The
weakest had to be contented with any part. Many devoured the meat raw,
others pierced it with the bayonet, roasted it at the camp fire and ate it
without anything else, often with great relish.
Such was the sad condition when the setting in of extreme cold weather
brought the misery--the horrors--to a climax.
During the last days of October, when the army had scarcely reached
Borodino, cold winds blew from the North.
The first snowfall was on October 26th., and the snow made the march of the
enfeebled army difficult in the extreme.
From that date on the cold increased daily, and the camping over night was
terrible; the extremities of those who had no chance to protect themselves
with clothes nor to come near the campfire became frozen.
During the first days of November the thermometer had fallen to -12 Reaumur
(+4 Fahrenheit).
Derangements of mind were the first pernicious effects of the low
temperature that were noticed.
The first effect on the brain in the strong and healthy ones, as well as in
the others, was loss of memory.
Von Scherer noticed that, with the beginning of the cold weather, many
could not remember the names of the best known, the everyday things, not
even the eagerly longed for eatables could they name, or name correctly;
many forgot their own names and were no longer able to recognize their
nearest comrades and friends. Others had become completely feebleminded,
their whole expression was that of stupidity.
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