you away from Greece? Suppose even that I put
+you aboard when there is no wind at all. How am I to force you to sail
+with me against your own consent--I being only in one ship, you in a
+hundred and more? Imagine however that I could even succeed in deluding
+you to Phasis. When we land there, you will know at once that we are not
+in Greece; and what fate can I then expect--a detected impostor in the
+midst of ten thousand men with arms in their hands? No--these stories
+all proceed from foolish men, who are jealous of my influence with you;
+jealous, too, without reason--for I neither hinder _them_ from
+out-stripping me in your favor, if they can render you greater
+service--nor _you_ from electing them commanders, if you think fit.
+Enough of this now: I challenge any one to come forward and say how it
+is possible either to cheat, or to be cheated, in the manner laid to my
+charge."
+
+Having thus grappled directly with the calumnies of his enemies, and
+dissipated them in such manner as doubtless to create a reaction in his
+own favor, Xenophon made use of the opportunity to denounce the growing
+disorders in the army; which he depicted as such, that if no corrective
+were applied, disgrace and contempt must fall upon all. As he paused
+after this general remonstrance, the soldiers loudly called upon him to
+go into particulars; upon which he proceeded to recall, with lucid and
+impressive simplicity, the outrages which had been committed at and near
+Kerasus--the unauthorized and unprovoked attack made by Klearetus and
+his company on a neighboring village which was in friendly commerce with
+the army--the murder of the three elders of the village, who had come as
+heralds to complain to the generals about such wrong--the mutinous
+attack made by disorderly soldiers even upon the magistrates of Kerasus,
+at the very moment when they were remonstrating with the generals on
+what had occurred; exposing these magistrates to the utmost peril, and
+putting the generals themselves to ignominy. "If such are to be our
+proceedings (continued Xenophon), look you well into what condition the
+army will fall. You, the aggregate body, will no longer be the sovereign
+authority to make war or peace with whom you please; each individual
+among you will conduct the army against any point which he may choose.
+And even if men should come to you as envoys, either for peace or for
+other purposes, they may be slain by any single enemy; so that you will
+be debarred from all public communications whatever. Next, those whom
+your universal suffrage shall have chosen commanders, will have no
+authority; while any self-elected general who chooses to give the word,
+Cast, Cast (_i.e._ darts or stones), may put to death without trial
+either officer or soldier as it suits him; that is, if he finds you
+ready to obey him, as it happened near Kerasus. Look now what these
+self-elected leaders have done for you. The magistrate of Kerasus, if he
+was really guilty of wrong towards you, has been enabled to escape with
+impunity; if he was innocent, he has been obliged to run away from you,
+as the only means of avoiding death without pretence of trial. Those who
+stoned the heralds to death have brought matters to such a pass, that
+you alone, of all Greeks, cannot enter the town of Kerasus in safety,
+unless in commanding force; and that we cannot even send in a herald to
+take up our dead (Klearetus and those who were slain in the attack on
+the Kerasuntine village) for burial; though at first those who had slain
+them in self-defence were anxious to give up the bodies to us. For who
+will take the risk of going in as herald, from those who have set the
+example of putting heralds to death? We generals were obliged to entreat
+the Kerasuntines to bury the bodies for us."
+
+Continuing in this emphatic protest against the recent disorders and
+outrages, Xenophon at length succeeded in impressing his own sentiment,
+heartily and unanimously, upon the soldiers. They passed a vote that the
+ringleaders of the mutiny at Kerasus should be punished; that if any one
+was guilty of similar outrages in future, he should be put upon his
+trial by the generals, before the captains as judges, and if condemned
+by them, put to death; and that trial should be had before the same
+persons, for any other wrong committed since the death of Cyrus. A
+suitable religious ceremony was also directed to be performed, at the
+instance of Xenophon and the prophets, to purify the army.
+
+This speech affords an interesting specimen of the political morality
+universal throughout the Grecian world, though deeper and more
+predominant among its better sections. In the miscellaneous aggregate,
+and temporary society, now mustered at Kotyora, Xenophon insists on the
+universal suffrage of the whole body, as the legitimate sovereign
+authority for the guidance of every individual will; the decision of the
+majority, fairly and formally collected, as carrying a title to prevail
+over every dissentient minority; the generals chosen by the majority of
+votes, as the only persons entitled to obedience. This is the cardinal
+principle to which he appeals, as the anchorage of political obligation
+in the mind of each separate man or fraction; as the condition of all
+success, all safety, and all conjoint action; as the only condition
+either for punishing wrong or protecting right; as indispensable to keep
+up their sympathies with the Hellenic communities, and their dignity
+either as soldiers or as citizens. The complete success of his speech
+proves that he knew how to touch the right chord of Grecian feeling. No
+serious acts of individual insubordination occurred afterwards, though
+the army collectively went wrong on more than one occasion. And what is
+not less important to notice--the influence of Xenophon himself, after
+his unreserved and courageous remonstrance, seems to have been sensibly
+augmented--certainly noway diminished.
+
+The circumstances which immediately followed were indeed well
+calculated to augment it. For it was resolved, on the proposition of
+Xenophon himself, that the generals themselves should be tried before
+the newly-constituted tribunal of the captains, in case anyone had
+complaint to make against them for past matters; agreeably to the
+Athenian habit of subjecting every magistrate to a trial of
+accountability on laying down his office. In the course of this
+investigation, Philesius and Xanthikles were fined twenty minae,[91] to
+make good an assignable deficiency of that amount, in the cargoes of
+those merchantmen which had been detained at Trapezus for the transport
+of the army: Sophaenetus, who had the general superintendence of this
+property, but had been negligent in that duty, was fined ten minae. Next,
+the name of Xenophon was put up, when various persons stood forward to
+accuse him of having beaten and ill-used them. As commander of the
+rear-guard, his duty was by far the severest and most difficult,
+especially during the intense cold and deep snow; since the sick and
+wounded, as well as the laggards and plunderers, all fell under his
+inspection. One man especially was loud in complaints against him, and
+Xenophon questioned him, as to the details of his case, before the
+assembled army. It turned out that he had given him blows, because the
+man, having been entrusted with the task of carrying a sick soldier, was
+about to evade the duty by burying the dying man alive. This interesting
+debate ended by a full approbation on the part of the army of Xenophon's
+conduct, accompanied with regret that he had not handled the man yet
+more severely.
+
+The statements of Xenophon himself give us a vivid idea of the internal
+discipline of the army, even as managed by a discreet and well-tempered
+officer. "I acknowledge (said he to the soldiers) to have struck many
+men for disorderly conduct; men who were content to owe their
+preservation to your orderly march and constant fighting, while they
+themselves ran about to plunder and enrich themselves at your cost. Had
+we all acted as they did, we should have perished to a man. Sometimes
+too I struck men who were lagging behind with cold and fatigue, or were
+stopping the way so as to hinder others from getting forward: I struck
+them with my fist, in order to save them from the spear of the enemy.
+You yourselves stood by and saw me: you had arms in your hands, yet none
+of you interfered to prevent me. I did it for their good as well as for
+yours, not from any insolence of disposition; for it was a time when we
+were all alike suffering from cold, hunger, and fatigue; whereas I now
+live comparatively well, drink more wine and pass easy days--and yet I
+strike no one. You will find that the men who failed most in those times
+of hardship, are now the most outrageous offenders in the army. There is
+Boiskus, the Thessalian pugilist, who pretended sickness during the
+march, in order to evade the burden of carrying his shield--and now, as
+I am informed, he has stripped several citizens of Kotyora of their
+clothes. If (he concluded) the blows which I have occasionally given, in
+cases of necessity, are now brought in evidence--I call upon those among
+you also, to whom I have rendered aid and protection, to stand up and
+testify in my favor."
+
+Many individuals responded to this appeal, insomuch that Xenophon was
+not merely acquitted, but stood higher than before in the opinion of the
+army. We learn from his defence that for a commanding officer to strike
+a soldier with his fist, if wanting in duty, was not considered
+improper; at least under such circumstances as those of the retreat. But
+what deserves notice still more, is, the extraordinary influence which
+Xenophon's powers of speaking gave him over the minds of the army. He
+stood distinguished from the other generals, Lacedaemonian, Arcadian,
+Achaean, and the rest, by his power of working on the minds of the
+soldiers collectively; and we see that he had the good sense, as well as
+the spirit, not to shrink from telling them unpleasant truths. In spite
+of such frankness--or rather, partly by means of such frankness--his
+ascendency as commander not only remained unabated, as compared with
+that of the others, but went on increasing. For whatever may be said
+about the flattery of orators as a means of influence over the
+people,--it will be found that though particular points may be gained in
+this way, yet wherever the influence of an orator has been steady and
+long-continued (like that of Perikles or Demosthenes) it is owing in
+part to the fact that he has an opinion of his own, and is not willing
+to accommodate himself constantly to the prepossessions of his hearers.
+Without the oratory of Xenophon, there would have existed no engine for
+kindling or sustaining the common sense or feeling of the ten thousand
+Cyreians assembled at Kotyora, or for keeping up the moral authority of
+the aggregate over the individual members and fractions. The other
+officers could doubtless speak well enough to address short
+encouragements, or give simple explanations, to the soldiers: without
+this faculty, no man was fit for military command over Greeks. But the
+oratory of Xenophon was something of a higher order. Whoever will study
+the discourse pronounced by him at Kotyora will perceive a dexterity in
+dealing with assembled multitudes--a discriminating use sometimes of the
+plainest and most direct appeal, sometimes of indirect insinuation or
+circuitous transitions to work round the minds of the hearers--a command
+of those fundamental political convictions which lay deep in the Grecian
+mind, but were often so overlaid by the fresh impulses arising out of
+each successive situation, as to require some positive friction to draw
+them out from their latent state--lastly, a power of expansion and
+varied repetition--such as would be naturally imparted both by the
+education and the practice of an intelligent Athenian, but would rarely
+be found in any other Grecian city. The energy and judgment displayed by
+Xenophon in the retreat were doubtless not less essential to his
+influence than his power of speaking; but in these points we may be sure
+that other officers were more nearly his equals.
+
+The important public proceedings above described not only restored the
+influence of Xenophon, but also cleared off a great amount of bad
+feeling, and sensibly abated the bad habits, which had grown up in the
+army. A scene which speedily followed was not without effect in
+promoting cheerful and amicable sympathies. The Paphlagonian prince
+Korylas, weary of the desultory warfare carried on between the Greeks
+and the border inhabitants, sent envoys to the Greek camp with presents
+of horses and fine robes, and with expressions of a wish to conclude
+peace. The Greek generals accepted the presents, and promised to submit
+the proposition to the army. But first, they entertained the envoys at a
+banquet, providing at the same time games and dances, with other
+recreations amusing not only to them but also to the soldiers generally.
+[Xenophon thus describes them--"As soon as the libations were over, and
+they had sung the paean, two Thracians rose up and danced in full armor,
+to the sound of a pipe;[92] they leaped very high, and with great
+agility, and wielded their swords; and at last one struck the other, in
+such a manner that every one thought he had killed him. He fell,
+however, artfully, and the Paphlagonians cried out; the other having
+stripped him of his arms, went out singing; while other Thracians
+carried off the man as if he had been dead; though indeed he had
+suffered no hurt. Afterward some others stood up and danced what they
+called the Carpaean dance[93] in heavy arms. The nature of the dance was
+as follows: one man having laid aside his arms, sows, and drives a yoke
+of oxen, frequently turning to look back as if he were afraid. A robber
+then approaches, and the plowman when he perceives him, snatches up his
+arms and runs to meet him, and fights with him in defence of his oxen
+(and the dancers acted all this, keeping time to the music); but at last
+the robber binding the ox driver, leads him off with his oxen.
+Sometimes, however, the plowman binds the robber, and then having
+fastened him to his oxen, drives him off with his hands tied behind him.
+
+"Next came forward a man with a light shield in each hand, and danced,
+sometimes acting as if two adversaries were attacking him; sometimes he
+used his shields as if engaged with only one; sometimes he whirled
+about, and threw a somersault, still keeping the shields in his hands,
+presenting an interesting spectacle. At last he danced the Persian
+dance (frequently bending the knee), clashing his shields together,
+sinking on his knees, and rising again; and all this he performed in
+time to the pipe.
+
+"After him some of the Arcadians coming forward and taking their stand,
+armed as handsomely as they could equip themselves, moved along in time,
+accompanied by a pipe tuned for the war-movement, and sung the paean, and
+danced in the same manner as in the procession to the gods. The
+Paphlagonians, looking on, testified their astonishment that all the
+dances were performed in armor. The Mysian,[94] observing that they were
+surprised at the exhibition, and prevailing on one of the Arcadians, who
+had a female dancer, to let her come in, brought her forward, equipping
+her as handsomely as he could, and giving her a light shield. She danced
+the Pyrrhic[95] dance with great agility, and a general clapping of
+hands followed; and the Paphlagonians asked whether the women fought
+along with the men; when they replied that it was the women who had
+driven the King from his camp.[96] This was the conclusion of the
+entertainment for that night."[97]] They were followed on the next day
+by an amicable convention concluded between the army and the
+Paphlagonians.
+
+
+Sec. 15. The army passes by sea to Sinope.
+
+Not long afterwards--a number of transports, sufficient for the whole
+army, having been assembled from Herakleia and Sinope--all the soldiers
+were conveyed by sea to the latter place, passing by the mouth of the
+rivers Thermodon, Iris, and Halys, which they would have found
+impracticable to cross in a land-march through Paphlagonia. Having
+reached Sinope after a day and a night of sailing with a fair wind, they
+were hospitably received, and lodged in the neighboring seaport of
+Armene, where the Sinopians sent to them a large present of barley-meal
+and wine, and where they remained for five days.
+
+It was here that they were joined by Cheirisophus, whose absence had
+been so unexpectedly prolonged. But he came with only a single
+trireme,[98] bringing nothing except a message from Anaxibius, the
+Lacedaemonian general in the Bosphorus; who complimented the army, and
+promised that they should be taken into pay as soon as they were out of
+the Euxine. The soldiers, severely disappointed on seeing him arrive
+thus empty-handed, became the more strongly bent on striking some blow
+to fill their own purses before they reached Greece. Feeling that it was
+necessary to the success of any such project that it should be prepared
+not only skilfully, but secretly, they resolved to elect a single
+general in place of that board of six (or perhaps more) who were still
+in function. Such was now the ascendency of Xenophon, that the general
+sentiment of the army at once turned towards him; and the captains,
+communicating to him what was in contemplation, intimated to him their
+own anxious hopes that he would not decline the offer. Tempted by so
+flattering a proposition, he hesitated at first what answer he should
+give. But at length the uncertainty of being able to satisfy the
+exigencies of the army, and the fear of thus compromising the
+reputation which he had already realized, outweighed the opposite
+inducements. As in other cases of doubt, so in this--he offered
+sacrifice to Zeus the King; and the answer returned by the victims was
+such as to determine him to refusal. Accordingly, when the army
+assembled, with predetermination to choose a single chief, and proceeded
+to nominate him--he respectfully and thankfully declined, on the ground
+that Cheirisophus was a Lacedaemonian, and that he himself was not;
+adding that he should cheerfully serve under any one whom they might
+name. His excuse however was repudiated; especially by the captains.
+Several of these latter were Arcadians; and one of them, Agasias, cried
+out, with full sympathy of the soldiers, that, if that principle were
+admitted, he as an Arcadian ought to resign his command. Finding that
+his former reason was not approved, Xenophon acquainted the army that he
+had sacrificed to know whether he ought to accept the command, and that
+the gods had peremptorily forbidden him to do so.
+
+Cheirisophus was then elected sole commander, and undertook the duty;
+saying that he would have willingly served under Xenophon, if the latter
+had accepted the office, but that it was a good thing for Xenophon
+himself to have declined--since Dexippus had already poisoned the mind
+of Anaxibius against him, though he (Cheirisophus) had emphatically
+contradicted the calumnies.
+
+On the next day, the army sailed forward under the command of
+Cheirisophus, to Herakleia; near which town they were hospitably
+entertained, and gratified with a present of meal, wine, and bullocks,
+even greater than they had received at Sinope. It now appeared that
+Xenophon had acted wisely in declining the sole command; and also that
+Cheirisophus, though elected commander, yet having been very long
+absent, was not really of so much importance in the eyes of the soldiers
+as Xenophon. In the camp near Herakleia, the soldiers became impatient
+that their generals (for the habit of looking upon Xenophon as one of
+them still continued) took no measures to procure money for them. The
+Achaean Lykon proposed that they should extort a contribution of no less
+than 3000 staters[99] of Kyzikus from the inhabitants of Herakleia:
+another man immediately outbid this proposition, and proposed that they
+should require 10,000 staters[99]--a full month's pay for the army. It
+was moved that Cheirisophus and Xenophon should go to the Herakleots as
+envoys with this demand. But both of them indignantly refused to be
+concerned in so unjust an extortion, from a Grecian city which had just
+received the army kindly and sent handsome presents. Accordingly Lykon
+with two Arcadian officers undertook the mission, and intimated the
+demand, not without threats in case of non-compliance, to the
+Herakleots. The latter replied that they would take it into
+consideration. But they waited only for the departure of the envoys, and
+then immediately closed their gates, manned their walls, and brought in
+their outlying property.
+
+The project being thus baffled, Lykon and the rest turned their
+displeasure upon Cheirisophus and Xenophon, whom they accused of having
+occasioned its miscarriage. And they now began to exclaim that it was
+disgraceful to the Arcadians and Achaeans, who formed more than one
+numerical half of the army and endured all the toil--to obey as well as
+to enrich generals from other Hellenic cities; especially a single
+Athenian who furnished no contingent to the army. Here again it is
+remarkable that the personal importance of Xenophon caused him to be
+still regarded as a general, though the sole command had been vested by
+formal vote in Cheirisophus. So vehement was the dissatisfaction, that
+all the Arcadian and Achaean soldiers in the army, more than 4500
+heavy-armed foot-soldiers in number, renounced the authority of
+Cheirisophus, formed themselves into a distinct division, and chose ten
+commanders from out of their own numbers. The whole army thus became
+divided, into three portions--first the Arcadians and Achaeans: secondly,
+1400 heavy-armed foot-soldiers and 700 Thracian light-armed
+foot-soldiers, who adhered to Cheirisophus: lastly, 1700 heavy-armed
+foot-soldiers, 300 light-armed foot-soldiers, and 40 horsemen (all the
+horsemen in the army), attaching themselves to Xenophon; who however was
+taking measures to sail away individually from Herakleia and quit the
+army altogether, which he would have done had he not been restrained by
+unfavorable sacrifices.
+
+The Arcadian division, departing first, in vessels from Herakleia,
+landed at Kalpe; an untenanted promontory of the Bithynian or Asiatic
+Thrace, midway between Herakleia and Byzantium. From thence they marched
+at once into the interior of Bithynia, with the view of surprising the
+villages and acquiring plunder. But through rashness and bad management,
+they first sustained several partial losses, and ultimately became
+surrounded upon an eminence, by a large muster of the native Bithynians
+from all the territory around. They were only rescued from destruction
+by the unexpected appearance of Xenophon with his division; who had left
+Herakleia somewhat later, but heard by accident, during their march, of
+the danger of their comrades. The whole army thus became re-assembled at
+Kalpe, where the Arcadians and Achaeans, disgusted at the ill-success of
+their separate expedition, again established the old union and the old
+generals. They chose Neon in place of Cheirisophus, who--afflicted by
+the humiliation put upon him, in having been first named sole commander
+and next deposed within a week--had fallen sick of a fever and died. The
+elder Arcadian captains farther moved a resolution, that if any one
+henceforward should propose to separate the army into fractions, he
+should be put to death.
+
+The locality of Kalpe was well-suited for the foundation of a colony,
+which Xenophon evidently would have been glad to bring about, though he
+took no direct measures tending towards it; while the soldiers were so
+bent on returning to Greece, and so jealous lest Xenophon should entrap
+them into remaining, that they almost shunned the encampment. It so
+happened that they were detained there for some days without being able
+to march forth even in quest of provisions, because the sacrifices were
+not favorable. Xenophon refused to lead them out, against the warning of
+the sacrifices--although the army suspected him of a deliberate
+manoeuvre for the purpose of detention. Neon however, less scrupulous,
+led out a body of 2000 men who chose to follow him, under severe
+distress for want of provisions. But being surprised by the native
+Bithynians, with the aid of some troops of the Persian satrap
+Pharnabazus, he was defeated with the loss of no less than 500 men; a
+misfortune which Xenophon regards as the natural retribution for
+contempt of the sacrificial warning. The dangerous position of Neon with
+the remainder of the detachment was rapidly made known at the camp: upon
+which Xenophon, unharnessing a wagon-bullock as the only animal near at
+hand, immediately offered sacrifice. On this occasion the victim was at
+once favorable; so that he led out without delay the greater part of the
+force, to the rescue of the exposed detachment, which was brought back
+in safety to the camp. So bold had the enemy become, that in the night
+the camp was attacked. The Greeks were obliged on the next day to
+retreat into stronger ground, surrounding themselves with a ditch and a
+palisade. Fortunately a vessel arrived from Herakleia, bringing to the
+camp at Kalpe a supply of barley-meal, cattle, and wine; which restored
+the spirits of the army, enabling them to go forth on the ensuing
+morning and assume the aggressive against the Bithynians, and the troops
+of Pharnabazus. These troops were completely defeated and dispersed, so
+that the Greeks returned to their camp at Kalpe in the evening both safe
+and masters of the country.
+
+At Kalpe they remained some time awaiting the arrival of Kleander from
+Byzantium, who was said to be about to bring vessels for their
+transport. They were now abundantly provided with supplies, not merely
+from the undisturbed plunder of the neighboring villages, but also from
+the visits of traders who came with cargoes. Indeed the impression--that
+they were preparing, at the instance of Xenophon, to found a new city at
+Kalpe--became so strong that several of the neighboring native villages
+sent envoys to ask on what terms alliance would be granted to them. At
+length Kleander came, but with two triremes only.
+
+Kleander was the Lacedaemonian governor of Byzantium. His appearance
+opens to us a new phase in the eventful history of this gallant army, as
+well as an insight into the state of the Grecian world under the
+Lacedaemonian empire. He came attended by the Lacedaemonian Dexippus, who
+had served in the Cyreian army until their arrival at Trapezus, and who
+had there been entrusted with an armed vessel for the purpose of
+detaining transports to convey the troops home but had abused the
+confidence reposed in him, by running away with the ship to Byzantium.
+
+It so happened that at the moment when Kleander arrived, the whole army
+was out on a marauding excursion. Orders had already been promulgated,
+that whatever was captured by every one when the whole army was out,
+should be brought in and dealt with as public property; though on days
+when the army was collectively at rest, any soldier might go out
+individually and take to himself whatever he could pillage. On the day
+when Kleander arrived, and found the whole army out, some soldiers were
+just coming back with a lot of sheep which they had seized. By right,
+the sheep ought to have been handed into the public store. But these
+soldiers, desirous to appropriate them wrongfully, addressed themselves
+to Dexippus, and promised him a portion if he would enable them to
+retain the rest. Accordingly the latter interfered, drove away those who
+claimed the sheep as public property, and denounced them as thieves to
+Kleander; who desired him to bring them before him. Dexippus arrested
+one of them, a soldier belonging to the company of one of the best
+friends of Xenophon--the Arcadian Agasias. The latter took the man under
+his protection; while the soldiers around incensed not less at the past
+than at the present conduct of Dexippus, broke out into violent
+manifestations, called him a traitor, and pelted him with stones. Such
+was their wrath, that not Dexippus alone, but the crew of the triremes
+also, and even Kleander himself fled, in alarm; in spite of the
+intervention of Xenophon, and the other generals, who on the one hand
+explained to Kleander, that it was an established army-order which these
+soldiers were seeking to enforce--and on the other hand controlled the
+mutineers. But the Lacedaemonian governor was so incensed as well by his
+own fright as by the calumnies of Dexippus, that he threatened to sail
+away at once, and proclaim the Cyreian army enemies to Sparta, so that
+every Hellenic city should be interdicted from giving them reception. It
+was in vain that the generals, well knowing the formidable consequences
+of such an interdict, entreated him to relent. He would consent only on
+condition that the soldiers who had begun to throw stones as well as
+Agasias the interfering officer, should be delivered up to him. This
+latter demand was especially insisted upon by Dexippus, who hating
+Xenophon, had already tried to prejudice Anaxibius against him, and
+believed that Agasias had acted by his order.
+
+The situation now became extremely critical; since the soldiers would
+not easily be brought to surrender their comrades--who had a perfectly
+righteous cause, though they had supported it by undue violence--to the
+vengeance of a traitor like Dexippus. When the army was convened in
+assembly, several of them went so far as to treat the menace of Kleander
+with contempt. But Xenophon took pains to set them right upon this
+point. "Soldiers (said he) it will be no slight misfortune if Kleander
+shall depart as he threatens to do, in his present temper toward us. We
+are here close upon the cities of Greece: now the Lacedaemonians are the
+imperial power in Greece, and not merely their authorized officers, but
+even each one of their individual citizens, can accomplish what he
+pleases in the various cities. If then Kleander begins by shutting us
+out from Byzantium, and next enjoins the Lacedaemonian governors in the
+other cities[100] to do the same, proclaiming us lawless and disobedient
+to Sparta--if, besides, the same representation should be conveyed to
+the Lacedaemonian admiral of the fleet, Anaxibius--we shall be hard
+pressed either to remain or to sail away; for the Lacedaemonians are at
+present masters both on land and at sea. We must not, for the sake of
+any one or two men, suffer the whole army to be excluded from Greece. We
+must obey whatever the Lacedaemonians command, especially as our cities,
+to which we respectively belong, now obey them. As to what concerns
+myself, I understand that Dexippus has told Kleander that Agasias would
+never have taken such a step except by my orders. Now, if Agasias
+himself states this, I am ready to exonerate both him and all of you,
+and to give myself up to any extremity of punishment. I maintain too
+that any other man whom Kleander arraigns ought in like manner to give
+himself up for trial, in order that you collectively may be discharged
+from the imputation. It will be hard indeed, if just as we are reaching
+Greece, we should not only be debarred from the praise and honor which
+we anticipated, but should be degraded even below the level of others,
+and shut out from the Grecian cities."
+
+After this speech from the philo-Laconian[101] Xenophon--so significant
+a testimony of the unmeasured ascendency and interference of the
+Lacedaemonians throughout Greece--Agasias rose, and proclaimed, that what
+he had done was neither under the orders, nor with the privity, of
+Xenophon; that he had acted on a personal impulse of wrath, at seeing
+his own honest and innocent soldier dragged away by the traitor
+Dexippus; but that he now willingly gave himself up as a victim, to
+avert from the army the displeasure of the Lacedaemonians. This generous
+self-sacrifice, which at the moment promised nothing less than a fatal
+result to Agasias, was accepted by the army: and the generals conducted
+both him and the soldier whom he had rescued, as prisoners to Kleander.
+Presenting himself as the responsible party, Agasias at the same time
+explained to Kleander the infamous behavior of Dexippus to the army, and
+said that towards no one else would he have acted in the same manner;
+while the soldier whom he had rescued, and who was given up at the same
+time, also affirmed that he had interfered merely to prevent Dexippus
+and some others from overruling, for their own individual benefit, a
+proclaimed order of the entire army. Kleander, having observed that if
+Dexippus had done what was affirmed, he would be the last to defend him,
+but that no one ought to have been stoned without trial--desired that
+the persons surrendered might be left for his consideration, and at the
+same time retracted his expressions of displeasure as regarded all the
+others.
+
+The generals then retired, leaving Kleander in possession of the
+prisoners, and on the point of taking his dinner. But they retired with
+mournful feelings, and Xenophon presently convened the army to propose
+that a general deputation should be sent to Kleander to implore his
+lenity towards their two comrades. This being cordially adopted,
+Xenophon, at the head of a deputation comprising Drakontius the Spartan
+as well as the chief officers, addressed an earnest appeal to Kleander,
+representing that his honor had been satisfied with the unconditional
+surrender of the two persons required; that the army, deeply concerned
+for two meritorious comrades, entreated him now to show mercy and spare
+their lives; that they promised him in return the most explicit
+obedience, and entreated him to take the command of them, in order that
+he might have personal cognizance of their exact discipline, and compare
+their worth with that of Dexippus. Kleander was not merely soothed, but
+completely won over, by this address; and said in reply that the conduct
+of the generals belied altogether the representations made to him
+(doubtless by Dexippus), that they were seeking to alienate the army
+from the Lacedaemonians. He not only restored the two men in his power,
+but also accepted the command of the army, and promised to conduct them
+back into Greece.
+
+The prospects of the army appeared thus greatly improved; the more so,
+as Kleander, on entering upon his new functions as commander, found the
+soldiers so cheerful and orderly, that he was highly gratified, and
+exchanged personal tokens of friendship and hospitality with Xenophon.
+But when sacrifices came to be offered, for beginning the march
+homeward, the signs were so unpropitious, for three successive days,
+that Kleander could not bring himself to brave such auguries at the
+outset of his career. Accordingly, he told the generals, that the gods
+plainly forbade him, and reserved it for them, to conduct the army into
+Greece; that he should therefore sail back to Byzantium, and would
+receive the army in the best way he could, when they reached the
+Bosphorus. After an interchange of presents with the soldiers, he then
+departed with his two triremes.
+
+The favorable sentiment now established in the bosom of Kleander will be
+found very serviceable hereafter to the Cyreians at Byzantium; but they
+had cause for deeply regretting the unpropitious sacrifices which had
+deterred him from assuming the actual command at Kalpe. In the request
+preferred to him by them that he would march as their commander to the
+Bosphorus, we may recognize a scheme, and a very well-contrived scheme,
+of Xenophon; who had before desired to leave the army at Herakleia, and
+who saw plainly that the difficulties of a commander, unless he were a
+Lacedaemonian of station and influence, would increase with every step of
+their approach to Greece. Had Kleander accepted the command, the
+soldiers would have been better treated, while Xenophon himself might
+either have remained as his adviser, or might have gone home. He would
+probably have chosen the latter course.
+
+
+Sec. 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises of
+Anaxibius and their results.
+
+Under the command of their own officers, the Cyreians now marched from
+Kalpe across Bithynia to Chrysopolis (in the territory of Chalkedon on
+the Asiatic edge of the Bosphorus, immediately opposite to
+Byzantium,[102] as Scutari now is to Constantinople), where they
+remained seven days, turning into money the slaves and plunder which
+they had collected. Unhappily for them, the Lacedaemonian admiral
+Anaxibius was now at Byzantium, so that their friend Kleander was under
+his superior command. And Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of the
+northwestern regions of Asia Minor, becoming much alarmed lest they
+should invade his satrapy, despatched a private message to Anaxibius;
+whom he prevailed upon, by promise of large presents, to transport the
+army forthwith across to the European side of the Bosphorus.
+Accordingly, Anaxibius, sending for the generals and the captains across
+to Byzantium, invited the army to cross, and gave them his assurance
+that as soon as the soldiers should be in Europe, he would provide pay
+for them. The other officers told him that they would return with this
+message and take the sense of the army; but Xenophon on his own account
+said that he should not return; that he should now retire from the army,
+and sail away from Byzantium. It was only on the pressing instance of
+Anaxibius that he was induced to go back to Chrysopolis and conduct the
+army across; on the understanding that he should depart immediately
+afterwards.
+
+Here at Byzantium, he received his first communication from the Thracian
+prince Seuthes; who sent Medosades to offer him a reward if he would
+bring the army across. Xenophon replied that the army would cross; that
+no reward from Seuthes was needful to bring about that movement; but
+that he himself was about to depart, leaving the command in other hands.
+In point of fact, the whole army crossed with little delay, landed in
+Europe, and found themselves within the walls of Byzantium. Xenophon,
+who had come along with them, paid a visit shortly afterwards to his
+friend the governor Kleander, and took leave of him as about to depart
+immediately. But Kleander told him that he must not think of departing
+until the army was out of the city, and that he would be held
+responsible if they stayed. In truth Kleander was very uneasy so long as
+the soldiers were within the walls, and was well aware that it might be
+no easy matter to induce them to go away. For Anaxibius had practised a
+gross fraud in promising them pay, which he had neither the ability nor
+the inclination to provide. Without handing to them either pay or even
+means of purchasing supplies, he issued orders that they must go forth
+with arms and baggage, and muster outside of the gates, there to be
+numbered for an immediate march; any one who stayed behind being held as
+punishable. This proclamation was alike unexpected and offensive to the
+soldiers, who felt that they had been deluded, and were very backward in
+obeying. Hence Kleander, while urgent with Xenophon to defer his
+departure until he had conducted the army outside of the walls,
+added--"Go forth as if you were about to march along with them; when you
+are once outside, you may depart as soon as you please;" Xenophon
+replied that this matter must be settled with Anaxibius, to whom
+accordingly both of them went, and who repeated the same directions, in
+a manner yet more peremptory. Though it was plain to Xenophon that he
+was here making himself a sort of instrument to the fraud which
+Anaxibius had practised upon the army, yet he had no choice but to obey.
+Accordingly, he as well as the other generals put themselves at the head
+of the troops, who followed, however reluctantly, and arrived most of
+them outside of the gates. Eteonikus (a Lacedaemonian officer of
+consideration, noticed more than once in preceding Grecian history)
+commanding at the gate, stood close to it in person; in order that when
+all the Cyreians had gone forth, he might immediately shut it and fasten
+it with the bar.
+
+Anaxibius knew well what he was doing. He fully anticipated that the
+communication of the final orders would occasion an outbreak among the
+Cyreians, and was anxious to defer it until they were outside. But when
+there remained only the rearmost companies still in the inside and on
+their march, all the rest having got out--he thought the danger was
+over, and summoned to him the generals and captains, all of whom were
+probably near the gates superintending the march through. It seems that
+Xenophon, having given notice that he intended to depart, did not answer
+to this summons as one of the generals, but remained outside among the
+soldiers. "Take what supplies you want (said Anaxibius) from the
+neighboring Thracian villages, which are well furnished with wheat,
+barley, and other necessaries. After thus providing yourselves, march
+forward to the Chersonesus,[103] and there Kyniskus will give you pay."
+
+This was the first distinct intimation given by Anaxibius that he did
+not intend to perform his promise of finding pay for the soldiers. Who
+Kyniskus was we do not know, nor was he probably known to the Cyreians;
+but the march here enjoined was at least 150 miles, and might be much
+longer. The route was not indicated, and the generals had to inquire
+from Anaxibius whether they were to go by what was called the Holy
+Mountain (that is, by the shorter line, skirting the northern coast of
+the Propontis), or by a more inland and circuitous road through
+Thrace;--also whether they were to regard the Thracian prince, Seuthes,
+as a friend or an enemy.
+
+
+Sec. 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium.
+
+Instead of the pay which had been formally promised to them by Anaxibius
+if they would cross over from Asia to Byzantium, the Cyreians thus found
+themselves sent away empty-handed to a long march--through another
+barbarous country, with chance-supplies to be obtained only by their own
+efforts,--and at the end of it a lot unknown and uncertain; while, had
+they remained in Asia, they would have had at any rate the rich satrapy
+of Pharnabazus within their reach. To perfidy of dealing was now added a
+brutal ejectment from Byzantium, without even the commonest
+manifestations of hospitality; contrasting pointedly with the treatment
+which the army had recently experienced at Trapezus, Sinope, and
+Herakleia; where they had been welcomed not only by compliments on their
+past achievements, but also by an ample present of flour, meat, and
+wine. Such behavior could not fail to provoke the most violent
+indignation in the bosoms of the soldiery; and Anaxibius had therefore
+delayed giving the order until the last soldiers were marching out,
+thinking that the army would hear nothing of it until the generals came
+out of the gates to inform them; so that the gates would be closed, and
+the walls manned to resist an assault from without. But his calculations
+were not realized. Either one of the soldiers passing by heard him give
+the order, or one of the captains forming his audience stole away from
+the rest, and hastened forward to acquaint his comrades on the outside.
+The bulk of the army, already irritated by the inhospitable way in which
+they had been thrust out, needed nothing farther to inflame them into
+spontaneous mutiny and aggression. While the generals within (who either
+took the communication more patiently, or at least, looking farther
+forward, felt that any attempt to resent or resist the ill-usage of the
+Spartan admiral would only make their position worse) were discussing
+with Anaxibius the details of the march just enjoined--the soldiers
+without, bursting into spontaneous movement, with a simultaneous and
+fiery impulse, made a rush back to get possession of the gate. But
+Eteonikus, seeing their movement, closed it without a moment's delay,
+and fastened the bar. The soldiers on reaching the gate and finding it
+barred, clamored loudly to get it opened, threatened to break it down,
+and even began to knock violently against it. Some ran down to the
+sea-coast, and made their way into the city round the line of stones at
+the base of the city wall, which protected it against the sea; while the
+rearmost soldiers who had not yet marched out, seeing what was passing,
+and fearful of being cut off from their comrades, assaulted the gate
+from the inside, severed the fastenings with axes, and threw it wide
+open to the army. All the soldiers then rushed up, and were soon again
+in Byzantium.
+
+Nothing could exceed the terror of the Lacedaemonians as well as of the
+native Byzantines, when they saw the excited Cyreians again within the
+walls. The town seemed already taken and on the point of being
+plundered. Neither Anaxibius nor Eteonikus took the smallest means of
+resistance, nor stayed to brave the approach of the soldiers, whose
+wrath they were fully conscious of having deserved. Both fled to the
+citadel--the former first running to the seashore, and jumping into a
+fishing-boat to go thither by sea. He even thought the citadel not
+tenable with its existing garrison, and sent over to Chalkedon for a
+reinforcement. Still more terrified were the citizens of the town. Every
+man in the market-place instantly fled; some to their houses, others to
+the merchant vessels in the harbor, others to the triremes or ships of
+war, which they hauled down to the water, and thus put to sea.
+
+To the deception and harshness of the Spartan admiral, there was thus
+added a want of precaution in the manner of execution, which threatened
+to prove the utter ruin of Byzantium. For it was but too probable that
+the Cyreian soldiers, under the keen sense of recent injury, would
+satiate their revenge, and reimburse themselves for the want of
+hospitality towards them, without distinguishing the Lacedaemonian
+garrison from the Byzantine citizens; and that too from mere impulse,
+not merely without orders, but in spite of prohibitions, from their
+generals. Such was the aspect of the case, when they became again
+assembled in a mass within the gates; and such would probably have been
+the reality, had Xenophon executed his design of retiring earlier, so as
+to leave the other generals acting without him. Being on the outside
+along with the soldiers, Xenophon felt at once, as soon as he saw the
+gates forced open and the army again within the town, the terrific
+emergency which was impending: first, the sack of Byzantium--next,
+horror and antipathy, throughout all Greece, towards the Cyreian
+officers and soldiers indiscriminately--lastly, unsparing retribution
+inflicted upon all by the power of Sparta. Overwhelmed with these
+anxieties, he rushed into the town along with the multitude, using
+every effort to pacify them and bring them into order. They on their
+parts, delighted to see him along with them, and conscious of their own
+force, were eager to excite him to the same pitch as themselves, and to
+prevail on him to second and methodize their present triumph. "Now is
+your time, Xenophon (they exclaimed), to make yourself a man. You have
+here a city--you have triremes--you have money--you have plenty of
+soldiers. Now then, if you choose, you can enrich us; and we in return
+can make you powerful."--"You speak well (replied he); I shall do as you
+propose; but if you want to accomplish anything, you must fall into
+military array forthwith." He knew that this was the first condition of
+returning to anything like tranquillity; and by great good fortune, the
+space called the Thrakion,[104] immediately adjoining the gate inside,
+was level, open, and clear of houses; presenting an excellent place of
+arms or locality for a review. The whole army,--partly from their long
+military practice, partly under the impression that Xenophon was really
+about to second their wishes and direct some aggressive operation--threw
+themselves almost of their own accord into regular array on the
+Thrakion; the heavy-armed foot-soldiers eight deep, the light-armed
+foot-soldiers on each flank. It was in this position that Xenophon
+addressed them as follows.
+
+
+Sec. 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers.
+
+"Soldiers, I am not surprised that you are incensed, and that you think
+yourselves scandalously cheated and ill-used. But if we give way to our
+wrath--if we punish these Lacedaemonians now before us for their
+treachery, and plunder this innocent city--reflect what will be the
+consequence. We shall stand proclaimed forthwith as enemies to the
+Lacedaemonians and their allies, and what sort of a war that will be,
+those who have witnessed and who still recollect recent matters of
+history may easily fancy. We Athenians entered into the war against
+Sparta with a powerful army and fleet, an abundant revenue, and numerous
+tributary cities in Asia as well as Europe--among them this very
+Byzantium in which we now stand. We have been vanquished in the way that
+all of you know. And what then will be the fate of us soldiers, when we
+shall have as united enemies, Sparta with all her old allies and Athens
+besides,--Tissaphernes and the barbaric forces on the coast--and most of
+all the Great King[105] whom we marched up to dethrone and slay, if we
+were able? Is any man fool enough to think that we have a chance of
+making head against so many combined enemies? Let us not plunge madly
+into dishonor and ruin, nor incur the enmity of our own fathers and
+friends: who are in the cities which will take arms against us--and will
+take arms justly, if we, who abstained from seizing any barbaric city,
+even when we were in force sufficient, shall nevertheless now plunder
+the first Grecian city into which we have been admitted. As far as I am
+concerned, may I be buried ten thousand fathoms deep in the earth rather
+than see you do such things! and I exhort _you_ too, as Greeks, to obey
+the leaders of Greece. Endeavor while thus obedient, to obtain your just
+rights; but if you should fail in this, rather submit to injustice than
+cut yourselves off from the Grecian world. Send to inform Anaxibius,
+that we have entered the city, not with a view to commit any violence,
+but in the hope, if possible, of obtaining from him the advantages which
+he promised us. If we fail, we shall at least prove to him that we quit
+the city not under his fraudulent manoeuvres, but under our own sense of
+the duty of obedience."
+
+This speech completely arrested the impetuous impulse of the army,
+brought them to a true sense of their situation, and induced them to
+adopt the proposition of Xenophon. They remained unmoved in their
+position on the Thrakion, while three of the captains were sent to
+communicate with Anaxibius. While they were thus waiting, a Theban named
+Koeratadas approached, who had once commanded in Byzantium under the
+Lacedaemonians during the previous war. He had now become a sort of
+professional general looking out for an army to command wherever he
+could find one, and offering his services to any city which would engage
+him. He addressed the assembled Cyreians, and offered, if they would
+accept him for their general, to conduct them against the Delta[106] of
+Thrace (the space included between the northwest corner of the
+Propontis[107] and the southwest corner of the Euxine), which he
+asserted to be a rich territory presenting great opportunity of plunder:
+he further promised to furnish them with ample subsistence during the
+march. Presently the envoys returned, bearing the reply of Anaxibius;
+who received the message favorably, promising that not only the army
+should have no cause to regret their obedience, but that he would both
+report their good conduct to the authorities at home, and do everything
+in his own power to promote their comfort. He said nothing farther about
+taking them into pay; that delusion having now answered its purpose. The
+soldiers, on hearing his communication, adopted a resolution to accept
+Koeratadas as their future commander, and then marched out of the town.
+As soon as they were on the outside, Anaxibius, not content with closing
+the gates against them, made public proclamation that if any one of them
+were found in the town, he should be sold forthwith into slavery.
+
+There are few cases throughout Grecian history in which an able
+discourse has been the means of averting so much evil, as was averted by
+this speech of Xenophon to the army in Byzantium. Nor did he ever,
+throughout the whole period of his command, render to them a more signal
+service. The miserable consequences, which would have ensued, had the
+army persisted in their aggressive impulse--first, to the citizens of
+the town, ultimately to themselves, while Anaxibius, the only guilty
+person, had the means of escaping by sea, even under the worst
+circumstances--are stated by Xenophon rather under than above the
+reality. At the same time no orator ever undertook a more difficult
+case, or achieved a fuller triumph over unpromising conditions. If we
+consider the feelings and position of the army at the instant of their
+breaking into the town, we shall be astonished that any commander could
+have arrested their movements. Though fresh from all the glory of their
+retreat, they had been first treacherously entrapped over from Asia,
+next roughly ejected by Anaxibius; and although it may be said truly
+that the citizens of Byzantium had no concern either in the one or the
+other, yet little heed is commonly taken, in military operations, to
+the distinction between garrison and citizens in an assailed town.
+Having arms in their hands, with consciousness of force arising out of
+their exploits in Asia, the Cyreians were at the same time inflamed by
+the opportunity both of avenging a gross recent injury, and enriching
+themselves in the process of execution; to which we may add, the
+excitement of that rush whereby they had obtained re-entry, and the
+farther fact that, without the gates they had nothing to expect except
+poor, hard, uninviting service in Thrace. With soldiers already
+possessed by an overpowering impulse of this nature, what chance was
+there that a retiring general, on the point of quitting the army, could
+so work upon their minds as to induce them to renounce the prey before
+them? Xenophon had nothing to invoke except distant considerations,
+partly of Hellenic reputation, chiefly of prudence; considerations
+indeed of unquestionable reality and prodigious magnitude, yet belonging
+all to a distant future, and therefore of little comparative force,
+except when set forth in magnified characters by the orator. How
+powerfully he worked upon the minds of his hearers, so as to draw forth
+these far-removed dangers from the cloud of present sentiment by which
+they were overlaid--how skilfully he employed in illustration the
+example of his own native city--will be seen by all who study his
+speech. Never did his Athenian accomplishments--his talent for giving
+words to important thoughts--his promptitude in seizing a present
+situation and managing the sentiments of an impetuous multitude--appear
+to greater advantage than when he was thus suddenly called forth to meet
+a terrible emergency. His pre-established reputation and the habit of
+obeying his orders, were doubtless essential conditions of success. But
+none of his colleagues in command would have been able to accomplish the
+like memorable change on the minds of the soldiers, or to procure
+obedience for any simple authoritative restraint; nay, it is probable,
+that if Xenophon had not been at hand, the other generals would have
+followed the passionate movement, even though they had been
+reluctant--from simple inability to repress it. Again--whatever might
+have been the accomplishments of Xenophon, it is certain that even _he_
+would not have been able to work upon the minds of these excited
+soldiers, had they not been Greeks and citizens as well as
+soldiers,--bred in Hellenic sympathies and accustomed to Hellenic order,
+with authority operating in part through voice and persuasion, and not
+through the Persian whip and instruments of torture. The memorable
+discourse on the Thrakion at Byzantium illustrates the working of that
+persuasive agency which formed one of the permanent forces and
+conspicuous charms of Hellenism. It teaches us that if the orator could
+sometimes accuse innocent defendants and pervert well-disposed
+assemblies--a part of the case which historians of Greece often present
+as if it were the whole--he could also, and that in the most trying
+emergencies, combat the strongest force of present passion, and bring
+into vivid presence the half-obscured lineaments of long-sighted reason
+and duty.
+
+
+Sec. 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthes offers to hire them.
+
+After conducting the army out of the city, Xenophon sent, through
+Kleander, a message to Anaxibius, requesting that he himself might be
+allowed to come in again singly, in order to take his departure by sea.
+His request was granted, though not without much difficulty; upon which
+he took leave of the army under the strongest expressions of affection
+and gratitude on their part and went into Byzantium along with Kleander;
+while on the next day Koeratadas came to assume the command according to
+agreement, bringing with him a prophet, and beasts to be offered in
+sacrifice. There followed in his train twenty men carrying sacks of
+barley-meal, twenty more with jars of wine, three bearing olives, and
+one man with a bundle of garlic and onions. All these provisions being
+laid down, Koeratadas proceeded to offer sacrifice, as a preliminary to
+the distribution of them among the soldiers. On the first day, the
+sacrifices being unfavorable, no distribution took place; on the second
+day, Koeratadas was standing with the wreath on his head at the altar,
+and with the victims beside him, about to renew his sacrifice--when
+Timasion and the other officers interfered, desired him to abstain, and
+dismissed him from the command. Perhaps the first unfavorable sacrifices
+may have partly impelled them to this proceeding. But the main reason
+was, the scanty store, inadequate even to one day's subsistence for the
+army, brought by Koeratadas--and the obvious insufficiency of his means.
+
+On the departure of Koeratadas, the army marched to take up its quarters
+in some Thracian villages not far from Byzantium, under its former
+officers; who however could not agree as to their future order of march.
+Kleanor and Phryniskus, who had received presents from Seuthes, urged
+the expediency of accepting the service of that Thracian prince: Neon
+insisted on going to Chersonese, to be under the Lacedaemonian officers
+in that peninsula (as Anaxibius had projected); in the idea that he, as
+a Lacedaemonian, would there obtain the command of the whole army; while
+Timasion, with the view of re-establishing himself in his native city of
+Dardanus, proposed returning to the Asiatic side of the strait.
+
+Though this last plan met with decided favor among the army, it could
+not be executed without vessels. These Timasion had little or no means
+of procuring; so that considerable delay took place, during which the
+soldiers, receiving no pay, fell into much distress. Many of them were
+even compelled to sell their arms in order to get subsistence; while
+others got permission to settle in some of the neighboring towns, on
+condition of being disarmed. The whole army was thus gradually melting
+away, much to the satisfaction of Anaxibius, who was anxious to see the
+purposes of Pharnabazus accomplished. By degrees, it would probably have
+been dissolved altogether, had not a change of interest on the part of
+Anaxibius induced him to promote its reorganization. He sailed from
+Byzantium to the Asiatic coast, to acquaint Pharnabazus that the
+Cyreians could no longer cause uneasiness, and to require his own
+promised reward. It seems moreover that Xenophon himself departed from
+Byzantium by the same opportunity. When they reached Kyzikus, they met
+the Lacedaemonian Aristarchus; who was coming out as a newly-appointed
+governor of Byzantium, to supersede Kleander, and who acquainted
+Anaxibius that Polus was on the point of arriving to supersede him as
+admiral. Anxious to meet Pharnabazus and make sure of his bribe,
+Anaxibius impressed his parting injunction upon Aristarchus to sell for
+slaves all the Cyreians whom he might find at Byzantium on his arrival,
+and then pursued his voyage along the southern coast of the Propontis to
+Parium. But Pharnabazus, having already received intimation of the
+change of admirals, knew that the friendship of Anaxibius was no longer
+of any value, and took no farther heed of him; while he at the same time
+sent to Byzantium to make the like compact with Aristarchus against the
+Cyreian army.
+
+Anaxibius was stung to the quick at this combination of disappointment
+and insult on the part of the satrap. To avenge it, he resolved to
+employ those very soldiers whom he had first corruptly and fraudulently
+brought across to Europe, cast out from Byzantium, and lastly, ordered
+to be sold into slavery, so far as any might yet be found in that town.
+He now resolved to bring them back into Asia for the purpose of acting
+against Pharnabazus. Accordingly he addressed himself to Xenophon, and
+ordered him without a moment's delay to rejoin the army, for the purpose
+of keeping it together, of recalling the soldiers who had departed, and
+transporting the whole body across into Asia. He provided him with an
+armed vessel of thirty oars to cross over from Parium to Perinthus,
+sending over a peremptory order to the Perinthians to furnish him with
+horses in order that he might reach the army with the greatest speed.
+Perhaps it would not have been safe for Xenophon to disobey this order,
+under any circumstances. But the idea of acting with the army in Asia
+against Pharnabazus, under Lacedaemonian sanction, was probably very
+acceptable to him. He hastened across to the army, who welcomed his
+return with joy, and gladly embraced the proposal of crossing to Asia,
+which was a great improvement upon their forlorn and destitute
+condition. He accordingly conducted them to Perinthus, and encamped
+under the walls of the town; refusing, in his way through Selymbria, a
+second proposition from Seuthes to engage the services of the army.
+
+While Xenophon was exerting himself to procure transports for the
+passage of the army at Perinthus, Aristarchus, the new governor, arrived
+there with two triremes from Byzantium. It seems that not only
+Byzantium, but also both Perinthus and Selymbria, were comprised in his
+government as governor. On first reaching Byzantium to supersede
+Kleander, he found there no less than 400 of the Cyreians chiefly sick
+and wounded; whom Kleander, in spite of the ill-will of Anaxibius, had
+not only refused to sell into slavery, but had billeted[108] upon the
+citizens, and tended with solicitude; so much did his good feeling
+towards Xenophon and towards the army now come into play. We read with
+indignation that Aristarchus, immediately on reaching Byzantium to
+supersede him, was not even contented with sending these 400 men out of
+the town; but seized them,--Greeks, citizens, and soldiers as they
+were--and sold them all into slavery. Apprised of the movements of
+Xenophon with the army, he now came to Perinthus to prevent their
+transit into Asia; laying an embargo on the transports in the harbor,
+and presenting himself personally before the assembled army to prohibit
+the soldiers from crossing. When Xenophon informed him that Anaxibius
+had given them orders to cross, and had sent him expressly to conduct
+them--Aristarchus replied, "Anaxibius is no longer in functions as
+admiral, and I am governor in this town. If I catch any of you at sea, I
+will sink you." On the next day, he sent to invite the generals and the
+captains to a conference within the walls. They were just about to enter
+the gates, when Xenophon, who was among them, received a private
+warning, that if he went in, Aristarchus would seize him, and either put
+him to death or send him prisoner to Pharnabazus. Accordingly Xenophon
+sent forward the others, and remained himself with the army, alleging
+the obligation of sacrificing. The behavior of Aristarchus--who, when he
+saw the others without Xenophon, sent them away, and desired that they
+would all come again in the afternoon--confirmed the justice of his
+suspicions, as to the imminent danger from which he had been preserved
+by this accidental warning. It need hardly be added that Xenophon
+disregarded the second invitation no less than the first; moreover, a
+third invitation, which Aristarchus afterwards sent, was disregarded by
+all.
+
+We have here a Lacedaemonian governor, not scrupling to lay a snare of
+treachery, as flagrant as that which Tissaphernes had practised on the
+banks of the Zab, to entrap Klearchus and his colleagues--and that too
+against a Greek, and an officer of the highest station and merit, who
+had just saved Byzantium from pillage, and was now actually in execution
+of orders received from the Lacedaemonian admiral Anaxibius. Assuredly,
+had the accidental warning been withheld, Xenophon would not have
+escaped falling into this snare; nor could we reasonably have charged
+him with imprudence--so fully was he entitled to count upon
+straightforward conduct under the circumstances. But the same cannot be
+said of Klearchus, who manifested lamentable credulity, nefarious as was
+the fraud to which he fell a victim.
+
+At the second interview with the other officers, Aristarchus, while he
+forbade the army to cross the water, directed them to force their way by
+land through the Thracians who occupied the Holy Mountain, and thus to
+arrive at the Chersonese; where (he said) they should receive pay. Neon
+the Lacedaemonian, with about 800 heavy-armed foot-soldiers who adhered
+to his separate command, advocated this plan as the best. To be set
+against it, however, there was the proposition of Seuthes to take the
+army into pay; which Xenophon was inclined to prefer, uneasy at the
+thoughts of being cooped up in the narrow peninsula of the Chersonese,
+under the absolute command of the Lacedaemonian governor, with great
+uncertainty both as to pay and as to provisions. Moreover it was
+imperiously necessary for these disappointed troops to make some
+immediate movement: for they had been brought to the gates of Perinthus
+in hopes of passing immediately on shipboard; it was midwinter--they
+were encamped in the open field, under the severe cold of Thrace--they
+had neither assured supplies, nor even money to purchase, if a market
+had been near. Xenophon, who had brought them to the neighborhood of
+Perinthus, was now again responsible for extricating them from this
+untenable situation; and began to offer sacrifices, according to his
+wont, to ascertain whether the gods would encourage him to recommend a
+covenant with Seuthes. The sacrifices were so favorable, that he
+himself, together with a confidential officer from each of the generals,
+went by night and paid a visit to Seuthes, for the purpose of
+understanding distinctly his offers and purposes.
+
+Maesades, the father of Seuthes, had been apparently a dependent prince
+under the great monarchy of the Odrysian[109] Thracians; so formidable
+in the early years of the Peloponnesian war. But political commotions
+had robbed him of his principality over three Thracian tribes; which it
+was now the ambition of Seuthes to recover, by the aid of the Cyreian
+army. He offered to each soldier one stater of Kyzikus (or nearly the
+same as that which they originally received from Cyrus) as pay per
+month; twice as much to each captain--four times as much to each of the
+generals. In case they should incur the enmity of the Lacedaemonians by
+joining him, he guaranteed to them all the right of settlement and
+fraternal protection in his territory. To each of the generals, over and
+above pay, he engaged to assign a fort on the sea-coast, with a lot of
+land around it, and oxen for cultivation. And to Xenophon in particular,
+he offered the possession of Bisanthe, his best point on the coast. "I
+will also (he added, addressing Xenophon) give you my daughter in
+marriage; and if you have any daughter, I will buy her from you in
+marriage according to the custom of Thrace." Seuthes farther engaged
+never on any occasion to lead them more than seven days' journey from
+the sea, at farthest.
+
+
+Sec. 20. The army enters the service of Seuthes.
+
+These offers were as liberal as the army could possibly expect; and
+Xenophon himself, mistrusting the Lacedaemonians as well as mistrusted by
+them, seems to have looked forward to the acquisition of a Thracian
+coast-fortress and territory (such as Miltiades, Alkibiades, and other
+Athenian leaders had obtained before him) as a valuable refuge in case
+of need. But even if the promise had been less favorable, the Cyreians
+had no alternative; for they had not even present supplies--still less
+any means of subsistence throughout the winter; while departure by sea
+was rendered impossible by the Lacedaemonians. On the next day, Seuthes
+was introduced by Xenophon and the other generals to the army, who
+accepted his offers and concluded the bargain.
+
+They remained for two months in his service, engaged in warfare against
+various Thracian tribes, whom they enabled him to conquer and despoil;
+so that at the end of that period, he was in possession of an extensive
+dominion, a large native force, and a considerable tribute. Though the
+suffering from cold was extreme, during these two months of full winter
+and amidst the snowy mountains of Thrace, the army were nevertheless
+enabled by their expeditions along with Seuthes to procure plentiful
+subsistence; which they could hardly have done in any other manner. But
+the pay which he had offered was never liquidated; at least, in requital
+of their two months of service, they received pay only for twenty days
+and a little more. And Xenophon himself, far from obtaining fulfilment
+of those splendid promises which Seuthes had made to him personally,
+seems not even to have received his pay as one of the generals. For him,
+the result was singularly unhappy; since he forfeited the goodwill of
+Seuthes by importunate demand and complaint for the purpose of obtaining
+the pay due to the soldiers; while they on their side, imputing to his
+connivance the non-fulfilment of the promise, became thus in part
+alienated from him. Much of his mischief was brought about by the
+treacherous intrigues and calumny of a corrupt Greek from Maroneia,
+named Herakleides; who acted as minister and treasurer to Seuthes.
+
+Want of space compels me to omit the narrative given by Xenophon, both
+of the relations of the army with Seuthes, and of the warfare carried on
+against the hostile Thracian tribes--interesting as it is from the
+juxtaposition of Greek and Thracian manners. It seems to have been
+composed by Xenophon under feelings of acute personal disappointment,
+and probably in refutation of calumnies against himself as if he had
+wronged the army. Hence we may trace in it a tone of exaggerated
+querulousness, and complaint that the soldiers were ungrateful to him.
+It is true that a portion of the army, under the belief that he had been
+richly rewarded by Seuthes while they had not obtained their stipulated
+pay, expressed virulent sentiments and falsehoods against him. Until
+such suspicions were refuted, it is no wonder that the army were
+alienated; but they were perfectly willing to hear both sides--and
+Xenophon triumphantly disproved the accusation. That in the end, their
+feelings towards him were those of esteem and favor, stands confessed in
+his own words, proving that the ingratitude of which he complains was
+the feeling of some indeed, but not of all.
+
+It is hard to say however what would have been the fate of this gallant
+army, when Seuthes, having obtained from their arms in two months all
+that he desired, had become only anxious to send them off without
+pay--had they not been extricated by a change of interest and policy on
+the part of all-powerful Sparta. The Lacedaemonians had just declared war
+against Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus; sending Thimbron into Asia to
+commence military operations. They then became extremely anxious to
+transport the Cyreians across to Asia, which their governor Aristarchus
+had hitherto prohibited--and to take them into permanent pay; for which
+purpose two Lacedaemonians, Charminus and Polynikus, were commissioned by
+Thimbron to offer to the army the same pay as he had promised, though
+not paid, by Seuthes; and as had been originally paid by Cyrus. Seuthes
+and Herakleides, eager to hasten the departure of the soldiers,
+endeavored to take credit with the Lacedaemonians for assisting their
+views. Joyfully did the army accept this offer, though complaining
+loudly of the fraud practised upon them by Seuthes; which Charminus, at
+the instance of Xenophon, vainly pressed the Thracian prince to redress.
+He even sent Xenophon to demand the arrear of pay in the name of the
+Lacedaemonians, which afforded to the Athenian an opportunity of
+administering a severe lecture to Seuthes. But the latter was not found
+so accessible to the workings of eloquence as the Cyreian assembled
+soldiers. Nor did Xenophon obtain anything beyond a miserable dividend
+upon the sum due:--together with evil expressions towards himself
+personally--an invitation to remain in his service with 1000 heavy-armed
+soldiers instead of going to Asia with the army--and renewed promises,
+not likely now to find much credit, of a fort and a grant of lands.
+
+
+Sec. 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia.
+
+When the army, now reduced by losses and dispersions, to 6000 men, was
+prepared to cross into Asia, Xenophon was desirous of going back to
+Athens, but was persuaded to remain with them until the junction with
+Thimbron. He was at this time so poor, having scarcely enough to pay for
+his journey home, that he was obliged to sell his horse at Lampsakus,
+the Asiatic town where the army landed. Here he found Eukleides, a
+Phliasian[110] prophet with whom he had been wont to hold intercourse
+and offer sacrifice at Athens. This man, having asked Xenophon how much
+he had acquired in the expedition, could not believe him when he
+affirmed his poverty. But when they proceeded to offer sacrifice
+together, from some animals sent by the Lampsakenes as a present to
+Xenophon, Eukleides had no sooner inspected the entrails of the victims,
+than he told Xenophon that he fully credited the statement. "I see (he
+said) that even if money shall be ever on its way to come to you, you
+yourself will be a hindrance to it, even if there be no other (here
+Xenophon acquiesced): Zeus (the Gracious[111]) is the real bar. Have you
+ever sacrificed to him, with entire burnt-offerings, as we used to do
+together at Athens?" "Never (replied Xenophon), throughout the whole
+march." "Do so now, then (said Eukleides), and it will be for your
+advantage." The next day, on reaching Ophrynium, Xenophon obeyed the
+injunction; sacrificing little pigs entire to Zeus the Gracious, as was
+the custom at Athens during the public festival called Diasia.[112] And
+on the very same day he felt the beneficial effects of the proceeding;
+for Biton and another envoy came from the Lacedaemonians with an advance
+of pay to the army, and dispositions so favorable to himself, that they
+bought back for him his horse, which he had just sold at Lampsakus for
+fifty darics. This was equivalent to giving him more than one year's pay
+in hand (the pay which he would have received as general being four
+darics per month, or four times that of the soldier), at a time when he
+was known to be on the point of departure, and therefore would not stay
+to earn it. The shortcomings of Seuthes were now made up with immense
+interest, so that Xenophon became better off than any man in the army;
+though he himself slurs over the magnitude of the present, by
+representing it as a delicate compliment to restore to him a favorite
+horse.
+
+Thus gratefully and instantaneously did Zeus the Gracious respond to the
+sacrifice which Xenophon, after a long omission, had been admonished by
+Eukleides to offer. And doubtless Xenophon was more than ever confirmed
+in the belief, which manifests itself throughout all his writings, that
+sacrifice not only indicates, by the interior aspect of the immolated
+victims, the tenor of coming events--but also, according as it is
+rendered to the right god and at the right season, determines his will,
+and therefore the course of events, for dispensations favorable or
+unfavorable.
+
+But the favors of Zeus the Gracious, though begun, were not yet ended.
+Xenophon conducted the army through the Troad,[113] and across Mount
+Ida, to Antandrus; from thence along the coast of Lydia, through the
+plain of Thebe and the town Adramyttium, leaving Atarneus on the right
+hand, to Pergamus[114] in Mysia; a hill town overhanging the river and
+plain of Kaikus. This district was occupied by the descendants of the
+Eretrian[115] Gongylus, who, having been banished, for embracing the
+cause of the Persians when Xerxes invaded Greece, had been rewarded
+(like the Spartan king Demaratus) with this sort of principality under
+the Persian empire. His descendant, another Gongylus, now occupied
+Pergamus, with his wife Hellas and his sons Gorgion and Gongylus.
+Xenophon was here received with great hospitality. Hellas acquainted
+him, that a powerful Persian, named Asidates, was now dwelling, with his
+wife, family, and property, in a tower not far off on the plain; and
+that a sudden night march, with 300 men, would suffice for the capture
+of this valuable booty, to which her own cousin should guide him.
+Accordingly, having sacrificed and ascertained that the victims were
+favorable, Xenophon communicated his plan after the evening meal to
+those captains who had been most attached to him throughout the
+expedition, wishing to make them partners in the profit. As soon as it
+became known, many volunteers, to the number of 600, pressed to be
+allowed to join. But the captains repelled them, declining to take more
+than 300, in order that the booty might afford an ampler dividend to
+each partner.
+
+Beginning their march in the evening, Xenophon and his detachment of 300
+reached about midnight the tower of Asidates. It was large, lofty,
+thickly built, and contained a considerable garrison. It served for
+protection to his cattle and cultivating slaves around, like a baronial
+castle in the Middle Ages; but the assailants neglected this outlying
+plunder, in order to be more sure of taking the castle itself. Its walls
+however were found much stronger than was expected; and although a
+breach was made by force about daybreak, yet so vigorous was the defence
+of the garrison, that no entrance could be effected. Signals and shouts
+of every kind were made by Asidates to procure aid from the Persian
+forces in the neighborhood; numbers of whom soon began to arrive, so
+that Xenophon and his company were obliged to retreat. And their retreat
+was at last only accomplished, after severe suffering and wounds to
+nearly half of them, through the aid of Gongylus with his forces from
+Pergamus, and of Prokles (the descendant of Demaratus) from Halisarna, a
+little farther off seaward.
+
+Though his first enterprise thus miscarried, Xenophon soon laid plans
+for a second, employing the whole army; and succeeded in bringing
+Asidates prisoner to Pergamus, with his wife, children, horses, and all
+his personal property. Thus (says he, anxious above all things for the
+credit of sacrificial prophecy) the "previous sacrifices (those which
+had promised favorably before the first unsuccessful attempt) now came
+true." The persons of this family were doubtless redeemed by their
+Persian friends for a large ransom; which, together with the booty
+brought in, made up a prodigious total to be divided.
+
+In making the division, a general tribute of sympathy and admiration was
+paid to Xenophon, in which all the army--generals, captains, and
+soldiers--and the Lacedaemonians besides--unanimously concurred. Like
+Agamemnon at Troy, he was allowed to select for himself the picked lots
+of horses, mules, oxen, and other items of booty; insomuch that he
+became possessor of a share valuable enough to enrich him at once, in
+addition to the fifty darics which he had before received. "Here then
+Xenophon (to use his own language) had no reason to complain of the god"
+(Zeus the Gracious). We may add--what he himself ought to have added,
+considering the accusations which he had before put forth--that neither
+had he any reason to complain of the ingratitude of the army.
+
+
+Sec. 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion.
+
+As soon as Thimbron arrived with his own forces, and the Cyreians became
+a part of his army, Xenophon took his leave of them. Having deposited in
+the temple at Ephesus[116] that portion which had been confided to him
+as general, of the tenth set apart by the army at Kerasus for the
+Ephesian Artemis, he seems to have executed his intention of returning
+to Athens. He must have arrived there, after an absence of about two
+years and a half, within a few weeks, at farthest, after the death of
+his friend and preceptor Sokrates,[117] whose trial and condemnation
+have been recorded in my last volume. That melancholy event certainly
+occurred during his absence from Athens; but whether it had come to his
+knowledge before he reached the city, we do not know. How much grief and
+indignation it excited in his mind, we may see by his collection of
+memoranda respecting the life and conversations of Sokrates, known by
+the name of Memorabilia, and probably put together shortly after his
+arrival.
+
+That he was again in Asia three years afterwards, on military service
+under the Lacedaemonian king Agesilaus, is a fact attested by himself;
+but at what precise moment he quitted Athens for his second visit to
+Asia, we are left to conjecture. I incline to believe that he did not
+remain many months at home, but that he went out again in the next
+spring to rejoin the Cyreians in Asia--became again their commander--and
+served for two years under the Spartan general Derkyllidas before the
+arrival of Agesilaus. Such military service would doubtless be very much
+to his taste; while a residence at Athens, then subject and quiescent,
+would probably be distasteful to him; both from the habits of command
+which he had contracted during the previous two years, and from feelings
+arising out of the death of Sokrates. After a certain interval of
+repose, he would be disposed to enter again upon the war against his old
+enemy Tissaphernes; and his service went on when Agesilaus arrived to
+take the command.
+
+But during the two years after this latter event, Athens became a party
+to the war against Sparta, and entered into conjunction with the king of
+Persia as well as with the Thebans and others; while Xenophon,
+continuing his service as commander of the Cyreians, and accompanying
+Agesilaus from Asia back into Greece, became engaged against the
+Athenian troops and their Boeotian allies at the bloody battle of
+Koroneia. Under these circumstances, we cannot wonder that the Athenians
+passed sentence of banishment against him;[118] not because he had
+originally taken part in aid of Cyrus against Artaxerxes--nor because
+his political sentiments were unfriendly to democracy, as has been
+sometimes erroneously affirmed--but because he was now openly in arms,
+and in conspicuous command, against his own country. Having thus become
+an exile, Xenophon was allowed by the Lacedaemonians to settle at
+Skillus, one of the villages of Triphylia, near Olympia in Peloponnesus,
+which they had recently emancipated from the Eleians. At one of the
+ensuing Olympic festivals,[119] Megabyzus, the superintendent of the
+temple of Artemis at Ephesus, came over as a spectator; bringing with
+him the money which Xenophon had dedicated therein to the Ephesian
+Artemis. This money Xenophon invested in the purchase of lands at
+Skillus, to be consecrated in permanence to the goddess; having
+previously consulted her by sacrifice to ascertain her approval of the
+site contemplated, which site was recommended to him by its resemblance
+in certain points to that of the Ephesian temple. Thus, there was near
+each of them a river called by the same name Selinus, having in it fish
+and a shelly bottom. Xenophon constructed a chapel, an altar, and a
+statue of the goddess made of cypress-wood: all exact copies, on a
+reduced scale, of the temple and golden statue at Ephesus. A column
+placed near them was inscribed with the following words--"This spot is
+sacred to Artemis. Whoever possesses the property and gathers its
+fruits, must sacrifice to her the tenth every year, and keep the chapel
+in repair out of the remainder. Should any one omit this duty, the
+goddess herself will take the omission in hand."
+
+Immediately near the chapel was an orchard of every description of
+fruit-trees, while the estate around comprised an extensive range of
+meadow, woodland, and mountain--with the still loftier mountain called
+Pholoe adjoining. There was thus abundant pasture for horses, oxen,
+sheep, and also excellent hunting-ground near, for deer and other game;
+advantages not to be found near the Artemision[120] at Ephesus. Residing
+hard by on his own property, allotted to him by the Lacedaemonians,
+Xenophon superintended this estate as steward for the goddess; looking
+perhaps to the sanctity of her name for protection from disturbance by
+the Eleians, who viewed with a jealous eye the Lacedaemonians at Skillus,
+and protested against the peace and convention promoted by Athens after
+the battle of Leuktra, because it recognized that place, along with the
+townships of Triphylia, as having the right of self-government. Every
+year he made a splendid sacrifice, from the tenth of all the fruits of
+the property; to which solemnity not only all the Skilluntines, but also
+all the neighboring villages, were invited. Booths were erected for the
+visitors, to whom the goddess furnished (this is the language of
+Xenophon) an ample dinner of barley-meal, wheaten loaves, meat, game,
+and sweetmeats; the game being provided by a general hunt, which the
+sons of Xenophon conducted, and in which all the neighbors took part if
+they chose. The produce of the estate, saving this tithe or tenth and
+subject to the obligation of keeping the holy building in repair, was
+enjoyed by Xenophon himself. He had a keen relish for both hunting and
+horsemanship, and was among the first authors, so far as we know, who
+ever made these pursuits, with the management of horses and dogs, the
+subject of rational study and description.
+
+Such was the use to which Xenophon applied the tithe voted by the army
+at Kerasus to the Ephesian Artemis; the other tithe, voted at the same
+time to Apollo, he dedicated at Delphi in the treasure-chamber of the
+Athenians, inscribing upon the offering his own name and that of
+Proxenus. His residence being only at a distance of a little more than
+two miles from the great temple of Olympia,[121] he was enabled to enjoy
+society with every variety of Greeks--and to obtain copious information
+about Grecian politics, chiefly from philo-Laconian informants, and with
+the Lacedaemonian point of view predominant in his own mind; while he had
+also leisure for the composition of his various works. The interesting
+description which he himself gives of his residence at Skillus implies a
+state of things not present and continuing, but past and gone; other
+testimonies too, though confused and contradictory, seem to show that
+the Lacedaemonian settlement at Skillus lasted no longer than the power
+of Lacedaemon was adequate to maintain it. During the misfortunes which
+befell that city after the battle of Leuktra (371 B.C.), Xenophon, with
+his family and his fellow-settlers, was expelled by the Eleians, and is
+then said to have found shelter at Corinth. But as Athens soon came to
+be not only at peace, but in intimate alliance, with Sparta--the
+sentence of banishment against Xenophon was revoked; so that the latter
+part of his life was again passed in the enjoyment of his birthright as
+an Athenian citizen and Knight.[122] Two of his sons, Gryllus and
+Diodorus, fought among the Athenian horsemen at the cavalry combat which
+preceded the battle of Mantineia, where the former was slain, after
+manifesting distinguished bravery; while his grandson Xenophon became in
+the next generation the subject of a pleading before the Athenian court
+of justice, composed by the orator Deinarchus.
+
+On bringing this accomplished and eminent leader to the close of that
+arduous retreat which he had conducted with so much honor, I have
+thought it necessary to anticipate a little on the future in order to
+take a glance at his subsequent destiny. To his exile (in this point of
+view not less useful than that of Thucydides) we probably owe many of
+those compositions from which so much of our knowledge of Grecian
+affairs is derived. But to the contemporary world, the retreat, which
+Xenophon so successfully conducted, afforded a far more impressive
+lesson than any of his literary compositions. It taught in the most
+striking manner the impotence of the Persian land-force, manifested not
+less in the generals than in the soldiers. It proved that the Persian
+leaders were unfit for any systematic operations, even under the
+greatest possible advantages, against a small number of disciplined
+warriors resolutely bent on resistance; that they were too stupid and
+reckless even to obstruct the passage of rivers, or destroy roads, or
+cut off supplies. It more than confirmed the contemptuous language
+applied to them by Cyrus himself, before the battle of Kunaxa; when he
+proclaimed that he envied the Greeks their freedom, and that he was
+ashamed of the worthlessness of his own countrymen. Against such perfect
+weakness and disorganization, nothing prevented the success of the
+Greeks along with Cyrus, except his own paroxysm of fraternal antipathy.
+And we shall perceive hereafter the military and political leaders of
+Greece--Agesilaus, Jason of Pherae, and others down to Philip and
+Alexander[123]--firmly persuaded that with a tolerably numerous and
+well-appointed Grecian force, combined with exemption from Grecian
+enemies, they could succeed in overthrowing or dismembering the Persian
+empire. This conviction, so important in the subsequent history of
+Greece, takes its date from the retreat of the Ten Thousand. We shall
+indeed find Persia exercising an important influence, for two
+generations to come--and at the peace of Antalkidas an influence
+stronger than ever--over the destinies of Greece. But this will be seen
+to arise from the treason of Sparta, the chief of the Hellenic world,
+who abandons the Asiatic Greeks, and even arms herself with the name and
+the force of Persia, for purposes of aggrandizement and dominion to
+herself. Persia is strong by being enabled to employ Hellenic strength
+against the Hellenic cause; by lending money or a fleet to one side or
+the other of the Grecian parties, and thus becoming artificially
+strengthened against both. But the Xenophontic Anabasis[124] betrays her
+real weakness against any vigorous attack; while it at the same time
+exemplifies the discipline, the endurance, the power of self-action and
+adaptation, the susceptibility of influence from speech and discussion,
+the combination of the reflecting obedience of citizens with the
+mechanical regularity of soldiers--which confer such immortal
+distinction on the Hellenic character. The importance of this expedition
+and retreat, as an illustration of the Hellenic qualities and
+excellence, will justify the large space which has been devoted to it in
+this History.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] =Kunaxa=: see Introduction.
+
+[3] =Heralds=: officers who proclaimed war or peace, challenged to
+battle, and were bearers of messages from the commander-in-chief or
+king; here, messengers.
+
+[4] =Sacrifice=: it was the custom of the Greeks to examine the entrails
+of the animals they sacrificed, in order that from their appearance they
+might learn the will of the gods; and next, that they might gain a
+knowledge of coming events.
+
+In all important undertakings these signs were carefully consulted,
+before any decisive action was taken.
+
+[5] =Hellenic=: pertaining to the Hellenes, or Greeks; Grecian.
+
+[6] =Array=: disposition of forces with reference to defence or attack.
+
+[7] =Herald=: here used apparently in the sense of a public crier.
+
+[8] This seems to have been a standing military jest, to make the
+soldiers laugh at their past panic.
+
+[9] =Talent=: about 57 pounds avoirdupois; or, taking silver at its
+present value, about $1250.
+
+[10] =Phalanx=: a body of troops in compact array, with their shields
+joined and their pikes or spears crossing each other, so as to present a
+firm, unbroken front to the foe.
+
+[11] =Irrigation=: during the long dry summer the crops in this region
+would have perished from drought if the fields had not been watered.
+This was done by a system of canals, in which the supply of water, drawn
+from the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates during the spring floods,
+was stored up to be used when needed. So abundant was the growth of
+grain on this rich soil that Herodotus did not dare state the amount for
+fear that he would be thought guilty of exaggeration.
+
+[12] =Corn=: any kind of grain used for food.
+
+[13] =Satrap=: the governor of a Persian province.
+
+[14] =Cyreian Greeks=: those Greeks who had engaged in the expedition of
+Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne of Persia. See Introduction.
+
+[15] =Covenant=: a solemn agreement or treaty which both parties bound
+themselves to keep by oath, calling on their respective gods to punish
+them if they violated the compact.
+
+[16] =Convention=: treaty or agreement.
+
+[17] See note on p. 38.
+
+[18] =Tribute=: this was an annual tax so heavy and so cruelly extorted
+that it kept the great body of the people in a state little better than
+that of slavery.
+
+[19] =Cyreian Persians=: those Persians who had espoused the cause of
+Cyrus in his attempt to seize the throne.
+
+[20] =Amnesty=: pardon.
+
+[21] =Strike our tents=: take down our tents.
+
+[22] =Barbarians=: the Greeks called all foreigners "barbarians." This
+word, however, did not generally express contempt, or necessarily imply
+lack of civilization, but was used to designate those who spoke another
+language than Greek.
+
+[23] =Ionia=: see note on p. 21.
+
+[24] =Wall of Media=: a wall supposed to have extended from the
+Euphrates to the Tigris. It cannot now be traced with certainty.
+
+[25] =Bitumen=: mineral pitch or asphalt. It is now much used for
+cement, for making pavements, and for covering flat roofs.
+
+[26] =Pontoons=: light framework or floats on which a platform or
+roadway is laid for a temporary bridge. Boats or canoes, placed side by
+side, and covered with planks, are not infrequently so used.
+
+[27] =Inflated skins=: bags or vessels made of the skins of sheep and
+other animals. They are quite commonly used in the East for carrying
+wine and other liquids. When inflated they are also employed as above
+mentioned.
+
+[28] =Mysians and Pisidians=: see note on p. 35.
+
+[29] =Ionia=: the central part of the western coast of Asia Minor. Here,
+at a very early period, flourishing Greek colonies were planted, and
+Ionia became celebrated for its art, its literature, and its cities,
+such as Ephesus and Miletus. But the country could not maintain its
+independence against the Eastern kings, and was at this period tributary
+to Persia. If the Ten Thousand could reach Ionia they would be among
+fellow-countrymen and friends, and within easy sail of all parts of
+Greece.
+
+[30] =Tiara=: a flexible cap worn by the Persians. The king alone had
+the right to wear it erect and high, as a badge of royal authority. Some
+suppose that when Tissaphernes says that though he cannot openly place
+the high tiara on his head, but shall wear it on his heart (feeling like
+a king if not looking like one), that he purposely uses the language
+"the better to blind Klearchus," and make him think that if the Greeks
+will aid him with their arms, he will revolt and aspire to become king
+in fact.
+
+[31] =Philhellenic=: Greek-loving.
+
+[32] =Miletus=: a city of Ionia, subject in a measure to Athens,
+revolted in 412 B.C. The next year the Lacedaemonians, or Spartans, who
+were the enemies of Athens, sent over a fleet to aid the people of
+Miletus. Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap, desiring to see the power of
+Athens completely overthrown, promised to pay the Spartan soldiers (of
+whom Klearchus was one), but afterwards made up his mind not to do so,
+and left them to fight at their own expense.
+
+[33] =Arcadian=: an inhabitant of Arcadia, a district of the
+Peloponnesian peninsula, Greece.
+
+[34] =Democrat and philosopher=: Xenophon (431?-355 B.C.) belonged to
+that party in Athens that maintained the principle of government "of the
+people, by the people, and for the people," in opposition to the party
+that, like the Spartans, believed that all political power should be
+monopolized by a favored few. Xenophon was also the disciple and friend
+of Socrates the philosopher, of whom some account will be given later
+on.
+
+[35] =Oneirus=: the god of dreams and messenger of Zeus (Jupiter),
+father of gods and men, sometimes called Zeus the Preserver, Saviour, or
+Deliverer.
+
+[36] =Zeus=: see note above on Oneirus.
+
+[37] =Boeotian dialect=: the inhabitants of the Greek province of
+Boeotia were considered by the Athenians to be a dull and unprogressive
+people. They spoke a broad, coarse dialect.
+
+[38] =Cashier=: to dismiss from service.
+
+[39] =Ears bored=: this was an Eastern (Lydian) custom, which the Greeks
+despised as only befitting slaves, since with them it was a mark of
+servitude. Agasias intimates that Apollonides either had been a slave or
+at least ought to be one.
+
+[40] =Kilikia= (also spelled Cilicia): Asia Minor.
+
+[41] =Sneeze=: any sudden, involuntary outburst, like sneezing, was
+considered a sign of the divine will for good or evil. As it occurred
+here just as Xenophon pronounced the auspicious word "preservation," it
+was regarded as a favorable omen sent by Zeus himself. The accustomed
+invocation was like the old English custom of crying "God bless you"
+when one sneezed.
+
+[42] =Paean=: war-song, song of triumph; originally addressed to the god
+Apollo.
+
+[43] =Mysians and Pisidians=: rude tribes inhabiting mountainous
+districts of Asia Minor, and maintaining their independence in spite of
+the efforts of the Persian kings to subjugate them.
+
+[44] =Lotos-eaters=: the lotos is a date-like fruit, fabled by Homer in
+the "Odyssey" to be so delicious and possessed of such marvellous
+properties that those who once tasted it forgot home and friends and
+wished only to remain where they might continue to eat it forever. See
+"Odyssey," Book IX., and compare Tennyson's poem of the "Lotos-Eaters."
+
+[45] =Achaeans=: inhabitants of Achaia, in the Peloponnesian peninsula.
+
+[46] =Peloponnesians=: inhabitants of the Greek peninsula of the
+Peloponnesus (or so-called Island of Pelops), now known as the Morea.
+They were considered the best soldiers in Greece. Sparta, the rival and
+enemy of Athens, was the ruling city of this district.
+
+[47] =Athenian catastrophe=: in 415 B.C. the Athenians sent out a
+powerful expedition to conquer Syracuse in Sicily. They met with a
+disastrous defeat, both by land and sea, many thousands being taken
+captive and sold as slaves. Alkibiades, an Athenian who had taken refuge
+in Sparta, now urged the Spartans to attack Athens, their old rival and
+enemy. His vehement eloquence was eventually successful.
+
+[48] =Perikles=: leader of the party of the people in Athens, and for a
+long time governor of the city; he was perhaps the greatest statesman
+that Greece produced.
+
+[49] =The war=: the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C. This was a desperate
+struggle for supremacy between the two chief powers of Greece, Sparta
+and Athens. The Spartans were a rough, military people, despising all
+intellectual culture and maintaining a narrow and tyrannical form of
+government from which the body of the people was wholly excluded. The
+Athenians, on the contrary, wished to maintain a republic in which all
+citizens should take part; they represented the highest civilization of
+Greece, and were in one sense the schoolmasters of the world.
+
+[50] =Sophists=: a class of philosophers or teachers who gave
+instruction in rhetoric and the art of disputation. They went about from
+city to city, and, contrary to the general custom of Greek philosophers,
+took fees from their pupils. "What the Sophists, among other things
+conducive to success in life, really taught the people, was the art of
+conducting their own cases before the great citizen-juries, where every
+man was forced to be his own advocate." [See Myers's "Outlines of
+Ancient History."]
+
+[51] =Javelin=: a light spear.
+
+[52] =Carbines=: short muskets, or rifles.
+
+[53] =Rhodian=: pertaining to the island of Rhodes, off the southwest
+coast of Asia Minor.
+
+[54] =Nineveh=: "an exceeding great city" (Jonah iii. 3), larger, says
+Strabo, than Babylon, having walls with 1500 towers 200 feet high.
+(Diodorus.)
+
+[55] =Cuirass=: defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the
+girdle.
+
+[56] =Sacrificed=: not only to propitiate the gods, but to obtain omens
+or signs for their future guidance.
+
+[57] =Cubit=: a measure of length; the distance from the elbow to the
+end of the middle finger, or about eighteen inches.
+
+[58] =Corselet=: armor covering the front of the upper part of the body.
+
+[59] =Reins=: the small of the back, or the kidneys.
+
+[60] =Burial=: the Greeks believed that so long as the corpse remained
+unburied the spirit would roam about restlessly in the dreary
+under-world or common abode of departed souls.
+
+[61] =Kretan=: or Cretan (from Crete).
+
+[62] =Augury=: omen or sign.
+
+[63] =Libations=: wine or liquor poured out on the ground or on a victim
+in honor of the gods.
+
+[64] =Bivouac= (biv-wak'): an encampment without tents or shelter, or
+one in which the whole army is on guard against surprise; here, the
+former is probably meant.
+
+[65] =Sesame=: an Eastern plant from whose seeds an oil is obtained,
+which is used for food and other purposes.
+
+[66] =Boreas=: the god of the north wind.
+
+[67] =Demagogues=: leaders of the people, popular orators. (The word now
+means those who mislead the people or who pretend to be interested in
+public affairs and reforms merely to gain their own ends.) In Greece
+these orators usually addressed assemblies or bodies of citizens who
+acted as judges.
+
+[68] =Judges= (dicasts): these sometimes, as in the case of the trial of
+Socrates, numbered five and six hundred persons, who acted as judge and
+jury combined.
+
+[69] =Greaves=: armor for the front of the lower part of the leg.
+
+[70] =Daric=: a Persian gold coin worth about $5.00.
+
+[71] =Herakles= (Hercules): the exploits of this god in his numerous
+encounters with wild beasts and robbers led to his worship on perilous
+journeys.
+
+[72] =The altar=: probably that where they had been sacrificing.
+
+[73] Xenophon.
+
+[74] =Mercenaries=: hired soldiers.
+
+[75] =Milesians=: inhabitants of Miletus, Asia Minor.
+
+[76] =Megarian=: pertaining to Megara, a district of Greece northwest of
+Athens. It was famous for its commerce.
+
+[77] =Thunny fishery=: the thunny, or tunny, a large fish abundant in
+the Mediterranean and highly esteemed both for food and for the oil
+which it yields.
+
+[78] =Thurian=: an inhabitant of Thurii, a city of Lower Italy, founded
+by a colony from Athens.
+
+[79] =Odysseus=: as Homer in the "Odyssey" represents Odysseus, or
+Ulysses, to have done.
+
+[80] =Byzantium=: the modern Constantinople.
+
+[81] =Merchant ships=: small, one-masted vessels, not larger than our
+fishing-smacks.
+
+[82] =Kerasus=: this place is the native home of the cherry, and the
+origin of its name. The fruit was introduced into Italy from Kerasus
+about 70 B.C., and thence to England, France, and other countries
+conquered by the Romans.
+
+[83] =Targeteers=: troops carrying a light target, or shield.
+
+[84] =Turrets= (or small towers): the name of the
+people--Mosynoeki--means the "tower-dwellers."
+
+[85] =Paphlagonian horse=: meaning the Paphlagonian cavalry.
+
+[86] =Hellas=: Greece.
+
+[87] "The gods (says Euripides, in the Sokratic vein) have given us
+wisdom to understand and appropriate to ourselves the ordinary comforts
+of life: in obscure or unintelligible cases we are enabled to inform
+ourselves by looking at the blaze of the fire, or by consulting prophets
+who understand the livers of sacrificial victims and the flight of
+birds. When they have thus furnished so excellent a provision for life,
+who but spoilt children can be discontented and ask for more? Yet still
+human prudence, full of self-conceit, will struggle to be more powerful,
+and will presume itself to be wiser, than the gods."
+
+It will be observed that this constant outpouring of special
+revelations, through prophets, omens, &c., was (in view of these
+Sokratic thinkers) an essential part of divine government; indispensable
+to satisfy their ideas of the benevolence of the gods; since rational
+and scientific prediction was so habitually at fault and unable to
+fathom the phenomena of the future. (Grote.)
+
+[88] =Traverse=: thwart.
+
+[89] Though Xenophon accounted sacrifice to be an essential preliminary
+to any action of dubious result, and placed great faith in the
+indications which the victims offered, as signs of the future purposes
+of the gods,--he nevertheless had very little confidence in the
+professional prophets. He thought them quite capable of gross deceit.
+(Grote.) Thus Silanus (see p. 92) pretends to find some unfavorable
+indications in sacrifices which supported Xenophon.
+
+[90] =Phasis=: on the Euxine; means the town of that name, not the
+river. (Grote.)
+
+[91] =Minae=: the Mina was about one pound by weight of silver, or $20.
+Twenty minae would be therefore $400.
+
+[92] =Pipe=: a fife or flute-like instrument.
+
+[93] =Carpaean dance=: perhaps because one of the dancers represented a
+sower of grain (from _karpos_, fruit), or possibly from _karpos_, wrist,
+the wrists of one being bound.
+
+[94] =Mysian=: from Mysia, Asia Minor.
+
+[95] =Pyrrhic dance=: a kind of dance accompanied with every gesture of
+the body used in giving and avoiding blows.
+
+[96] This appears to have been said jocosely in reference to the Persian
+King.
+
+[97] Xenophon.
+
+[98] =Trireme=: a war-vessel propelled by three ranks of rowers placed
+one above the other.
+
+[99] =Three thousand staters=: about $11,500; ten thousand staters would
+be in round numbers about $38,000. The stater was a Greek gold coin; its
+value is usually given at about $5.00, but Grote here makes it
+considerably less.
+
+[100] =Cities=: cities then were generally built with walls and gates,
+so that it was easy to exclude any whom they did not wish should enter.
+
+[101] =Philo-Laconian=: Sparta-loving (Sparta being in the district of
+Laconia). Compare what is said of Xenophon on p. 41.
+
+[102] =Byzantium=: this city (the modern Constantinople) was founded by
+a Greek colony B.C. 657. It had a mixed population, and was at this time
+under the rule of a Lacedaemonian or Spartan governor.
+
+[103] =The Chersonesus= (the peninsula): a peninsula of Southern Thrace,
+opposite Asia Minor, having numerous Greek cities, and noted for its
+abundance of grain, much of which was exported to Athens.
+
+[104] =Thrakion=: probably an open space or square near the Thracian
+Gate of the city.
+
+[105] =The Great King=: the King of Persia.
+
+[106] =Delta=: so named because it resembled the Greek capital letter
+Delta, [Greek: D], corresponding to the English D; hence a
+triangular-shaped piece of land.
+
+[107] =Propontis= (now, the Sea of Marmora): between Asia and Europe.
+
+[108] =Billeted upon the citizens=: assigned them quarters among the
+citizens, who were thus bound to provide for them.
+
+[109] =Odrysian=: from Odrysae, a numerous and powerful people of Thrace.
+
+[110] =Phliasian=: from Phlius, a city of Peloponnesus
+
+[111] It appears that the epithet (the Gracious) is here applied to Zeus
+in the same conciliatory sense as the denomination _Eumenides_ (Well or
+Kindly-disposed) to the avenging goddesses. Zeus is conceived as having
+actually inflicted, or being in a disposition to inflict, evil: the
+sacrifice to him under this surname represents a sentiment of fear, and
+is one of atonement, expiation, or purification, destined to avert his
+displeasure; but the surname itself is to be interpreted so as to
+designate, not the actual disposition of Zeus (or of other gods), but
+that disposition which the sacrifice is intended to bring about in him.
+(Grote.)
+
+[112] =Diasia=: a Greek festival, celebrated in honor of Zeus (Jupiter)
+the Gracious.
+
+[113] =Troad=: the plain around Troy, the scene of the famous Trojan
+war, celebrated in Homer's Iliad.
+
+[114] =Pergamus=: a city noted for its library of over 200,000
+manuscript rolls, which were eventually removed to Alexandria, Egypt.
+Parchment, a name derived from this place, was invented here.
+
+[115] =Eretrian=: pertaining to Eretria, a city of Ionia, Asia Minor.
+
+[116] =Temple of Ephesus=: sacred to the goddess Artemis, or Diana, twin
+sister of Apollo. This temple ranked among the Seven Wonders of the
+world. It was held so sacred that it was used as a "safe-deposit" for
+treasures, which were secure here against robbery or war. See the
+interesting reference to it in Acts xix. 24-41.
+
+[117] =Sokrates=: the philosopher and moralist, and the friend and
+instructor of Xenophon, had publicly taught, in the streets of Athens,
+for thirty years. His method was to convince people how little they
+really knew, by asking a series of searching questions which eventually
+led those whom he interrogated to confess their ignorance. "He taught
+that it is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong; and that the gods
+wished men to know them, not by beliefs and observances, but by doing
+good." This teaching, which was misunderstood by many, together with the
+dislike--not to say hatred--which such a "cross-examining missionary"
+would inevitably excite, caused his trial for impiety or rejection of
+the popular deities. He was then over seventy. When asked whether he had
+prepared his defence, he replied "that his whole life had been a
+preparation, since he had spent it in studying what was right and
+endeavoring to do it." Condemned by the judges to drink poison, he spent
+the last hours of his life conversing with his friends on the
+immortality of the soul. Xenophon has left an entertaining and valuable
+sketch of his beloved master.
+
+[118] =Banished=: Xenophon was banished for attachment to Sparta against
+his country--Athens. (Grote.)
+
+[119] =Olympic festivals=: the greatest of the religious festivals among
+the Greeks. It was held at Olympia every four years in honor of Zeus
+(Olympian Jove), and was celebrated by games and contests lasting
+several weeks. All Greece sent delegations to attend and take part in
+the festival.
+
+[120] =Artemision=: the temple of Artemis or Diana.
+
+[121] =Temple of Olympia=: the magnificent temple of Zeus (Olympian
+Jove). It contained a colossal statue of the god, seated, and holding
+the globe and the sceptre as emblems of his power. The work was by the
+celebrated sculptor Phidias, and was carved in gold and ivory.
+
+[122] =Knight=: originally one of an upper class of citizens ranking
+second in point of wealth and political power.
+
+[123] Alexander the Great encouraged his soldiers before the battle of
+Issus by referring to the bravery of the Greeks in the "Retreat of the
+Ten Thousand."
+
+[124] =Anabasis= (The March Up-country): the name given by Xenophon to
+his account of the expedition of Cyrus the younger in his march from the
+shore of the Mediterranean against the King of Persia at Babylon. The
+narrative of the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" forms part of the
+"Anabasis." Strictly speaking, this portion of the work should be called
+the Katabasis, or "The March Down"; that is, from Babylonia to the Black
+Sea.
+
+
+
+
+SKETCH OF NAPOLEON.
+
+(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.)
+
+
+Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio, Corsica (then recently ceded to
+France), in 1769. He was of Italian descent, and up to the age of ten
+could speak no French. In 1779 he was sent to the military school of
+Brienne, in France, and there began his education for the army. As a
+lieutenant of artillery he did good service in behalf of the French
+revolutionary government at the siege of Toulon, which had revolted in
+1793.
+
+Two years later that government was threatened by the rising of the
+people of Paris, headed by the National Guard. General Barras gave
+Napoleon an opportunity of showing his military skill in defence of the
+authorities, and the young officer, with his well-directed volleys of
+grape-shot, speedily quelled the insurrection. From that time Napoleon's
+name became familiar to the French people.
+
+In 1796 he married Madame Josephine Beauharnais, a West Indian lady,
+whose husband had been guillotined during the Revolution. About the same
+time Napoleon received the command of the French army of Italy, and with
+his successful Italian campaign against Austria his reputation as a
+general began.
+
+From that date until his final abdication in 1815, he was almost
+constantly engaged in active war, or in preparations for it. During that
+period of twenty years he fought nearly the whole of Europe; and up to
+his fatal Russian campaign in 1812, he was victorious in every great
+battle which he personally directed in the open field. This constant
+success inspired him with the belief that he was invincible. As one of
+his friends said, "He appeared like a man walking in a halo of glory";
+and as an eminent statesman declared, "France gave herself to him,
+absorbed herself in him, and seemed, at one time, no longer to think,
+except through him." From a simple artillery officer Napoleon had risen
+to be the greatest military commander in the world. His adopted country
+had placed him at the head of the government, and ended by making him
+Emperor. By his conquests he had enlarged France so that his imperial
+dominions extended to the Baltic on the north, and beyond Rome on the
+southeast.
+
+To increase his glory and strengthen his power, he established a circle
+of dependent thrones and principalities, occupied by his brothers and
+his favorites, who were bound to obey his will and extend his sway.
+
+Of all the nations of Europe, England alone had been able to withstand
+him; and in 1812 London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were the only
+leading capitals whose streets his triumphant armies had not entered.
+
+It was when he was at the apparent summit of his power that Napoleon
+divorced his faithful Josephine, in order that he might marry the
+Princess Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of Austria. His object
+was to found a reigning family allied by blood with one of the oldest
+and proudest dynasties of Europe. In this, as in all other things, he
+seemed to accomplish his purpose, for from this union a son was born
+who, under the title of the "King of Rome," promised to perpetuate his
+father's name and power.
+
+Having secured an heir to his crown Napoleon now determined to
+rigorously carry out his "continental policy" of humbling England by
+shutting out her trade from every port of Europe. If this could be done
+effectually, as he believed was possible, he might hope to starve his
+old enemy into submission.
+
+The attempt to accomplish this design was the chief cause of the
+campaign against Russia, and of Napoleon's ultimate downfall. The Czar,
+contrary to the provisions of the treaty of Tilsit, made in 1807, was
+now opposed to continuing the blockade which excluded English commerce
+from the Baltic. Not only did the Russian sovereign refuse to yield on
+this point, but he went so far as to form an alliance with Sweden, in
+order to resist the French Emperor's demands more effectually.
+
+Napoleon accordingly declared war, and in the spring of 1812 began
+gathering a force of over 600,000 men for the invasion of Russia. The
+Grand Army was chiefly French; but the Emperor compelled his
+allies--Austria, Prussia, Italy, and the German States--to furnish large
+numbers of troops; and he also received help from Poland. Besides the
+Imperial Guard, a body of picked men over 50,000 strong, under the
+command of Marshals Lefebvre, Mortier, and Bessieres, there were 13
+corps. The French were led by Marshals Davoust, Oudinot, Ney, Murat,
+King of Naples; the Italians by Prince Eugene; the Poles by Poniatowski;
+the Austrians by General Schwartzenberg; the Germans and Prussians by
+St. Cyr, Regnier, Vandamme, Victor, Macdonald, and Augereau.
+
+The Poles fought for Napoleon in the belief that, if successful, he
+would secure their independence against the power of Russian oppression;
+the other nations because they dared not refuse.
+
+This enormous force, which was double that of the Czar's, gradually
+collected on the banks of the Niemen, a river emptying into the Baltic,
+and forming part of the western boundary of Russia. The army crossed it
+in three divisions, at a considerable distance from each other.[125] All
+were to meet at Wilna, a Polish city which Russia had seized in the
+dismemberment of that country, and which was about fifty miles southeast
+of the Niemen.
+
+Napoleon himself, at the head of one of the three divisions, with a
+force of over two hundred thousand, crossed the river at Kowno on the
+23d of June, and began his march for Wilna.[126] The weather was
+intensely hot, and in the course of a few weeks many thousand men fell
+out of the ranks through sickness and fatigue, and great numbers of
+horses died. The French hoped to encounter the Russian forces in a
+decisive battle before advancing far into the country. But it was the
+policy of the Czar not to fight, but to keep falling back, destroying
+all supplies as fast as he retreated, and so compelling the French to
+depend wholly upon their own resources.
+
+Napoleon himself confessed that the Russians had the advantage. They, he
+said, would be animated by love of their native land to repel invasion,
+and all private and public interests would unite them. The French, on
+the other hand, had nothing to urge them on but the love of conquest and
+of glory, without even the hope of plunder, for in those desolate
+regions there was nothing they could seize.
+
+The first real encounter was at Smolensk, a walled city on the Dnieper,
+about half way between Wilna and the ancient capital of Russia. After a
+day of hard fighting, the Russians fired the city and abandoned it. The
+French entered the smoking ruins. They were victors, but such a victory
+was almost as disheartening as a defeat. From that place a weary
+seven-days march brought the Grand Army to the village of Borodino, on
+the banks of the Kologa, a tributary of the Moskwa.[127] Here the
+Russian general, Kutusoff, had determined to make a stand in defence of
+that holy city of Moscow, not many leagues distant, for which every
+peasant stood ready to lay down his life. The result of the battle was
+in favor of Napoleon, but it cost him the lives of thirty thousand men
+to gain it; and though the Russians lost double that number, they knew
+that the time was coming when the elements and the great barren spaces
+of their country would fight for them. This was the 7th of September.
+From that date the Russians resumed their old tactics and continued to
+slowly retreat, burning the villages and the crops as they fell back. At
+length, at noon of the 14th, the French emperor came in sight of "the
+city of the Czars."
+
+What followed from that time until Napoleon, baffled and beaten, reached
+Paris, leaving the wreck of the Grand Army behind him, may best be
+learned from the ensuing narrative of Count Segur,[128] who was one of
+the generals in that army, an officer of the imperial staff, and an
+eye-witness of what he describes.[129]
+
+His faithful history of that terrible disaster must necessarily be
+painful. It is in most respects the very opposite of Xenophon's account
+of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, which precedes it. But the reader
+should reflect that the dark and sorrowful scenes of history may have
+lessons as salutary as the brighter ones; and that the story of a great
+failure, involving the ruin and death of thousands, may be as
+instructive and as helpful as the story of a great success. In
+Xenophon's case, we have the spectacle of a man of more than ordinary
+ability, stimulated by difficulty and peril until he rises to real
+greatness of achievement. In Napoleon's career we see a naturally "great
+mind dragged to ruin by its own faults"; but such a man could not fall
+alone, and it was inevitable that a multitude should suffer with him and
+for him.
+
+D. H. M.
+
+
+
+
+NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.
+
+
+Sec. 1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar.
+
+The ancient capital of Russia, appropriately denominated by its poets
+"_Moscow[130] with the gilded cupolas_," was a vast and fantastic
+assemblage of two hundred and ninety-five churches, and fifteen hundred
+palaces, with their gardens and dependencies. These larger mansions of
+brick, and their parks, intermixed with neat houses of wood, and even
+thatched cottages, were spread over several square leagues of irregular
+ground. They were grouped round the Kremlin, a lofty triangular
+fortress. The vast double enclosure in which this was situated was about
+two miles in circuit. It contained, first, several palaces, some
+churches, and rocky and uncultivated spots, and secondly, a prodigious
+bazaar,--the town of the merchants and shopkeepers,--where was displayed
+the collected wealth of the four quarters of the globe.
+
+These palaces, these edifices, nay, the very shops themselves, were all
+covered with burnished and painted iron. The churches, each surmounted
+by a balcony and several steeples, terminating in golden balls, then the
+crescent, and lastly the cross, reminded the spectator of the history of
+this nation: it was Asia and its religion, at first victorious,
+subsequently vanquished, so that finally the cross of Christ surmounted
+the crescent of Mohammed.
+
+A ray of sunshine caused this splendid city to glisten with a thousand
+varied colors. At sight of it the traveller paused, delighted and
+astonished. It reminded him of the prodigies with which the Eastern
+poets had amused his childhood. On entering it, a nearer view served but
+to heighten his astonishment: he recognized the nobles by the manners,
+the habits, and the different languages of modern Europe, and by the
+rich and airy elegance of their dress. He beheld, with surprise, the
+luxury and the Asiatic form of that of the traders, the peculiar
+costumes of the common people, and their long beards. He was struck by
+the same variety in the edifices; and all this was tinged with a local
+and sometimes harsh coloring, such as befitted the country of which
+Moscow was the ancient capital.
+
+When, lastly, he observed the grandeur and magnificence of the numerous
+palaces, the wealth which they displayed, the luxury of the equipages,
+the multitude of slaves and of obsequious menials, the splendor of all
+these gorgeous spectacles, and heard the noise of those sumptuous
+festivities, entertainments, and rejoicings which incessantly resounded
+within its walls, he fancied himself transported to a city of
+kings--into the midst of an assemblage of princes, who had brought with
+them their manners, customs, and attendants from every quarter of the
+world.
+
+These princes were nevertheless but subjects, still opulent and powerful
+subjects: grandees, vain of their ancient nobility, strong in their
+collected numbers and in the general ties of blood contracted during the
+seven centuries which this capital had existed. They were also landed
+proprietors, proud of their vast possessions; for almost the whole
+territory of the government of Moscow belonged to them, and they there
+reigned over a million of serfs.[131] Finally, they were nobles, resting
+with a patriotic and religious pride upon "the cradle and the tomb of
+their nobility"; for such is the appellation they give to Moscow.
+
+To this ancient capital necessity brought the Czar[132] Alexander. His
+first appearance was in the midst of the assembled nobles. There
+everything was great: the circumstances, the assembly, the speaker, and
+the resolutions which he inspired. His voice betrayed emotion: no sooner
+did he cease speaking, than one simultaneous cry burst from all hearts:
+"Sire, ask what you please! we offer you everything! take our all!"
+
+One of the nobles then proposed the levy of a militia, and for its
+formation, the gift of one peasant or serf in twenty-five. But a hundred
+voices interrupted him, exclaiming that "the country required a greater
+sacrifice; that they should grant one serf in ten, ready armed,
+equipped, and supplied with provisions for three months." This was
+offering, for the single government of Moscow, 80,000 men, and a great
+quantity of warlike stores.
+
+The latter proposition was immediately voted without discussion; some
+say with enthusiasm; and that it was executed in like manner, so long as
+the danger was at hand. Others attribute the consent of the assembly to
+a sentiment of submission alone; which, indeed, in the presence of
+absolute power, is apt to absorb every other.
+
+They add, that on the breaking up of the meeting, the principal nobles
+were heard to murmur among themselves against the extravagance of such a
+measure. "Was the danger, then, so pressing? Did the Russian army,
+which, as they were told, still numbered 400,000 men, no longer exist?
+Why deprive them of so many peasants? The service of these men would be,
+it is said, only temporary; but who could ever hope for their return?
+and was not even this an event to be dreaded? Would these serfs,
+habituated to the irregularities of war, bring back their former habits
+of submission? Undoubtedly not; they would return full of new sentiments
+and new ideas, with which they would infect the villages; they would
+there propagate a refractory spirit, which would give infinite trouble
+to the master by spoiling the slave."
+
+Be this as it may, the resolution of the assembly was generous, and
+worthy of so great a nation. The details are of little consequence. We
+well know that it is the same everywhere; that everything in the world
+loses by being seen too near; and, lastly, that nations should be judged
+by the general mass and by results.
+
+Alexander then addressed the merchants, but more briefly: he ordered the
+proclamation to be read to them, in which Napoleon was represented as "a
+perfidious wretch; a Moloch, who, with treachery in his heart and
+loyalty on his lips, was striving to blot out Russia from the face of
+the earth."
+
+It is said that, at these words, his auditors, to whose strongly-marked
+and flushed faces their long beards imparted a look at once antique,
+majestic, and wild, were inflamed with rage. Their eyes flashed fire;
+they were seized with a convulsive fury, of which their stiffened arms,
+their clenched fists, the gnashing of their teeth, and their subdued
+execrations, expressed the vehemence. The effect was correspondent.
+Their chief, whom they elect themselves, proved himself worthy of his
+station: he put down his name at once for 50,000 rubles.[133] It was
+two-thirds of his fortune, and he paid it the next day.
+
+These merchants were divided into three classes, and they proceeded to
+fix the contribution for each; but one of the assembly, who was included
+in the lowest class, declared that his patriotism would brook no limit,
+and he immediately subscribed a sum far surpassing the standard
+proposed: the others all followed his example more or less closely.
+Advantage was taken of their first emotions. Everything was at hand that
+was requisite to bind them irrevocably while they were yet together,
+excited by one another and by the words of their sovereign.
+
+The patriotic donation amounted, it is said, to two millions of rubles.
+The other governments repeated, like so many echoes, the national cry of
+Moscow. The emperor accepted all; but all could not be given
+immediately; and when, in order to complete his work, he claimed the
+rest of the promised succor, he was obliged to have recourse to
+constraint, the danger which had alarmed some and inflamed others having
+by that time ceased to exist.
+
+
+Sec. 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army; preparations for
+destroying the city.
+
+After the reduction of Smolensk,[134] and when Napoleon reached Viazma,
+a town about one hundred and seventy miles from Moscow, consternation
+reigned in Moscow. The great battle had not yet been lost, and already
+people began to abandon that capital.
+
+In his proclamation, the governor-general, Count Rostopchin,[135] told
+the women that "he should not detain them, as the less fear there was,
+the less danger there would be; but that their brothers and husbands
+must stay, or they would cover themselves with infamy." He then added
+encouraging particulars concerning the hostile force, which consisted,
+according to his statement, of "one hundred and fifty thousand men, who
+were reduced to the necessity of feeding on horseflesh. The emperor
+Alexander was about to return to his faithful capital; eighty-three
+thousand Russians, recruits and militia, with eighty pieces of cannon
+were marching towards Borodino, to join Kutusoff."[136]
+
+He thus concluded: "If these forces are not sufficient, I will say to
+you, 'Come, my Muscovite[137] friends, let us march also! We will
+assemble one hundred thousand men; we will take the image of the Blessed
+Virgin, and one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and put an end to
+the business at once!'"
+
+It has been remarked, as a purely local singularity, that most of these
+proclamations were in the scriptural style, and highly poetical in their
+character.
+
+At the same time, a sort of balloon of prodigious size was constructed
+by command of Alexander, not far from Moscow, under the direction of a
+German artificer. The destination of this aerial machine was to hover
+over the French army, to single out its chief, and destroy him by a
+shower of balls and fire. Several attempts were made to raise it, but
+without success, the springs by which the wings were to be worked always
+breaking.
+
+Rostopchin, nevertheless, affecting to persevere in the plan, is said to
+have caused a great quantity of rockets and other combustibles to be
+prepared. Moscow itself was destined to be the great infernal machine,
+the sudden nocturnal explosion of which was to destroy the emperor and
+his army. Should the enemy escape this danger, he would at least no
+longer have an asylum or resources; and the horror of this tremendous
+calamity, charged to his account, as had been the disasters of Smolensk,
+Viazma, and other towns, would not fail to rouse the whole of
+Russia.[138]
+
+Adverse, therefore, to any treaty, this governor foresaw that in the
+populous capital, which the Russians themselves style the oracle, the
+exemplar of the whole empire, Napoleon would have recourse to the weapon
+of revolution, the only one that would be left him to accomplish his
+purpose. For this reason he resolved to raise a barrier of fire between
+that great captain and all weaknesses, from whatever quarter they might
+proceed, whether from the throne or from his countrymen, either nobles
+or senators; and more especially between a population of serfs and the
+soldiers of a free nation; in short, between the latter and that mass of
+artisans and tradesmen who form in Moscow the commencement of an
+intermediate class; a class for which the French Revolution was
+especially brought about.
+
+All the preparations were made in silence, without the knowledge either
+of the people, the proprietors of all classes, or perhaps of their
+emperor. The nation was ignorant that it was sacrificing itself. This is
+so strictly true, that, when the moment for execution arrived, we heard
+the inhabitants who had fled to the churches execrating this
+destruction. Those who beheld it from a distance, the most opulent of
+the nobles, deceived like their peasants, charged us with it: and, in
+short, those by whom it was ordered threw the odium of it upon us,
+having engaged in the work of destruction in order to render us objects
+of detestation, and caring but little about the maledictions of so many
+unfortunate creatures, provided they could throw upon us the weight of
+them.
+
+The silence of Alexander leaves room to doubt whether he approved this
+dreadful determination or not. What part he took in the catastrophe is
+still a mystery to the Russians: either they are ignorant on the
+subject, or they make a secret of the matter: the effect of despotism,
+which enjoins ignorance or silence.
+
+Some think that no individual in the empire, excepting the sovereign,
+would have dared to take on himself so heavy a responsibility. His
+subsequent conduct disavowed without disproving it. Others are of
+opinion that this was one of the causes of his absence from the army,
+and that, not wishing to appear either to order or to forbid it, he
+would not stay to be a witness of the catastrophe.
+
+As to the general abandonment of the houses all the way from Smolensk,
+it was compulsory, the Russian army defending them till they were
+carried sword in hand, and describing us everywhere as destructive
+monsters. The country suffered but little from this emigration. The
+peasants residing near the high-road escaped through byways to other
+villages belonging to their lords, where they found accommodation.
+
+The forsaking of their huts, made of trunks of trees laid one upon
+another, which a hatchet suffices for building, and of which a bench, a
+table, and an image constitute the whole furniture, was scarcely any
+sacrifice for serfs who had nothing of their own, whose persons did not
+even belong to themselves, and whose masters were obliged to provide for
+them, since they were their property and the source of all their income.
+
+These peasants, moreover, in removing their carts, their implements, and
+their cattle, carried everything with them, most of them being able with
+their own hands to supply themselves with habitation, clothing, and all
+other necessaries: for these people are still in but the first stage of
+civilization, and far from that division of labor which denotes the
+extension and high improvement of commerce and of society.
+
+But in the towns, and especially in the great capital, how could they be
+expected to quit so many establishments, to resign so many conveniences
+and enjoyments, so much wealth, movable and immovable? and yet it cost
+little or no more to obtain the total abandonment of Moscow than that of
+the meanest village. There, as at Vienna, Berlin, and Madrid, the
+principal nobles hesitated not to retire on our approach; for, with
+them, to remain would seem to be the same as to betray. But here,
+tradesmen, artisans, day-laborers, all thought it their duty to flee as
+well as the most powerful of the grandees. There was no occasion to
+command: these people have not yet ideas sufficient to judge for
+themselves, to distinguish and to weigh differences; the example of the
+nobles was sufficient. The few foreigners remaining at Moscow might have
+enlightened them; some of these were exiled, and terror hindered the
+rest.
+
+It was, besides, an easy task to excite apprehensions of profanation,
+pillage, and devastation in the minds of people so cut off from other
+nations, and in the inhabitants of a city which had been so often
+plundered and burned by the Tartars. With these examples before their
+eyes, they could not await an impious and ferocious enemy but for the
+purpose of fighting him: the rest must necessarily shun his approach
+with horror, if they would save themselves in this life or in the next.
+Thus obedience, honor, religion, fear, everything, in short, enjoined
+them to flee, with all that they could carry with them.
+
+A fortnight before our arrival, the departure of the records, the public
+chests and treasure, and that of the nobles and of the principal
+merchants, together with their most valuable effects, indicated to the
+rest of the inhabitants what course they should pursue. The governor,
+already impatient to see Moscow evacuated, appointed superintendents to
+expedite the emigration.
+
+On the 3d of September, a French woman, living in the city, ventured to
+leave her hiding-place, at the risk of being torn in pieces by the
+furious Muscovites. She wandered a long time through extensive quarters,
+the solitude of which astonished her, when a distant and doleful sound
+thrilled her with terror. It was like the funeral dirge of this vast
+city: fixed in motionless suspense, she beheld an immense multitude of
+persons, of both sexes, in deep affliction, carrying their effects and
+their sacred images, and leading their children along with them. Their
+priests, laden with the sacred symbols of religion, headed the
+procession. They were invoking Heaven in hymns of lamentation, in which
+all of them joined with tears.
+
+On reaching the gates of the city, this crowd of unfortunate creatures
+passed through them with painful hesitation: turning their eyes once
+more towards Moscow, they seemed to be bidding a last farewell to their
+holy city; but, by degrees, their sobs and the doleful tones of their
+hymns died away in the vast plains by which it is surrounded.
+
+
+Sec. 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow.
+
+Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in masses. The roads
+were covered to the distance of forty leagues by fugitives on foot, and
+several unbroken files of vehicles of every kind. At the same time, the
+measures of Rostopchin to prevent dejection and preserve order detained
+many of these unfortunate people till the very last moment.
+
+To this must be added the appointment of Kutusoff, which had revived
+their hopes, the false intelligence of a victory at Borodino, and, for
+those of moderate means, the hesitation natural at the moment of
+abandoning the only home which they possessed. Lastly, the inadequacy of
+the means of transport, either because at this time heavy requisitions
+for the exigencies of the army had reduced the number of vehicles, or
+because they were too small, as it is customary to make the carriages in
+this country very light, on account of the sandy soil, and of the roads,
+which may be said to be rather marked out than constructed.
+
+Kutusoff, although defeated at Borodino, had sent letters to all
+quarters announcing that he was victorious. He deceived Moscow, St.
+Petersburg, and even the commanders of the other Russian armies.
+Alexander communicated this false intelligence to his allies. In the
+first transports of his joy he hastened to the altars, loaded the army
+and the family of his general with honors and money, gave directions for
+rejoicings, returned thanks to Heaven, and appointed Kutusoff a
+field-marshal of the empire.
+
+Most of the Russians affirm that their emperor was grossly imposed upon
+by this report. They are still unacquainted with the motives of such a
+deception, which at first procured Kutusoff unbounded favors, that were
+not withdrawn from him, and afterward, it is said, dreadful menaces,
+that were not put in execution.
+
+If we may credit several of his countrymen, who were perhaps his
+enemies, it would appear that he had two motives. In the first place, he
+wished not to shake by disastrous intelligence the little firmness
+which, in Russia, Alexander was generally, though erroneously, thought
+to possess. In the second, as his despatch would probably arrive on the
+very birthday of his sovereign, it is added that his object was to
+obtain from him the rewards for which this kind of anniversaries affords
+occasion.
+
+But at Moscow the delusive impression was of short continuance. The
+rumor of the destruction of half his army was almost immediately
+propagated in that city, from the singular commotion produced by
+extraordinary events, which is known frequently to spread almost
+instantaneously to prodigious distances. Still, however, the language of
+the chiefs, the only persons who dared to speak, continued haughty and
+threatening: many of the inhabitants, trusting to it, remained; but they
+were every day more and more tormented by a painful anxiety. At nearly
+one and the same moment, they were transported with rage, elevated by
+hope, and overwhelmed with fear.
+
+During one of these periods of dejection and dismay, while, prostrate
+before the altars, or in their own houses before the images of their
+saints, they had abandoned all hope but in Heaven, shouts of joy were
+suddenly heard: the people instantly thronged the streets and the public
+places to learn the cause. Intoxicated with delight, their eyes were
+fixed on the cross of the principal church. A vulture had entangled
+himself in the chains which supported it, and was held suspended by
+them. This was a certain presage to minds whose natural superstition was
+heightened by extraordinary anxiety: it was thus that their God would
+seize and deliver Napoleon into their power.
+
+Rostopchin took advantage of all these movements, which he excited or
+checked according as they were favorable to him or otherwise. He caused
+the most diminutive to be selected from the prisoners taken from the
+French, and exhibited them to the people, that the latter might derive
+courage from the sight of their weakness; and yet he emptied Moscow of
+every kind of supplies, in order to feed the vanquished and to famish
+the conquerors. This measure was easily carried into effect, as Moscow
+was provisioned in spring and autumn by water only, and in winter by
+sledges.
+
+He was still attempting to preserve, with a remnant of hope, the order
+that was necessary, especially in such a flight, when the effects of the
+disaster at Borodino were fully manifested. The long train of wounded,
+their groans, their garments and linen dyed with blood; their most
+powerful nobles struck and overthrown like the rest: all this was a
+novel and alarming sight to a city which had for such a length of time
+been exempt from the horrors of war. The police redoubled their
+activity; but the terror which they excited could not long make head
+against a still greater terror.
+
+Rostopchin once more addressed the people. He declared that "he would
+defend Moscow to the last extremity; that the courts were already
+closed, but that was of no consequence; that there was no occasion for
+tribunals to try the guilty": he added that "in two days he would give
+the signal." He recommended to the people to "arm themselves with
+hatchets, and especially with three-pronged forks, as the French were
+not heavier than a sheaf of wheat." As for the wounded, he said he
+should cause "masses to be said, and the water to be blessed, in order
+to their speedy recovery. The next day," he added, "he should repair to
+Kutusoff, to take final measures for exterminating the enemy."
+
+The Russian army, in their position in front of Moscow, numbered
+ninety-one thousand men, six thousand of whom were Cossacks,[139]
+sixty-five thousand veteran troops (the remnant of one hundred and
+twenty-one thousand engaged at the Moskwa),[140] and twenty thousand
+recruits, armed half with muskets and half with pikes.
+
+The French army, one hundred and thirty thousand strong the day before
+the great battle, had lost about forty thousand men at Borodino, and
+still consisted of ninety thousand. Some regiments on the march, and the
+divisions of Laborde and Pino, had just joined it: so that, on its
+arrival before Moscow, it still amounted to nearly one hundred thousand
+men. Its march was retarded by six hundred and seven pieces of cannon,
+two thousand five hundred artillery carriages, and five thousand
+baggage-wagons: it had no more ammunition than would suffice for one
+engagement. Kutusoff perhaps calculated the disproportion between his
+effective force and ours. On this point, however, nothing but conjecture
+can be advanced, for he assigned purely military motives for his
+retreat.
+
+Thus much is certain, that Kutusoff deceived Rostopchin to the very last
+moment. He even swore to him "by his gray hair that he would perish with
+him before Moscow," when all at once the governor was informed that, in
+a council of war held at night in the camp, it had been determined to
+abandon the capital without a battle.
+
+Rostopchin was incensed at this intelligence, but his resolution
+remained unshaken. There was now no time to be lost; no farther pains
+were taken to conceal from Moscow the fate that was destined for it;
+indeed it was not worth while to dissemble for the sake of the few
+inhabitants who were left; and, besides, it was necessary to induce them
+to seek their safety in flight.
+
+At night, therefore, emissaries went round, knocking at every door and
+announcing the conflagration. Fuses were introduced at every favorable
+aperture, especially into the shops covered with iron, in the
+tradesmen's quarter, and the fire-engines were carried off. The
+desolation had now attained its highest pitch, and each individual,
+according to his disposition, was either overwhelmed with despair or
+urged to a decision. Most of those who were left formed groups in the
+public places; they crowded together, questioned each other, and asked
+each other's advice; while many wandered about at random, some depressed
+by terror, others in a frightful state of exasperation. At length the
+army, their last hope, deserted them: the troops began to traverse the
+city, and in their retreat they hurried along with them the still
+considerable remnant of its population.
+
+They departed by the Kolomna gate,[141] surrounded by a multitude of
+women, children, and aged persons, in the deepest affliction. The fields
+were covered with them. They fled in all directions, by every path,
+across the country, without provisions, and laden with such of their
+effects as, in their agitation, they had first laid their hands on.
+Some, for want of horses, had harnessed themselves to carts, and in this
+manner dragged along their infant children, a sick wife, or an infirm
+father; in short, whatever they held most dear. The woods afforded them
+shelter, and they subsisted on the charity of their countrymen.
+
+On that day a terrific scene terminated this melancholy drama. This, the
+last day of Moscow, having arrived, Rostopchin collected together all
+whom he had been able to retain and arm. The prisons were thrown open. A
+squalid and disgusting crew tumultuously issued from them. These
+wretches rushed into the streets with ferocious joy. Two men, a Russian
+and a Frenchman, the one accused of treason, the other of political
+indiscretion, were selected from among this horde, and dragged before
+Rostopchin, who fiercely reproached the Russian with his crime. He was
+the son of a tradesman, and had been apprehended while exciting the
+people to insurrection. A circumstance which occasioned alarm was the
+discovery that he belonged to a sect of German religious and political
+fanatics. His audacity had never failed him in prison. It was imagined,
+for a moment, that the spirit of equality had penetrated into Russia. He
+did not, however, disclose any accomplices.
+
+At this crisis his father arrived. It was expected that he would
+intercede for his son; but, on the contrary, he insisted on his death.
+The governor granted him a few moments, that he might once more speak to
+and bless him. "What, I! I bless a traitor!" exclaimed the enraged
+Russian, and, turning to his son, with a horrid voice and gesture he
+pronounced a curse upon him.
+
+This was the signal for his execution. The poor wretch was struck down
+by an ill-directed blow of a sabre. He fell, but wounded only, and
+perhaps the arrival of the French might have saved him, had not the
+people perceived that he was yet alive. They forced the barrier, fell
+upon him, and tore him to pieces.
+
+The Frenchman, during this scene, was petrified with terror. "As for
+thee," said Rostopchin, turning towards him, "being a Frenchman, thou
+canst not but wish for the arrival of the French army: be free, then,
+and go and tell thy countrymen that Russia had but one traitor, and that
+he has been punished." Then, addressing himself to the wretches who
+surrounded him, he called them sons of Russia, and exhorted them to make
+atonement for their crimes by serving their country. He was the last to
+quit the doomed city, and he then rejoined the Russian army.
+
+From that moment the mighty Moscow belonged neither to the Russians nor
+to the French, but to that guilty horde whose fury was directed by a few
+officers and soldiers of the police. They were organized, and each had
+his post allotted to him, in order that pillage, fire, and devastation
+might commence everywhere at once.
+
+
+Sec. 4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city.
+
+That very day (September the 14th), Napoleon, being at length satisfied
+that Kutusoff had not thrown himself on his right flank, rejoined his
+advanced guard. He mounted his horse a few leagues from Moscow. He
+marched slowly and cautiously, sending scouts before him to examine the
+woods and the ravines, and to ascend all the eminences to look out for
+the enemy's army. A battle was expected, and the ground favored the
+opinion: works also had been begun, but they had all been abandoned, and
+we experienced not the slightest resistance.
+
+At length the last eminence only remained to be passed: it is contiguous
+to Moscow, which it commands. It is called _The Hill of Salvation_,
+because on its summit the inhabitants, at sight of their holy city,
+cross and prostrate themselves. Our scouts soon gained the top of this
+hill. It was two o'clock: the sun caused this great city to glisten with
+a thousand colors. Struck with astonishment at the sight, they paused,
+exclaiming, "Moscow! Moscow!" Every one quickened his pace; the troops
+hurried on in disorder; and the whole army, clapping their hands,
+repeated with transport, "Moscow! Moscow!" just as sailors shout "Land!
+land!" at the conclusion of a long and toilsome voyage.
+
+At the sight of this gilded city, of this splendid capital, uniting
+Europe and Asia, of this magnificent emporium of the luxury and arts of
+the two fairest divisions of the globe, we stood still, in proud
+contemplation. What a glorious day had now arrived! It would furnish the
+grandest, the most brilliant recollection of our whole lives. We felt at
+this moment that all our actions would engage the attention of the
+astonished world, and that every movement we made, however trivial,
+would be recorded by history.
+
+At that moment dangers and sufferings were all forgotten: was it
+possible to purchase too dearly the proud felicity of being able to say
+during the rest of life, "I belonged to the army of Moscow!"
+
+Napoleon himself hastened up. He paused in transport: an exclamation of
+delight escaped his lips. Ever since the great battle, the discontented
+marshals had shunned him; but at the sight of captive Moscow, at the
+intelligence of the arrival of a flag of truce, struck with so important
+a result, and intoxicated with all the enthusiasm of glory, they forgot
+their grievances. They pressed around the emperor, paying homage to his
+good fortune, and already tempted to attribute to the foresight of his
+genius the little pains he had taken on the 7th to complete his victory.
+
+But in Napoleon, first emotions were of short duration. He had too much
+to think of to indulge his sensations for any length of time. His first
+exclamation was, "There at last is that famous city!" and the second,
+"It was high time!"
+
+His eyes fixed on this capital, already expressed nothing but
+impatience: in it he beheld in imagination the whole Russian empire. Its
+walls enclosed all his hopes, peace, the expenses of the war, immortal
+glory: his eager looks, therefore, intently watched all its outlets.
+When would its gates at length open? When should he see that deputation
+come forth, which would place its wealth, its population, its senate,
+and the principal of the Russian nobility at his disposal? Henceforth
+that enterprise in which he had so rashly engaged, brought to a
+successful termination by dint of boldness, would pass for the result of
+a deep combination; his imprudence for greatness: henceforth his victory
+at the Moskwa, incomplete as it was, would be deemed his greatest
+achievement. Thus all that might have turned to his ruin would begin to
+decide whether he was the greatest man in the world, or the most rash;
+in short, whether he had raised himself an altar or dug for himself a
+grave.
+
+Anxiety, however, soon began to take possession of his mind. On his left
+and right he beheld Prince Eugene and Poniatowski approaching the
+hostile city; Murat, with his scouts, had already reached the entrance
+of the suburbs, and yet no deputation appeared: an officer sent by
+Miloradovitch[142] merely came to declare that his general would set
+fire to the city if his rear was not allowed time to evacuate it.
+
+Napoleon granted every demand. The troops of the two armies were for a
+short time intermingled. Murat was recognized by the Cossacks, who, with
+the familiarity of the wandering tribes, and curious and ardent as the
+people of the south, thronged around him: then by their gestures and
+exclamations they extolled his valor and intoxicated him with their
+admiration. Murat took the watches of his officers, and distributed them
+among these barbarous warriors. One of them called him his chief.
+
+Murat was tempted to believe that among them he should find a new
+Mazeppa,[143] or that he himself might become one: he imagined that he
+had completely gained them over. This momentary armistice, under the
+actual circumstances, sustained the hopes of Napoleon, such need had he
+of self-delusion. He was amused in this way for two hours.
+
+Meanwhile the day was declining, and Moscow continued dull, silent, and
+seemingly inanimate. The anxiety of the emperor increased, and the
+impatience of the soldiers could scarcely be repressed. Some officers
+ventured within the walls of the city. Moscow was deserted!
+
+At this intelligence, which he angrily refused to credit, Napoleon
+ascended the Hill of Salvation, and approached the Moskwa and the
+Dorogomilow gate.[144] He paused once more, but in vain, at the entrance
+of that barrier. Murat pressed him to permit his soldiers to occupy the
+city. "Well!" he replied, "let them enter, then, since they wish it!" He
+recommended the strictest discipline: he still indulged hopes. "Perhaps
+these inhabitants," he said, "do not even know how to surrender, for
+here everything is new; they to us, and we to them."
+
+Reports now began rapidly to succeed each other: they all agreed. Some
+Frenchmen, residents of Moscow, ventured to quit the hiding-places which
+for some days had concealed them from the fury of the populace, and
+confirmed the fatal tidings. The emperor called Daru.[145] "Moscow
+deserted!" he exclaimed: "what an improbable story! We must know the
+truth of it. Go and bring me the boyars."[146] He imagined that those
+men, stiff with pride or paralyzed by terror, remained motionless in
+their houses; and he, who had hitherto been always met by the submission
+of the vanquished, would encourage their confidence and anticipate their
+prayers.
+
+How, indeed, was it possible for him to persuade himself that so many
+magnificent palaces, so many splendid temples, so many rich mercantile
+establishments, had been forsaken by their owners, like the paltry
+hamlets through which he had recently passed? Daru's mission, however,
+was fruitless. Not a Muscovite was to be seen; not a particle of smoke
+arose from a single chimney; not the slightest noise issued from this
+vast and populous city: its three hundred thousand inhabitants seemed to
+be struck dumb and motionless by enchantment: it was the silence of the
+desert!
+
+But such was the incredulity of Napoleon that he was not yet convinced,
+and waited for further information. At length an officer, wishing to
+gratify him, or persuaded that whatever he willed must necessarily be
+accomplished, entered the city, seized five or six vagabonds, drove them
+before his horse to the emperor, and presented them to him as a
+deputation. From the first words they uttered, however, Napoleon
+detected the imposture, and perceived that they were only poor laborers.
+
+It was not till then that he ceased to doubt the entire evacuation of
+Moscow, and gave up all the hopes that he had built upon it. He shrugged
+his shoulders, and with that contemptuous look with which he met
+everything that crossed his wishes, he exclaimed, "Ah! the Russians do
+not know yet the effect which the taking of their capital will produce
+upon them!"
+
+It was now an hour since Murat and the long and close column of his
+cavalry had entered Moscow: they penetrated to the centre of that
+gigantic body, as yet untouched, but inanimate. Struck with profound
+astonishment at finding a solitude so complete, they replied to the
+stillness of this modern Thebes by a silence equally solemn. These
+warriors listened, with a secret shuddering, to the sound of their
+horses' steps among these deserted palaces. They were amazed to hear
+nothing but the noise they themselves made amid such numerous
+habitations. No one thought of stopping or of plundering, either from
+prudence, or because highly civilized nations respect themselves in
+enemies' capitals.
+
+Meanwhile they were silently observing this mighty city, which would
+have been truly remarkable had they met with it in a flourishing and
+populous country, but which was here in these deserts still more
+astonishing. It was like a rich and beautiful oasis. They had at first
+been struck by the sudden view of so many magnificent palaces, but they
+now perceived that they were intermingled with mean cottages: a
+circumstance which indicated the want of gradation among the classes,
+and that luxury had not been generated there, as in other countries, by
+industry, but had preceded it; whereas, in the natural order, it ought
+to be more or less its proper consequence.
+
+Amid these reflections, which were favored by the slowness of our march,
+the report of firearms was all at once heard: the column halted. Its
+last horses were still crossing the fields; its centre was in one of
+the longest streets of the city; its head had reached the Kremlin. The
+gates of that citadel appeared to be closed; ferocious cries issued from
+within it; men and women, of savage and disgusting aspect, appeared
+fully armed upon its walls. In a state of drunken fury, they uttered the
+most horrible imprecations. Murat sent them amicable proposals, but to
+no purpose. It was found necessary to employ cannon to break open the
+gate.
+
+We penetrated, partly without opposition, partly by force, among these
+wretches. One of them rushed close to Murat and endeavored to kill one
+of his officers. It was thought sufficient to disarm him; but he again
+fell upon his victim, threw him to the ground, and attempted to
+suffocate him; and even after his arms were seized and held, he strove
+to tear him with his teeth. These were the only Muscovites who had
+waited our coming! and who seemed to have been left behind as a savage
+and frightful emblem of the national hatred.
+
+It was easy to perceive, however, that there was no unison in this
+patriotic fury. Five hundred recruits, who had been forgotten in the
+Kremlin, took no part in this scene: at the first summons they
+dispersed; and farther on we overtook a convoy of provisions, the escort
+of which immediately threw down its arms. Several thousand stragglers
+and deserters from the enemy voluntarily remained in the power of our
+advance guard. The latter left to the corps which followed the task of
+picking them up; these, again, to others, and so on; and thus they
+remained at liberty in the midst of us, till the conflagration and
+pillage of the city reminding them of their duty, and rallying in them
+one general feeling of antipathy, they went and rejoined Kutusoff.
+
+Murat, who had been stopped but a few moments by the Kremlin, dispersed
+this despicable crew. Ardent and indefatigable as in Italy and Egypt,
+after a march of twenty-seven hundred miles, and sixty battles fought to
+reach Moscow, he traversed that proud city without deigning to halt in
+it, and pursuing the Russian rear guard, he boldly and without
+hesitation took the road for Vladimir and Asia.
+
+Several thousand Cossacks, with four pieces of cannon, were retreating
+in that direction: the armistice was at an end; and Murat, tired of this
+peace of half a day, immediately ordered it to be broken by a discharge
+of carbines. But our cavalry considered the war as finished; Moscow
+appeared to them to be the goal of it; and the advanced posts of the two
+empires seemed unwilling to renew hostilities. A fresh order arrived,
+but the same hesitation prevailed. At length Murat, incensed at this
+disobedience, gave his commands in person; and the firing, with which he
+seemed to threaten Asia, but which was not destined to cease till we had
+retreated to the banks of the Seine, was renewed.
+
+
+Sec. 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city discovered
+to be on fire.
+
+Napoleon did not enter Moscow till after dark. He stopped in one of the
+first houses of the Dorogomilow suburb. There he appointed Marshal
+Mortier governor of that capital. "Above all," he said to him, "no
+pillage. For this you shall be answerable to me with your life. Defend
+Moscow against all, whether friend or foe."
+
+That was a gloomy night: sinister reports rapidly followed each other.
+Some Frenchmen, resident in the country, and even a Russian officer of
+police, came to give intelligence respecting the conflagration. He
+related all the particulars of the preparations that had been made for
+it. The emperor, alarmed by these accounts, strove in vain to compose
+himself to rest. He called every moment, and fatal tidings were repeated
+to him. Still he persisted in his incredulity till about two in the
+morning, when news was brought to him that the fire had actually broken
+out.
+
+It was at the Exchange, in the centre of the city, in its richest
+quarter. Instantly he issued orders upon orders. As soon as it was
+light, he himself hastened to the spot and threatened the Young Guard
+and Mortier. The marshal pointed out to him some houses covered with
+iron; they were closely shut up, still untouched and uninjured without,
+and yet a black smoke was already issuing from them. Napoleon dejectedly
+entered the Kremlin.
+
+At the sight of this half-Gothic, half-modern palace of the Ruricks and
+the Romanoffs, of their throne still standing, of the cross of the great
+Ivan, and of the finest part of the city, which is overlooked by the
+Kremlin, and which the flames, as yet confined to the bazaar, seemed
+disposed to spare, his former hopes revived. His ambition was flattered
+by this great conquest. "At length, then," he exclaimed, "I am in
+Moscow, in the ancient palace of the Czars, in the Kremlin!" He examined
+every part of it with pride, curiosity, and gratification.
+
+He required a statement of the resources of the city; and, in this brief
+moment given to hope, sent proposals of peace to the Emperor Alexander.
+A superior officer of the enemy had just been found in the great
+hospital: he was charged with the delivery of this letter. It was by
+the baleful light of the flames of the bazaar that Napoleon finished
+it, and the Russian departed. He was to be the bearer of the news of the
+disaster to his sovereign, whose only answer was the conflagration of
+his capital.
+
+Daylight favored the efforts of the Duke of Treviso to subdue the
+flames. The incendiaries kept themselves concealed. Doubts even were
+entertained of their existence. At length, strict injunctions being
+issued, order restored, and alarm for a moment suspended, each took
+possession of a commodious house or sumptuous palace, under the idea of
+finding comforts that had been dearly purchased by long and excessive
+privations.
+
+Two officers had taken up their quarters in one of the buildings of the
+Kremlin. The view from thence embraced the north and west of the city.
+About midnight they were awakened by an extraordinary light. They looked
+out and beheld palaces filled with flames, which at first merely
+illuminated, but ere long totally consumed these superb and noble
+structures. They observed that the north wind drove these flames
+directly towards the Kremlin, and they became alarmed for the safety of
+that fortress, in which the flower of their army and its commander
+reposed. They were apprehensive also for the surrounding houses, where
+our soldiers, attendants, and horses, weary and exhausted, were
+doubtless buried in profound sleep. Sparks and burning fragments were
+already flying over the roofs of the Kremlin, when the wind, shifting
+from north to west, blew them in another direction.
+
+One of these officers, relieved from apprehension respecting his own
+corps, then composed himself again to sleep, exclaiming, "Let others
+look to it; 'tis no affair of ours"; for such was the unconcern
+produced by the multiplicity of events and misfortunes, such the
+selfishness arising from excessive suffering and fatigue, that they left
+to each only just strength and feeling sufficient for his personal
+service and preservation.
+
+But it was not long before fresh and more vivid lights again awoke them.
+They beheld other flames rising in the direction which the wind had
+again taken towards the Kremlin, and they cursed French imprudence and
+want of discipline, to which they imputed this disaster. Three times did
+the wind thus change from west to north, and three times did these
+hostile fires, as if obstinately bent on the destruction of the imperial
+quarters, appear eager to follow its course.
+
+At this sight a strong suspicion seized their minds. Could the
+Muscovites, aware of our rash and thoughtless negligence, have conceived
+the hope of burning, with Moscow, our soldiers, heavy with wine,
+fatigue, and sleep; or, rather, had they dared to imagine that they
+should involve Napoleon in this catastrophe, believing that the loss of
+such a man would be a full equivalent for that of their capital; that it
+was a result of sufficient importance to justify the sacrifice of all
+Moscow to obtain it; that Heaven, perhaps, in order to grant them so
+signal a triumph, had decreed so great a sacrifice?
+
+Whether this was actually their plan we cannot tell; but nothing less
+than the emperor's good fortune was required to prevent its being
+realized. In fact, not only did the Kremlin contain, unknown to us, a
+magazine of powder, but that very night, the guards, asleep and
+carelessly posted, suffered a whole park of artillery to enter and draw
+up under the windows of Napoleon.
+
+It was at this moment that the flames were driven from all quarters,
+with the greatest violence, towards the Kremlin; for the wind, drawn
+towards this vast conflagration, increased every moment in strength. The
+flower of the army and the emperor himself would have been destroyed, if
+but one of the brands that flew over our heads had alighted on one of
+the powder-wagons. Thus upon a single spark out of the multitudes that
+were for several hours floating in the air, depended the fate of the
+whole army.
+
+At length the day, a dismal day it was, appeared; it came only to add to
+the horrors of the scene, and to take from it all its brilliancy. Many
+of the officers sought refuge in the halls of the palace. The chiefs,
+and Mortier himself, who had been contending for thirty-six hours
+against the fire, there dropped down from fatigue, and in despair.
+
+They said nothing, and we accused ourselves. Most of us supposed that
+want of discipline on the part of our troops and drunkenness had begun
+the disaster, and that the high wind had completed it. We viewed
+ourselves with feelings of disgust. The cry of horror which all Europe
+would not fail to set up, terrified us. Filled with consternation at so
+tremendous a catastrophe, we accosted each other with downcast looks. We
+were roused only by our eagerness to obtain intelligence; and every
+account now began to accuse the Russians alone of the disaster.
+
+In fact, officers arrived from all quarters, and they all agreed on this
+point. The very first night, that of the 14th, a fire-balloon had
+settled on the palace of Prince Trubetskoi, and consumed it: this had
+been the signal. Fire was now immediately set to the Exchange; and
+Russian police soldiers had been seen stirring it up with tarred lances.
+In some places, shells, perfidiously placed in the stoves of the
+houses, had exploded and wounded the military who crowded around them.
+Retiring to other quarters still standing, they sought there for fresh
+retreats; but when on the point of entering houses that were closely
+shut up and uninhabited, they had heard faint explosions within; these
+were succeeded by a light smoke, which immediately became thick and
+black, then reddish, lastly fire was seen, and presently the whole
+edifice was involved in flames.
+
+All had seen hideous-looking men, covered with rags, and women
+resembling furies, wandering among these flames. These wretches,
+intoxicated with wine and with the success of their crimes, no longer
+took any pains to conceal themselves: they proceeded in triumph through
+the blazing streets; they were caught, armed with torches, striving to
+spread the conflagration; and it was necessary to strike down their
+hands with sabres to oblige them to loose their hold. It was said that
+these banditti had been let loose from the prisons by the Russian
+generals for the express purpose of burning the city; and that, in fact,
+a resolution so extreme could only have been conceived by patriotism,
+and executed by guilt.
+
+Orders were immediately issued to shoot all the incendiaries on the
+spot. The army was on foot. The Old Guard, which exclusively occupied
+one part of the Kremlin, was under arms: the baggage, and the horses
+ready loaded, filled the courts; we were struck dumb with astonishment,
+surprise, and disappointment at witnessing the destruction of such
+admirable quarters. Though masters of Moscow, we were forced to go and
+bivouac,[147] without provisions, outside its gates.
+
+While our troops were yet struggling with the conflagration, and
+disputing their prey with the flames, Napoleon, whose sleep none had
+dared to disturb during the night, was awakened by the twofold light of
+day and of the burning city. His first feeling was that of irritation,
+and he would have stayed the devouring element by the breath of his
+command; but he soon paused, and yielded to impossibility. Surprised
+that when he had struck at the heart of an empire he should find there
+any other sentiment than that of abject submission, he felt himself
+vanquished, and surpassed in heroic determination.
+
+This conquest, for which he had sacrificed everything, was like a
+phantom which he had eagerly pursued, and, at the moment when he
+imagined he had grasped it, he saw it vanish from him in a mingled mass
+of smoke and flame. He was then seized with extreme agitation: he
+seemed, as it were, consumed by the fires which were around him. He rose
+every moment from his seat, paced to and fro, and again sat abruptly
+down. He traversed his apartments with hurried steps: his sudden and
+vehement gestures betrayed a painful uneasiness; he quitted, resumed,
+and again as suddenly abandoned an urgent occupation, to hasten to the
+windows and watch the progress of the flames. Short and incoherent
+exclamations burst from his laboring bosom! "What a tremendous
+spectacle! It is their own work! So many palaces! What extraordinary
+resolution! What men! These are indeed Scythians!"[148]
+
+Between the fire and his quarters there was an extensive vacant space,
+then the Moskwa and its two quays; and yet the panes of the windows
+against which he leaned felt already burning to the touch, and the
+constant exertions of sweepers, placed on the iron roofs of the palace,
+were not sufficient to keep them clear of the numerous flakes of fire
+which were continually lighting upon them.
+
+At this moment a rumor was spread that the Kremlin had been mined; and
+the fact, it was said, was confirmed later by the declarations of the
+Russians, and by written documents. Some of his attendants were beside
+themselves with fear, while the military awaited unmoved what the orders
+of the emperor and fate should decree; but he replied to their alarm
+only with a smile of incredulity.
+
+Still, he continued to walk about in the utmost agitation: he stopped at
+every window, to gaze on the terrible, the victorious element that was
+furiously consuming his brilliant conquest; seizing on all the bridges,
+on all the avenues to his fortress, enclosing, and, as it were,
+besieging him in it; spreading every moment wider and wider; constantly
+reducing him within narrower limits, and confining him at length to the
+site of the Kremlin alone.
+
+We breathed already nothing but smoke and ashes: night approached, and
+was about to add darkness to our other dangers; while the equinoctial
+gales, as if in alliance with the Russians, increased in violence. Then
+Murat and Prince Eugene hastened to the emperor's quarters: in company
+with the Prince of Neufchatel they made their way to him, and urged him
+by their entreaties, and on their knees, to remove from this scene of
+desolation. All was in vain.
+
+Master, after so many sacrifices, of the palace of the Czars, he was
+bent on not yielding that conquest even to the conflagration, when all
+at once the shout of "the Kremlin is on fire!" passed from mouth to
+mouth, and roused us from the contemplative stupor into which we had
+been plunged. The emperor went out to ascertain the danger. Twice had
+the fire communicated to the building in which he was and twice had it
+been extinguished; but the tower of the arsenal was still burning. A
+soldier of the police had been found in it. He was brought in, and
+Napoleon caused him to be interrogated in his presence. This man was the
+incendiary; he had executed his commission at the signal given by his
+chief. It was now evident that everything was devoted to destruction,
+the ancient and sacred Kremlin not excepted.
+
+The gestures of the emperor bespoke disdain and vexation: the wretch was
+hurried into the first court, and there the enraged soldiers despatched
+him with their bayonets.
+
+
+Sec. 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city.
+
+This occurrence decided Napoleon. He hastily descended the northern
+staircase, famous for the massacre of the Strelitzes,[149] and requested
+to be conducted out of the city, to the distance of a league on the road
+to St. Petersburg, towards the imperial palace of Petrowski.
+
+But we were besieged by an ocean of fire, which blocked up all the gates
+of the citadel, and frustrated our first attempts to escape. After some
+search, we discovered a postern-gate[150] leading between the rocks to
+the Moskwa. It was by this narrow pass that Napoleon, his officers and
+guard, made their way from the Kremlin. But what had they gained by this
+movement? They had approached nearer to the fire, and could neither
+retreat nor remain where they were; and how were they to advance? how
+force a passage through the billows of this sea of flame? Those who had
+traversed the city, stunned by the tempest and blinded by the ashes,
+could no longer find their way, since the streets themselves were not
+distinguishable amid smoke and ruins.
+
+There was no time to be lost. The roaring of the flames around us became
+every moment more terrific. A single narrow winding street, completely
+enveloped in fire on either side, appeared rather the entrance than the
+outlet of this hell. The emperor, however, on foot, and without
+hesitation, rushed into this frightful passage. He advanced amid the
+crackling of the flames, the crash of floors, and the fall of burning
+timbers, and of fragments of red-hot iron roofs which tumbled around
+him. These ruins impeded his progress. The flames, while with impetuous
+roar they consumed the edifices between which we were proceeding,
+spreading beyond the walls, were blown out by the wind, and formed an
+arch over our heads. We walked on a ground of fire, beneath a fiery
+canopy and between two walls of fire. The intense heat burned our eyes,
+which we were nevertheless obliged to keep open and fixed on the danger.
+A consuming atmosphere parched our throats, and rendered our respiration
+short and difficult; and we were already almost suffocated by the smoke.
+Our hands were burned, either in endeavoring to protect our faces from
+the insupportable heat, or in brushing off the sparks which every moment
+fell upon our garments. In this inexpressible distress, and when a rapid
+advance seemed to be our only means of safety, our guide stopped in
+uncertainty and agitation. Here probably would have terminated our
+adventurous career, had not some pillagers of the first corps recognized
+the emperor amid the whirling flames: they ran up and guided him towards
+the smoking ruins of a quarter which had been reduced to ashes in the
+morning.
+
+It was there that we met the Prince of Eckmuehl. This marshal, who had
+been wounded at the Moskwa, had desired to be carried back among the
+flames to rescue Napoleon, or to perish with him. He threw himself into
+his arms with transport; the emperor received him kindly, but with that
+composure which in danger he never lost for a moment.
+
+To escape from this vast region of desolation, it was farther necessary
+to pass a long convoy of powder which was defiling amid the fire. This
+was not the least of his dangers, but it was the last, and by nightfall
+he arrived at Petrowski.
+
+The next morning, the 17th of September, Napoleon cast his first look
+towards Moscow, hoping to see that the conflagration had subsided. But
+he beheld it again raging with the utmost violence: the city appeared
+like one vast column of fire, rising in whirling eddies to the sky,
+which it deeply colored. Absorbed by this melancholy contemplation, he
+maintained a long and gloomy silence, which he broke only by the
+exclamation, "This forebodes to us great misfortunes!"
+
+The effort which he had made to reach Moscow had expended all his means
+of warfare. Moscow had been the limit of his projects, the aim of all
+his hopes, and Moscow was no more! What was now to be done? Here this
+decisive genius was forced to hesitate. He who in 1805 had ordered the
+sudden and total abandonment of the expedition prepared at an immense
+expense, for the invasion of England; and determined at Boulogne on the
+surprise and annihilation of the Austrian army, in short, on all the
+operations of the campaign between Ulm and Munich exactly as they were
+executed; this same man, who in the following year dictated at Paris
+with like infallibility all the movements of his army as far as Berlin,
+the day of his entrance into that capital, and the appointment of the
+governor whom he destined for it; he it was who, astonished in his turn,
+was now in perplexity what course to pursue. Never had he communicated
+his most daring projects to the most confidential of his ministers but
+in order for their execution; he was now, however, constrained to
+consult and put to the proof those who were around him.
+
+But, in doing this, he still preserved the same show of confidence and
+of determination. He declared that he would march for St. Petersburg.
+This conquest was already marked out on his maps, hitherto so prophetic:
+orders were even issued to the different corps to hold themselves in
+readiness. But this was all only a feint: it was but a better face that
+he strove to assume, or an expedient for diverting his grief at the loss
+of Moscow; so that Berthier, and more especially Bessieres, soon
+convinced him that he had neither time, provisions, roads, nor a single
+requisite for so distant an expedition.
+
+At this moment he was apprised that Kutusoff, after having fled towards
+the east, had suddenly turned to the south, and thrown himself between
+Moscow and Kaluga. This was an additional circumstance against the
+expedition to St. Petersburg. There was a threefold reason for marching
+upon the beaten army, and endeavoring to extinguish it: to secure his
+right flank and his line of operation; to possess himself of Kaluga and
+of Tula, the one the granary, the other the arsenal of Russia; and,
+lastly, to open safe, short, new, and untouched retreat to Smolensk and
+Lithuania.[151]
+
+Some one proposed to return upon Wittgenstein and Witepsk.[152]
+Napoleon, however, remained undecided between these different plans.
+That for the conquest of St. Petersburg alone flattered him: the others
+appeared but as ways of retreat, as acknowledgments of error; and
+whether from pride, or policy which would not admit itself to be in the
+wrong, he rejected them.
+
+Besides, where was he to halt in case of a retreat? He had so fully
+calculated on concluding a peace at Moscow, that he had no
+winter-quarters provided in Lithuania. Kaluga had no temptations for
+him. Wherefore lay waste fresh provinces? It would be wiser only to
+threaten them, and thus leave the Russians something to lose, in order
+to induce them to conclude a peace by which they might be preserved.
+Would it be possible to march to another battle, to fresh conquests,
+without exposing a line of operation covered with sick, stragglers,
+wounded, and convoys of all sorts? Moscow was the general rallying
+point: how could it be changed? What other name would have any
+attraction?
+
+Lastly, and above all, how could he relinquish a hope to which he had
+made so many sacrifices, when he knew that his letter to Alexander had
+just passed the Russian advanced posts; when eight days would be
+sufficient for receiving an answer, so ardently desired; when he
+required that time to rally and reorganize his army, to collect the
+relics of Moscow, the conflagration of which had but too strongly
+sanctioned pillage, and to draw his soldiers away from that vast
+infirmary.
+
+Meanwhile, scarcely a third of that army and of that capital now
+existed. But himself and the Kremlin were still standing: his renown was
+still entire, and he persuaded himself that those two great names,
+Napoleon and Moscow, combined, would be sufficient to accomplish
+everything. He determined, therefore, to return to the Kremlin, which a
+battalion of his guard had unfortunately preserved.
+
+
+Sec. 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city.
+
+The camps which he traversed on his way thither presented an
+extraordinary sight. In the fields, in the midst of the mud, were large
+fires, kept up with mahogany furniture, windows and gilded doors. Around
+these fires, on litters of damp straw, imperfectly sheltered by a few
+boards, were seen the soldiers and their officers, splashed all over
+with mud, and blackened with smoke, seated in arm-chairs or reclining on
+silken couches. At their feet were spread, or heaped together, Cashmere
+shawls, the rarest furs of Siberia, the gold stuffs of Persia, and
+silver dishes, off which they had nothing to eat but black dough baked
+in the ashes, and half broiled and bloody horseflesh. Strange
+combination of abundance and want, of riches and filth, of luxury and
+wretchedness!
+
+Between the camp and the city were met troops of soldiers dragging along
+their booty, or driving before them, like beasts of burden, Muscovites
+bending under the weight of the pillage of their capital: for the fire
+brought to light nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, previously
+concealed in that immense city. Some of these, of both sexes, were well
+dressed: they were tradespeople. They came with the wreck of their
+property, to seek refuge at our fires. They lived pell-mell with our
+soldiers, protected by some, and tolerated, or, rather, scarcely
+remarked by others.
+
+About ten thousand of the enemy's troops were in the same predicament.
+For several days they wandered about among us, free, and some of them
+even still armed. Our soldiers met these vanquished Russians without the
+slightest animosity, and without thinking of making them prisoners;
+either that they considered the war at an end, or from thoughtlessness
+or pity, or because, when not in battle, the French delight in having no
+enemies. They suffered them to share their fires; nay, more, they
+allowed them to pillage in their company. But when some degree of order
+was restored, or, rather, when the officers had organized this marauding
+as a regular system of forage, the great number of these Russian
+stragglers attracted notice, and orders were given to secure them; but
+seven or eight thousand had already escaped. It was not long before we
+had to fight them.
+
+On entering the city the emperor was struck by a sight still more
+extraordinary: a few houses scattered here and there among the ruins
+were all that was left of the mighty Moscow. The smell issuing from this
+vast city, overthrown, burned, and calcined, was horrible. Heaps of
+ashes, and, at intervals, fragments of walls or half-demolished pillars,
+were now the only vestiges that marked the sites of streets.
+
+In the suburbs were found a few Russians of both sexes, covered with
+garments scorched and blackened by the fire. They flitted like spectres
+among the ruins; some of them were scratching up the earth in gardens in
+quest of vegetables, while others were disputing with the crows for the
+relics of the dead animals which their army had left behind. Farther on,
+others again were seen plunging into the Moskwa to bring out some of the
+grain which had been thrown into it by command of Rostopchin, and which
+they devoured without preparation, soured and spoiled as it was.
+
+Meanwhile the sight of the booty in the camps, where everything was yet
+wanting, inflamed the soldiers, whom a sense of duty or stricter
+officers had hitherto kept with their colors. They murmured. "Why were
+they to be kept back? Why were they to perish by famine and want, when
+everything was within their reach? Was it right to allow the enemy's
+fires to destroy what might be saved? Why was such respect to be paid to
+the conflagration?" They added, that "as the inhabitants of Moscow had
+not only abandoned, but even endeavored utterly to destroy it, all that
+they could save would be fairly gained; that the remains of that city,
+like the arms of the conquered, belonged by right to the victors, as the
+Muscovites had turned their capital into a vast machine of war for the
+purpose of annihilating us."
+
+The best principled, and the best disciplined were those who argued
+thus, and it was impossible to reply satisfactorily to them. Exaggerated
+scruples, however, at first preventing the issuing of orders for
+pillage, it was permitted, unrestrained by regulations. Then it was,
+urged by the most imperious wants, that all hurried to share the spoil,
+soldiers of the highest class, and even officers. Their chiefs were
+obliged to shut their eyes: only such guards as were absolutely
+indispensable remained with the colors and the piled arms.
+
+The emperor saw his whole army dispersed over the city. His progress was
+obstructed by long files of marauders going in quest of booty or
+returning with it; by tumultuous assemblages of soldiers grouped around
+the entrances of cellars, or the doors of palaces, shops, and churches,
+which the fire had nearly reached, and which they were endeavoring to
+break into.
+
+His steps were impeded by the fragments of furniture of every kind which
+had been thrown out of the windows to save them from the flames, or by
+rich pillage which had been abandoned from caprice for other booty, for
+such is the way with soldiers; they are incessantly beginning their
+fortunes afresh, taking everything indiscriminately, loading themselves
+beyond measure, as if they could carry all that they find; then, after
+they have gone a few steps, compelled by fatigue to throw away
+successively the greatest part of their burden.
+
+The roads were obstructed by these accumulations; and the open places,
+like the camp, were turned into markets, whither every one repaired to
+exchange superfluities for necessaries. There the rarest articles, the
+value of which was not known to their possessors, were sold for the
+merest pittance; while others of little worth, but more showy
+appearance, were purchased at the most exorbitant prices. Gold, from
+being most portable, was bought at an immense loss with silver that the
+knapsacks were incapable of holding. Everywhere soldiers were seen
+seated on bales of merchandise, on heaps of sugar and coffee, amid
+wines and the most exquisite liquors, all of which they were offering
+in exchange for a morsel of bread. Many, in a state of intoxication
+aggravated by hunger, had fallen near the flames, which, reaching them,
+put a miserable end to their lives.
+
+The houses and palaces which had escaped the fire served as quarters for
+the officers, who respected whatever was found in them. They beheld with
+pain this vast destruction, and the pillage which was its necessary
+consequence. Some of our best men were reproached with being too greedy
+in collecting whatever they could rescue from the flames; but their
+number was so small that they were all mentioned by name. In these
+ardent men war was a passion which presupposed the existence of many
+others. It was not covetousness, for they did not hoard; they spent
+lavishly what they had thus picked up, taking in order to give,
+believing that one hand washed the other, and that they paid for
+everything with the danger they encountered in acquiring it.
+
+It was amid this confusion that Napoleon again entered Moscow. He had
+allowed the pillage, hoping that his army, scattered over the ruins,
+would find much that was valuable; but when he learned that the disorder
+increased; that the Old Guard[153] itself had yielded to the temptation;
+that the Russian peasants, who were at length allured thither with
+provisions, for which he caused them to be liberally paid, that they
+might induce others to come, were robbed of what they brought to us by
+our famished soldiers; when he was informed that the different corps,
+destitute of everything, were ready to fight each other for the relics
+of Moscow; that, finally, all our existing resources were wasted by this
+lawless freebooting, he then issued severe orders, and forbade his guard
+to leave their quarters. The churches in which our cavalry had sheltered
+themselves, were evacuated, and restored to their religious uses.[154]
+The business of plunder was ordered to be taken in turn by the different
+corps, like any other duty, and directions were at length given for
+securing the Russian stragglers.
+
+But it was too late. These soldiers had fled; the affrighted peasants
+returned no more; and great quantities of provisions were wasted. The
+French army have sometimes fallen into these faults, but on the present
+occasion the fire must plead their excuse; no time was to be lost in
+anticipating the flames. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that at the
+first command of the emperor perfect order was restored.
+
+Most of our men behaved generously, considering the small number of
+inhabitants who remained, and the great number of enemies they met with.
+But if, in the first moments of pillage, some excesses were perpetrated,
+ought this to appear surprising in an army exasperated by such urgent
+wants, such severe sufferings, and composed of so many different
+nations?
+
+Misfortunes having since overwhelmed these warriors, reproaches, as in
+such circumstances is ever the case, have been raised against them. Who
+can be ignorant that similar disorders have always been the bad side of
+great wars, or, so to speak, the inglorious part of glory; that the
+renown of conquerors casts its shadow like everything else in this
+world? Does there exist a creature however diminutive, on every side of
+which the sun can shine at once? It is a law of nature, therefore, that
+great bodies shall cast great shadows.
+
+
+Sec. 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon at
+not hearing from the Czar.
+
+Meanwhile Kutusoff, on leaving Moscow, had drawn Murat towards Kolomna,
+the point where the Moskwa intersects the road. Here, under favor of the
+night, he suddenly turned to the south, proceeding by the way of Podol,
+to throw himself between Moscow and Kaluga. This night march of the
+Russians around Moscow, the ashes and flames of which were wafted to
+them by the violence of the wind, was gloomy in the extreme. They were
+lighted on their march by the baleful conflagration which was consuming
+the centre of their commerce, the sanctuary of their religion, the
+cradle of their empire! Filled with horror and indignation, they kept a
+sullen silence, which was unbroken save by the dull and monotonous sound
+of their footsteps, the roaring of the flames, and the howling of the
+blast. The dismal light was frequently varied by livid and sudden
+flashes. The brows of these warriors might then be seen contracted by
+intense and unutterable grief, and the fire of their sombre and
+threatening looks answered to these flames, which they regarded as our
+work; they already betrayed the ferocious revenge which was rankling in
+their hearts, which spread throughout the empire, and of which so many
+Frenchmen were the victims.
+
+At that solemn moment, Kutusoff, in a firm and impressive tone,
+addressed his sovereign, and informed him of the loss of his capital. He
+stated that, "in order to save the fertile provinces of the south, and
+to keep up his communications with Tormasoff and Tchitchakoff, he had
+been obliged to abandon Moscow, but emptied of its inhabitants, who were
+its life; and," said he, "as the people are the soul of every country,
+so where the Russian people are, there will be Moscow and the empire of
+Russia."
+
+It is said that on receiving this intelligence Alexander was
+thunderstruck. Napoleon, it was known, built hopes on the weakness of
+his rival, and the Russians themselves dreaded the effects of that
+weakness. But the Czar disappointed as well these hopes as fears. In his
+addresses to his subjects he exhibited himself no less great than his
+misfortune: "No pusillanimous dejection!" he exclaimed; "let us vow
+redoubled courage and perseverance! The enemy is in deserted Moscow as
+in a tomb, without means of domination or even of existence. He entered
+Russia with three hundred thousand men of all countries, without union
+or any national or religious bond: he has already lost half of them by
+the sword, by famine, and by desertion: he has but the wreck of this
+army in Moscow: he is in the heart of Russia, and not a single Russian
+is at his feet.
+
+"Meanwhile our forces are increasing and closing around him. He is in
+the midst of a mighty population, encompassed by armies which are
+waiting his movements and keeping him in check. To escape from famine,
+he will soon be obliged to direct his flight through the ranks of our
+brave soldiers. Shall we then recede, when all Europe is looking on and
+encouraging us? Let us, on the contrary, set it an example, and kiss
+the hand which has thus led us forth to be the first among the nations
+to vindicate the cause of independence and virtue." He concluded with an
+invocation to the Almighty.
+
+This circuitous march of Kutusoff, whether made from indecision or as a
+stratagem, was much in his favor. Murat lost all traces of him for three
+days. The Russian general employed all this interval in studying the
+ground and in intrenching himself. His advanced guard had nearly reached
+Woronowo, one of the finest domains belonging to Count Rostopchin, when
+that nobleman proceeded on before it. The Russians supposed that he had
+gone to take a last look at this splendid mansion, when all at once it
+was wrapped from their sight by clouds of smoke.
+
+They hurried on to extinguish the fire, but Rostopchin himself repelled
+their aid. They beheld him, amid the flames which he was encouraging,
+smiling at the demolition of this magnificent edifice, and then with a
+firm hand penning these words, which the French, shuddering with
+astonishment, afterwards read on the iron gate of a church which was
+left standing: "For eight years I have been embellishing this
+country-seat, where I have lived happily in the bosom of my family. The
+inhabitants of this estate, to the number of 1720, leave it on your
+approach, while I have set fire to my house, that it may not be polluted
+by your presence. Frenchmen, I have relinquished to you my two houses at
+Moscow, with their furniture, worth half a million of rubles. Here you
+will find nothing but ashes!"
+
+It was near this place that Murat came up with Kutusoff. On the 29th of
+September there was a smart engagement of cavalry and another on the 4th
+of October. Murat fought till nightfall, and repulsed the Russian
+force.
+
+Meanwhile, the conflagration at Moscow, which commenced in the night of
+the 14th of September, suspended through our exertions during the day of
+the 15th, revived the following night, and, raging with the utmost
+violence on the 16th, 17th, and 18th, abated on the 19th: it ceased
+altogether on the 20th, and on that day Napoleon returned to the
+Kremlin. To this point he attracted the looks of all Europe. There he
+awaited his convoys, his re-enforcements, and the stragglers of his
+army; certain that his soldiers would all be rallied by his victory, by
+the allurements of a rich booty, by the imposing sight of captive
+Moscow, and, above all, by his own glory, which, from the summit of this
+immense pile of ruins, still shone attractive like a beacon upon a rock.
+
+Twice, however, on the 22d and 28th of September, letters from Murat had
+wellnigh drawn him from this fatal abode. They announced a battle; and
+twice the orders for departure were written, and then burned. It seemed
+as though the war was finished for the emperor, and that he was only
+waiting for an answer from St. Petersburg. He nourished his hopes with
+the recollections of Tilsit and Erfurt.[155] Was it possible that at
+Moscow he should have less ascendancy over Alexander? Then, as is common
+with men who have long been the favorites of fortune, what he ardently
+wished he confidently expected.
+
+His genius possessed, besides, the extraordinary faculty of being able
+to throw aside the most important occupation whenever he pleased,
+either for the sake of variety or for rest; for in him the power of will
+surpassed that of imagination. In this respect he reigned over himself
+no less despotically than he did over others.
+
+Thus Paris diverted his attention from Petersburg. His accumulating
+affairs and the couriers, which in the first days succeeded each other
+without intermission, served to engage him. But the rapidity with which
+he transacted business soon left him again with nothing to do. His
+expresses,[156] which at first came from France in a fortnight, now
+ceased to arrive. A few military posts, placed in four towns reduced to
+ashes, and in wooden houses rudely palisaded, were wholly insufficient
+to guard a road of nearly two hundred and eighty miles; for we had been
+able to fix only these few steps, and at so great a distance apart, on
+so long a ladder. This too lengthened line of operation was consequently
+broken at every point where it was touched by the enemy: a few peasants,
+or a handful of Cossacks, were quite sufficient for the purpose.
+
+Still no answer was received from Alexander. The uneasiness of Napoleon
+increased, while his means of diverting his attention from it
+diminished. The activity of his genius, accustomed to the government of
+all Europe, had nothing with which to occupy itself but the management
+of one hundred thousand men; and then, the organization of his army was
+so perfect, that this was scarcely any occupation to him. Here
+everything was fixed: he held all the wires in his hand: he was
+surrounded by ministers who could tell him immediately, at any hour of
+the day, the position of each man in the morning or at night, whether
+with his colors, in the hospital, on leave of absence, or wherever else
+he might be, and that, from Moscow to Paris: to such a degree of
+perfection had the science of a concentrated administration been then
+brought, so experienced and well chosen were the officers, and so much
+was required by their commander.
+
+But eleven days had already elapsed: still Alexander was silent, and
+still did Napoleon hope to overcome his rival by obstinacy: thus losing
+the time which he ought to have gained, and which might have been made
+so serviceable against attack.
+
+From this period all his actions indicated to the Russians, still more
+strongly than at Witepsk, that their mighty foe was resolved to fix
+himself in the heart of their empire. Moscow, though in ashes, received
+a governor and municipal officers: orders also were issued to provision
+it for the winter: and a theatre was formed amid its ruins. The first
+actors of Paris, it is said, were sent for. An Italian singer strove to
+reproduce in the Kremlin the evening entertainments of the Tuileries. By
+such means Napoleon expected to dupe a government which the habit of
+reigning over ignorance and error had rendered an adept in all these
+delusions.
+
+He was himself sensible of the inadequacy of these means, and yet
+September was past, and October had begun. Alexander had not deigned to
+reply! it was an affront! he was exasperated. On the 3d of October,
+after a night of restlessness and irritation, he summoned his marshals.
+"Come in," said he, as soon as he perceived them; "hear the new plan
+which I have conceived: Prince Eugene, read it." They listened. "We must
+burn the remains of Moscow, and march by Twer to St. Petersburg, where
+we shall be joined by Macdonald. Murat and Davoust will form the rear
+guard." The emperor, all animation, fixed his sparkling eyes on his
+generals, whose rigid and silent countenances expressed nothing but
+astonishment.
+
+Then exalting himself in order to rouse them, "What!" said he, "and are
+_you_ not inflamed by this idea? Was there ever so great a military
+achievement? Henceforth this conquest is the only one that is worthy of
+us! With what glory shall we be covered, and what will the whole world
+say when it learns that in three months we have conquered the two great
+capitals of the North!"
+
+But Davoust, as well as Daru, objected to him "the season, the want of
+supplies, a sterile desert, and artificial road, that from Twer to St.
+Petersburg runs for a hundred leagues through morasses, and which three
+hundred peasants might in a single day render impassable. Why keep
+proceeding north? Why go to meet, to provoke, and to defy the winter? it
+was already too near; and what was to become of the six thousand wounded
+still in Moscow? Were they then to be left to the mercy of Kutusoff?
+That general would not fail to follow close at our heels. We should have
+at once to attack and to defend, thus marching to a conquest as though
+we were in flight."
+
+These officers have declared that they themselves then proposed various
+plans: a useless trouble with a prince whose genius outstripped all
+other imaginations, and whom their objections would not have stopped,
+had he been fully determined to march on St. Petersburg. But that idea
+was in him only a sally of anger, an inspiration of despair, on finding
+himself obliged in the face of Europe to give way, to relinquish his
+conquest and to fall back.
+
+It was more especially a threat to frighten his officers as well as the
+enemy, and to bring about and to promote a negotiation which
+Caulaincourt was to open. That officer had made himself agreeable to
+Alexander; he was the only one of the grandees of Napoleon's court who
+had acquired any influence over his rival; but for some months past
+Napoleon had kept him at a distance, because he had not been able to
+induce him to approve of his expedition.
+
+It was nevertheless to this very man that he was now obliged to have
+recourse, and to disclose his anxiety. He sent for him; but, when alone
+with him, he hesitated. Taking him by the arm, he walked to and fro for
+a long time in great agitation, his pride preventing him from breaking
+so painful a silence: at length he yielded, but in a threatening manner.
+Caulaincourt, who had formerly been minister to Russia, was to persuade
+the enemy to solicit peace of him, as if it were by his condescension
+that it was to be granted.
+
+After a few words, which were scarcely articulate, he said that "he was
+about to march to St. Petersburg. He knew that the destruction of that
+city would give pain to General Caulaincourt. Russia would then rise
+against the Emperor Alexander; there would at once be a conspiracy
+against that monarch; he would be assassinated, which would be a most
+unfortunate circumstance. He esteemed that prince, and should regret
+him, both for his own sake and that of France. His disposition," he
+added, "was suited to our interests: no prince could replace him with so
+much advantage to us. He had thought, therefore, of sending General
+Caulaincourt to him, to prevent such a catastrophe."
+
+General Caulaincourt, however, more obstinate than disposed to flattery,
+did not alter his tone. He maintained that "these overtures would be
+useless; that, unless the Russian territory was entirely evacuated,
+Alexander would listen to no proposals; that Russia was sensible of all
+her advantage at this season of the year; nay, more, that this step
+would be detrimental to himself, inasmuch as it would demonstrate the
+need which he had of peace, and betray all the embarrassment of our
+situation."
+
+He added, "that the more particular he was in the selection of his
+negotiator, the more clearly would he show his anxiety; that, therefore,
+he (Caulaincourt) would be more likely to fail than any other,
+especially as he would go with the certainty of failing." The emperor
+abruptly terminated the conversation by these words: "Well, then, I will
+send Lauriston."
+
+The latter asserts that he added fresh objections to the preceding, and
+that, being urged by the emperor, he recommended to him to begin his
+retreat that very day, by way of Kaluga. Napoleon, irritated at this,
+sharply replied, "that he liked simple plans, less circuitous routes,
+high roads, the road by which he had come, yet he would not retrace it
+but with peace." Then showing to him, as he had done to General
+Caulaincourt, the letter which he had written to Alexander, he ordered
+him to go and obtain of Kutusoff a safe conduct to St. Petersburg. The
+last words of the emperor to Lauriston were, "I want peace, I must have
+peace, I absolutely will have peace only save my honor."
+
+The general set out, and reached the advanced posts of the Russians on
+the 5th of October. Hostilities were instantly suspended, and an
+interview granted, at which Wolkonsky, aid-de-camp to Alexander, and
+Beningsen were present, without Kutusoff. Wilson asserts that the
+Russian generals and officers, suspicious of their commander, and
+accusing him of weakness, had raised a cry of treason, and that the
+latter had not dared to leave his camp.
+
+As Lauriston's instructions purported that he was to address himself to
+no one but Kutusoff, he peremptorily rejected any intermediate
+communication; and seizing, as he said, this occasion for breaking off a
+negotiation which he disapproved, he retired, in spite of all the
+solicitations of Wolkonsky, with the intention of returning to Moscow.
+Had he carried this into effect, no doubt Napoleon, exasperated, would
+have fallen upon Kutusoff, overthrown him and destroyed his army, as yet
+very incomplete, and forced him into a peace. In case of less decisive
+success, he would at least have been able to retire without loss upon
+his reinforcements.
+
+Unfortunately, Beningsen desired an interview with Murat. Lauriston
+waited. The chief of the Russian staff, an abler negotiator than
+soldier, strove to charm this monarch of yesterday by demonstrations of
+respect; to seduce him by praises; to deceive him with smooth words,
+breathing nothing but a weariness of war and the hope of peace; and
+Murat, tired of battles, anxious respecting their result, and, as it is
+said, regretting his throne, now that he had no hope of a better,
+suffered himself to be charmed, seduced, and deceived.
+
+It was soon demonstrated that the chief point in which they were all
+agreed was to deceive Murat and the emperor; and in this they succeeded.
+These details transported Napoleon with joy. Credulous from hope,
+perhaps from despair, he was for some moments dazzled by these
+appearances: eager to escape from the inward feeling which oppressed
+him, he seemed desirous to deaden it by resigning himself to an
+expansive joy. He therefore summoned all his generals, and triumphantly
+announced to them a speedy peace. "They had but to wait another
+fortnight. None but himself was acquainted with the Russian character.
+On the receipt of his letter St. Petersburg would be illuminated." But
+the armistice[157] proposed by Kutusoff was so unsatisfactory to him,
+that he ordered Murat to break it instantly; it nevertheless continued
+to be observed, the cause of which is not known.
+
+This armistice was a very singular one. If either party wished to break
+it, three hours' notice was to be sufficient. It was confined to the
+fronts of the two camps, but did not extend to their flanks: such, at
+least, was the interpretation put upon it by the Russians. Thus, we
+could not bring up a convoy, or send out a foraging party, without
+fighting; so that the war continued everywhere excepting where it could
+be favorable to us.
+
+As for the emperor, who was not so easily deceived, he had but a few
+moments of factitious joy. He soon complained "that an annoying warfare
+of partisans[158] hovered around him; that, notwithstanding all these
+pacific demonstrations, bodies of Cossacks were prowling on his flanks
+and in his rear. Had not one hundred and fifty dragoons of his Old Guard
+been surprised and routed by a number of these barbarians? And this two
+days after the armistice, on the road to Mojaisk, on his line of
+operation, that by which the army communicated with its magazines, its
+reinforcements, and he himself with Europe?"
+
+Our soldiers, and especially our cavalry, were obliged every morning to
+go to a great distance in quest of provisions for the evening and for
+the next day; and as the environs of Moscow and Vinkowo became gradually
+more and more drained, they were daily compelled to extend their
+excursions. Both men and horses returned worn out with fatigue, that is
+to say, such of them as returned at all; for we had to fight for every
+bushel of rye and for every truss of forage. It was a series of
+incessant surprises and skirmishes, and of continual losses. The
+peasantry took part in it. They punished with death such of their number
+as the prospect of gain had allured to our camp with provisions. Others
+set fire to their own villages to drive our foragers out of them, and to
+give them up to the Cossacks, whom they had previously summoned, and who
+kept us there in a state of siege.
+
+Thus the war was everywhere: in our front, on our flanks, and in our
+rear. Our army was constantly weakening, and the enemy becoming daily
+more enterprising. This conquest seemed destined to fare like many
+others, which are won in the mass, and lost piece-meal.
+
+Murat himself at length grew uneasy. In these daily skirmishes he had
+seen half the remnant of his cavalry melted away. At the advanced posts,
+the Russian officers, on meeting with ours, either from weariness,
+vanity, or military frankness carried to indiscretion, exaggerated the
+disasters which threatened us. Showing us those wild-looking horses,
+scarcely at all broken in, whose long manes swept the dust of the plain,
+they said, "Did not this tell us that a numerous cavalry was joining
+them from all quarters, while ours was gradually perishing? Did not the
+continual discharges of firearms within their line apprise us that a
+multitude of recruits were then training under favor of the armistice?"
+
+And, in fact, notwithstanding the long journeys which they had to make,
+all these recruits joined the army. There was no occasion to defer
+calling them together, as in other years, till deep snows, obstructing
+all the roads excepting the high road, rendered their desertion
+impossible. Not one failed to obey the national appeal; all Russia rose:
+mothers, it was said, wept for joy on learning that their sons had been
+selected for soldiers: they hastened to acquaint them with the glorious
+intelligence, and even accompanied them to see them marked with the sign
+of the Crusaders, to hear them cry, _'Tis the will of God!_
+
+The Russian officers added "that they were particularly astonished at
+our security on the approach of their frightful winter, which was their
+natural and most formidable ally, and which they expected every moment:
+they pitied us and urged us to fly. In a fortnight," said they, "your
+nails will drop off, and your muskets will fall from your benumbed and
+half-dead fingers."
+
+The language of some of the Cossack chiefs was also remarkable. They
+asked our officers "if they had not, in their own country, corn enough,
+air enough, and graves enough: in short, room enough to live and die?
+Why, then, did they come so far from home to throw away their lives, and
+to fatten a foreign soil with their blood?" They added that "this was a
+robbery of their native land, which while living it is our duty to
+cultivate, to defend, and to embellish; and to which, after our death,
+we owe our bodies, which we received from it, which it has fed, and
+which, in their turn, ought to feed it."
+
+The emperor was not ignorant of these warnings, but he would not suffer
+his resolution to be shaken by them. The uneasiness which had again
+seized him betrayed itself in angry orders. It was then that he caused
+the churches of the Kremlin to be stripped of everything that could
+serve for a trophy to the Grand Army. These objects, devoted to
+destruction by the Russians themselves, belonged, he said, to the
+conquerors, by the double right conferred by victory and by the
+conflagration.
+
+It required long efforts to remove the gigantic cross from the steeple
+of Ivan the Great, to the possession of which the Russians attached the
+salvation of their empire. The emperor determined that it should adorn
+the dome of the Invalides[159] at Paris. During the work it was remarked
+that a great number of ravens kept flying round this cross, and that
+Napoleon, weary of their hoarse croaking, exclaimed that "it seemed as
+if these flocks of ill-omened birds meant to defend it." We cannot
+pretend to tell all that he thought in this critical situation, but it
+is well known that he was accessible to every kind of presentiment.
+
+His nights, in particular, became irksome to him. He passed part of them
+with Count Daru. It was then only that he admitted the danger of his
+situation. "From Wilna to Moscow, what submission, what point of
+support, of rest, or of retreat, marked his power? It was a vast, bare,
+and desert field of battle, in which his diminished army was
+imperceptible, insulated, and, as it were, lost in the horrors of an
+immense void. In this country of foreign manners and religion he had not
+conquered a single individual: he was, in fact, master only of the
+ground on which he stood. That which he had just quitted and left
+behind him was no more his than that which he had not reached.
+Insufficient for these vast deserts, he was lost, as it were, in their
+immense space."
+
+He then reviewed the different resolutions of which he still had the
+choice. "People imagined," he said, "that he had nothing to do but
+march, without considering that it would take a month to refit his army
+and to evacuate his hospitals; that if he relinquished his wounded, the
+Cossacks would daily be seen triumphing over his sick and his
+stragglers. He would appear to fly. All Europe would resound with the
+report! Europe, which envied him, which was seeking a rival under whom
+to rally, and would imagine that it had found such a rival in
+Alexander."
+
+The letter of which Lauriston was the bearer to the Czar had been
+despatched on the 6th of October, and the answer to it could scarcely
+arrive before the 20th: still, in spite of so many threatening
+demonstrations, the pride, the policy, and perhaps the health of
+Napoleon induced him to pursue the worst of all courses, that of waiting
+for this answer, and of trusting to time, which was destroying him.
+Daru, as well as his other officers, was astonished to find in him no
+longer that prompt decision, variable and rapid as the occurrences which
+called it forth: they asserted that his genius could no longer
+accommodate itself to circumstances; and they placed it to the account
+of his natural persistence, which had led to his elevation, and which
+seemed destined to cause his downfall.
+
+
+Sec. 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow.
+
+Napoleon, however, was completely aware of his situation. To him
+everything seemed lost if he receded in the face of astonished Europe,
+and everything saved if he could surpass Alexander in determination. He
+appreciated but too well the means that were left him to shake the
+constancy of his rival; he knew that the diminishing number of his
+effective troops, that his situation, the season, in short, everything,
+would become daily more and more unfavorable to him; but he reckoned
+upon that magic force which his renown gave him. Hitherto that had lent
+to him a real and never failing strength: he endeavored, therefore, to
+keep up, by specious arguments, the confidence of his army, and perhaps,
+also, the faint hope that was still left to himself.
+
+Moscow, empty of inhabitants, no longer furnished him with anything to
+lay hold of. "It is no doubt a misfortune," he said, "but this
+misfortune is not without its advantage. Had it been otherwise, he would
+not have been able to keep order in so large a city, to overawe a
+population of three hundred thousand souls, and to sleep in the Kremlin
+but at the hazard of assassination. They have left us nothing but ruins,
+but at least we are quiet among them. Millions have no doubt slipped
+through our hands, but how many thousand millions is Russia losing! Her
+commerce is ruined for a century to come. The nation is thrown back
+fifty years, which of itself is an important result; and when the first
+moment of enthusiasm is passed, this reflection will fill them with
+consternation." The conclusion which he drew was, "that so violent a
+shock would convulse the throne of Alexander, and force that prince to
+sue for peace."
+
+In reviewing his different corps, their reduced battalions now presented
+so narrow a front that he was but a moment in traversing it, and this
+palpable diminution of their numbers evidently vexed him; either,
+therefore, to deceive his enemies or his own soldiers, he declared that
+the practice hitherto pursued of ranging the men three deep was wrong,
+and that two were sufficient; and he ordered his infantry in future to
+be drawn up in two ranks only.
+
+Nay, more: he even insisted that the inflexibility of the regimental
+returns should give way to this illusion. He disputed their results; and
+the obstinacy of Count Lobau could not overcome his. He was desirous, no
+doubt, of making his aid-de-camp[160] understand what he wished others
+to believe, and that nothing could shake his resolution.
+
+Meanwhile the attitude of his army seconded his wishes. Most of the
+officers persevered in their confidence. The common soldiers, who saw
+their whole lives in the present, and expected but little from the
+future, were for the most part unconcerned about it, and still retained
+their thoughtlessness, the most valuable of their qualities. The
+rewards, however, which the emperor bestowed profusely upon them in the
+daily reviews, were received at best with a sedate joy, mingled with
+some degree of dejection. The vacant places about to be filled up were
+yet freshly dyed with blood: these favors were menacing.
+
+On the other hand, when leaving Wilna, many of them had thrown away
+their winter garments, that they might load themselves with provisions.
+Their shoes were worn out by the length of the march, and the rest of
+their apparel by the successive actions in which they had been engaged;
+but, in spite of all, their attitude was still lofty. They carefully
+concealed their wretched plight from the notice of the emperor, and
+appeared before him with their arms bright and in the best order. In
+this first court of the palace of the Czars, full sixteen hundred miles
+from their resources, and after so many battles and bivouacs, they were
+anxious to appear still clean, alert, and prompt, for herein consists
+the pride of the soldier; and here they piqued themselves upon it the
+more, on account of the difficulty, in order to astonish, and because
+man prides himself on whatever requires extraordinary effort.
+
+The emperor complaisantly affected to know no better, catching at
+everything to keep up his hopes; when all at once the first snows fell.
+With them fell all the illusions with which he had endeavored to
+surround himself. From that moment he thought of nothing but retreat,
+without, however, pronouncing the word, and yet no positive order for it
+could be obtained from him. He merely said that in twenty days the army
+must be in winter quarters, and he urged the departure of his wounded.
+On this as on other occasions, he would not consent to the voluntary
+relinquishment of anything, however trifling: there was a deficiency of
+horses for his artillery, now too numerous for an army so reduced; but
+it did not signify, and he flew into a passion at the proposal to leave
+part of it behind. "No; the enemy would make a trophy of it;" and he
+insisted that everything should go along with him.
+
+In this desert country he gave orders for the purchase of 20,000 horses,
+and he expected forage for two months to be provided on a tract where
+the most distant and dangerous excursions were not sufficient for the
+supply of the passing day. Some of his officers were astonished to hear
+orders which it was so impossible to execute; but we have already seen
+that he sometimes issued such orders to deceive his enemies, and more
+frequently to indicate to his own troops the extent of their
+necessities, and the exertions they were called on to make in order to
+supply them.
+
+His distress manifested itself only in paroxysms of ill-humor, and this
+most frequently in the morning, at his levee. There, amid his assembled
+chiefs, in whose anxious looks he imagined he could read disapprobation,
+he seemed desirous to awe them by the severity of his manner, by his
+sharp tone, and his abrupt language. From the paleness of his face,
+however, it was evident that Truth, whose best time for obtaining a
+hearing is in the stillness of night, had annoyed him grievously by her
+presence, and oppressed him with her unwelcome light. Sometimes, on
+these occasions, his bursting heart would overflow, and pour forth its
+sorrows without any restraint. His agitation was manifested at such
+times by movements of extreme impatience; but, so far from lightening
+his griefs, he only aggravated them by those acts of injustice for which
+he reproached himself, and which he was afterwards anxious to repair.
+
+It was only to Count Daru that he unbosomed himself frankly, but without
+any weakness. He said "he should march upon Kutusoff, crush or drive him
+back, and then turn suddenly towards Smolensk." Daru, who had before
+approved this course, replied that "it was now too late; that the
+Russian army was re-enforced, his own weakened, and his victory
+forgotten; that, the moment his troops turned their faces towards home,
+they would slip away from him by degrees; that each soldier, laden with
+booty, would try to get the start of the army, for the purpose of
+disposing of it in France." "What, then, is to be done?" exclaimed the
+emperor. "Remain here," replied Daru; "make one vast intrenched camp of
+Moscow, and pass the winter in it. He would answer for it that there
+would be no want of bread and salt: the rest foraging on a large scale
+would supply. Such of the horses as they could not procure food for
+might be salted down. As to lodgings, if there were not houses enough,
+the cellars might make up the deficiency. Here we might stay till the
+return of spring, when our re-enforcements and all Lithuania in arms
+would come to relieve, to join us, and to complete the conquest."
+
+After listening to this proposal the emperor was for some time silent
+and thoughtful: he then replied, "This is a lion's counsel! But what
+would Paris say? What would they do there? What have they been doing
+there for the last three weeks that they have not heard from me? Who
+knows what would be the effect of a suspension of communication for six
+months? No: France would not accustom itself to my absence, and Prussia
+and Austria would take advantage of it."
+
+Still Napoleon could not make up his mind either to stay or to depart.
+Though overcome in this struggle of pertinacity, he deferred from day to
+day the avowal of his defeat. Amid the threatening storm of men and
+elements which was gathering around him, his ministers and aids-de-camp
+saw him pass whole days in discussing the merits of some new verses
+which he had received, or the regulations for one of the French theatres
+at Paris, which he took three evenings to finish. As they were
+acquainted with his deep anxiety, they could not but admire the strength
+of his genius, and the facility with which he could take off the whole
+force of his attention from, or fix it on, whatever subject he pleased.
+
+It was merely remarked that he prolonged his meals, which had hitherto
+been so simple and so short. He seemed desirous of stifling thought by
+repletion. He would then pass whole hours half reclined, and as if
+torpid, awaiting with a novel in his hand the catastrophe of his
+terrible history. In contemplating this obstinate and inflexible
+character thus struggling with impossibility, his officers would observe
+to each other that, having arrived at the summit of his glory, he no
+doubt foresaw that from his first retrograde step would date its
+decline; that for this reason he continued immovable, clinging to, and
+lingering a few moments longer on, his proud elevation.
+
+Kutusoff, meanwhile, was gaining the time which we were losing. His
+letters to Alexander described "his army as being in the midst of
+plenty; his recruits arriving from all quarters, and being rapidly
+trained; his wounded recovering in the bosom of their families; the
+whole of the peasantry on foot, some in arms, some on the look-out from
+the tops of steeples or in our camp, while others were stealing into our
+habitations, and even into the Kremlin. Rostopchin received a daily
+report of what was passing at Moscow as regularly as before its capture.
+If they undertook to be our guides, it was for the purpose of delivering
+us into his hands. His partisans were every day bringing in some
+hundreds of prisoners. Everything concurred to destroy the enemy's army
+and to strengthen his own; to serve him and to betray us; in a word, the
+campaign, which was over for us, was but just about to begin for them."
+
+Kutusoff neglected no advantage. He made his camp ring with the news of
+the victory of Salamanca. "The French," said he, "are expelled from
+Madrid. The hand of the Most High presses heavily upon Napoleon. Moscow
+will be his prison, his grave, and that of the whole of his Grand Army.
+We shall soon subdue France in Russia!" It was in such language that
+the Russian general addressed his troops and his emperor; and still he
+kept up appearances with Murat. At once bold and crafty, he contrived
+gradually to prepare a sudden and impetuous warfare, and to cover his
+plans for our destruction with demonstrations of kindness and honeyed
+words.
+
+But at length, after so many days of illusion, the charm was all at once
+dispelled. A single Cossack dissolved it. This barbarian fired at Murat,
+at the moment when that prince came as usual to show himself at the
+advanced posts. Highly exasperated, the king immediately declared to
+Miloradovitch that an armistice which had been incessantly violated was
+now at an end, and that thenceforward each party must look only to
+itself.
+
+At the same time he apprised the emperor that the woody country on his
+left might favor the enemy's attempts against his flank and rear; that
+his first line, being backed against a ravine, might be precipitated
+into it; that, in short, the position which he then occupied, in advance
+of a defile, was dangerous, and rendered a retrograde movement
+absolutely necessary. But Napoleon would not consent to this step,
+though he had at first pointed out Woronowo as a more secure position.
+In this war, still in his view rather political than military, he
+dreaded above all things the appearance of receding. He preferred
+risking everything rather than acknowledge to his enemies the slightest
+irresolution.
+
+Amid these preparations, and at the moment when Napoleon was reviewing
+Ney's divisions in the first court of the Kremlin, a report was all at
+once circulated that the sound of cannon was heard towards Vinkowo. It
+was some time before any one dared to apprise him of the circumstance;
+some from incredulity or uncertainty, and dreading the first movement of
+his impatience; others from weakness, hesitating to provoke a terrible
+explosion or apprehensive of being sent to verify the assertion, and
+exposed to a fatiguing excursion.
+
+Duroc at length took courage to inform him. The emperor was at first
+agitated; but, quickly recovering himself, he continued the review. An
+aid-de-camp, young Beranger, arrived shortly after with intelligence
+that Murat's first line had been surprised and overthrown, his left
+turned by favor of the woods, his flank attacked, and his retreat cut
+off: that twelve pieces of cannon, twenty ammunition wagons, and thirty
+wagons belonging to the train were taken, two generals killed, three or
+four thousand men lost, as well as the baggage; and, lastly, that the
+king himself was wounded. He had not been able to rescue the relics of
+his advanced guard from the enemy but by repeatedly charging their
+numerous troops, which already occupied the high road in his rear, his
+only retreat.
+
+Our honor, however, had been saved. The attack in front, directed by
+Kutusoff, was feeble; Poniatowski, at some leagues' distance on the
+right, made a glorious resistance; Murat and his resolute men, by almost
+superhuman exertions, checked Bagawout, who was ready to penetrate our
+left flank, and restored the fortunes of the day; while Claparede and
+Latour-Maubourg cleared the defile of Spaskapli, two leagues in the rear
+of our line, which was already occupied by Platoff. Two Russian generals
+were killed, and others wounded: the loss of the enemy was considerable,
+but the advantage of the attack, our cannon, our position, the victory,
+in short, was theirs.
+
+As for Murat, he had no longer an advanced guard. The armistice had
+destroyed half the remnant of his cavalry. This engagement had finished
+it; the survivors, emaciated with hunger, were so few as scarcely to
+furnish a charge. Thus had the war in earnest recommenced; and it was
+now the 18th of October.
+
+At these tidings Napoleon recovered the fire of his youth. A thousand
+orders, general and particular, all differing, yet all in unison and all
+necessary, burst at once from his impetuous genius. Night had not yet
+arrived, and the whole army was already in motion. The emperor himself
+quitted Moscow before daylight on the 19th of October. "Let us march
+upon Kaluga," said he, "and woe be to those whom I meet with by the
+way!"
+
+
+Sec. 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle.
+
+On the southern side of Moscow, near one of its gates, is an extensive
+suburb, divided by two high roads; both run to Kaluga: that on the right
+is the more ancient, the other is quite new. It was on the first that
+Kutusoff had just beaten Murat. By the same road Napoleon left Moscow on
+the 19th of October, announcing to his officers his intention to return
+to the frontiers of Poland. One of them, Rapp, observed that "it was
+late, and that winter might overtake them by the way." The emperor
+replied "that he had been obliged to allow time to the soldiers to
+recruit themselves, and to the wounded collected at Moscow, and at other
+places, to move off towards Smolensk." Then, pointing to a still serene
+sky, he asked "if in that brilliant sun they did not recognize his
+star." But this appeal to his fortune, and the sinister expression of
+his looks, belied the security which he affected.
+
+Napoleon entered Moscow with ninety thousand fighting men, and twenty
+thousand sick and wounded, and quitted it with more than a hundred
+thousand combatants. He left there with only twelve hundred sick. His
+stay, therefore, notwithstanding daily losses, had served to rest his
+infantry, to complete his stores, to augment his force by ten thousand
+men, and to protect the recovery or the retreat of a great part of his
+wounded. But on this very first day he could perceive that his cavalry
+and artillery might be said rather to crawl than to march.
+
+A melancholy spectacle added to the gloomy presentiments of our chief.
+The army had, ever since the preceding day, been pouring out of Moscow
+without intermission. In this column of one hundred and forty thousand
+men and about fifty thousand horses of all kinds, the hundred thousand
+combatants marching at its head with their knapsacks and their arms,
+upward of five hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and two thousand
+artillery wagons, still exhibited a formidable appearance, worthy of
+soldiers who had conquered the world. But the rest, whose numbers were
+in an alarming proportion, resembled a horde of Tartars after a
+successful invasion. They formed three or four files of almost infinite
+length, in which there was a confused mixture of chaises, ammunition
+wagons, handsome carriages, and, in short, vehicles of every kind. Here
+trophies of Russian, Turkish, and Persian colors, and the gigantic cross
+of Ivan the Great; there, long-bearded Russian peasants carrying or
+driving along our booty, of which they constituted a part; and some
+dragging even wheelbarrows filled with whatever they could remove. The
+fools were not likely to proceed in this manner till the conclusion of
+the first day, and yet their senseless avidity made them think nothing
+of battles and a march of two hundred leagues.
+
+Among these followers of the army were particularly remarked a multitude
+of men of all nations, without uniform and without arms, and servants
+swearing in every language, and urging by dint of shouts and blows the
+progress of elegant carriages, drawn by pigmy horses harnessed with
+ropes. These were filled with provisions, or with booty saved from the
+flames. They carried, also, many French women with their children.
+Formerly these females had been happy inhabitants of Moscow; but they
+now fled from the hatred of the Muscovites, which the invasion had drawn
+upon their heads, and the army was their only asylum.
+
+A few Russian girls, voluntary captives, also followed. It looked like a
+caravan, a wandering nation, or, rather, one of those armies of
+antiquity returning loaded with slaves and with spoils after a great
+devastation. It was inconceivable how the head of this column could draw
+and protect such a prodigious mass of equipages in so long a route.
+
+Notwithstanding the width of the road and the shouts of his escort,
+Napoleon had great difficulty in obtaining a passage through this
+immense throng. No doubt the obstruction of a defile, a few forced
+marches, or a handful of Cossacks would have been sufficient to rid us
+all of this encumbrance; but fortune or the enemy had alone a right to
+lighten us in this manner. As for the emperor, he was fully sensible
+that he could neither deprive his soldiers of this fruit of so many
+toils, nor reproach them for securing it. Besides, provisions concealed
+the booty; and was it for him, who could not give his troops the
+subsistence he should have done, to forbid their carrying it along with
+them? Lastly, in case of the failure of military conveyances, these
+vehicles would be the only means of preservation for the sick and
+wounded.
+
+Napoleon therefore extricated himself in silence from the immense train
+which he drew after him, and advanced on the old road leading to Kaluga.
+He pushed on in this direction for some hours, declaring that he would
+go and beat Kutusoff on the very field of his victory. But all at once,
+about midday, opposite to the castle of Krasnopachra, where he halted,
+he suddenly turned to the right with his army, and in three marches
+across the country gained the new road to Kaluga.
+
+The rain, which overtook him in the midst of this manoeuvre, spoiled the
+cross-roads, and obliged him to halt in them. This was a most
+unfortunate circumstance. It was with difficulty that our cannon were
+drawn out of the sloughs.
+
+At any rate, the emperor had masked his movement by Ney's corps and the
+remnants of Murat's cavalry, which had remained behind the Motscha and
+at Woronowo. Kutusoff, deceived by this feint, was still waiting for the
+Grand Army on the old road, while, on the 23d of October, the whole of
+it had been transferred to the new one, and had but one march to make in
+order to pass quietly by him, and to get between him and Kaluga.
+
+On the first day of this flanking march, a letter was sent from Berthier
+to Kutusoff, as a last attempt at peace, or perhaps merely as a ruse. No
+satisfactory answer was returned to it.
+
+On the 23d the imperial quarters were at Borowsk. That night was an
+agreeable one for the emperor: he was informed that, at six in the
+evening, Delzons with his division, who was four leagues in advance of
+him, had found the town of Malo-jaroslavetz and the woods which command
+it unoccupied: this was a strong position within reach of Kutusoff, and
+the only point where he could cut us off from the new road to Kaluga.
+
+The emperor wished at first to secure that advantage by his presence:
+the order to march was even given, but shortly after withdrawn, we know
+not why. He passed the whole of that evening on horseback, not far from
+Borowsk, on the left of the road, the side on which he supposed Kutusoff
+to be. He reconnoitered the ground in the midst of a heavy rain, as if
+he anticipated that it might become a field of battle. Next day, the
+24th, he learned that the Russians had disputed the possession of the
+town with Delzons. Either from confidence or uncertainty in his plans,
+this intelligence appeared to give him very little concern.
+
+He quitted Borowsk, therefore, late and leisurely, when the noise of a
+very smart engagement reached where he was; he then became uneasy,
+hastened to an eminence and listened. "Had the Russians anticipated him?
+Was his manoeuvre thwarted? Had he not used sufficient expedition in
+that march, the object of which was to pass the left flank of Kutusoff?"
+
+The emperor was still listening: the noise increased. "Is it then a
+battle?" he exclaimed. Every discharge agitated him, for the chief point
+with him was no longer to conquer, but to preserve, and he urged on with
+all possible speed, Davoust accompanying him; but he and that marshal
+did not reach the field of battle till dark, when the firing was already
+subsiding, and the whole was over.
+
+The emperor saw the close of the battle, but without being able to
+assist the viceroy.[161] A band of Cossacks from Twer had nearly
+captured one of his officers, who was only a very short distance from
+him.
+
+At this time an officer, sent by Prince Eugene, came to him and
+explained the whole affair. "The troops had," he said, "in the first
+place, been obliged to cross the Louja at the foot of the town, at the
+bottom of an elbow which the river makes in its course, and then to
+climb a steep hill. It is on this precipitous declivity, broken by
+pointed crags, that the town is built. Beyond is an elevated plain,
+surrounded with woods, from which run three roads, one in front coming
+from Kaluga, and two on the left, from Lectazowo, the seat of the
+intrenched camp of Kutusoff."
+
+After crossing the Louja by a narrow bridge, the high road from Kaluga
+runs along the bottom of a ravine which ascends to the town, and then
+enters it. The enemy in mass occupied this hollow way; Delzons and his
+Frenchmen rushed upon them pell-mell; the Russians were broken and
+overthrown; they gave way, and presently our bayonets glistened on the
+heights.
+
+Delzons, conceiving himself sure of the victory, announced it as won. He
+had nothing but a pile of buildings to storm; but his soldiers
+hesitated. He himself advanced, and was encouraging them by his words,
+actions, and example, when a ball struck him in the forehead, and
+extended him on the ground. His brother threw himself upon him, covered
+him with his body, clasped him in his arms, and was striving to bear him
+out of the fire and the fray, when a second ball hit him also, and both
+expired together.
+
+This loss left a great void, which required to be filled. Guilleminot
+succeeded Delzons, and the first thing he did was to throw a hundred men
+into a church and the yard around it, in the walls of which they made
+loopholes. This church stood on the left of the high road, which it
+commanded, and to its possession we owed the victory. Five times during
+the day was this post passed by the Russian columns as they were
+pursuing ours, and five times did its fire, seasonably poured upon their
+flank and rear, harass them and retard their progress: afterward, when
+we resumed the offensive, this position placed them between two fires,
+and ensured the success of our attacks.
+
+Scarcely had that general made this disposition when he was assailed by
+a host of the enemy: he was driven back towards the bridge, where the
+viceroy had stationed himself in order to judge how to act and to
+prepare his reserves. At first the re-enforcements which he sent came up
+but slowly one after another; and, as is almost always the case where
+there is this tardy movement, being singly inadequate to any great
+effort, each was successively destroyed without result.
+
+At length the whole of the 14th division was engaged; and the combat was
+carried for the third time to the heights. But when the French had
+passed the houses, advanced beyond the central point from which they had
+set out, and reached the plain where they were exposed, and where the
+circle expanded, they could advance no farther; overwhelmed by the fire
+of a whole Russian army, they were daunted and shaken; fresh columns
+incessantly came up: our thinned ranks gave way and were broken; the
+obstacles of the ground increased their confusion; and at length they
+retired precipitately, and abandoned everything.
+
+Meanwhile, the shells having set fire to the wooden town behind them, in
+their retreat they were stopped by the conflagration: one fire drove
+them back upon another; the Russian recruits, wrought up to a pitch of
+fanatic fury, closely pursued them; our soldiers became enraged; they
+fought man to man; some were seen seizing each other with one hand and
+striking with the other, until both rolled down the precipices into the
+flames without quitting their hold. There the wounded expired, either
+suffocated by the smoke or consumed by the flames.
+
+The 15th division was still left. The viceroy summoned it: as it
+advanced, it threw a brigade into the suburb on the left, and another
+into the town on the right. It consisted of Italians, recruits, who had
+never before been in action. They ascended, shouting enthusiastically,
+ignorant of the danger or despising it, from that singular disposition
+which renders life less dear in its flower than in its decline, either
+because while young we fear death less from the feeling of its distance,
+or because at that age, rich in years and lavish of everything, we are
+prodigal of life as the wealthy are of their fortune.
+
+The shock was terrible: everything was reconquered for the fourth time,
+and speedily lost again in like manner. More eager to begin than their
+seniors, these young troops were sooner disheartened, and returned
+flying to the old battalions, which supported them, and were obliged to
+lead them back to danger.
+
+The Russians, imboldened by their constantly increasing numbers and by
+success, descended by their right to gain possession of the bridge and
+to cut off our retreat. Prince Eugene had nothing left but his last
+reserve: he and his guard, therefore, now took part in the combat. At
+this sight, and in obedience to his call, the remains of the 13th,
+14th, and 15th divisions resumed their courage: they made a last and
+desperate effort, and for the fifth time the combat was transferred to
+the heights.
+
+At the same time, Colonel Peraldi and the Italian troops overthrew with
+their bayonets the Russians who were already approaching the left of the
+bridge: infuriated by the smoke and the fire through which they had
+passed, and encouraged by their success and the havoc which they made,
+they pushed forward without stopping on the elevated plain, and
+endeavored to make themselves masters of the enemy's cannon; but one of
+those deep clefts with which the soil of Russia is intersected stopped
+them in the midst of a destructive fire, their ranks opened, the enemy's
+cavalry attacked them, and they were driven back to the very gardens of
+the suburb. There they paused and rallied: all, both French and
+Italians, obstinately defended the upper avenues of the town, and the
+Russians, being at length repulsed, drew back and concentrated
+themselves on the road to Kaluga, between the woods and
+Malo-jaroslavetz.
+
+In this manner did 18,000 Italians and French, crowded together at the
+bottom of a ravine, defeat 50,000 Russians, posted over their heads, and
+seconded by all the obstacles that a town built on a steep declivity is
+capable of presenting.
+
+The army, however, surveyed with sorrow this field of battle, where
+seven generals and 4000 French and Italians had been killed or wounded.
+The sight of the enemy's loss afforded no consolation; it was not twice
+the amount of ours, and their wounded would be saved. It was moreover
+recollected, that in a similar situation, Peter I., in sacrificing ten
+Russians for one Swede, thought that he was not sustaining merely an
+equal loss, but that he was gaining even by so terrible a bargain. But
+what caused the greatest pain was the reflection that this sanguinary
+conflict might have been spared.[162]
+
+
+Sec. 11. Napoleon holds a council of war and decides to retreat northward.
+
+Do you recollect, comrades, that fatal field? Can you still figure to
+yourselves the blood-stained ruins of that town, those deep ravines, and
+the woods which surround that elevated plain, and mark it, as it were,
+for a field of combat? On the one side were the French, quitting the
+north, from which they sought to fly; on the other, at the entrance of
+the wood, were the Russians, guarding the south, and striving to drive
+us back upon their all-subduing winter. In the midst of this plain,
+between the two armies, was Napoleon, his steps and his eyes wandering
+from south to west, along the roads to Kaluga and Medyn, both which were
+closed against him. On that to Kaluga were Kutusoff and one hundred and
+twenty thousand men, ready to dispute with him sixty miles of defiles;
+towards Medyn he beheld a numerous cavalry: it was Platoff and those
+same hordes which had just penetrated the flank of the army, traversed
+it through and through, and burst forth, laden with booty, to form again
+on his right flank, where re-enforcements and artillery were waiting for
+them. It was on that side that the eyes of the emperor were fixed the
+longest; it was principally in regard to it that he listened to reports
+of his officers, and consulted his maps: until, oppressed with regret
+and gloomy forebodings, he slowly returned to his headquarters.
+
+Murat, Prince Eugene, Berthier, Davoust and Bessieres followed him. This
+miserable habitation of an obscure artisan contained within it an
+emperor, two kings, and three generals. Here they were about to decide
+the fate of Europe, and of the army which had conquered it. Smolensk was
+the goal. Should they march thither by Kaluga, Medyn, or Mojaisk?
+Napoleon was seated at a table, his head supported by his hands, which
+concealed his features, as well as the anguish which they no doubt
+expressed.
+
+A silence fraught with such imminent perils was for some time respected,
+until Murat, whose actions were always the result of impetuous feeling,
+became weary of this hesitation.
+
+"Give him but the remnant of his cavalry and that of the Guard," he
+said, "and he would force his way into Russian forests and the Russian
+battalions, overthrow all before him, and open anew to the army the road
+to Kaluga."
+
+Here Napoleon, raising his head, extinguished all his fire by saying
+that "we had exhibited temerity enough already; that we had done but too
+much for glory, and it was now high time to give up thinking of anything
+but how to save the rest of the army."
+
+Bessieres, either because his pride revolted at the idea of being put
+under the command of the King of Naples, or from a desire to preserve
+uninjured the cavalry of the Guard, which he had formed, for which he
+was answerable to Napoleon, and which he exclusively commanded, finding
+himself supported, then ventured to add, that "neither the army nor even
+the Guard had sufficient spirit left for such efforts." The marshal
+concluded by giving his opinion in favor of retreat, which the emperor
+approved by his silence.
+
+The Prince of Eckmuehl then immediately said that, "as a retreat seemed
+decided upon, he proposed that it should be by Medyn and Smolensk." But
+Murat here interrupted him; and, whether from enmity, or from that
+discouragement which usually succeeds the rejection of a rash measure,
+he declared himself astonished "that any one should dare propose so
+imprudent a step to the emperor. Had Davoust sworn the destruction of
+the army? Would he have so long and heavy a column trail along in utter
+uncertainty, without guides, and on an unknown track, within reach of
+Kutusoff, presenting its flank to all the attacks of the enemy? Would
+he, Davoust, defend it? When in our rear Borowsk and Vereia would lead
+us without danger to Mojaisk, why reject that safe route? There
+provisions must have been already collected, there everything was known
+to us, and we could not be misled by any traitor."
+
+At these words, Davoust, burning with a rage which he could scarcely
+repress, replied that "he proposed a retreat through a fertile country,
+by an untouched, plentiful, and well supplied route, where the villages
+were still standing, and by the shortest road, that the enemy might not
+be able to cut us off, as on the route by Mojaisk to Smolensk,
+recommended by Murat. And what a route! a desert of sand and ashes,
+where convoys of wounded would increase our embarrassment, where we
+should meet with nothing but ruins, traces of blood, skeletons, and
+famine!
+
+"Moreover, though he deemed it his duty to give his opinion when it was
+asked, he was ready to obey orders contrary to it with the same zeal as
+if they were consonant with his suggestions; but that the emperor alone
+had a right to impose silence on him, and not Murat, who was not his
+sovereign, and never should be!"
+
+The quarrel growing warm, Bessieres and Berthier interposed. As for the
+emperor, still absorbed and in the same attitude, he appeared insensible
+to what was passing. At length he broke up the council with the words,
+"Well, gentlemen, I will decide."
+
+He decided on retreat, and by that road which would carry him most
+speedily to a distance from the enemy; but it required another desperate
+effort before he could bring himself to give an order of march so new to
+him. So painful, indeed, was this effort, that in the inward struggle
+which it produced he lost the use of his senses.
+
+It is a remarkable fact, that he issued orders for this retreat
+northward at the very moment that Kutusoff and his Russians, dismayed at
+their defeat at Malo-jaroslavetz, were retiring towards the south.
+
+From that moment Napoleon had nothing in his view but Paris, just as on
+leaving Paris he saw nothing but Moscow. It was on the 26th of October
+that the fatal movement of our retreat commenced. Davoust, with
+twenty-five thousand men, remained as a rear-guard. While by advancing a
+few paces, without being aware of it, he was spreading consternation
+among the Russians, the Grand Army, in astonishment, was turning its
+back on them. It marched with downcast eyes, as if ashamed and humbled.
+In the midst of it, its commander, gloomy and silent, seemed to be
+anxiously measuring his line of communication with the fortresses on the
+Vistula.
+
+For the space of more than two hundred and fifty leagues it offered but
+two points where he could halt and rest, the first Smolensk, the second
+Minsk. He had made those towns his two great depots, where immense
+magazines were established.
+
+Napoleon, however, reckoned upon the Duke of Belluno and his thirty-six
+thousand fresh troops. That corps had been at Smolensk ever since the
+beginning of September. He relied also upon detachments being sent from
+his depots, on the sick and wounded who had recovered, and on the
+stragglers, who would be rallied and formed at Wilna into marching
+battalions. All these would successively come into line, and fill up the
+chasms made in his ranks by the sword, famine, and disease. He should
+therefore have time to regain that position on the Dwina and the
+Borysthenes, where he wished it to be believed that his presence, added
+to that of Victor, Saint-Cyr, and Macdonald, would overawe
+Wittgenstein,[163] check Kutusoff, and threaten the Czar Alexander even
+in his second capital.
+
+He accordingly announced that he was going to take post on the Dwina.
+But it was not in truth, upon that river and the Borysthenes that his
+thoughts rested: he was sensible that it was not with a harassed and
+reduced army that he could guard the interval between those two rivers
+and their courses, which the ice would speedily seal.
+
+It was therefore a hundred leagues beyond Smolensk, in a more compact
+position, behind the morasses of the Berezina--to Minsk, that it was
+necessary to repair in search of winter quarters, from which he was then
+forty marches distant.
+
+
+Sec. 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin: view of the
+battle-field of Borodino.
+
+Napoleon had arrived quite pensive at Vereia,[164] when Mortier
+presented himself before him. But I here discover, that, hurried along
+in the relation just as we then were in reality, by the rapid succession
+of violent scenes and memorable events, my attention has been diverted
+from occurrences worthy of notice. On the 23d of October, at half past
+one in the morning, the air was shaken by a tremendous explosion, which
+for a moment startled both armies, though amid such mighty anticipations
+scarcely anything then much excited their astonishment.
+
+Mortier had obeyed his orders: the Kremlin was no more.[165] Barrels of
+powder had been placed in all the halls of the palaces of the Czars, and
+one hundred and eighty-three thousand pounds under the vaults which
+supported them. The marshal, with eight thousand men, had remained on
+this volcano, which a single Russian shell might have exploded. Here he
+covered the march of the army upon Kaluga, and the retreat of our
+different convoys towards Mojaisk.
+
+Among these eight thousand men there were scarcely two thousand on whom
+Mortier could rely; the others were dismounted cavalry, men of different
+countries and regiments, under new officers, with dissimilar habits,
+with no common recollections, in short, without any bond of union,
+forming a rabble rather than an organized body, and who could scarcely
+fail in a short time to disperse.
+
+This marshal, therefore, was looked upon as a doomed man. The other
+chiefs, his old companions in glory, had left him with tears in their
+eyes, as well as the emperor himself, who said to him "that he relied on
+his good fortune; but still, in war, we must sometimes make part of a
+sacrifice." Mortier resigned himself without hesitation to his fate. His
+orders were to defend the Kremlin, and on retreating to blow it up, and
+to burn what still remained of the city. It was on the 21st of October,
+that Napoleon sent him his last commands. After executing them, the
+marshal was to march upon Vereia, and to form the rear guard of the
+army.
+
+In this letter Napoleon particularly recommended to him "to put the men
+still remaining in the hospitals into the carriages belonging to the
+young rear guard, those of the dismounted cavalry, and any others that
+he might find. The Romans," he added, "awarded a civic crown to him who
+had saved a citizen: so many soldiers as he should save, so many crowns
+would the Duke of Treviso deserve."
+
+At length, after four days' resistance, the French bade a final adieu to
+that fatal city. They carried with them four hundred wounded, and, on
+retiring, deposited in a safe and secret place a firework, skilfully
+prepared, which was already slowly consuming: the rate of its burning
+had been minutely calculated, so that it was known precisely at what
+hour the fire would reach the immense collection of powder buried among
+the foundations of these devoted palaces.
+
+Mortier hastened his flight; but as he was retiring, some greedy
+Cossacks and miserable-looking Muscovites, allured probably by the
+prospect of pillage, approached: they listened, and, imboldened by the
+apparent quiet which pervaded the fortress, they ventured to penetrate
+into it: they ascended; and their greedy hands were already stretched
+forth to lay hold on their plunder, when in an instant they were all
+hurled into the air with the buildings they had come to pillage, and
+with thirty thousand stand of arms that had been left in them; and soon
+their mangled limbs, mingled with fragments of walls and shattered
+weapons, thrown to a great distance, descended in a horrible shower.
+
+The earth shook under the feet of Mortier: at Fominskoe, thirty miles
+off, the emperor heard the explosion; and in that indignant tone in
+which he sometimes addressed Europe, he published the following day a
+bulletin, at Borowsk, announcing that "the Kremlin, the arsenal, the
+magazines, were all destroyed; that that ancient citadel, which dated
+from the origin of the monarchy, and was the first palace of the Czars,
+no longer existed; that Moscow was now but a heap of ruins, without
+importance either political or military. He had abandoned it to Russian
+beggars and plunderers, in order to march against Kutusoff, to throw
+himself on the left wing of that general, to drive him back, and then to
+proceed quietly to the banks of the Dwina, where he should take up his
+winter quarters." Then, apprehensive lest he should appear to be
+retreating, he added that "there he should be within eighty leagues of
+Wilna and of St. Petersburg, a double advantage; that is to say, twenty
+marches nearer to his resources and his object." By this remark he hoped
+to give to his retreat the air of an offensive movement.
+
+It was on this occasion he declared that "he had refused to give orders
+for the entire destruction of the country which he was quitting: he felt
+a repugnance to aggravate the miseries of its inhabitants. To punish
+the Russian incendiary, and a few wretches who made war like Tartars, he
+would not ruin nine thousand proprietors, and leave two hundred thousand
+serfs, innocent of all these barbarities, absolutely destitute of
+resources."
+
+On the 28th of October we again beheld Mojaisk.[166] That town was still
+full of wounded: some were carried away, and the rest collected together
+and abandoned, as at Moscow, to the generosity of the Russians. Napoleon
+had proceeded but a short distance from that place when the winter
+began. Thus, after an obstinate combat, and ten days' marching and
+countermarching, the army, which had brought from Moscow only fifteen
+rations of flour per man, had advanced but three days' march on its
+retreat. It was in want of provisions, and now overtaken by the winter.
+
+Some leagues from Mojaisk we had to cross the Kologa. It was but a large
+rivulet: two trees, the same number of props, and a few planks were
+sufficient to ensure the passage; but such was the confusion and
+inattention that the emperor was detained there. Several pieces of
+cannon, which it was attempted to get across by fording, were lost. It
+seemed as if each corps was marching separately, as if there were no
+staff, no general order, no common tie, nothing, in short, that bound
+them together. In fact, the elevation of the chiefs rendered them too
+independent of each other. The emperor himself had become so exceedingly
+great, that he was at an immeasurable distance from the details of his
+army; while Berthier, holding an intermediate place between him and
+officers, all of whom were kings, princes, or marshals, was obliged to
+act with a great deal of caution. He was, besides, incompetent to his
+situation.
+
+The emperor, stopped by the frivolous obstacle of a broken bridge,
+confined himself to a gesture expressive of dissatisfaction and
+contempt, to which Berthier replied only by a look of resignation. On
+this particular point he had received no orders from the emperor: he
+therefore conceived that he was not to blame; for Berthier was a
+faithful echo, a mirror, and nothing more. Always ready, clear, and
+distinct, he, so to speak, exactly repeated the emperor, reflected him,
+but added nothing of his own; and what Napoleon forgot was never
+supplied.
+
+After passing the Kologa we marched on, absorbed in thought, when some
+of us, raising our eyes, uttered a cry of horror. Each one instantly
+looked about him, and there lay stretched before us a plain trampled,
+bare, and devastated, all the trees cut down within a few feet from the
+surface, and farther off craggy hills, the highest of which appeared
+misshapen, and bore a striking resemblance to an extinguished volcano.
+The ground around us was everywhere covered with fragments of helmets
+and cuirasses, with broken drums, gun-stocks, tatters of uniforms, and
+standards dyed with blood.
+
+On this desolate spot[167] lay thirty thousand half-devoured corpses;
+while a pile of skeletons on the summit of one of the hills overlooked
+the whole. It seemed as though Death had here fixed his throne.
+Presently the cry was heard, "It is the field of the great battle!"
+forming a long and doleful murmur. The emperor passed quickly by. No one
+stopped. Cold, hunger, and the enemy were urging us on: we merely turned
+our faces as we marched along to take a last melancholy look at the vast
+grave of so many companions in arms, uselessly sacrificed, and whose
+remains we were obliged to leave behind, unheeded and uninterred.
+
+
+Sec. 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma. Battle near that place.
+
+At length the emperor reached Viazma.[168] He here halted to wait for
+Prince Eugene and Davoust, and to reconnoitre the road to Medyn and
+Yucknow, which at this place unites with the high road to Smolensk. It
+was this cross-road which might possibly bring the Russian army from
+Malo-jaroslavetz on his passage. But on the first of November, after
+waiting thirty-six hours and seeing no indications of that army, he
+again set out, wavering between the hope that Kutusoff had fallen
+asleep, and the fear lest he might have left Viazma on his right, and
+proceeded two marches farther to cut off his retreat. He left Ney,
+however, at Viazma to collect the first and fourth corps, and to
+relieve, by forming the rear guard, Davoust, whom he judged to be
+fatigued.
+
+He complained of the tardiness of the latter, and wrote to reproach him
+with being still five marches behind, when he ought to have been no more
+than three: the genius of that marshal he considered too methodical to
+direct, in a suitable manner, so irregular a march.
+
+But this delay was accounted for by the fact that Davoust had found a
+marsh without a bridge, and completely encumbered with wagons. He had
+dragged them out of the slough in sight of the enemy, and so near them
+that their fires lighted his labors, and the sound of their drums
+mingled with that of his own voice. For the marshal and his generals
+could not yet resolve on abandoning to the enemy so many trophies; nor
+did they make up their minds to it until after fruitless exertions, and
+in the last extremity.
+
+The road they were traversing was crossed at short intervals by marshy
+hollows. A slope, slippery as glass with the ice, hurried the carriages
+into them, and there they stuck fast: to draw them out it was necessary
+to climb on the opposite side a similar slope, where the horses, whose
+shoes were worn entirely smooth, could obtain no footing, and where
+every moment they and their drivers dropped down exhausted together. The
+famished soldiers immediately fell upon these luckless animals and tore
+them to pieces; then at fires, kindled with the remains of their
+carriages, they broiled the yet bleeding flesh, and devoured it.
+
+Meanwhile the artillerymen, a chosen corps, and their officers, all
+brought up in the first military school in the world, kept off these
+unfortunate wretches whenever they could, and took the horses from their
+own carriages and wagons, which they abandoned to save the guns. To
+these they harnessed their horses, nay, even themselves; while the
+Cossacks, observing their disasters from a distance, though they dared
+not attack, with their light pieces mounted on sledges, threw their
+balls among these disorderly groups, and increased the confusion.
+
+On the 3d of November, Prince Eugene was advancing towards Viazma,
+preceded by his equipages and his artillery, when the first light of day
+all at once discovered to him his retreat threatened by an army on his
+left, behind him his rear guard cut off, and on his left the plain
+covered with stragglers and scattered vehicles, fleeing before the
+lances of the enemy. At the same time, towards Viazma he heard Marshal
+Ney, who should have assisted him, fighting for his own preservation.
+
+At the same time, Compans, one of Davoust's generals, joined the Italian
+rear guard with his division. These cleared a passage for themselves,
+and while, united with the viceroy, they were warmly engaged, Davoust
+with his column passed rapidly behind them, along the left side of the
+high road, then crossing it, as soon as he had got beyond them, he
+claimed his place in the order of battle, took the right wing, and found
+himself between Viazma and the Russians. Prince Eugene gave up to him
+the ground which he had been defending, and crossed to the other side of
+the road. The enemy then began to extend himself in front of them, and
+endeavored to outflank their wings.
+
+Miloradovitch, the Russian general, left to himself, now tried to break
+the French line of battle; but he could penetrate it by his fire alone,
+which made dreadful havoc in our ranks. Eugene and Davoust were growing
+weak; and, as they heard another action in the rear of their right, they
+imagined that the rest of the Russian army was approaching Viazma by the
+Yuknof road, the outlet of which Ney was defending.
+
+It was only, however, an advanced guard: but they were alarmed at the
+noise of this engagement in the rear of their own, threatening their
+retreat. The action had now continued ever since seven in the morning,
+and night was approaching: the baggage must by this time have got away,
+and the French generals began to retire.
+
+This retrograde movement increased the ardor of the enemy, and but for a
+memorable effort of the 25th, 57th, and 85th regiments, and the
+protection of a ravine, Davoust's corps would have been broken, turned
+by its right, and destroyed. Prince Eugene, who was not so briskly
+attacked, was able to effect his retreat more rapidly through Viazma;
+but the Russians followed him thither, and had penetrated into the town
+at the very time when Davoust, pursued by 20,000 men, and overwhelmed by
+eighty pieces of cannon, in his turn attempted to pass.
+
+Morand's division first entered the place: it was marching on with
+confidence, under the idea that the action was over, when the Russians,
+who were concealed by the windings of the streets, suddenly fell upon
+it. The surprise was complete, and the confusion great: Morand
+nevertheless rallied and encouraged his men, retrieved matters, and
+fought his way through.
+
+It was Compans who put an end to the affair. He closed the march with
+his division. Finding himself too closely pressed by the bravest troops
+of Miloradovitch, he turned about, dashed in person at the most eager,
+overthrew them, and having thus made them fear him, he finished his
+retreat without farther molestation. This conflict, glorious to each,
+was in its result disastrous to all. It was, unhappily, without unity or
+order. There were troops enough to conquer had there not been too many
+commanders. It was not till near two o'clock that the latter met to
+concert their manoeuvres, and these were even then executed without
+harmony.
+
+When at length the river, the town of Viazma, night, mutual fatigue, and
+Marshal Ney had established a barrier between them and the enemy, the
+danger being adjourned and the bivouacs established, the numbers were
+counted. Several pieces of cannon which had been broken, the baggage,
+and four thousand killed or wounded were found missing. Many of the
+soldiers, too, had dispersed. Their honor had been saved, but there were
+immense gaps in their ranks. It was necessary to close them up, to bring
+everything within a narrower compass, to form what remained into a more
+compact whole. Each regiment scarcely composed a battalion, each
+battalion scarcely a platoon. The soldiers remaining had no longer their
+accustomed places, comrades, or officers.
+
+This sad reorganization took place by the light of the conflagration of
+Viazma, and during the successive discharges of the cannon of Ney and
+Miloradovitch, the thunders of which were prolonged amid the double
+gloom of the night and of the forests. Several times the remnants of
+these brave battalions, conceiving they were attacked, crawled to their
+arms. The next morning, when they again fell into their ranks, they were
+astonished at the smallness of their numbers.
+
+
+Sec. 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effects upon the
+troops.
+
+The spirits of the troops were nevertheless still supported by the
+example of their leaders, by the hopes of finding all their wants
+supplied at Smolensk, and still more by the aspect of a yet brilliant
+sun, that universal source of hope and life, which seemed to contradict
+and deny the spectacles of despair and death that already encompassed
+us.
+
+But on the 6th of November the heavens changed. Their azure disappeared.
+The army marched enveloped in a chilling mist. This mist became thicker,
+and presently a blinding storm of snow descended upon it. It seemed as
+if the sky itself were falling, and uniting with the earth and our
+enemies to complete our destruction. All objects rapidly changed their
+appearance, becoming utterly confounded, and not to be recognized any
+more: we proceeded without knowing where we were, without perceiving the
+point to which we were bound; everything was converted into an obstacle
+to stop our progress. While we were struggling with the tempest of wind
+and snow, the latter, driven by the storm, lodged and accumulated in
+every hollow, concealing unknown abysses, which perfidiously opened
+beneath our feet. There the soldiers were ingulfed, and the weakest,
+resigning themselves to their fate, found their grave in these
+treacherous pits.
+
+Those who followed turned aside; but the tempest, driving into their
+faces the snow that was descending from the sky and that which it raised
+from the earth, seemed resolved to arrest their farther progress. The
+Russian winter, in this new form, attacked them at every point: it
+penetrated through their light garments, and their rent and worn-out
+shoes. Their wet clothes froze to their bodies: an icy envelope encased
+them, and stiffened all their limbs. A piercing and violent wind almost
+prevented respiration; and, seizing their breath the moment it was
+exhaled, converted it into icicles, which hung from their beards all
+about their mouths.
+
+The miserable creatures still crawled shivering along, till the snow,
+gathering in balls on the soles of their shoes, or a fragment of some
+broken article, a branch of a tree, or the body of one of their
+comrades, encountered in the way, caused them to stumble and fall. There
+their groans were unheeded; the snow soon covered them; slight hillocks
+marked the spots where they lay: there was their only grave. The road,
+like a cemetery, was thickly studded with these elevations; the most
+intrepid and the most indifferent were affected; they passed quickly on
+with averted looks. But before them and around them there was nothing
+but snow; this immense and dismal uniformity extended farther than the
+eye could reach; the imagination was astounded: it seemed a vast
+winding-sheet which Nature had thrown over the army. The only objects
+not enveloped by it were some gloomy pines, trees of the tombs, with
+their funereal verdure and their gigantic and motionless trunks
+completing the solemnity of a general mourning, and of an army dying
+amid nature already dead.
+
+Everything, even to their very arms, still offensive at
+Malo-jaroslavetz, but since defensive only, now turned against our men.
+They seemed to their frozen limbs an insupportable weight. In the falls
+they experienced, they dropped almost unperceived from their hands, and
+were broken or buried in the snow. If they rose again it was without
+them: they had not thrown them away, but hunger and cold had wrested
+them from their grasp. The fingers of others were frozen to the muskets
+they still held, depriving them of the motion necessary to keep up some
+degree of warmth and of life.
+
+We soon met with numbers of men belonging to all the different corps,
+sometimes singly, sometimes in troops. They had not basely deserted
+their colors: it was cold and exhaustion which had separated them from
+them. In this mortal struggle, at once general and individual, they had
+parted from each other, and there they were, disarmed, vanquished,
+defenceless, without leaders, obeying nothing but the most urgent
+instinct of self-preservation.
+
+Most of them, attracted by the sight of by-paths, dispersed themselves
+over the country in hopes of finding bread and shelter for the coming
+night; but on their first passage all had been laid waste to the extent
+of seven or eight leagues: they met only with Cossacks and an armed
+population, which gathered around them, wounded and stripped them naked,
+and then left them, with bursts of savage laughter, to perish in the
+snow. These people, who had risen at the call of Alexander and Kutusoff,
+and who had not then learned, as they since have, to avenge nobly a
+country which they had been unable to defend, hovered on both flanks of
+the army under favor of the woods. Those whom they did not despatch with
+their pikes and hatchets, they drove back to the fatal and all-devouring
+high road.
+
+Night then came on: a night of sixteen hours! But on that snow, which
+covered everything, where were they to halt, where sit, where lie down,
+where find even a root to satisfy their hunger, or dry wood to kindle a
+fire? Fatigue, darkness, and repeated orders nevertheless stopped those
+whom their moral and physical strength and the efforts of their officers
+had still kept together. They strove to establish themselves; but the
+tempest, not yet subsided, dispersed the first preparations for
+bivouacs. The pines, laden with frost, obstinately resisted ignition;
+while the snow, which still continued to fall from the sky, and that on
+the ground, which melted with the effect of the first heat, extinguished
+their kindling fires, and, with them, the strength and spirits of the
+men.
+
+When at length the flames gained the ascendancy, the officers and
+soldiers around them commenced preparing their wretched repast: it
+consisted of lean and ragged pieces of flesh torn from the horses that
+had given out, and at most a few spoonfuls of rye flour mixed with
+snow-water. The next morning circular ranges of soldiers extended
+lifeless marked the sites of the bivouacs, and the ground about them was
+strewed with the bodies of several thousand horses.
+
+From that day we began to place less reliance on one another. In that
+vivacious army, susceptible of all impressions, and taught to reason by
+an advanced civilization, despondency and neglect of discipline rapidly
+spread, the imagination knowing no bounds in evil any more than in good.
+Henceforward, at every bivouac, at every difficult passage, nay, every
+moment, some portion separated from the yet organized lines and fell
+into disorder. There were some, however, who were proof against this
+widespread contagion of insubordination and despair. These were
+officers, non-commissioned officers, and the firmest among the soldiers.
+They were extraordinary men; they encouraged one another by repeating
+the name of Smolensk, which town they knew they were approaching, and
+where they had been promised that all their wants should be supplied.
+
+It was thus, after this deluge of snow, and the increase of cold which
+it foreboded, that each one, whether officer or soldier, either
+preserved or lost his fortitude, according to his disposition, age, or
+constitution; while he who of all our leaders had hitherto been the most
+strict in enforcing discipline, now paid but little attention to it.
+Thrown out of his established ideas of regularity, order, and method, he
+was seized with despair at the sight of such universal confusion: and
+conceiving, before the rest, that all was lost, he felt himself ready to
+abandon all.
+
+From this point for some distance, nothing remarkable occurred in the
+imperial column except that it was found necessary to throw the spoils
+of Moscow into the Lake of Semlewo; cannon, Gothic armor, the ornaments
+of the Kremlin, and the cross of Ivan the Great, were all buried in its
+waters. Trophies, glory, those acquisitions to which we had sacrificed
+everything, all now became a burden to us: our object was no longer to
+embellish life, but to preserve it. In this vast wreck, the army, which
+might be compared to a mighty ship tossed by the most tremendous of
+tempests, threw without hesitation into that sea of ice and snow
+everything that could burden or impede its progress.
+
+The attitude of Napoleon was the same that he retained throughout the
+whole of this dismal retreat. It was grave, silent, and resigned:
+suffering much less in body than others, but far more in mind, and
+brooding with speechless agony over his misfortunes. At that moment
+General Charpentier sent him from Smolensk a convoy of provisions.
+Bessieres wished to take possession of them; but the emperor instantly
+ordered them to be forwarded to the Prince of Moskwa, saying that "those
+who were fighting must eat before the rest." At the same time, he sent
+word to Ney "to defend himself long enough to allow him some stay at
+Smolensk, where the army should eat, rest, and be reorganized."
+
+The Russians, however, advanced under favor of a wood and of our
+forsaken carriages, whence they kept up a fire of musketry on Ney's
+troops. Half of the latter, whose icy arms froze their stiffened
+fingers, became discouraged; they gave way, excusing themselves by their
+want of firmness on the preceding day, and fleeing because they had
+before fled, which but for this, they would have considered as
+impossible. But Ney, rushing in among them, seized one of their muskets,
+and led them back to action, which he was himself the first to renew;
+exposing his life like a private soldier, with a firelock in his hand,
+the same as though he had been neither possessed of wealth, nor power,
+nor consideration; in short, as if he had still everything to gain, when
+in fact he had everything to lose. But, though he had again turned
+soldier, he ceased not to be general: he took advantage of the ground,
+supported himself against a height, and covered his approach by
+occupying a palisaded house. His generals and colonels, among whom he
+particularly remarked Fezenzac, strenuously seconded him; and the enemy,
+who had expected to pursue, was obliged to retreat.
+
+By this action Ney afforded the army a respite of twenty-four hours; and
+it profited by it to proceed towards Smolensk. The next day, and every
+succeeding day, he displayed the same heroism. Between Viazma and
+Smolensk he fought ten whole days.
+
+
+Sec. 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at the
+passage of the Wop.
+
+On the 13th of November Ney was approaching that city, which he was not
+to enter till the ensuing day, and had faced about to beat off the
+enemy, when all at once the hills upon which he intended to support his
+left were seen covered with a multitude of fugitives. In their terror,
+these unfortunate wretches fell, and rolled down to where he was upon
+the frozen snow, which they stained with their blood. A band of
+Cossacks, which was soon perceived in the midst of them, sufficiently
+accounted for this disorder. The astonished marshal, having caused this
+horde of enemies to be dispersed, discovered behind it the army of
+Italy, returning completely stripped, without baggage and without
+cannon.
+
+Platoff had kept it besieged, as it were, all the way from
+Dorogobouje.[169] Near that town Prince Eugene had quitted the high
+road, and, in order to proceed towards Witepsk, had taken that which,
+two months before, had brought him from Smolensk; but the Wop, which,
+when he had crossed it before, was a mere brook, and had scarcely been
+noticed, he now found swollen into a river. It ran over a muddy bed, and
+was bounded by two steep banks. It was found necessary to cut a passage
+in these precipitous and frozen banks, and to give orders for the
+demolition of the neighboring houses during the night, for the purpose
+of building a bridge with the materials. But those who had taken shelter
+in them opposed their being destroyed; and, as the viceroy was more
+beloved than feared, his instructions were not obeyed. The
+bridge-builders became disheartened, and when daylight, with the
+Cossacks, appeared, the bridge, after being twice broken down, was at
+last abandoned.
+
+Five or six thousand soldiers still in order, twice the number of
+disbanded men, the sick and wounded, upward of a hundred pieces of
+cannon, ammunition-wagons, and a multitude of vehicles of every kind,
+lined the bank and covered a league of ground. An attempt was made to
+ford the river through the floating ice which was carried along by its
+current. The first guns that were attempted to be got over reached the
+opposite bank; but the water kept rising every moment, while at the same
+time the bed of the stream at the place of passage was continually
+deepened by the wheels and by the efforts of the horses. One carriage
+stuck fast, others did the same, and at length the stoppage became
+general.
+
+Meanwhile the day was advancing; the men were exhausting themselves in
+vain efforts: hunger, cold, and the Cossacks became pressing, and the
+viceroy finally found himself compelled to order his artillery and all
+his baggage to be left behind. A distressing spectacle ensued. The
+owners were allowed scarcely a moment to part from their effects: while
+they were selecting from them such articles as they most needed, and
+loading their horses with them, a multitude of soldiers came rushing up:
+they fell in preference upon the vehicles of luxury; these they broke in
+pieces and rummaged every part, avenging their poverty on the wealth,
+and their privations on the superfluities they here found, and snatching
+them from the Cossacks, who were in the meantime looking on at a
+distance.
+
+But it was provisions of which most of them were in quest. They threw
+aside embroidered clothes, pictures, ornaments of every kind, and gilt
+bronzes for a few handfuls of flour. In the evening it was a strange
+sight to behold the mingled riches of Paris and of Moscow, the luxuries
+of two of the largest cities in the world, lying scattered and despised
+on the snow of the desert.
+
+At the same time, most of the artillerymen spiked their guns in despair,
+and scattered their powder about. Others laid a train with it as far as
+some ammunition-wagons, which had been left at a considerable distance
+behind our baggage. They waited till the most eager of the Cossacks had
+come up to them, and when a great number, greedy of plunder, had
+collected about them, they threw a brand from a bivouac upon the train.
+The fire ran, and in a moment reached its destination; the wagons were
+blown up, the shells exploded, and such of the Cossacks as were not
+killed on the spot dispersed in dismay.
+
+The army of Italy, thus completely dismantled, soaked in the waters of
+the Wop, without food, without shelter, passed the night on the snow
+near a village where its officers expected to find lodgings for
+themselves. Their soldiers, however, beset its wooden houses. They
+rushed like madmen, and in swarms, on every habitation, profiting by the
+darkness, which prevented them from recognizing their officers or being
+known by them. They tore down everything, doors, windows, and even the
+woodwork of the roofs, feeling but little compunction in compelling
+others, be they who they might, to bivouac like themselves.
+
+Their generals attempted in vain to drive them off: they took their
+blows without a murmur or the least opposition, but without
+desisting--even the men of the royal and imperial guards; for,
+throughout the whole army, such were the scenes that occurred every
+night. The unfortunate fellows kept silently but actively at work on the
+wooden walls, which they pulled in pieces on every side at once, and
+which, after vain efforts, their officers were obliged to relinquish to
+them, for fear they would fall upon their own heads. It was an
+extraordinary mixture of perseverance in their design and of respect for
+the anger of their superiors.
+
+Having kindled good fires, they spent the night in drying themselves,
+amid the shouts, imprecations, and groans of those who were still
+crossing the torrent, or who, slipping from its banks, were precipitated
+into it and drowned.
+
+
+Sec. 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk.
+
+At length the army once more came in sight of Smolensk: it had reached
+the goal so often announced to it of all its sufferings. The soldiers
+exultingly pointed it out to each other. There was that land of promise
+where their hunger was to find abundance, their fatigue rest; where
+bivouacs in a cold of nineteen degrees would be forgotten in houses
+warmed by good fires. There they would enjoy refreshing sleep; there
+they might repair their apparel; there they would be furnished with new
+shoes, and clothing adapted to the climate.
+
+At this sight, the corps of picked men, the veteran regiments, and a few
+other soldiers alone kept their ranks; the rest ran forward with all
+possible speed. Thousands of men, chiefly unarmed, covered the two steep
+banks of the Borysthenes: they crowded in masses around the lofty walls
+and gates of the city; but this disorderly multitude, with their haggard
+faces begrimed with dirt and smoke, their tattered uniforms, and the
+grotesque habiliments which they had substituted in place of them: in
+short, with their strange, hideous looks, and their impetuous ardor,
+excited alarm. It was believed, that if the irruption of this crowd,
+maddened with hunger, were not repelled, that a general pillage would be
+the consequence, and the gates were closed against it.
+
+It was also hoped that by exercising this rigor these men would be
+forced again to rally about their standards. A horrible struggle between
+order and disorder now commenced in the remnant of this unfortunate
+army. In vain did they entreat, weep, threaten, strive to burst open the
+gates, and even drop down dead at the feet of their comrades placed to
+repel them; they found the latter inexorable, and were forced to wait
+the arrival of the first troops that were still officered and in order.
+
+These were the Old and the Young Guard; and it was not till after them
+that the disbanded men were allowed to enter: the latter, and the other
+corps which arrived in succession, from the 8th to the 14th, believed
+that their admission had been delayed merely to give more rest and more
+provisions to this favored guard. Their sufferings rendered them unjust:
+they execrated it. "Were they, then, to be forever sacrificed to this
+privileged class; fellows kept for mere parade, who were never foremost
+but at reviews, festivals, and distributions? Was the army to put up
+with their leavings, always to wait till they had glutted themselves?"
+It was useless to tell them in reply, that to attempt to save all was
+the way to lose all; that it was necessary to keep at least one corps
+entire, and to give the preference to that which in the last extremity
+would be capable of making the most powerful effort.
+
+At length these poor creatures were admitted into that Smolensk for
+which they had so long ardently wished, while the banks of the
+Borysthenes were strewed with their expiring companions, the weakest of
+whom impatience and several hours' waiting had brought to that state.
+Others, again, were left on the icy steep, which they had to climb to
+reach the upper town. The rest ran to the magazines, where many fell
+exhausted while they beset the doors; for here also they were repulsed.
+"Who were they?" it was asked. "To what corps did they belong? What had
+they to prove it? The persons appointed to distribute the provisions
+were responsible for them: they had orders to deliver them only to
+authorized officers bringing receipts, for which alone they could
+exchange the rations committed to their care." These poor famished
+creatures had no officers, nor could they tell where their regiments
+were: two-thirds of the army were in this predicament.
+
+These miserable men then dispersed themselves through the streets,
+having no longer any hope but in pillage. But horses dissected to the
+very bones everywhere denoted a famine; the doors and windows of the
+houses had been all broken and torn away to feed the fires of the
+bivouacs; they found no shelter in them, no winter quarters prepared, no
+wood. The sick and wounded were left in the streets, in the carts which
+had brought them. It was again, it was always the same fatal high road,
+passing through a town which was but an empty name: it was a new bivouac
+among deceitful ruins, colder even than the forests they had just
+quitted.
+
+Then only did these disorganized troops seek their colors: they rejoined
+them for a moment in order to obtain food; but all the bread that could
+be baked had been distributed; and there was no biscuit, no butcher's
+meat. Rye flour, dry vegetables, and spirits were dealt out to them. It
+required the most strenuous efforts to prevent the detachments of the
+different corps from murdering each other at the doors of the magazines;
+and when, after long formalities, their wretched fare was at last
+delivered to them, the soldiers refused to carry it to their regiments;
+they fell upon their sacks, snatched out of them a few pounds of flour,
+and ran to secrete themselves till they had devoured it. The same was
+the case with the spirits; and the next day the houses were found full
+of the bodies of these miserable creatures.
+
+In short, that Smolensk, which the army had looked forward to, as the
+term of their sufferings, marked, as it were, only their commencement.
+Inexpressible hardships still awaited us: we had yet to march forty days
+under that yoke of iron. Some, already borne down by present miseries,
+sank under the frightful prospect of those which were before them.
+Others sternly resolved to battle with their destiny; and, finding they
+had nothing to rely on but themselves, they determined to live at all
+hazards.
+
+Thenceforward, according as they found themselves the stronger or the
+weaker, by violence or stealth they plundered their companions of their
+subsistence, of their garments, and of the gold with which they had
+filled their knapsacks instead of provisions. These wretches, whom
+despair had thus made robbers, then threw away their arms to save their
+infamous booty, profiting by the general confusion, an obscure name, a
+uniform no longer distinguishable, and night: in short, by every kind of
+concealment favorable to cowardice and guilt. If works already published
+had not exaggerated these horrors, I should have passed over in silence
+such terrible details; for atrocities so extreme were, after all,
+comparatively rare, and justice was dealt to the most criminal.
+
+On the 9th of November the emperor arrived amid this scene of
+desolation. He shut himself up in one of the houses in the new square,
+and never quitted it till the 14th to resume his retreat. He had
+calculated upon fifteen days' provisions and forage for an army of one
+hundred thousand men; but there was not more than half this quantity of
+flour, rice, and spirits, and no meat at all. Cries of rage were now
+directed against the principal individual appointed to provide these
+supplies; and the commissary saved his life only by prostrating himself
+on his knees at the feet of Napoleon, and remaining in that posture for
+a long time. But the reasons which he assigned for his failure did more
+for him than his supplications.
+
+Many of these reasons were well founded. A chain of other magazines had
+been formed from Smolensk to Minsk and Wilna. These two towns were, in a
+still greater degree than Smolensk, centres of provisioning, of which
+the fortresses of the Vistula formed the first line. The total quantity
+of provisions, indeed, distributed over this space was incalculable; the
+efforts for transporting them thither had been gigantic; while the
+result was little better than nothing. Scattered over such a vast
+extent, immense as they were, they were found wholly insufficient.
+
+Thus great expeditions are crushed by their own weight. Human limits had
+been surpassed: the genius of Napoleon, in attempting to soar above
+time, climate, and distance, had, as it were, lost itself in space;
+great as was its measure, it had gone beyond it.
+
+Napoleon had been at Smolensk for five days. It was known that Ney had
+received orders to arrive there as late as possible, and Eugene to halt
+for two days at a point near Smolensk. Then it was not the necessity of
+waiting for the army of Italy which detained him! To what, then, must we
+attribute this delay, in the midst of famine, disease, and when the
+winter and three hostile armies were gradually surrounding us?
+
+The emperor no doubt fancied that by dating his despatches for five days
+from that city, he would give to his disorderly flight the appearance of
+a slow and glorious retreat. In the same spirit, no doubt, he had
+ordered the destruction of the towers which surrounded Smolensk, from
+the wish, as he expressed it, of not being again stopped short by its
+walls! as if there were any idea of our returning to a place which we
+were not even sure that we should ever get out of.
+
+The emperor, however, made an effort that was not altogether fruitless.
+This was to rally under one commander all that remained of the cavalry;
+when it was found that of this force, thirty-seven thousand strong at
+the passage of the Niemen, there now remained only eight hundred men on
+horseback. He gave the command of these to Latour-Maubourg; and, whether
+from the esteem felt for him, or from the general indifference, no one
+objected to it.
+
+This army, which left Moscow one hundred thousand strong, in
+five-and-twenty days had been reduced to thirty-six thousand men, while
+the artillery had lost three hundred and fifty of their cannon; and yet
+these feeble remains continued as before to be divided into eight
+armies, which were encumbered with sixty thousand unarmed stragglers,
+and a long train of cannon and baggage.
+
+Whether it was the encumbrance of so many men and carriages, or a
+mistaken sense of security, which led the emperor to order a day's
+interval between the departure of each marshal, is uncertain; but most
+probably it was the latter. Be that, however, as it may, he, Eugene,
+Davoust, and Ney, quitted Smolensk in succession; and Ney was not to
+leave it till the 16th or 17th. He had orders to make the artillery
+dismount the cannon left behind, and bury them; to destroy the
+ammunition, to drive all the stragglers before him, and to blow up the
+towers which surrounded the city.
+
+Kutusoff, meanwhile, was waiting for us at some leagues' distance,
+prepared to cut in pieces, one after the other, those remnants of corps
+thus extended and parcelled out.
+
+
+Sec. 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoe.
+
+It was on the 14th of November, about five in the morning, that the
+imperial column at last quitted Smolensk. Its march was still firm, but
+gloomy and silent as night, like the mute and sombre aspect of the
+country through which it was advancing.
+
+This stillness was only interrupted by the cracking of the whips applied
+to the horses, and by short and violent imprecations when they met with
+ravines, and when down these icy declivities, men, horses, and artillery
+were rolling in the darkness one over the other. The first day they
+advanced five leagues, and the artillery of the guard took twenty-two
+hours to get over that distance.
+
+Kutusoff, at the same time, with the bulk of his army, moved forward,
+and took a position in the rear of these advanced corps, within reach of
+them all, felicitating himself on the success of his manoeuvres, which,
+after all, would inevitably have failed, owing to his tardiness, had it
+not been for our want of foresight; for this was a contest of errors, in
+which, ours being the greatest, we narrowly escaped total destruction.
+Having made these dispositions, the Russian commander must have believed
+that the French army was entirely in his power; but this belief saved
+us. Kutusoff was wanting to himself at the moment of action; his old age
+executed only half, and that badly, the plans which it had wisely
+combined.
+
+During the time that all these masses were arranging themselves round
+Napoleon, he remained perfectly tranquil in a miserable hut, the only
+one left standing in Korythnia, apparently quite unconscious of all
+these movements of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, which were
+surrounding him in all directions; at least he sent no orders to the
+three corps which had halted at Smolensk, to expedite their march, and
+he himself waited for daylight to proceed.
+
+His column was advancing without precaution, preceded by a crowd of
+stragglers, all eager to reach Krasnoe, when, at two leagues from that
+place, a line of Cossacks, extending from the heights on our left across
+the great road, appeared before them. Seized with astonishment, these
+stragglers instantly halted: they had looked for nothing of the kind,
+and with their first impressions were led to believe that relentless
+fate had traced upon the snow between them and Europe that long, black,
+and motionless line as the fatal term assigned to their hopes.
+
+Suddenly a Russian battery began firing. Their balls crossed the road.
+The German corps became confused and made no attempt to meet this
+attack. But a wounded officer who chanced to be there assumed the
+command of the Germans, and the men obeyed him as if he had been their
+rightful leader. On seeing this advanced column of Germans march forward
+in such good order, the enemy confined himself to attacking it with his
+artillery, which it disregarded and soon left behind. When it came to
+the turn of the Old Guard to pass through this fire, they closed their
+ranks around Napoleon like a movable fortress, proud of the honor of
+protecting him. Their band of music expressed their satisfaction. When
+the danger was greatest, it played the well-known air, "_Where can one
+be happier than in the bosom of his family?_" But the emperor, whom
+nothing escaped, stopped them with the exclamation, "Rather play, '_Let
+us watch for the safety of the empire!_'" words much better suited to
+the feelings which then occupied him, and to the general condition of
+affairs.
+
+At the same time, the enemy's fire becoming troublesome, he gave orders
+to silence it, and in two hours he reached Krasnoe.
+
+On the 17th, before daylight, Napoleon issued his orders, armed himself,
+and going out on foot at the head of his Old Guard, began his march. But
+it was not towards Poland, his ally, that he directed it, nor towards
+France, where he would still be received as the head of a new dynasty,
+and the Emperor of the West. His words on grasping his sword on this
+occasion were, "I have sufficiently acted the emperor; it is time I
+should become the general." He turned back upon eighty thousand of the
+enemy, plunging into the thickest of them, in order to draw all their
+efforts against himself, to make a diversion in favor of Davoust and
+Ney, and to rescue them from a country, the gates of which were closed
+against them.
+
+Daylight at last appeared, exhibiting on the one part the Russian
+battalions and batteries, which on three sides, in front, on our right,
+and in our rear, bounded the horizon, and on the other Napoleon, with
+his six thousand guards, advancing with a firm step, and proceeding to
+take his place in the centre of that terrible circle. At the same time,
+Mortier, a few yards in front of the emperor, deployed,[170] in the face
+of the whole Russian army, with the five thousand men still remaining to
+him.
+
+Here, then, it was made evident that renown is something more than a
+vain shadow, that it is real strength, and doubly powerful from the
+inflexible pride which it imparts to its favorites, and the timid
+precautions it imposes on those who venture to attack it. The enemy had
+only to march forward without manoeuvring, or even firing; their mass
+alone was sufficient to crush Napoleon with all his feeble battalions;
+still they did not dare come to close quarters with him. They were awed
+at the presence of the conqueror of Egypt and of Europe. The Pyramids,
+Marengo, Austerlitz, Friedland, a host of victories seemed to rise
+between him and the astounded Russians. Might we not also fancy that, in
+the eyes of that passive and superstitious people, a renown so
+extraordinary appeared like something supernatural? that they regarded
+it as wholly beyond their power, or, at least, believed that they could
+safely assail it only from a distance? and, in short, that against that
+Old Guard, that living fortress, that column of granite, as it had been
+called by its leader, human efforts were impotent, or that cannon alone
+could demolish it?
+
+But every moment strengthened the enemy and weakened Napoleon. The noise
+of artillery, as well as Claparede, apprised him that in the rear of
+Krasnoe and his army Beningsen was proceeding to take possession of the
+road to Liady, and entirely cut off his retreat. The east, the west, and
+the south were flashing with the enemy's fires; one side alone remained
+open, that of the north and the Dnieper, towards an eminence, at the
+foot of which were the high road and the emperor. We fancied we saw the
+enemy already covering this eminence with his cannon. In that situation
+they would have been just over Napoleon's head, and might have crushed
+him at a few yards' distance. He was apprised of his danger, cast his
+eyes for an instant towards the height, and uttered merely these words,
+"Very well, let one of my battalions take possession of it." Immediately
+afterward, without giving farther heed to it, his whole attention was
+directed to the perilous situation of Mortier.
+
+Fortunately, some troops which Davoust had rallied and the appearance of
+another troop of his stragglers, attracted the enemy's attention.
+Mortier availed himself of it. He gave orders to the three thousand men
+he had still remaining to retreat slowly in the face of their fifty
+thousand enemies. "Do you hear, soldiers?" cried General Laborde, "the
+marshal orders ordinary time! Ordinary time, soldiers!" And this brave
+and unfortunate troop, dragging with them some of their wounded, under a
+shower of balls and grape-shot, retired as deliberately from this field
+of carnage as they would have done from a field of manoeuvre.
+
+
+Sec. 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a council.
+
+As soon as Mortier had succeeded in placing Krasnoe between him and
+Beningsen, he was in safety.
+
+The next day the march was resumed, though with reluctance. The
+impatient stragglers took the lead, and all of them got the start of
+Napoleon: he was on foot with a stick in his hand, walking slowly and
+hesitatingly, and halting every quarter of an hour, as if unwilling to
+tear himself away from that old Russia, whose frontier he was then
+passing, and in which he had left his unfortunate companions in arms.
+
+In the evening he reached Dombrowna,[171] a wooden town, and inhabited
+as well as Liady: a novel sight for an army, which had for three months
+seen nothing but ruins. At last, then, we had emerged from Russia
+proper, and her deserts of snow and ashes, and were entering into a
+friendly and inhabited country, whose language we understood. The
+weather just then became milder, a thaw began, and we received some
+provisions.
+
+Thus the winter, the enemy, solitude, and, with some, famine and
+bivouacs, all ceased at once; but it was too late. The emperor saw that
+his army was destroyed: every moment the name of Ney escaped from his
+lips, with expressions of the deepest grief. That night he was heard
+groaning and exclaiming "that the misery of his poor soldiers cut him to
+the heart, and yet that he could not succor them without establishing
+himself in some place: but where was it possible for him to stop without
+ammunition, provisions, or artillery? He was no longer strong enough to
+halt: he must reach Minsk as quickly as possible."
+
+He had scarcely spoken the words, when a Polish officer arrived with the
+news that Minsk itself, his magazine, his retreat, his only hope, had
+just fallen into the hands of the Russians, Tchitchakoff having entered
+it on the 16th. Napoleon at first was mute, and completely overpowered
+by this last blow; but immediately afterward, elevating himself in
+proportion to his danger, he coolly replied, "Very well! we have now
+nothing to do but to clear ourselves a passage with our bayonets."
+
+Napoleon then turned to his Old Guard, and, stopping in front of each
+battalion, "Grenadiers!"[172] said he, to them, "we are retreating
+without being conquered by the enemy; let us not be vanquished by
+ourselves! Set an example to the army. Several of you have already
+deserted your colors, and even thrown away your arms. I have no wish to
+have recourse to military laws to put a stop to this disorder, but
+appeal entirely to your sense of duty. Do justice to yourselves. To your
+own honor I commit the maintenance of your discipline!"
+
+The other troops he addressed in a similar style. These few words were
+quite sufficient to the old grenadiers, who probably had no occasion for
+them. The others received them with acclamations; but an hour afterward,
+when the march was resumed, they were entirely forgotten. As to his rear
+guard, throwing the blame of this wild alarm mostly upon it, he sent an
+angry message to Davoust on the subject.
+
+At Orcha we found rather an abundant supply of provisions, a bridge
+equipage of sixty boats, with all its appurtenances, which we burned,
+and thirty-six pieces of cannon, with their horses, which were
+distributed between Davoust, Eugene, and Latour-Maubourg.
+
+Napoleon entered Orcha with six thousand guards, the remains of
+thirty-five thousand! Eugene, with eighteen hundred soldiers, the
+remains of forty-two thousand! and Davoust, with four thousand, the
+remains of seventy thousand!
+
+This marshal had lost everything, was actually without linen, and
+emaciated with hunger. He seized upon a loaf, which was offered him by
+one of his comrades, and voraciously devoured it. A handkerchief was
+given him to wipe his face, which was white with frost. He exclaimed
+"that none but men with constitutions of iron could support such trials;
+that it was physically impossible to resist them; that there were limits
+to human strength, the utmost of which had been exceeded."
+
+The emperor made fruitless efforts to check this general despondency.
+When alone, he was heard compassionating the sufferings of his soldiers;
+but in their presence, even upon that point, he wished to appear
+inflexible. He issued a proclamation, "ordering all who had deserted
+their ranks to return to them: if they did not, he would strip the
+officers of their commissions, and the soldiers should be shot."
+
+A threat like this produced no impression whatever upon men who had
+become insensible, or were reduced to despair, fleeing not from danger,
+but from suffering, and caring as little for the death with which they
+were menaced as for the life that was offered them.
+
+But Napoleon's confidence increased with his perils: in his eyes, this
+handful of men, in these deserts of snow and ice, was still the Grand
+Army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! nor was there any affectation
+in this firmness: we were certain of it, when in this very town, we saw
+him burn, with his own hands, everything belonging to him that might
+serve as a trophy to the enemy, in the event of his fall.
+
+But everything was now changed: two hostile armies were opposing his
+retreat; and the question to be decided was, through which of them he
+should cut his way. As he knew nothing of the Lithuanian forests into
+which he was about penetrating, he summoned such of his officers as had
+been through them, in order to obtain information.
+
+The emperor began by remarking that "too great familiarity with victory
+was often the precursor of great disasters, but that recrimination was
+now out of the question." He then mentioned the capture of Minsk, and,
+admitting the skilfulness of Kutusoff's persevering manoeuvres on the
+right flank, he said that "it was his intention to abandon his line of
+operations on Minsk, unite with the Dukes of Belluno and Reggio, cut his
+way through Wittgenstein's army, and regain Wilna by turning the sources
+of the Berezina." Jomini combated this plan.
+
+Finally Napoleon decided upon Borizoff.[173] But he said, "that it was
+cruel to retreat without fighting, to present the appearance of flight.
+Had he only a magazine, some point of support which would allow him to
+halt, he would prove to Europe that he still knew how to fight and how
+to conquer."
+
+All these were mere illusions. At Smolensk, where he arrived first, and
+from which he was the first to depart, he had rather been informed of
+his disasters than witnessed them himself. At Krasnoe, where our
+miseries had been more fully unfolded before him, the peril by which we
+were surrounded had diverted his attention from them; but at Orcha he
+could contemplate, at one view and leisurely, the whole extent of his
+misfortunes.
+
+At Smolensk, thirty-six thousand combatants, one hundred and fifty
+cannon, the army-chest, and the hope of life, and of breathing at
+liberty on the other side of the Berezina, still remained; here there
+were scarcely ten thousand soldiers, almost without clothing or shoes,
+entangled amid a crowd of dying men, with but a few cannon, and a
+plundered army-chest.
+
+
+Sec. 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney.
+
+Being at length, on the 20th of November, compelled to quit Orcha, he
+left there Eugene, Mortier, and Davoust, and halted after a march of six
+miles from that place, still inquiring for Marshal Ney, who was
+advancing by a different route, and still expecting him. The same
+feeling of grief pervaded the portion of the army remaining at Orcha. As
+soon as the most pressing wants allowed a moment's rest, the thoughts
+and looks of every one were directed towards the Russian bank. They
+listened for any warlike sounds which might announce the arrival of Ney,
+or, rather, his last desperate struggle with the foe; but nothing was to
+be seen but parties of the enemy, who were already menacing the bridges
+of the Borysthenes.
+
+After exhausting all their conjectures, they had relapsed into a gloomy
+silence, when suddenly they heard the steps of horses, and then the
+joyful cry, "Marshal Ney is safe! here are some Polish cavalry come to
+announce his approach!" One of his officers now galloped in, and
+informed them that the marshal was advancing on the right bank of the
+Borysthenes, and had sent him to ask for assistance.
+
+When the two corps, Eugene's and Ney's, fairly recognized each other,
+they could no longer be kept in their ranks. Soldiers, officers,
+generals, all rushed forward together. The soldiers of Eugene, eagerly
+grasping the hands of those of Ney, held them with a joyful mixture of
+astonishment and curiosity, and embraced them with the tenderest
+sympathy. They lavished upon them the refreshments and brandy which they
+had just received, and overwhelmed them with questions. Then they
+proceeded in company towards Orcha, all burning with impatience,
+Eugene's soldiers to hear, and Ney's to relate, their story.
+
+The officers of Ney stated that on the 17th of November they had quitted
+Smolensk with twelve cannon, six thousand infantry, and three hundred
+cavalry, leaving there five thousand sick to the mercy of the enemy; and
+that, had it not been for the noise of Platoff's artillery and the
+explosion of the mines, their marshal would never have been able to draw
+from the ruins of that city seven thousand unarmed stragglers who had
+taken shelter among them. They dwelt upon the attentions which their
+leader had shown to the wounded, and to the women and their children,
+proving upon this occasion that the bravest are also the most humane.
+
+At the gates of the city an unnatural action struck them with a horror
+that they still felt in all its force. A mother abandoned her little
+son, only five years old: in spite of his cries and tears, she drove him
+away from her sledge, which was too heavily laden. She exclaimed, at the
+same time, with a distracted air, that "_he_ had never seen France! _he_
+would not regret it! but _she_ knew France! _she_ was resolved to see
+France once more!" Twice did Ney himself replace the unfortunate child
+in the arms of his mother, and twice did she cast him from her on the
+frozen snow.
+
+This solitary crime, amid a thousand instances of the most devoted and
+sublime tenderness, they did not leave unpunished. The unnatural parent
+was herself abandoned to the snow from which her infant was snatched,
+and intrusted to another mother: this little orphan was then in their
+ranks; he was afterward seen at the Berezina, then at Wilna, again at
+Kowno, and finally escaped from all the horrors of the retreat.
+
+Frustrated in his plans Ney instead of advancing to join Napoleon was
+compelled to order his men to return towards Smolensk. At these words
+they were struck motionless with astonishment. Even his aid-de-camp
+could not believe his ears: he remained silent, like one who does not
+comprehend what he hears, and looked at his general in amazement. But
+the marshal briefly repeating the same order in a still more imperative
+tone, they were no longer at any loss, but all recognized in it
+resolution taken, a resource discovered, that self-confidence which
+inspires others with the same feeling, and a spirit which rises superior
+to its situation, however perilous it may be. They instantly obeyed,
+and, without the slightest hesitation, turned their backs on their own
+army, on the emperor, and on France. Once more they returned into that
+fatal Russia. Their retrograde march had lasted an hour: again they came
+to the field of battle marked by the remains of the army of Italy; there
+they halted, and the marshal, who had remained with the rear guard, then
+joined them.
+
+Their eyes followed all his movements. What did he intend doing? and,
+whatever might be his plan, where would he direct his steps, without a
+guide, in an unknown country? But, while they were thus perplexing
+themselves, he, with his warlike instinct, had halted on the edge of a
+ravine of such depth as to make it evident that there was a stream at
+the bottom of it. By clearing away the snow and breaking the ice, this
+fact was soon established: and then, consulting his map, he exclaimed,
+"This is one of the streams which flow into the Dnieper: this must be
+our guide, and we must follow it; it will lead us to that river, which
+we must cross, and on the other side we shall be safe." Accordingly, he
+immediately proceeded in that direction.
+
+A lame peasant was the only inhabitant they could discover; but even
+this was an unlooked-for piece of good fortune. He told them that they
+were within the distance of a league from the Dnieper, but that it was
+not fordable there, and could not yet be frozen over. "It must be so,"
+the marshal remarked; but when he was reminded that a thaw had just
+commenced, he added, "it does not signify; we must pass, as there is no
+other resource."
+
+At last at about eight o'clock, after passing through a village, they
+soon came to the termination of the ravine, and the Russian, who walked
+before, halted and pointed out to them the river.
+
+Finally, about midnight, the passage began; but the first persons who
+ventured on the ice called out that it was bending under them, that it
+was sinking, that they were up to their knees in water; and immediately
+after that frail support was heard cracking and splitting, as in the
+breaking up of a frost. All halted in consternation.
+
+Ney ordered them to pass only one at a time: they proceeded with
+caution, not knowing sometimes in the dark whether they were placing
+their feet on the ice or into a chasm; for there were places where they
+were obliged to clear large fissures, and jump from one piece to
+another, at the risk of falling between them and disappearing forever.
+The first hesitated, but those who were behind kept calling to them to
+make more haste.
+
+When at last, after several of these dreadful panics, they reached the
+opposite bank and fancied themselves safe, a perpendicular steep,
+slippery as glass, opposed their landing, and many were again thrown
+back upon the ice, either bruised by it, or breaking it in their fall.
+It would seem, indeed, as though this Russian river and its banks had
+contributed with regret, by surprise, and by compulsion, as it were, to
+their escape.
+
+But what they spoke of as being the most painful of all, were the
+trouble and distraction of the females and of the sick, when it became
+necessary for them to abandon, along with the baggage, the remains of
+their fortune, their provisions, and, in short, all their resources both
+for the present and the future. They were seen stripping themselves,
+selecting, throwing away, taking up again, and falling at length through
+exhaustion and grief upon the frozen bank of the river. The narrators
+appeared to shudder again at the recollection of the horrible sight of
+so many men scattered over that abyss, of the continual noise of persons
+falling, of the cries of such as sank in, and, above all, of the wailing
+and despair of the wounded, who, from their carts, which could not be
+trusted to this weak support, stretched out their hands to their
+companions, and entreated them not to leave them behind.
+
+Their leader at length determined to attempt the passage of several
+wagons, loaded with these poor creatures; but in the middle of the
+stream the ice sank down and separated. Then were heard proceeding from
+the gulf, first cries of anguish long and piercing, then stifled and
+feeble groans, quickly succeeded by an awful silence. All had
+disappeared!
+
+But at length Ney had succeeded in reaching Orcha; from this time
+forward he was the hero of the retreat.
+
+When Napoleon, who was two leagues farther on, heard that Ney had again
+made his appearance, he leaped and shouted for joy, exclaiming, "Then I
+have saved my honor! I would have given three hundred millions from my
+exchequer sooner than have lost such a man."
+
+
+Sec. 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians.
+
+The army had thus for the third and last time repassed the Dnieper, a
+river half Russian and half Polish, but having its source in Russia. It
+runs from east to west as far as Orcha, where it appears as if it would
+penetrate into Poland; but there the high lands of Lithuania oppose its
+farther progress, and compel it to turn abruptly towards the south, and
+to become the frontier of the two countries.
+
+Kutusoff and his eighty thousand Russians halted before this feeble
+obstacle. Hitherto they had been rather the spectators than the authors
+of our calamities; but from this time we saw them no more, and were at
+last delivered from the punishment of their joy.
+
+On the 22d of November the army had a disagreeable march from Orcha to
+Borizoff, on a wide road skirted by a double row of large birch-trees,
+the snow having melted, and the mud being very deep. The weakest here
+found their graves; and those of our wounded who, in expectation of a
+continuance of the frost, had exchanged their wagons for sleighs, were
+left behind, and fell into the hands of the Cossacks.
+
+It was during the early part of the march to Borizoff that the news of
+the fall of Minsk[174] became generally known in the army. The leaders
+themselves now began to look around them with consternation; and, after
+witnessing such a succession of frightful spectacles their imagination
+depicted a still more fatal futurity. In their private conversation they
+did not hesitate to say that, "like Charles XII. in Russia, Napoleon had
+carried his army to Moscow only to destroy it."
+
+Deploring, then, the rash obstinacy of the stay at Moscow, and the fatal
+hesitation at Malo-jaroslavetz, they proceeded to reckon up their
+losses. Since their departure from Moscow they had lost all their
+baggage, five hundred cannon, thirty-one standards, twenty-seven
+generals, forty thousand prisoners, and sixty thousand dead: all that
+remained were forty thousand unarmed stragglers and eight thousand
+effective soldiers.
+
+With respect to the loss of Minsk the governor of that place had been
+negligently chosen. He was, it was said, one of those men who undertake
+everything, who promise everything, and who do nothing. On the 16th of
+November he lost that capital, and with it four thousand seven hundred
+sick, the warlike stores, and two million rations of provisions. It was
+five days since the news of this loss had reached Dombrowna, and the
+news of a still greater calamity came on the heels of it.
+
+This same governor had retreated towards Borizoff. There he neglected to
+inform Oudinot, who was only at the distance of two marches, to come to
+his assistance; and failed to support Dombrowski, who made a hasty march
+thither: the result was that the latter was overpowered by the fire of
+the Russian artillery, which took him in flank, and, attacked by a force
+more than double his own, he was driven across the river, and out of the
+town as far as the Moscow road.
+
+This disaster was wholly unexpected by Napoleon. Finally, when the
+emperor learned at Dombrowna the loss of Minsk, he had no suspicion that
+Borizoff was in such imminent danger, as when he passed the next day
+through Orcha he had the whole of his bridge-equipage burned.
+
+It was on the day immediately subsequent to that fatal catastrophe, at
+the distance of three marches from Borizoff, and upon the high road,
+that an officer arrived and announced to Napoleon this fresh disaster.
+The emperor, striking the ground with his stick, and casting a furious
+look to heaven, pronounced these words: "Is it, then, written above that
+we shall now commit nothing but faults?"
+
+Meanwhile Marshal Oudinot, who was already marching towards Minsk,
+totally ignorant of what had happened, halted on the 21st. In the middle
+of the night General Brownkowski arrived to announce to him his own
+defeat, as well as that of General Dombrowski;[175] that Borizoff was
+taken, and that the Russians were following close at his heels.
+
+In fact, every disaster which Napoleon could anticipate had occurred;
+the melancholy conformity, therefore, of his situation with that of the
+Swedish conqueror, threw his mind into such a state of agitation that
+his health became still more seriously affected than it had been at
+Malo-jaroslavetz. Among the expressions he made use of, loud enough to
+be overheard, was this: "See what happens when we heap faults on
+faults!"
+
+His orders, however, displayed decision. Oudinot had just sent to inform
+him of his determination to overthrow Lambert: this he approved of, and
+he also urged him to make himself master of a passage across the
+Berezina, either above or below Borizoff. He was desirous that by the
+24th the place for this passage should be fixed on and the preparations
+begun, and that he should be apprised of it, in order to make his march
+correspond. Far from thinking of making his escape through the midst of
+these three hostile armies, his only idea now was to beat Tchitchakoff
+and retake Minsk.
+
+It is true that, eight hours afterward, in a second letter to the Duke
+of Reggio, he resigned himself to crossing the Berezina near Veselowo,
+and by retreating directly upon Wilna, by Vileika, to avoid the Russian
+admiral.
+
+But on the 24th he learned that the passage could only be attempted near
+Studzianka; that at that spot the river was only fifty-four fathoms
+wide, and six feet deep; and that they would land on the opposite side
+in a marsh, under the fire of a commanding position strongly occupied by
+the enemy.
+
+
+Sec. 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina.
+
+All hope of passing between the Russian armies was thus lost: driven by
+the armies of Kutusoff and Wittgenstein upon the Berezina, there was no
+alternative but to cross that river in the teeth of the army of
+Tchitchakoff, which lined its banks.
+
+After having made his preparations, Napoleon plunged into the gloomy and
+immense forest of Minsk, in which there was only here and there an open
+spot surrounding some wretched hamlet or single habitation. The noise of
+Wittgenstein's artillery filled it with its echoes. The Russian general
+came rushing from the north upon the right flank of our expiring column,
+and he brought back with him the winter which had quitted us at the
+same time with Kutusoff. The news of his threatening march accelerated
+our steps, and our motley array of from forty to fifty thousand men,
+women, and children hurried through the forest as rapidly as their
+weakness and the slipperiness of the ground, from the frost again
+setting in, would allow.
+
+These forced marches, commenced before daylight, and not terminating
+until after its close, dispersed all who had previously been together.
+They lost themselves in the double darkness of the forest and of the
+night. They halted in the evening, and resumed their march in the
+morning, in obscurity, at random, and without hearing the signal: the
+dissolution of the remains of the corps was now completed; all were
+mixed and confounded together.
+
+In this last stage of helplessness and confusion, as we were approaching
+Borizoff, we heard loud cries before us. Some rushed forward, fancying
+it was an attack. It was Victor's army, which had been feebly driven
+back by Wittgenstein to the right side of our road, where it remained
+waiting for us. Still, quite complete and full of animation, it received
+the emperor, as soon as he made his appearance, with the customary but
+now long-forgotten acclamations.
+
+Of our disasters it had heard nothing: they had been carefully concealed
+even from its leaders. When, therefore, instead of that grand column
+which had conquered Moscow, its soldiers perceived behind Napoleon only
+a train of spectres covered with tattered vestments of every kind,
+women's pelisses, pieces of carpet, or dirty cloaks, half burned and
+riddled by the fires, and with nothing but rags on their feet, their
+consternation was extreme. They seemed terrified at the sight of those
+unfortunate soldiers, as they defiled before them, with emaciated
+frames, faces black with dirt, and hideous bristly beards, unarmed,
+shameless, marching confusedly, with their heads bent, and their eyes
+fixed on the ground and silent, like a troop of captives.
+
+But what astonished them more than all was to see the number of generals
+and officers of every grade, scattered about and insulated, seemingly
+only occupied about themselves, and thinking of nothing but to save the
+wrecks of their property or their persons: they were marching pell-mell
+with the soldiers, who did not notice them, to whom they had no longer
+any commands to give, and of whom they had nothing to expect, all ties
+between them being dissolved, and all distinctions of rank obliterated
+by the common misery.
+
+It was, indeed, merely the shadow of an army, but it was the shadow of
+the Grand Army. It felt conscious that nature alone had vanquished it.
+The presence of Napoleon animated it. To him it had long been accustomed
+to look, not for its means of support, but to lead it to victory. This
+was its first unfortunate campaign, and it had had so many fortunate
+ones: it only required to be able to follow him. He alone who had
+elevated his soldiers so high, and now sunk them so low, was yet able to
+save them. He was still, therefore, cherished in the heart of his army,
+like hope in the heart of man.
+
+Thus, amid so many beings who might have reproached him with their
+misfortunes, he marched on without the least fear, speaking to one and
+all without affectation, certain of being respected as long as glory
+could command respect. Knowing perfectly that he belonged to us as much
+as we to him, his renown being, as it were, common national property,
+we should have sooner turned our arms against ourselves (which was the
+case with many), as being a minor suicide, than against him.
+
+Some of the men fell and died at his feet; and, though they were in the
+most frightful delirium, their sufferings never gave its wanderings the
+turn of reproach, but of entreaty. And in fact, did not he share the
+common danger? Who of them all risked so much as he? Who had suffered
+the greatest loss in this disaster?
+
+If any imprecations were ever uttered, it was not in his presence; for
+it seemed that, of all misfortunes, that of incurring his displeasure
+was still the greatest: so rooted was their confidence in, and their
+submission to, that man who had subjected the world to them; whose
+genius, hitherto uniformly victorious and invincible, had assumed the
+place of their free-will; and who, having had so long in his hands the
+book of pensions, of rank, and of history, had found wherewithal to
+satisfy not only covetous spirits, but also every generous heart.
+
+At the close of the night of the 25th of November, Napoleon made them
+sink the first trestle in the muddy bed of the Berezina River. But to
+crown our misfortunes, the rising of the waters had made the traces of
+the ford entirely disappear. It required the most incredible efforts on
+the part of our unfortunate engineers, who were plunged in the water up
+to their mouths, and had to contend with the floating pieces of ice
+which were carried along by the stream. Many of them perished from the
+cold, or were drowned by the cakes of ice being violently driven against
+them by the current and wind.
+
+On the 27th, Napoleon, with about five thousand guards, and Ney's corps,
+now reduced to six hundred men, crossed the Berezina about two o'clock
+in the afternoon: he posted himself in reserve to Oudinot, and secured
+the outlet from the bridges against the efforts of the Russians.
+
+He had been preceded by a crowd of baggage and stragglers, and numbers
+of them continued to cross the river after him as long as daylight
+lasted.
+
+But Partouneaux with his division was not so fortunate. At every point
+where he attempted to pass, he encountered the enemy's fires, and was
+obliged to turn back: in this way he wandered about for several hours
+altogether at random, in plains covered with snow, in the midst of a
+violent tempest. At every step he saw his soldiers pierced through by
+the cold, and exhausted with hunger and fatigue, falling half dead into
+the hands of the Russian cavalry, who pursued him without intermission.
+
+This unfortunate general was still struggling with the heavens, with
+men, and with his own despair, when he felt even the ground giving way
+under his feet. In fact, deceived by the snow, he was marching upon a
+lake, which not being frozen sufficiently hard to bear him, he had
+fallen in and was on the point of being drowned, and then only did he
+yield and give up his arms.
+
+While this catastrophe was accomplishing, his other three brigades,
+being more and more hemmed in upon the road, lost all power of movement.
+They delayed their surrender, however, till the next morning, first by
+fighting, and then by parleying: at length they all fell, one after the
+other, and a common misfortune again united them with their general.
+
+Of the whole division, a single battalion only escaped.
+
+During the whole of that day, the 28th, the situation of the ninth corps
+under General Victor, was so much the more critical, as a weak and
+narrow bridge was its only means of retreat; in addition to which its
+avenues were obstructed by the baggage and the stragglers. By degrees,
+as the action became warmer, the terror of these poor wretches increased
+their disorder. First of all they had been alarmed by the rumors of a
+serious engagement; then their terror was increased by seeing the
+wounded returning from it; and, last of all, they were thrown into the
+utmost consternation by the batteries of the Russian left wing, some
+shot from which began to fall among them.
+
+They had been already crowding one upon the other, and the immense
+multitude heaped upon the bank pell-mell with the horses and carriages,
+formed there a most alarming encumbrance. It was about the middle of the
+day that the first Russian balls fell into the midst of this chaos, and
+they were the signal of universal despair.
+
+Then it was, as in all cases of extremity, that the real dispositions of
+men exhibited themselves without disguise, and actions were witnessed,
+some of them the most base, and others the most noble and even sublime.
+In accordance with their character, some furious and determined, with
+sword in hand, cleared for themselves a horrible passage. Others, still
+more cruel, opened a way for their wagons by driving them without mercy
+over the crowds of unfortunate persons who stood in their way, and
+crushed them to death. Their detestable avarice made them sacrifice
+their companions in misfortune to the preservation of their baggage.
+Others again, seized with a pusillanimous terror, wept, supplicated, and
+sank under the influence of a passion which completed the exhaustion of
+their strength. Some were observed (and these were principally the sick
+and wounded) who, renouncing life, went aside, and, resigned to their
+fate, sat themselves down, gazing with a fixed and motionless eye on the
+snow which was shortly to be their winding-sheet.
+
+Numbers of those who started first among this crowd of desperadoes,
+missing the bridge, attempted to scale it by the sides, but the greater
+part were pushed into the river. There were seen women in the midst of
+the stream and among the masses of floating ice, with their children in
+their arms, raising them by degrees as they felt themselves sinking, and
+when completely submerged, their stiffened arms still holding them above
+the water.
+
+In the midst of this horrible disorder, the artillery bridge gave way
+and broke down. The column entangled in this narrow passage in vain
+attempted to retrograde. The crowds which were following behind,
+ignorant of the calamity, and not hearing the cries of those before
+them, kept urging them on until they pushed them into the gulf, into
+which they in their turn were precipitated.
+
+Every one then attempted to pass by the other bridge. A great number of
+large ammunition wagons, heavy carriages and cannon crowded to it from
+all parts. Pressed on by their drivers and carried rapidly along over a
+rough and unequalled declivity, in the midst of masses of men, they
+ground to pieces the poor wretches who were unfortunate enough to get
+between them, until at length the greater part, furiously encountering
+each other, were overturned, killing in their fall those who were around
+them. Multitudes pressed against these obstacles, and becoming entangled
+among them, were thrown down, and crushed to pieces by other multitudes
+as they successively stumbled upon them.
+
+Thus these miserable creatures were rolling one upon the other, and
+nothing was heard but cries of rage and of anguish. In this frightful
+confusion, those who were trodden and crushed under the feet of their
+companions, struggling to lay hold of them with their nails and teeth,
+were, like so many enemies, trampled upon without mercy.
+
+Among them were wives and mothers, calling in tones of distraction upon
+their husbands and their children, from whom they had been separated but
+a moment before, never again to be united. Stretching out their arms,
+they entreated to be allowed to pass in order to rejoin them: but they
+were hurried backward and forward with the crowd, until at length,
+overcome by the pressure, they sank without being so much as noticed.
+Amid the howling of a violent tempest, the discharge of cannon, the
+whistling of balls, the explosion of shells, vociferations, groans, and
+frightful oaths, this infuriated crowd heard not the cries of the
+victims it was swallowing up.
+
+The more fortunate gained the bridge by scrambling over heaps of
+wounded, of women and children thrown down and half suffocated, whom
+they again trampled beneath their feet in their attempts to reach it.
+When at last they reached the narrow defile, they fancied that they were
+safe; but the fall of a horse, or the breaking or displacing of a plank,
+again arrested everything.
+
+There was also at the outlet of the bridge, on the other side, a morass,
+into which many horses and carriages had sunk, a circumstance which
+greatly embarrassed and retarded the entrance. Then it was that, in that
+infuriated column, crowded together, on a single plank of safety, there
+arose a terrible struggle, in which the weakest least fortunately
+situated were plunged into the river by their more powerful or more
+successful comrades. The latter, without so much as turning their
+heads, and hurried along by the instinct of self-preservation, pushed on
+towards the goal with unabated fury, regardless of the imprecations of
+rage and despair uttered by their companions or officers whom they had
+thus sacrificed.
+
+But, on the other hand, how many noble instances there were of devotion!
+and why are time and space denied me to relate them? Soldiers, and even
+officers, harnessed themselves to sledges, to snatch from that fatal
+bank their sick or wounded comrades. Farther off, and out of reach of
+the crowd, were seen soldiers, motionless and watching over their dying
+commanders, who had confided themselves to their care: in vain did the
+latter conjure them to think only of their own preservation; they
+refused; and sooner than abandon their expiring leaders, resolved to
+take their chance of slavery or death.
+
+Above the first passage, where young Lauriston had thrown himself into
+the river, in order more promptly to execute the orders of Napoleon, a
+little boat, carrying a mother and her two children, was upset and sank
+under the ice: an artilleryman, who, like the others, was struggling on
+the bridge to open a passage for himself, observed the accident, and all
+at once, unmindful of his own life, he threw himself into the river, and
+by great exertion succeeded in saving one of the three victims. It was
+the youngest of the two children: the poor little thing kept calling for
+his mother in tones of despair, when the brave artilleryman was heard
+telling him "not to cry; that he had not rescued him from the water only
+to desert him on the bank; that he should want for nothing; and that he
+would be his father and his family."
+
+The night of the 28th added to all these calamities. Its darkness was
+insufficient to conceal from the artillery of the Russians its miserable
+victims. Amid the snow, which covered everything, the course of the
+river, the black mass of men, horses, and carriages, and the noise
+proceeding from them, were enough to enable the enemy's artillerymen
+unerringly to direct their fire.
+
+At about nine o'clock in the evening their desolation became complete,
+when Victor commencing his retreat, his divisions opened for themselves
+a passage through these despairing wretches, whom they had till then
+been protecting. A rear guard, however, having been left, the multitude,
+benumbed with cold, or still anxious to preserve their baggage, refused
+to avail themselves of the last night for crossing to the opposite
+shore. In vain were their wagons set fire to, in order to tear them from
+them; it was only the appearance of daylight which brought them again,
+but too late, to the entrance of the bridge, which they once more
+besieged. At half past eight in the morning, seeing the Russians
+approaching, General Eble set fire to it by Napoleon's orders; then
+those who were left on the eastern side of the river "realized that they
+had lost their last chance."
+
+A multitude of wagons and of cannon, several thousand men and women, and
+some children, were thus abandoned on the hostile bank. They were seen
+wandering in desolate troops on the borders of the river. Some plunged
+into it in order to swim across; others ventured themselves on the
+pieces of ice which were floating along; and some there were who threw
+themselves headlong upon the timbers of the burning bridge, which,
+sinking under them, exposed them at the same time to the horrors of a
+twofold death. Shortly after, the bodies of many of these unfortunate
+creatures, wedged in the ice, were seen collecting against the trestles
+of the bridge. The rest awaited the Russians. The Russian general did
+not show himself upon the heights until an hour after Eble's departure;
+and without having gained a victory, he reaped all the fruits of one.
+
+Napoleon remained till the last moment on these melancholy banks, near
+the ruins of Brilowa, unsheltered and at the head of his guard,
+one-third of which was destroyed by the storm. During the day they stood
+to their arms, and were drawn up in order of battle; at night they
+bivouacked in a square round their leader; and there the old grenadiers
+incessantly kept feeding their fires. They sat on their knapsacks, with
+their elbows planted upon their knees, and their hands supporting their
+heads; slumbering in this manner, doubled upon themselves, that one limb
+might warm the other, and that they might feel less the emptiness of
+their stomachs.
+
+About these bivouacs were collected men of all classes, of all ranks, of
+all ages; ministers, generals, administrators. Among them was remarked
+an elderly nobleman of by-gone days, when light and brilliant graces
+held sovereign sway. This general officer of sixty was seen sitting on
+the snow-covered trunk of some tree, occupying himself with unruffled
+gayety every morning in adjusting the details of his toilet: in the
+midst of a hurricane he had his hair elegantly dressed, and powdered
+with the nicest care, amusing himself in this manner with all our
+calamities, and with the fury of the elements which assailed him.
+
+Near him were officers of scientific corps, still finding subjects for
+discussion. Imbued with the spirit of an age which a few discoveries
+have encouraged to hope for explanations of everything, these
+individuals, amid the acute sufferings we were enduring from the north
+wind, were seeking to divine the cause of its unvarying direction. The
+theory was advanced that, since his departure for the antarctic pole,
+the sun, by heating the southern hemisphere, had rarefied all its
+currents of air, elevated them, and left on the surface of that zone a
+vacuum, into which the currents of air of ours, which were lower on
+account of being more dense, were violently rushing. That thus the
+northern pole, loaded with these denser vapors, which had been
+collecting and cooling since the preceding summer, was discharging them
+by an impetuous and icy current, which swept over the Russian territory,
+and stiffened or destroyed everything it encountered in its course.
+
+Others of these officers were remarking with curious attention the
+regular six-sided crystallization of each one of the flakes of snow
+which covered their garments.
+
+The phenomena of the simultaneous appearance of several distinct images
+of the sun, reflected to the eye by means of the icy particles suspended
+in the atmosphere, was also a subject for observation, and several times
+momentarily diverted their thoughts from their sufferings.
+
+
+Sec. 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army and sets out for Paris.
+
+On the 29th the emperor quitted the banks of the Berezina, pushing on
+before him the crowd of disbanded soldiers, and marching with the ninth
+corps, which was already disorganized. The day before, the second and
+ninth corps and Dombrowski's division presented a total of fourteen
+thousand men; and now, with the exception of about six thousand, they
+had no longer any form of division, brigade, or regiment.
+
+Night, hunger, cold, the fall of many of their officers, the loss of the
+baggage on the other side of the river, the example of such a number of
+runaways, and the much more revolting sight of the wounded abandoned on
+both sides of the river, and left weltering in despair on the snow,
+which was dyed with their blood: everything, in short, contributed to
+discourage them; and they were now confounded with the mass of disbanded
+men who had come from Moscow.
+
+The whole still formed sixty thousand men, but without the least order
+or unity. All marched pell-mell, cavalry, infantry, artillery, French
+and Germans: there was no longer either wing or centre. The artillery
+and carriages drove on through this tumultuous crowd with no other
+instructions than to proceed as rapidly as possible.
+
+On the 3d of December Napoleon arrived in the morning at
+Malodeczno,[176] which was the last point where the Russian general,
+Tchitchakoff was likely to get the start of him. Some provisions were
+found there, the forage was abundant, the day beautiful, the sun bright,
+and the cold bearable. There also the couriers, who had been so long
+kept back, arrived all at once. The Poles were immediately directed
+onward to Warsaw through Olita, and the dismounted cavalry by Merecz to
+the Niemen; while the rest of the army was to follow the high road,
+which they had again regained.
+
+Up to that time Napoleon seemed to have entertained no idea of quitting
+his army. But about the middle of that day he suddenly informed Daru and
+Duroc of his determination to set off immediately for Paris.
+
+Daru did not see the necessity of it. He objected "that the
+communication with France was again opened, and the most dangerous
+crisis passed; and that at every retrograde step he would now be meeting
+the re-enforcements sent him from Paris and from Germany." The emperor's
+reply was, "that he no longer felt himself sufficiently strong to leave
+Prussia between him and France. And besides, what necessity was there
+for his remaining at the head of a routed army? Murat and Eugene would
+be sufficient to direct it, and Ney to cover its retreat.
+
+"His return to France had become indispensable, in order to secure her
+tranquillity and to summon her to arms; to take measures there for
+keeping the Germans steady in their fidelity to him; and, finally, to
+return with fresh and adequate forces to the assistance of his Grand
+Army.
+
+"But, in order to effect these objects, it was necessary that he should
+travel alone over four hundred leagues of the territories of his allies:
+and that he might do so without danger, his resolution should be there
+unforeseen, his passage unknown, and the rumor of his disastrous retreat
+still uncertain; that he would, in short, precede the news of it, and
+anticipate the effect it might produce on them, and the defections to
+which it might give rise. He had, therefore, no time to lose, and the
+moment for his departure had already arrived."
+
+Such were the motives assigned by Napoleon; and General Caulaincourt
+immediately received orders secretly to prepare for his departure. The
+rendezvous was fixed at Smorgoni,[177] and the time the night of the 5th
+of December.
+
+When Napoleon reached Smorgoni all the marshals were summoned. As they
+successively entered, he took each one aside in private, and first of
+all secured their approbation of his plan, gaining some by his
+arguments, and others by confidential communications.
+
+His manner was kind and flattering to them all; and afterward, having
+assembled them at his table, he complimented them for their brilliant
+actions during the campaign. As to himself, the only confession he made
+of his temerity was couched in these words: "If I had been born to the
+throne, if I had been a Bourbon, it would have been easy for me not to
+have committed any faults."
+
+When their interview was over, he made Prince Eugene read to them his
+twenty-ninth bulletin; after which, declaring aloud what he had confided
+to each of them privately, he told them "that he was about to depart
+that very night with Duroc, Caulaincourt and Lobau, for Paris; that his
+presence there was indispensable for France as well as for the remains
+of his unfortunate army. It was there only that he could take measures
+for keeping the Austrians and Prussians in check. These nations would
+certainly pause before they declared war against him, when they saw him
+at the head of the French nation, and a fresh army of twelve hundred
+thousand men."
+
+He added, that "he had ordered Ney to proceed to Wilna, there to
+reorganize the army; that Rapp would second him, and afterward go to
+Dantzic, Lauriston to Warsaw, and Narbonne to Berlin; that his own guard
+would remain with the army; but that it would be necessary to strike a
+blow at Wilna, and stop the enemy there. There they would find
+re-enforcements, provisions, and ammunition of all sorts; that afterward
+they would go into winter quarters on the other side of the Niemen; and
+that he hoped the Russians would not pass the Vistula before his
+return."
+
+He said, in concluding, "I leave the King of Naples to command the army.
+I hope that you will yield him the same obedience that you would to
+myself, and that the greatest harmony will prevail among you."
+
+As it was now ten o'clock at night, he rose, affectionately pressed
+their hands, embraced them all--and departed.
+
+Napoleon passed through the crowd of his officers, who were drawn up in
+an avenue as he passed, bidding them adieu merely by forced and
+melancholy smiles: their good wishes, equally silent, and expressed only
+by respectful gestures, he carried with him. He and Caulaincourt shut
+themselves up in a carriage.
+
+His escort at first consisted only of Poles, afterwards of the
+Neapolitans of the Royal Guard. This corps consisted of between six and
+seven hundred men when it left Wilna to meet the emperor: it perished
+almost entirely in that short passage, though the winter was its only
+adversary. That very night the Russians surprised and afterward
+abandoned a town through which the escort had to pass; and Napoleon was
+within an hour of falling into that affray.
+
+He met the Duke of Bassano at Miedniki, a village about thirty miles
+west of Smorgoni. His first words to him were "that he had no longer an
+army; that for several days past he had been marching in the midst of a
+troop of disbanded men, wandering to and fro in search of subsistence;
+that they might still be rallied by giving them bread, shoes, clothing,
+and arms; but that the duke's military administration had anticipated
+nothing, and his orders had not been executed." But upon Murat replying,
+by showing him a statement of the immense stores of provisions and
+clothing collected at Wilna, he exclaimed "that he gave him fresh life;
+that he would forthwith give him an order to transmit to Murat and
+Berthier, to halt for eight days in that capital, there to rally the
+army, and infuse into it sufficient heart and strength to continue the
+retreat less deplorably."
+
+The remainder of Napoleon's journey was effected without molestation. He
+went round Wilna by its suburbs, crossed Wilkoski, where he exchanged
+his carriage for a sleigh, and stopped during the 10th at Warsaw, to ask
+the Poles for a levy of ten thousand Cossacks, and to promise them that
+he would speedily return at the head of three hundred thousand men. From
+thence he rapidly traversed Silesia,[178] visited Dresden and its
+monarch, and finally reached Paris, where he suddenly made his
+appearance on the 19th of December, two days after the arrival of his
+twenty-ninth bulletin.
+
+From Malo-jaroslavetz to Smorgoni, this master of Europe had been no
+more than the general of a dying and disbanded army; from Smorgoni to
+the Rhine he was an unknown fugitive, travelling through a hostile
+country; beyond the Rhine he again found himself the master and the
+conqueror of Europe. A brief blast of the gale of prosperity once more
+and for the last time swelled his sails.
+
+Meanwhile, his generals, whom he left at Smorgoni, approved of his
+departure, and, far from being discouraged, placed all their hopes in
+it. The army had now only to flee; the road was open, and the Russian
+frontier at a very short distance. They were getting within reach of a
+re-enforcement of eighteen thousand men, all fresh troops, of a great
+city, and immense magazines. Murat and Berthier, abandoned to
+themselves, fancied they were quite competent to direct the flight. But
+in the midst of such frightful disorder, it required a Napoleon for a
+rallying-point, and he had just disappeared. In the mighty chasm which
+he left, Murat was scarcely perceptible.
+
+It was then but too clearly seen that a great man is not to be replaced;
+either that the pride of his followers can no longer stoop to obey
+another, or that, having always thought of, foreseen, and ordered
+everything himself, he had formed good instruments, skilful lieutenants,
+but no commanders.
+
+The very first night a general refused to obey. The marshal who
+commanded the rear guard was almost the only one who returned to the
+royal headquarters. Three thousand men of the Old and the Young Guard
+were still there. This was the whole of the Grand Army, and of that
+gigantic body there remained nothing but the head. But at the news of
+Napoleon's departure, these veterans, spoiled by the habit of being
+commanded only by the conqueror of Europe, being no longer supported by
+the honor of serving him, and scorning to act as guards to another, gave
+way in their turn, and voluntarily fell into disorder.
+
+Henceforward there was no longer fraternity in arms; there was an end to
+all society, to all ties; the excess of misery had completely brutified
+them. Hunger, devouring hunger, had reduced these unfortunate men to
+that brutal instinct of self-preservation which constitutes the sole
+understanding of ferocious animals, and which is ready to sacrifice
+everything to itself; nature, wild and barbarous around them, seemed to
+have communicated to them all its savageness. The strongest despoiled
+the weakest; they rushed about the dying, and frequently waited not for
+their last breath. When a horse fell, you might have fancied you saw a
+famished pack of hounds: they surrounded him, they tore him to pieces,
+and quarrelled among themselves for his remains like ravenous dogs.
+
+The greater number, however, preserved sufficient moral strength to
+provide for their own safety without injuring others; but this was the
+last effort of their virtue. If either leader or comrade fell by their
+side or under the wheels of the cannon, in vain did they call for
+assistance, in vain did they invoke the names of a common country, a
+common religion, and a common cause; they could not even obtain a
+passing look. The merciless cold of the climate had passed into their
+comrades' hearts: its rigor had contracted their feelings no less than
+their features. With the exception of a few of the commanders, all were
+absorbed by their sufferings, and terror left no room for compassion.
+
+There were a few, however, who still stood firm, as it were, against
+both heaven and earth: these protected and assisted the weakest; but
+their number was deplorably small.
+
+
+Sec. 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure. Arrival
+at Wilna.
+
+On the 6th of December, the very day after Napoleon's departure, the sky
+exhibited a more dreadful appearance. Icy particles were seen floating
+in the air, and the birds fell stiff and frozen to the earth. The
+atmosphere was motionless and silent: it seemed as if everything in
+nature which possessed life and movement, even the wind itself, had been
+seized, chained, and, as it were, congealed by a universal death. Not a
+word or a murmur was then heard: there was nothing but the gloomy
+silence of despair, and the tears which proclaimed it.
+
+We crept along in the midst of this empire of death like doomed spirits.
+The dull and monotonous sound of our steps, the cracking of the frost,
+and the feeble groans of the dying, were the only interruptions to this
+doleful and universal silence. Anger and imprecations there were none,
+nor anything which indicated a remnant of warmth; scarcely was strength
+enough left to utter a prayer; and most of the men fell without even
+complaining, either from weakness or resignation, or because people
+complain only when they look for kindness, and fancy they are pitied.
+
+Such of our soldiers as had hitherto been the most persevering here lost
+heart entirely. Sometimes the snow sank beneath their feet, but more
+frequently, its glassy surface refusing them support, they slipped at
+every step, and tottered along from one fall to another. It seemed as
+though this hostile soil were leagued against them; that it
+treacherously escaped from under their efforts; that it was constantly
+leading them into snares, as if to embarrass and retard their march, and
+to deliver them up to the Russians in pursuit of them, or to their
+terrible climate.
+
+And, in truth, whenever, for a moment, they halted from exhaustion, the
+winter, laying his icy hand upon them, was ready to seize his victims.
+In vain did these unhappy creatures, feeling themselves benumbed, raise
+themselves up, and, already deprived of the power of speech, and plunged
+into a stupor, proceed a few steps like automatons: their blood froze
+in their veins, like water in the current of rivulets, congealing the
+heart, and then flying back to the head; and these dying men staggered
+as if they had been intoxicated. From their eyes, reddened and inflamed
+by the constant glare of the snow, by the want of sleep, and the smoke
+of the bivouacs, there flowed real tears of blood; their bosoms heaved
+with deep and heavy sighs; they looked towards heaven, at us, and on the
+earth, with an eye dismayed, fixed, and wild, as expressive of their
+farewell, and, it might be, of their reproaches against the barbarous
+nature which was tormenting them. It was not long before they fell upon
+their knees, and then upon their hands; their heads still slowly moved
+for a few minutes alternately to the right and left, and from their open
+mouths some sounds of agony escaped; at last, they fell flat upon the
+snow, burying their faces in it, and their sufferings were at an end.
+
+Their comrades passed by them without moving a step out of their way,
+that they might not, by the slightest curve, prolong their journey, and
+without even turning their heads; for their beards and hair were so
+stiffened with ice that every movement was painful. Nor did they even
+pity them; for, in fact, what had they lost by dying? what had they left
+behind them? They suffered so much, they were still so far from France,
+so much divested of all feelings of country by the surrounding prospect
+and by misery, that every dear illusion was broken, and hope almost
+destroyed. The greater number, therefore, had from necessity, from the
+habit of seeing death constantly around them, and from the prevailing
+feeling, become careless of dying, sometimes treating it with contempt;
+but generally, on seeing these unfortunates stretched on the snow, and
+instantly stiffened, contenting themselves with the thought that they
+had no more wants, that they were at rest, that their sufferings were
+over. And, indeed, death, in a situation quiet, certain, and uniform,
+may be felt as a strange event, a frightful contrast, a terrible change;
+but in this tumult, this violent and ceaseless movement of a life of
+action, danger, and suffering, it appeared nothing more than a
+transition, a slight alteration, an additional removal, which excited
+little alarm.
+
+Such were the last days of the Grand Army: its last nights were still
+more frightful. Those whom they surprised marching together, far from
+every habitation, halted on the borders of the woods: there they lighted
+their fires, before which they remained the whole night, erect and
+motionless like spectres. They seemed as if they could not possibly have
+enough of the heat: they kept so close to it as to burn their clothes,
+as well as the frozen parts of their body, which the fire decomposed.
+The most dreadful pain then compelled them to stretch themselves on the
+ground, and the next day they attempted in vain to rise.
+
+In the meantime, such as the winter had almost wholly spared, and who
+still retained some portion of courage, prepared their melancholy meal.
+It had consisted, ever since they left Smolensk, of some slices of
+horseflesh broiled, and a little rye-meal made into a sort of gruel with
+snow-water, or kneaded into paste, which they seasoned, for want of
+salt, with the powder of their cartridges.
+
+The sight of these fires was constantly attracting fresh spectres, who
+were driven back by the first comers. These poor wretches wandered about
+from one bivouac to another, until, struck by the frost and despair
+together, and giving themselves up for lost, they laid themselves down
+upon the snow behind their more fortunate comrades, and there expired.
+Many of them, destitute of the means and the strength necessary to cut
+down the lofty fir-trees, made vain attempts to set fire to them as they
+were standing; but death speedily surprised them, and they might be seen
+in every sort of attitude, stiff and lifeless about their trunks.
+
+Under the vast sheds erected by the sides of the high road in some parts
+of the way, scenes of still greater horror were witnessed. Officers and
+soldiers all rushed precipitately into them, and crowded together in
+heaps. There, like so many cattle, they pressed upon each other around
+the fires, and as the living could not remove the dead from the circle,
+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
+lamentations. At this unlooked-for sight, its inhabitants became alarmed
+and shut their doors. Deplorable then was it to see these troops of
+wretched wanderers in the streets, some furious and others despairing,
+threatening or entreating, endeavoring to break open the doors of the
+houses and the magazines, or dragging themselves to the hospitals.
+Everywhere they were repulsed: at the magazines, from most unseasonable
+formalities, as, from the dissolution of the corps and the mingling of
+the soldiers, all regular distribution had become impossible.
+
+There had been collected there sufficient flour and bread to last for
+forty days, and butchers' meat for thirty-six days, for one hundred
+thousand men. Not a single commander ventured to step forward and give
+orders for giving out these provisions to all who came for them. The
+commissaries who had them in charge were afraid of being made
+responsible for them; and the others dreaded the excesses to which the
+famished soldiers would give themselves up when everything was at their
+discretion. These commissaries were, besides, ignorant of our desperate
+situation; and when there was scarcely time for pillage, had they been
+so inclined, our unfortunate comrades were left for several hours to die
+of hunger at the very doors of these immense magazines, filled with
+whatever they stood in need of, all of which fell into the enemy's hands
+the following day.
+
+At last, the exertions of several of the commanders, as Eugene and
+Davoust, the compassion of the Lithuanians, and the avarice of the Jews,
+opened some places of refuge. Nothing could be more remarkable than the
+astonishment manifested by these unfortunate men at finding themselves
+once more in inhabited houses. How delicious did a loaf of leavened
+bread appear to them, and how inexpressible the pleasure of eating it
+seated! and, afterward, with what admiration were they struck at seeing
+a scanty battalion still under arms, in regular order, and uniformly
+dressed! They seemed to have returned from the very extremities of the
+earth, so much had the violence and persistency of their sufferings
+wrested and torn them from all their habits, so deep had been the abyss
+from which they had escaped!
+
+But scarcely had they begun to taste these sweets, when the cannon of
+the Russians were heard thundering over their heads and upon the city.
+These menacing sounds, the shouts of the officers, the drums beating to
+arms, and the wailings and clamor of an additional multitude of
+fugitives which had just arrived, filled Wilna with fresh confusion.
+
+Every one thought much more of disputing his life with famine and the
+cold than with the enemy. But when the cry of "Here are the Cossacks"
+was heard (which for a long time had been the only signal which the
+greater number obeyed), it was instantly echoed through the whole city,
+and the rout again began.
+
+This city contained a large proportion of the baggage of the army, and
+of its treasures, its provisions, a crowd of enormous wagons, loaded
+with the emperor's equipage, a large quantity of artillery, and a large
+number of wounded men. Our retreat had come upon them like an unexpected
+tempest, almost like a thunderbolt. Some were terrified and thrown into
+confusion, while consternation kept others motionless. Bearers of
+orders, soldiers, horses, and carriages, were seen hurrying about in all
+directions, crossing and overturning each other.
+
+In the midst of this tumult, several of the commanders pushed forward
+out of the city towards Kowno, with all the troops they could contrive
+to muster; but at the distance of a league from the latter place this
+heavy and frightened column encountered the height and the ravine of
+Ponari.
+
+During our conquering advance, this woody hillock had only appeared to
+our soldiers a fortunate accident of the ground, from which they could
+discover the whole plain of Wilna, and take a survey of their enemies.
+Its rough but sharp declivity had then scarcely been remarked. During a
+regular retreat, it would have presented an excellent position for
+turning round and stopping the enemy; but in a disorderly flight, where
+everything which, in other circumstances, might have been of service,
+became injurious; where, in our precipitation and disorder, everything
+was turned against us, this hill and its defile became an insurmountable
+obstacle, a wall of ice, against which all our efforts were powerless.
+It arrested everything, baggage, treasure, and wounded; and the evil was
+sufficiently great, in this long series of disasters, to form an epoch.
+
+Here, in fact, it was that money, honor, and all remains of discipline
+and strength were completely lost. After fifteen hours of fruitless
+effort, when the drivers and the soldiers of the escort saw the King of
+Naples and the whole column of fugitives passing them by the sides of
+the hill; when they heard the noise of the enemy's cannon and musketry
+coming nearer and nearer every instant, and saw Ney himself retreating
+with three thousand men; when, at last, turning their eyes upon
+themselves, they beheld the hill completely covered with cannon and
+carriages, broken or overturned, and men and horses fallen to the
+ground, and expiring one upon the other--then it was that they gave up
+all idea of saving anything, and determined only to anticipate the enemy
+by becoming plunderers themselves.
+
+One of the covered wagons of treasure, which burst of itself, served as
+a signal; every one now rushed to the others; they were immediately
+broken open, and the most valuable effects taken from them. The soldiers
+of the rear guard, who were passing at the time of this disorder, threw
+away their arms to join in the plunder; they became so eagerly engaged
+in it as neither to hear, in fact, the whistling of the enemy's balls,
+nor to pay the slightest attention to the howlings of the Cossacks, who
+were at their heels.
+
+It is even said that the Cossacks got mixed among them without being
+observed; that for some minutes, French and Tartars were confounded in
+the same greediness; forgetting they were at war, and pillaging together
+the same treasure-wagons. Two millions of gold and silver then
+disappeared.
+
+But amid all these horrors there were noble acts of devotion. Those
+there were who abandoned everything to save some of the unfortunate
+wounded by carrying them on their shoulders; while others, unable to
+extricate their half-frozen comrades from the throng, sacrificed their
+lives in defending them either against their own countrymen, or from the
+blows of their enemies.
+
+On the most exposed part of the hill, an officer of the emperor, Colonel
+the Count de Turenne, repulsed the Cossacks, and in defiance of their
+cries of rage and their fire, he distributed before their eyes the
+private treasure of Napoleon to the guards whom he found within his
+reach. These brave men, fighting with one hand, and collecting the
+spoils of their leader with the other, succeeded in saving them. Long
+afterward, when they were out of all danger, each man faithfully
+restored what had been intrusted to him. Not a single piece of money was
+lost.
+
+This catastrophe at Ponari was the more disgraceful, as it might easily
+have been foreseen, and no less easily prevented: for the hill could
+have been turned by its sides. The property we here abandoned, however,
+was at least of some use by arresting the pursuit of the Cossacks. While
+these were busy in collecting their plunder, Ney, at the head of a few
+hundred French and Bavarians, supported the retreat as far as Eve. As
+this was his last effort, we must not neglect to describe the close of
+that retreat which he had continued uninterruptedly, and in the most
+methodical manner, ever since he left Viazma on the 3d of November.
+
+
+Sec. 24. Conclusion.
+
+Finally Ney and his men arrived at Kowno, which was the last town of the
+Russian empire. On the 13th of December, after marching forty-six days
+under the most terrible sufferings, they once more came in sight of a
+friendly country. Instantly, without halting, or looking behind them,
+the greater part plunged into, and dispersed themselves in, the forests
+of Prussian Poland. Some there were, however, who, on their arrival on
+the friendly bank of the Niemen, turned round; and there, when they cast
+a last look on that land of horrors from which they were escaping, and
+found themselves on the same spot whence, five months before, their
+countless eagles[179] had taken their victorious flight, tears gushed
+from their eyes and they broke out into exclamations of the most
+poignant sorrow.
+
+"This, then, was the bank which they had studded with their bayonets!
+this the allied country which had disappeared, only five months before,
+under the steps of their immense army, and which then seemed to them to
+be metamorphosed into moving hills and plains of men and horses! These
+were the same valleys from which, under the rays of a brilliant sun, had
+poured forth the three long columns of dragoons and cuirassiers,
+resembling three rivers of glittering iron and brass. And now, men,
+arms, eagles, horses, the sun itself, and even this frontier river,
+which they had crossed replete with ardor and hope, had all disappeared.
+The Niemen was now only a lengthened line of masses of ice, arrested and
+chained to each other by the increasing severity of the winter. Instead
+of the three French bridges, brought from a distance of five hundred
+leagues, and thrown across it with such audacious promptitude, a Russian
+bridge alone was standing. Finally, in place of those innumerable
+warriors, of their four hundred thousand comrades, who had been so often
+their partners in victory, and who had dashed onward with so much pride
+and joy into the territory of Russia, they now saw issuing from these
+pale and frozen deserts only a thousand infantry and horsemen still
+under arms, nine cannon, and twenty thousand miserable wretches covered
+with rags, with downcast looks, hollow eyes, cadaverous and livid
+complexions, and long beards matted with frost; some disputing in
+silence the narrow passage of the bridge, which, in spite of their small
+numbers, did not suffice for the eagerness of their flight; others
+fleeing dispersed over the rough ice of the river, toiling and dragging
+themselves along from one point to another: this was the whole Grand
+Army! and even many of these fugitives were recruits who had just joined
+it!"
+
+Two kings, one prince, eight marshals, followed by a few officers,
+generals on foot, dispersed, and without attendants: finally, a few
+hundred men of the Old Guard, still armed--these were the remains of
+the Grand Army--these alone represented it!
+
+Or rather, I should say, it still breathed only in Marshal Ney!
+Comrades! allies! enemies! here I invoke your testimony; let us pay the
+homage which is due to the memory of an unfortunate hero: the facts
+alone will suffice.
+
+All were flying, and Murat himself, traversing Kowno as he had done
+Wilna, first gave, and then withdrew, an order, to rally at Tilsit, and
+subsequently fixed upon Gumbinnen. Ney then entered Kowno, accompanied
+only by his aids-de-camp, for all besides had given way or fallen around
+him. From the time of his leaving Viazma, this was the fourth rear guard
+which had been worn out and disappeared in his hands. But winter and
+famine, far more than the Russians, had destroyed them. For the fourth
+time he remained alone before the enemy, and, still undismayed, he
+sought for a fifth rear guard.
+
+Several thousand soldiers covered the market-place and the neighboring
+streets; but they were laid out stiff before the liquor-shops which they
+had broken open, and where they drank the cup of death, from which they
+had vainly hoped they were to inhale fresh life.
+
+Such were the only succors which Murat had left him; and Ney found
+himself alone in Russia, with seven hundred foreign recruits. At Kowno,
+as it had been after the disasters of Viazma, of Smolensk, of the
+Berezina, and of Wilna, it was to him that the honor of our arms and all
+the peril of the last steps of our retreat were again confided.
+
+On the 14th, at daybreak, the Russians commenced their attack. One of
+their columns made a hasty advance from the Wilna road, while another
+crossed the Niemen on the ice above the town, landed on the Prussian
+territory, and, proud of being the first to cross its frontier, marched
+to the bridge of Kowno, to close that outlet upon Ney, and completely
+cut off his retreat.
+
+Ney, though abandoned by all, neither gave himself up nor his post.
+After vain efforts to detain these fugitives, he collected their
+muskets, which were still loaded, became once more a common soldier,
+and, with only four others, kept facing thousands of the enemy. His
+audacity stopped them; it made some of his artillerymen, too, ashamed,
+and they imitated their marshal: besides it gave time to his aid-de-camp
+and to General Gerard, to collect thirty soldiers, and to Generals Ledru
+and Marchand to collect the only battalion which remained.
+
+But at that moment a second attack of the Russians commenced on the
+other side of the Niemen, and near the bridge of Kowno: it was then half
+past two o'clock. Ney sent Ledru, Marchand, and their four hundred men
+forward to retake and secure that passage. As for himself, without
+giving way, or disquieting himself farther as to what was passing in his
+rear, he kept on fighting at the head of his thirty men, and maintained
+himself until night at the Wilna gate. He then traversed the town and
+crossed the Niemen, constantly fighting, retreating, but never flying,
+marching after all the others, supporting to the last moment the honor
+of our arms, and for the hundredth time during the last forty days and
+forty nights, putting his life and liberty in jeopardy to save a few
+more Frenchmen. Finally, he was the last of the Grand Army that quitted
+that fatal Russia, showing to the world how courage battles with ill
+fortune, and proving that with heroes even the greatest disasters turn
+to glory.[180]
+
+General Dumas was seated in the French headquarters on the Prussian side
+of the Niemen when a man entered wrapped in a long cloak. His face was
+blackened with gunpowder, his hair singed with fire. "At last," said he,
+"I am here." "But who are you?" asked General Dumas in astonishment. "I
+am the rear guard of the Grand Army--I am Marshal Ney. I have fired the
+last shot on the bridge of Kowno, I have thrown my musket into the
+river, and I have walked here across the forest."
+
+Napoleon had entered Russia with an army of over six hundred thousand
+men. Not more than eighty thousand recrossed the Niemen, and many of
+them did not live to reach their homes.[181]
+
+Thus ended the Russian campaign. Thus did the star of the North triumph
+over that of Napoleon.
+
+Comrades, my task is done; it is now for you to bear your testimony to
+the truth of the picture. Its colors will no doubt appear pale to your
+eyes and to your hearts, which are still full of these great
+recollections. But who does not know that an action is always more
+eloquent than its description; and that, if great historians are
+produced by great men, the former are still more rare than the latter?
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[125] Namely, at Kowno, Pilony, south of Kowno, and Grodno, still
+further south. At Kowno a monument bears the following inscription in
+Russian: "In 1812 Russia was invaded by an army numbering 700,000 men.
+The army recrossed the frontier numbering 70,000."
+
+[126] See map facing p. 1. The upper dotted line represents the advance
+to Moscow; the lower, the line of retreat from that city.
+
+[127] =Moskwa=, =Kologa=: these and other Russian geographical names are
+variously spelled.
+
+[128] Count Segur was elected a member of the French Academy, and his
+history of the retreat has not only passed through many editions in
+France, but it has been translated into all the leading languages of
+Europe.
+
+[129] The history of Napoleon after the Russian retreat will form the
+subject of a note at the close of Count Segur's narrative.
+
+[130] =Moscow=: the ancient capital of Russia is situated on the Moskwa
+river (a tributary of the Oka), from which the city derives its name. It
+first appears in history in the middle of the twelfth century. It early
+became the metropolis and seat of government, and continued so until a
+short time after the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, in
+1703.
+
+For centuries Moscow was both the political and religious centre of the
+empire. Here the Czars were crowned, here they resided, here they were
+buried. Here, too, the patriarch, or former head of the Russian church,
+had his residence, amid cathedrals, monasteries, and shrines, which have
+always been regarded with peculiar reverence.
+
+To the Russian peasant the city still remains sacred. It is the heart,
+as it were, of his native land. He cherishes toward it the same feeling
+which the devout Mohammedan does for Mecca, or the devout Catholic for
+Rome. He calls it "Our Holy Mother Moscow"; and when he comes in sight
+of its gilded spires and cupolas he makes the sign of the cross, falls
+upon his knees, and utters a prayer.
+
+In the centre of Moscow stands the Kremlin, or fortress--for so the
+Tartar name is usually translated. This famous stronghold marks the
+original settlement. It covers nearly a hundred acres, and is situated
+on an eminence on the left bank of the river. It is triangular in shape,
+and is surrounded by a lofty stone wall, considerably more than a mile
+in extent, which is pierced with five gates and surmounted by eighteen
+commanding towers.
+
+The Kremlin is almost a city in itself. Besides extensive barracks and
+an arsenal, with other government buildings, it contains the ancient
+palace of the Czars, a monastery, and several noted churches, one of
+which is the oldest and most venerated in Russia.
+
+Formerly the entire fortification was encompassed by a broad, deep moat.
+This has been filled up, and now forms a spacious boulevard, with
+pleasure gardens, a library, a museum, and the great bazaar or market,
+where all kinds of merchandise are offered for sale.
+
+At the time of the French invasion Moscow is supposed to have had a
+population of at least 325,000; at the present time it has more than
+double that number.
+
+Napoleon entered the city September 14, 1812. That very night it was set
+on fire, and the conflagration continued until the whole place, outside
+the Kremlin, was practically a heap of bricks and ashes.
+
+During the fire Napoleon was obliged to leave his quarters in the
+fortress and establish them in a suburb of the city, but later he
+returned to the Kremlin.
+
+He evacuated Moscow on October 19, not quite five weeks after he entered
+it. He found it a great metropolis. He left it a mass of ruins, where
+nothing any longer existed to support life.
+
+[131] =Serfs=: these serfs were slaves in all but name, and were bought
+and sold like cattle. They were emancipated by law in 1861, the whole
+number throughout Russia then being over 21,000,000.
+
+[132] =Czar=: the correct Russian spelling of this word is said to be
+Tsar, which is now gradually coming into use in English. The title was
+first assumed by Ivan IV. (Ivan the Terrible) in 1533.
+
+[133] =Ruble= (or Rouble): a Russian silver coin worth about
+seventy-five cents.
+
+[134] =Smolensk=: see Introduction, "Napoleon."
+
+[135] =Rostopchin=: (Ros-top-chen').
+
+[136] =Kutusoff=: commander-in-chief of the Russian army.
+
+[137] =Muscovite=: a native of Muscovy, an old name for Russia.
+
+[138] Rostopchin denied, in a work which he published, that he set fire
+to the city. He insisted that it was done by the French, together with
+the rabble of Moscow. It is now thought that the governor began the work
+of destruction, which was completed partly by the Russians and partly by
+the French.
+
+[139] =Cossacks=: a race of people inhabiting the south of Russia. On
+account of their great skill in horsemanship they are largely employed
+in the Russian army as cavalry.
+
+[140] =Moskwa=: the French often spoke of the battle of Borodino as the
+Battle of the Moskwa, though it is not on that river, but on the Kologa,
+a tributary of it. The accounts of the number killed differ.
+
+[141] =Kolomna gate=: a gate leading to Kolomna, a town on the Moskwa
+River.
+
+[142] =Miloradovitch=: a Russian general.
+
+[143] =Mazeppa=: a Pole, who having been detected in a crime was bound
+to the back of a wild horse and carried by the animal to the country of
+the Cossacks. There he became head of the Cossack forces, and when Peter
+the Great attempted to seize that country, Mazeppa formed an alliance
+with Charles XII. of Sweden for the independence of the Cossacks.
+
+[144] =Dorogomilow=: the name of a quarter of the city.
+
+[145] =Daru=: a distinguished French author and statesman who
+accompanied Napoleon in his Russian campaign.
+
+[146] =Boyars=: nobles, or men of rank.
+
+[147] =Bivouac= (biv-wak'): to encamp without tents or shelter.
+
+[148] =Scythians=: a race of fierce barbarians, formerly inhabiting the
+country north and east of the Black Sea. Napoleon intimates that these
+men are their descendants.
+
+[149] =Strelitzes=: a body of military guards that revolted under Peter
+the Great.
+
+[150] =Postern-gate=: a small rear or side gate.
+
+[151] =Lithuania=: a province of Russia bordering on the Niemen and
+hence near supplies.
+
+[152] =Witepsk=: a point passed on the march to Moscow, about midway
+from the Niemen; here the Russian general, Wittgenstein, appears to have
+been stationed.
+
+[153] =Old Guard=: the emperor's body-guard, composed of a large force
+of veterans.
+
+[154] "Napoleon also took measures for relieving the unfortunate of all
+classes. He ordered lists to be made of all the citizens whom the
+conflagration had deprived of the means of subsistence, opened houses of
+refuge for them, and supplied them with food."
+
+[155] =Tilsit and Erfurt=: at these places Napoleon had negotiated
+treaties, greatly in favor of the French, with the Czar of Russia.
+
+[156] =Expresses=: messengers.
+
+[157] =Armistice=: a temporary suspension of hostilities.
+
+[158] =Partisans=: soldiers detached to intercept convoys of provisions
+and the like.
+
+[159] =Invalides=: one of the great public buildings at Paris; a
+soldiers' home and hospital. Napoleon is buried here.
+
+[160] =Aid-de-camp=: an officer who carries orders and directs movements
+for a general.
+
+[161] =The viceroy=: Prince Eugene.
+
+[162] The indecisive battle of Malo-jaroslavetz, a town about fifty
+miles southwest of Moscow, compelled Napoleon to give up his original
+plan of retreat, which would have taken him through an unexhausted
+country to the southward, and forced him to go back to the north,
+retracing his steps by the route he came.
+
+[163] =Wittgenstein=: commander of one division of the Russian forces,
+held a position on the Dwina River and later on the Berezina, a
+tributary of the Dnieper.
+
+[164] =Vereia=: a village about twenty-five miles northwest of
+Malo-jaroslavetz.
+
+[165] =Kremlin=: it was afterward found that the fortress was but
+slightly injured.
+
+[166] =Mojaisk=: about ten miles northwest of Vereia and seventy west of
+Moscow.
+
+[167] The battle-field of Borodino, which Napoleon had fought on his
+march to Moscow. See Introduction.
+
+[168] =Viazma=: about fifty miles west of Borodino.
+
+[169] =Dorogobouje=: a town about fifty miles west of Viazma and nearly
+two hundred west of Moscow. It is situated on the river Wop, a branch of
+the Dnieper.
+
+[170] =Deployed=: formed a more extended front or line.
+
+[171] =Dombrowna=: a town about fifty miles west of Smolensk and two
+hundred from Moscow.
+
+[172] =Grenadiers=: these were men of long service and acknowledged
+bravery. Originally these soldiers threw hand grenades or small
+explosive shells. When these grenades went out of use the name
+grenadiers was still retained.
+
+[173] =Borizoff=: a town on the Berezina River, about 320 miles
+southwest of Moscow, and about 75 west of Orcha.
+
+[174] =Minsk=: a town on a tributary of the Berezina River, about 400
+miles southwest of Moscow. Here Napoleon had immense stores of
+provisions, clothing, and ammunition. He was pushing forward to reach
+this place.
+
+[175] Polish generals in Napoleon's Grand Army.
+
+[176] =Malodeczno=: a town about seventy miles west of the Berezina
+River.
+
+[177] =Smorgoni=: a village about thirty-five miles northwest of
+Malodeczno, and four hundred and fifty southwest of Moscow.
+
+[178] =Silesia=: a province of southeastern Prussia.
+
+[179] =Eagles=: Napoleon's colors were surmounted by the figure of an
+eagle.
+
+[180] Marshal Ney, whom Napoleon called "the bravest of the brave,"
+fought under the emperor in several subsequent battles. When Napoleon
+abdicated and was exiled to Elba, Ney supported the government of his
+successor and enemy, Louis XVIII. On the escape of Napoleon from Elba,
+in the spring of 1815, Ney was sent with an army against him, but
+instead of fighting for Louis XVIII., he took service under his old
+commander. At Waterloo he led the Old Guard, those men who could die but
+never surrender. After the final fall of Napoleon, Marshal Ney was tried
+and sentenced to be shot for treason to the government of Louis XVIII.,
+whose cause he had deserted. Wellington tried to save his life, but in
+vain. If courage can expiate faults, then his are buried in his grave.
+
+[181] On Napoleon's arrival in Paris he began at once to raise a fresh
+army. It has been said that it was "an army of boys," for France had
+lost most of her fighting men on the battle-field, or in Russia. In 1813
+he was defeated at Leipsic, and obliged to retreat across the Rhine. The
+next year he abdicated and retired to Elba.
+
+In the spring of 1815 he escaped from Elba, and raising an army fought
+and lost the battle of Waterloo.
+
+After his second abdication he was sent an exile to St. Helena, where he
+died about six years later (1821). His remains were brought to Paris in
+1840, and interred under the dome of the Hotel des Invalides, or
+Soldiers' Hospital. Above his tomb one reads these words: "I desire that
+my ashes shall repose on the banks of the Seine, among the French
+people, whom I have so greatly loved."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX TO NOTES.
+
+WITH PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES.[182]
+
+
+A-chae'ans, 37.
+
+A-ch[=a]'i-a.
+
+Ad-ra-m[)y]t'ti-um.
+
+[=AE]-n[=e]'as.
+
+[=AE]-ni-[=a]'n[=e]s.
+
+[=A]-g[=a]'si-as.
+
+[=A]-g[)e]s-i-l[=a]'us.
+
+[=A]'gi-[)a]s.
+
+Aid-de-camp, 217.
+
+Ajaccio (A-yat'ch[=o]).
+
+Alexander the Great, 149.
+
+[)A]l-ki-bi'a-d[=e]s.
+
+Altar, 75.
+
+Amnesty, 13.
+
+Am-ph[=i]p'o-lis.
+
+A-nab'a-sis, 150.
+
+[)A]n-ax-[=i]b'i-[)u]s.
+
+An-tal'ki-d[)a]s.
+
+An-t[)a]n'dr[)u]s.
+
+An-t[)i]l'e-[)o]n.
+
+[)A]p-ol-l[)o]n'i-d[=e]s.
+
+Arcadian, 27.
+
+[=A]-ri-ae'us.
+
+[)A]r-is-tar'chus.
+
+A-r[)i]s'te-[)a]s.
+
+A-ris'ton.
+
+[)A]r-is-t[)o]n'y-m[)u]s.
+
+Ar'me-n[=e].
+
+Ar'mis-t[)i]ce, 211.
+
+Array, 7.
+
+Ar'te-m[)i]s.
+
+Ar-te-m[)i]s-[)i]'[)o]n, 146.
+
+Ar-tax-erx'[=e]s.
+
+A-si'da-t[=e]s.
+
+A-tar'ne[=u]s.
+
+Athenian catastrophe, 38.
+
+Augereau ([=O]zh-r[=o]').
+
+Augury, 57.
+
+
+Banished, 145.
+
+Barbarians, 14.
+
+Barras (Bar-rah').
+
+Bas'i-as.
+
+Beauharnais (B[=o]-ar-n[=a]').
+
+Beranger (B[=a]-ron-zh[=a]').
+
+Berthier (Ber-te-[=a]').
+
+Bessieres (B[)e]s-s[=e]-air').
+
+Billeted, 132.
+
+Bi-san'the.
+
+Bi-th[)y]n'i-a.
+
+Bi'ton.
+
+Bitumen (Be-tu'men), 15.
+
+Bivouac (B[)i]v'wak), 60, 187.
+
+Boe-o'ti-a.
+
+Boeotian dialect, 31.
+
+Bo-is'kus.
+
+B[=o]'re-[)a]s, 62.
+
+Borizoff, 271.
+
+Borodino, 242.
+
+Bo-r[)y]s'the-n[=e]s.
+
+Bos'pho-r[)u]s.
+
+Boulogne (Boo-l[=o]n').
+
+Boyars, 179.
+
+Br[)a]s'i-das.
+
+Bras-i-di'as.
+
+Brienne (Br[=i]-[)e]n').
+
+Burial, 56.
+
+By-zan'ti-um, 80, 116.
+
+
+Carbines, 43.
+
+Car-pae'an dance, 103.
+
+Cashier, 31.
+
+Caulaincourt (K[=o]-lan-koor').
+
+Chal-k[=e]'don.
+
+Chal'y-b[=e]s.
+
+Char-m[=i]'nus.
+
+Charpentier (Shar-pon-t[=e]-[=a]').
+
+Cheir-is'o-ph[)u]s.
+
+Cher-so-n[=e]'sus, 119.
+
+Chry-s[)o]p'o-lis.
+
+Cities, 113.
+
+Claparede (Clap-ar-aid').
+
+Compans (Con-pan').
+
+Convention, 12.
+
+Corn, 9.
+
+Corselet, 52.
+
+Cossacks, 171.
+
+Covenant, 11.
+
+Cubit, 52.
+
+Cuirass, 48.
+
+Cy-re'ian Greeks, 10.
+
+Cy-re'ian Persians, 13.
+
+Czar, 160.
+
+
+Dance, Carpaean, 103.
+
+Dance, Pyrrhic, 104.
+
+Dar'da-n[)u]s.
+
+D[)a]r'ic, 71.
+
+Da-ri'us.
+
+Daru', 179.
+
+Davoust (Da-voo').
+
+De-in'ar-chus.
+
+D[)e]k-e-l[=i]'a.
+
+Delta, 125.
+
+Delzons (Del-zon').
+
+Demagogues, 66.
+
+D[)e]m-a-r[=a]'tus.
+
+Democrat and Philosopher, 29.
+
+De-mok'ra-t[=e]s.
+
+Deployed, 265.
+
+Der-k[)y]l'li-das.
+
+Dex-ip'pus.
+
+D[=i]-[=a]'si-a, 139.
+
+D[=i]-o-d[=o]'rus.
+
+Dnieper (Nee'per).
+
+Dombrowna, 268.
+
+Dorogobouje, 254.
+
+Dorogomilow, 178.
+
+Dra-kon'ti-[)u]s.
+
+Dri'lae.
+
+Dumas (Du-mah').
+
+Duroc (Du-rok').
+
+
+Eagles, 308.
+
+Ears bored, 32.
+
+Eble (Eb-l[=a]').
+
+Eckmuehl (Ek'm[=i]l).
+
+Ek-b[)a]t'a-na.
+
+E-le'i-ans.
+
+Ephesus, Temple of, 143.
+
+E-pis'the-n[=e]s.
+
+E-r[=e]'tri-a.
+
+E-r[=e]'tri-an, 141.
+
+Erfurt, 204.
+
+Es-th[=o]'ni-a.
+
+[=E]-te-o-n[=i]'kus.
+
+E[=u]-klei'd[=e]s.
+
+E[=u]-r[)y]l'o-chus.
+
+Eve ([=A]-v[=a]').
+
+Expresses, 205.
+
+
+Festivals, Olympic, 145.
+
+Fishery, Thunny, 76.
+
+Friedland (Freed'land).
+
+
+Gerard (Zh[=a]-rar').
+
+Glus (Gloos).
+
+Gods, The, 89.
+
+Gon'gy-l[)u]s.
+
+Gor'gi-[)o]n.
+
+Gracious, Zeus The, 139.
+
+Great King, The, 124.
+
+Greaves, 69.
+
+Grenadiers, 269.
+
+Guard, The Old, 199.
+
+Guilleminot (Gweel-me-n[=o]').
+
+G[=y]-l[)i]p'pus.
+
+Gym'ni-as.
+
+
+Ha'lys.
+
+Har'pa-s[)u]s.
+
+Hek-a-ton'y-mus.
+
+Hellas, 89.
+
+Hellen'ic, 3.
+
+H[)e]r-a-klei'd[=e]s.
+
+H[)e]r-ak-l[=e]'ot-ic.
+
+H[)e]r'a-kl[=e]s, 74.
+
+Herald, 7.
+
+Heralds, 2.
+
+He-rod'o-tus.
+
+
+Inflated skins, 19.
+
+Invalides (An-val-eed'), 214.
+
+I-[=o]'ni-a, 21.
+
+Irrigation, 9.
+
+
+Javelin, 43.
+
+Jomini (Zho-me-ne').
+
+Judges, 67.
+
+
+Kae'nae.
+
+Ka-[=i]'kus.
+
+Kal'p[=e].
+
+Kal-lim'a-chus.
+
+Kar-du'ki-a.
+
+Ken-tr[=i]'t[=e]s.
+
+Ker'a-s[)u]s, 83.
+
+Ki-lik'i-a, 32.
+
+King, The Great, 124.
+
+Kle-an'der.
+
+Kle-[=a]'nor.
+
+Kle-ar'chus.
+
+Kle-ar'e-tus.
+
+Kle-on'y-m[)u]s.
+
+Knidus (N[=i]'dus).
+
+Knight, 148.
+
+Koe-ra'ti-das.
+
+Kolomna gate, 173.
+
+Kor-o-n[=e]'a.
+
+Kor'y-las.
+
+Ko-rys-the'ni-a.
+
+K[=o]-ty-[)o]'ra.
+
+Krasnoe (Kras-no'e).
+
+Kretan, 56.
+
+Kremlin, 238.
+
+Ktesias (T[=e]'si-[)a]s).
+
+Ku-nax'a, 1.
+
+Kutusoff, 163.
+
+Ky-nis'kus.
+
+K[)y]z'i-k[)u]s.
+
+
+Lac-e-dae'mon.
+
+Lac-e-dae-mo'ni-ans.
+
+Lamp'sa-k[)u]s.
+
+La-ris'sa.
+
+Latour-maubourg (La-toor'-m[=o]-boor').
+
+Lebure'.
+
+Ledru'.
+
+Lefebvre (L[)e]-f[)e]v'vr).
+
+Libations, 58.
+
+Lithuania, 194.
+
+Lobau (L[=o]-b[=o]').
+
+Lon-ti'ni.
+
+Lotos-eaters, 35.
+
+Lyd'i-a.
+
+Ly'kon.
+
+
+Machiavel (Mak'i-a-vel).
+
+Mae-sa'd[=e]s.
+
+Mag-n[=e]'t[=e]s.
+
+M[=a]-kr[=o]'-n[=e]s.
+
+Malodeczno, 292.
+
+Malo-jaro-slavetz, 233.
+
+Man-ti-n[=e]'a.
+
+Man-ti-nei'a.
+
+Marchand (Mar-shon').
+
+Ma-ri-an-d[=y]'n[=i].
+
+Mar-o-nei'a.
+
+Marshal Ney (Nay), 311.
+
+Mazeppa, 178.
+
+Media, Wall of, 15.
+
+Me-dos'ar-des.
+
+M[)e]g-a-b[=y]'zus.
+
+Meg'a-ra.
+
+Meg-a'rian, 76.
+
+Mercenaries, 75.
+
+Merchant ships, 80.
+
+Mi-le'sians, 76.
+
+Mi-l[=e]'tus, 24.
+
+Miloradovitch, 177.
+
+Mil-t[=i]'a-d[=e]s.
+
+Mil-to-ky'th[=e]s.
+
+Mi'nae, 99.
+
+Minsk, 277.
+
+Mith-ri-d[=a]'t[=e]s.
+
+Mojaisk, 241.
+
+Mortier (Mor-t[=e]-[=a]').
+
+Moscow, 157.
+
+Moskwa, 171.
+
+M[)o]s-y-noe'k[=i].
+
+Munich (Mu'nik).
+
+Murat (Mu-rah').
+
+Muscovite, 163.
+
+M[)y]'si-a.
+
+Mysian, 104.
+
+Mysians, 35.
+
+
+Ne'on.
+
+Neufchatel (N[=u]f-shah-t[)e]l').
+
+Ney, Marshal (Nay), 311.
+
+Niemen (Nee'men).
+
+N[=i]-kar'chus.
+
+N[=i]'ki-as.
+
+Ni-kom'a-ch[)u]s.
+
+Nineveh, 44.
+
+
+[)O]d'ry-sae.
+
+[)O]d-rys'ian, 135.
+
+O-dys'seus, 80.
+
+Old Guard, 199.
+
+Olympic Festivals, 145.
+
+O-l[)y]m'pi-a, Temple of, 147.
+
+O-neir'us, 29.
+
+Oph-ry-n[=e]'um.
+
+O'pis.
+
+O-ron'tas.
+
+Oudinot (Oo-de-n[=o]').
+
+
+Pae'an, 34.
+
+Paphlagonian horse, 87
+
+P[=a]'ri-um.
+
+Partisans, 211.
+
+Partouneaux (Par-too-n[=o]').
+
+Pa-rys'a-tis.
+
+P[)e]l-o-pon-n[=e]'si-ans, 37.
+
+P[)e]l-o-pon-n[=e]'sus.
+
+Per'ga-m[)u]s, 140.
+
+Peraldi (Per-al'd[)i]).
+
+Pe-rin'thus.
+
+Per'i-kl[=e]s, 39.
+
+Phalanx, 8.
+
+Pha-li'nus.
+
+Phar-na-b[=a]'zus.
+
+Pha-si-[=a]'ni.
+
+Pha'sis, 93.
+
+Ph[=e]'rae.
+
+Phi-l[=e]'si-us.
+
+Phil-hellen'ic, 22.
+
+Philo-Laco'ni-an, 113.
+
+Phli-a'si-an, 139.
+
+Ph[)o]l'o-[=e].
+
+Phry-nis'k[)u]s.
+
+Phys'kus.
+
+Pino (P[=e]no').
+
+Pipe, 103.
+
+Pi-sid'i-a.
+
+Pisid'ians, 35.
+
+Pol-y-ae'n[)u]s.
+
+Po-l[)y]k'ra-t[=e]s.
+
+P[)o]l-y-n[=i]'kus.
+
+Poniatowski (P[=o]-ni-a-tow'ski).
+
+Pontoons, 18.
+
+Postern-gate, 190.
+
+Pr[=o]k'l[=e]s.
+
+Pro-pon'tis, 125.
+
+Pr[)o]x'e-n[)u]s.
+
+Pyrrhic Dance, 104.
+
+
+Reggio (Red'j[=o]).
+
+Regnier (R[=a]-ne-[=a]).
+
+Reins, 52.
+
+Rhodian, 43.
+
+Rostopchin, 163, 164.
+
+Ru'ble, 162.
+
+
+Sacrifice, 2, 91.
+
+Sacrificed, 50.
+
+St. Cyr (San Seer').
+
+Sam'o-las.
+
+Sar'dis.
+
+Sa'trap, 10.
+
+Scu-ta'ri.
+
+Scythians, 188.
+
+Segur (S[=a]gur').
+
+Se-l[=i]'nus.
+
+Se-l[=y]m'bri-a.
+
+Serfs, 160.
+
+Ses'a-me, 61.
+
+Se[=u]'th[=e]s.
+
+Sikon'yan.
+
+S[=i]-l[=a]'nus.
+
+S[=i]-l[=e]'si-a, 296.
+
+S[=i]-n[=o]'pe.
+
+S[=i]t'ta-k[=e].
+
+Skil'lus.
+
+Skins, Inflated, 19.
+
+Sky-thi'ni.
+
+Smorgoni, 293.
+
+Sneeze, 34.
+
+Sok'ra-t[=e]s, 143.
+
+So-phaen'e-t[)u]s.
+
+Sophists, 40.
+
+So-t[)e]r'i-das.
+
+St[=a]t'ers, 107.
+
+Strelitzes, 190.
+
+Strike our tents, 14.
+
+Sy-ko'ni-ans.
+
+
+Talent, 7.
+
+T[=a]'o-chi.
+
+Targeteers, 83.
+
+Tchitchakoff (Chich'a-k[)o]f).
+
+Te-l[)e]b'o-[)a]s.
+
+Temple of Ephesus, 143.
+
+Temple of Olympia, 147.
+
+Th[=e]'b[=e].
+
+Th[=e]'ch[=e]s.
+
+Ther-m[=o]'don.
+
+Tho'rax.
+
+Thra'ki-on, 123.
+
+Thunny fishery, 76.
+
+Thu-ri'an, 79.
+
+Ti-[=a]'ra, 21.
+
+T[)i]b-a-r[=e]'n[=i].
+
+Til'sit, 204.
+
+T[=i]-m[=a]'si-[)o]n.
+
+Ti-me-sil-a'[)u]s.
+
+T[)i]m-e-s[=i]th'e-[)u]s.
+
+T[=i]r-i-b[=a]'zus.
+
+Tis-sa-pher'n[=e]s.
+
+Tra-p[=e]'zus.
+
+Traverse, 90.
+
+Tribute, 13.
+
+Tri-ph[)y]l'i-a.
+
+Tr[=i]'r[=e]me, 105.
+
+Tr[=o]'ad, 140.
+
+Tuileries (Tweel're).
+
+Turrets, 84.
+
+Twer (Wer).
+
+
+Ve-re'i-a, 238.
+
+Viazma, 243.
+
+Viceroy, 229.
+
+
+Wall of Media, 15.
+
+War, The, 39.
+
+Witepsk, 194.
+
+Wittgenstein, 237.
+
+
+Xan'thi-kl[=e]s.
+
+X[)e]n'o-ph[)o]n.
+
+
+Z[)a]b'a-t[)u]s.
+
+Za-kyn'thus.
+
+Ze[=u]s, 29.
+
+Ze[=u]s, The Gracious, 139.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[182] In the classical names _ch_ has the sound of _k_, e.g. Achaia
+(A-k[=a]'i-a); the diphthong _ae_ has the sound of long _[=e]_, e.g.
+AEneas ([=E]-n[=e]'as), Kaenae (K[=e]'n[=e]); _[=e]s_ at the end of a word
+has the sound of _eez_, e.g. Apollonid[=e]s ([)A]p-ol-l[)o]n'i-deez);
+_ti_ in Boeotia has the sound of _she_, e.g. (B[=e]-[=o]'she-ah). The
+Russian names may be pronounced as English.
+
+
+
+
+CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.
+
+_In forming the mind and taste of the young, is it not better to use
+authors who have already lived long enough to afford some guaranty that
+they may survive the next twenty years?_
+
+="Children derive impulses of a wonderful and important kind from
+hearing things that they cannot entirely comprehend."=--SIR WALTER
+SCOTT.
+
+It is now some five or six years since we began publishing the Classics
+for Children, and the enterprise, which at first seemed a novel one, may
+fairly be said to have passed the stage of experiment.
+
+It has been the aim to present the best and most suitable literature in
+our language in as complete a form as possible; and in most cases but
+few omissions have been found necessary. Whether judged from the
+literary, the ethical, or the educational standpoint, each of the books
+has attained the rank of a masterpiece.
+
+The series places within reach of all schools an abundant supply of
+supplementary reading-matter. This is its most obvious merit.
+
+It is reading-matter, too, which, by the force of its own interest and
+excellence, will do much, when fairly set in competition, to displace
+the trashy and even harmful literature so widely current.
+
+It is believed also that constant dwelling upon such models of simple,
+pure, idiomatic English is the easiest and on all accounts the best way
+for children to acquire a mastery of their mother-tongue.
+
+A large portion of the course has been devoted to history and biography,
+as it has seemed specially desirable to supplement the brief,
+unsatisfactory outlines of history with full and life-like readings.
+
+The annotation has been done with modesty and reserve, the editors
+having aimed to let the readers come into direct acquaintance with the
+author.
+
+The books are all printed on good paper, and are durably and
+attractively bound in 12mo. A distinctive feature is the large, clear
+type. Illustrations have been freely used when thought desirable. The
+prices are as low as possible. It has been felt that nothing would be
+gained by making the books a little cheaper at the expense of crowding
+the page with fine type and issuing them in a style that would neither
+attract nor last.
+
+The best proof of the need of such a course is the universal approbation
+with which it has been received.
+
+
+
+
+CLASSICS FOR CHILDREN.
+
+Choice Literature; Full Notes; Large Type; Firm Binding; Low Prices.
+
+_=Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales.=_ *FIRST SERIES: Supplementary to the
+Third Reader. *SECOND SERIES: Supplementary to the Fourth Reader.
+
+*_=AEsop's Fables,=_ with selections from Krilof and La Fontaine.
+
+*_=Kingsley's Water-Babies:=_ A Story for a Land-Baby.
+
+*_=Ruskin's King of the Golden River:=_ A Legend of Stiria.
+
+*_=The Swiss Family Robinson.=_ Abridged.
+
+_=Robinson Crusoe.=_ Concluding with his departure from the island.
+
+*_=Kingsley's Greek Heroes.=_
+
+*_=Martineau's Peasant and Prince.=_
+
+_=Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.=_ "Meas. for Meas." omitted.
+
+_=Scott's Tales of a Grandfather.=_
+
+_=Scott's Lady of the Lake.=_
+
+_=Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel.=_
+
+_=Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses.=_
+
+_=Church's Stories of the Old World.=_
+
+_=Scott's Talisman.=_ Complete.
+
+_=Scott's Quentin Durward.=_ Slightly abridged.
+
+_=Irving's Sketch Book.=_ Six selections, including ="Rip van Winkle."=
+
+_=Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.=_
+
+_=Scott's Guy Mannering.=_ Complete.
+
+_=Scott's Ivanhoe.=_ Complete.
+
+_=Johnson's Rasselas:=_ Prince of Abyssinia.
+
+_=Gulliver's Travels.=_ The Voyages to Lilliput =and Brobdingnag=.
+
+*_=Plutarch's Lives.=_ From Clough's Translation.
+
+_=Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield.=_
+
+_=Hale's Arabian Nights.=_
+
+_=Scott's Rob Roy.=_ Complete.
+
+*_=Life of Franklin.=_
+
+_=Washington and His Country.=_ Irving and Fiske.
+
+_=Selections from Ruskin.=_
+
+_=Tom Brown at Rugby.=_
+
+_=The Two Retreats.=_ Xenophon's and Napoleon's.
+
+
+GINN & COMPANY, Publishers,
+
+BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO.
+
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                           |
+    |                                               |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the  |
+    | original document have been preserved.        |
+    |                                               |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:   |
+    |                                               |
+    | Page 180 soltitude changed to solitude        |
+    | Page 192 Echmuehl changed to Eckmuehl           |
+    | Page 212 Winkowo changed to Vinkowo           |
+    | Page 296 Maret changed to Murat               |
+    | Page 315 Augerau changed to Augereau          |
+    | Page 315 Charpontier changed to Charpentier   |
+    +-----------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Great Retreats of History, by
+George Grote and Count Philippe-Paul de Segur
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