Read this and cry for Nopoleon's retreat from Moscow.
Excerpt... (Full link below...this is very interesting and will reveal much of what many forget about as they watch their gleaming armies en video) Read this physicians report on the link below and if you are not deeply moved you are not human.....The war was suffering and sufering was the war.
"Arrived in Russia the French were soon disappointed; gloomy forests and
sterile soil met the eye, all was sad and silent. After the army had passed
the Niemen and entered into Poland the misery, instead of diminishing,
increased, the hour had struck for these unfortunates. The enemy destroyed
everything on retreating, the cattle were taken to distant provinces; the
French saw the destruction of the fields, the villages were deserted, the
peasants fled upon the appearance of the French army, all inhabitants had
left except the Jews. When the army came to Lithuania everything seemed to
be in league against the French. It was a rainy season, the soldiers
marched through vast and gloomy forests, and all was melancholy. One could
have imagined himself to be in a desert if it had not been for the
vehicles, the cursing of the drivers, discontented on account of hunger and
fatigue, the imprecations of the soldiers on every occasion; bad humor, due
to privations, prevailed everywhere. It would seem as if the furies of hell
were marching at the heels of the army. The roads were in a terrible
condition, almost unpassable on account of the rain which had been
continuous since the crossing of the Niemen; the artillery wagons
especially gave great trouble in passing marshes, and, on account of the
extreme exhaustion of the horses, a great many of these vehicles had to be
abandoned. The horses receiving no nourishment but green herbs could resist
even less than the men and they fell by the hundred.
The improper feeding of the animals caused gastric disturbances,
alternately diarrhoea and constipation, enormous tympanitis, peritonitis.
It is touching to read of the devotion of German cavalrymen to their poor
horses. They would introduce the whole arm into the bowel to relieve the
suffering creatures of the accumulated fecal masses.
As the army advanced over these roads the extreme want of provisions was
bitterly felt. The warriors already reduced to such an excess of misery
were exposed to rain without being able to dry themselves; to nourish
themselves they were forced to resort to the most horrible marauding, and
sometimes they had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours or even longer.
They ran through the land in all directions, disregarding all dangers,
sometimes many miles away from the route, to find provisions. Wherever they
came they went through the houses from the foundation to the roof, and when
they found animals they took them away; no attention was paid to the
feeling of the poor peasants and nothing was considered as being too harsh
for them; in most instances the latter had run away for fear of
maltreatment. Nothing is so afflicting as to see the rapacity of pillaging
soldiers, stealing and destroying everything coming under their hands. They
took to excess vodka found in the magazines which the enemy had not
destroyed, or in the castles off the main route. In consequence of this
abuse of alcohol while in their feeble condition many perished. The enemy
retreated behind the Dwina and fortified himself in camp. It was thought
that he would give battle, and all enjoyed this prospect.
On July 20, at a time when the conditions of the army were already
terrible, the heat became excessive. The rains ceased; there were no rainy
days, except an occasional storm, until September 17. The poor infantrymen
were to be pitied; they had to carry their arms, their effects, their
cartridges, harassed by continuous fatigue, overpowered by hunger and a
thousand sorrows, and were obliged to march 10, 12, 15, and sometimes even
16 and 17 miles a day over dusty roads under a burning sun, all the time
tormented by a cruel thirst. But all this has been fully described in an
earlier chapter.
On July 23 the Prince of Eckmuehl (Davout) had a very hot engagement with
the Russian army corps under Prince _Bagratian_ before Mohilew; on
July 25, a bloody battle was fought near Ostrowno. The houses and other
buildings of Ostrowno were filled with wounded, the battlefield covered
with corpses of men and horses, and the hot weather caused quick
putrefaction. Kerckhove visited the battlefield on June 28 and says: "I
have no words to describe the horror of seeing the unburied cadavers,
infesting the air, and among the dead many helpless wounded without a
drop of water, exposed to the hot sun, crying in rage and despair.""
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/7napr10.txt
Enjoy!
Also here's a link to the map ...just look at the loss of life during this campaign!
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~cema/courses/CSE3325/images/lect6/napoleonArmy.gif
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Originally Posted by BigG
