On the immense tract of land extending from Moscow to Wilna during a march
of several days, not a single inhabitant, not a head of cattle, was to be
seen, only cities and villages burnt and in ruins. The misery increased
from day to day. What little of provisions had been taken along from Moscow
was lost, together with the wagons, on the flight after the engagement of
Maloijorolawez, and this happened, as we have seen, before the army reached
Borodino; the rations which the individual soldier had with him were
consumed during the first few days, and thus a complete want made itself
felt. The horses, receiving no food, fell in great numbers from exhaustion
and starvation; cannon and innumerable wagons, for want of means to
transport them, had to be destroyed and left behind.
From the last days of October until mid-December, at which time the army
arrived at Wilna, horse meat was the only food of the soldiers; many could
not obtain even this, and they died from starvation before the intense cold
weather set in. The meat which the soldiers ate was either that of
exhausted and sick horses which had not been able to walk any further, or
of such as had been lying dead on the road for some time. With the greatest
greed and a beastly rage the men threw themselves on the dead animals; they
fought without distinction of rank and with a disregard of all military
discipline--officers and privates alike--for the possession of the best
liked parts of the dead animal--the brain, the heart, and the liver.
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