BARON LARRBY. 205 



might be carried out in Moscow. The army of Alex- 

 ander was still large, and might make obstinate re- 

 sistance to the invaders at the walls of the great city. 

 Fate was beginning to dictate matters. It was now 

 necessary that the French army should come in pos- 

 session of Moscow's supplies. On the 14th of Septem- 

 ber the French went into bivouac under the shadows 

 of Russia's ancient capital. There was no enemy to 

 offer resistance, so on the morrow Moscow was en- 

 tered. On every hand was the evidence of oriental 

 grandeur. There was the Kremlin, and in its vicin- 

 ity were palaces, triumphal arches, and great ware- 

 houses. But all was marvelously quiet. Few human 

 beings were visible, and they were fiendish and squalid. 

 The better class of houses contained no tenants, stocks 

 of goods had been carried off, so that a disposition to 

 pillage was not to be gratified to a large extent. In 

 cellars was plenty of liquors, and drunkenness be- 

 came common. Pickled meats and dried fish were 

 plentiful, and some bread-stuffs; yet evidence of 

 abundant food supplies was wanting. To the dismay 

 of the invaders fires began to appear in all parts of the 

 city, and the incendiaries could not be discovered. At- 

 tempts were made to extinguish the flames, yet they 

 spread too rapidly to be controlled. It now became 

 evident to Napoleon that the burning city must be 

 evacuated, and an ignoble retreat entered upon ; 

 hence the order to retire was issued, and the home- 

 ward march begun. Improvident soldiers took much 

 loot along with them, but soon threw the trash aside. 

 An army of something less than three hundred thou- 

 sand men is formidable in numbers, yet without food 

 ir becomes feeble in force. On the ever memorable 

 retreat horrible sufferings were endured. Famished 



