206 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



with hunger, the troops straggled along without order, 

 and the Cossacks cut them down in hecatombs. The 

 weather turned cold, and the roads became next to 

 impassable. Horses were killed and eaten to prevent 

 starvation. When it became necessary to halt, arid 

 re-organize for active operations ; it was marvelous 

 what a chivalrous spirit could be aroused by the pres- 

 ence and encouraging words of the Emperor. At 

 his command the enemy could be severely punished 

 for unendurable audacity. 



At the river Berezina, the enemy held the bridge, 

 and had an opportunity to capture the whole army. 

 But during the night a frail bridge was extemporized 

 and enough troops thrown over at a point above, so 

 that a comparatively safe passage was guaranteed to 

 the entire force. However, the bridge broke down, 

 and thousands of men lost their lives in attempting to 

 cross on floating ice. Larrey got well across, but re- 

 turned to secure some surgical instruments. The 

 Cossacks made a dash upon the remnant, and came 

 near killing the Baron. The soldiers seeing him in 

 peril, sprang to his rescue, and safely bore him across 

 the treacherous river. The dilapidated army then 

 pressed on to Wilna, where most of the forces, not 

 French, marched by the nearest route home. When 

 the French reached Koenigsberg, on Christmas day, 

 they numbered twenty-eight thousand men who were 

 still able to do military duty. The brunettes from the 

 South of France stood the hardships of the campaign 

 better than the blondes from the northern districts of 

 the country. 



Napoleon left the retreating squadrons at Wilna, 

 and hastened to Paris to raise a new army to rescue 

 the remnant of the old one. On the Elba the two 



