History of the Expedition to Russi

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 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. CHAPTER HI. Slate of that City just before and after the battle of Borodino? The Governor's Departure. Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 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. CHAPTER HI. Slate of that City just before and after the battle of Borodino? The Governor's Departure. Thus was this population dispersed in detail or in masses. The roads to Gazan, Wladimir, and Yaroslaff, 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 to preserve order, detained many of these un - fortunate people till the very last moment To this must beadded the appointment of Kutu- soff, which had revived their hopes, the false intelligence of a victory at Borodino, and for the less affluent, the hesitation natural at the moment of abandoning the only home which they possessed; lastly, the inadequacy of the means of transport, notwithstanding the quantity of vehicles, which is peculiarly great in Russia; either because heavy requisitions for the exigencies of the army had reduced theirnumber; or because they were too small, - as it is customary to make them very light, on account of the sandy soil and the roads, which may be said to be rather marked out than constructed. It was then that Kutusoff, though defeated at Borodino, sent letters to all quarters announcing that he was victorious. He deceived Moscow, Petersburg, and even the commanders of the other VOL. II. C 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 honours and money, gave directions for rejoicings, returned thanks to Heaven, and appointed Kutusoff field- mars...