Unfortunately, the governor of Wilna, the Duke of Bassano, was only a
diplomat, entirely incompetent to handle the situation, which required
military talent.
Unfortunate had also been Napoleon's choice of Murat. On August 31st, 1817,
he said in conversation with _Gourgaud, "I have made a great mistake in
entrusting Murat with the highest command of the army, because he was the
most incompetent man to act successfully under such circumstances."
No preparations were made for the entering troops, no quarters had been
assigned for them when they came.
And they came on the 9th; most horrible details have been recorded of this
day when the disbanded mass crowded the gate.
Wilna was not only not in ruins, but it was the only large city which had
not been abandoned by its inhabitants. But these inhabitants shut their
doors before the entering soldiers. Only some officers and some Germans,
the latter among the families of German mechanics, found an abode in the
houses. Some Poles were hospitable, also some Lithuanians, and even the
Jews.
All writers complain of the avidity and cruelty of the latter; they mixed
among the soldiers to obtain whatever they had saved from the pillage of
Moscow. These Jews had everything the soldier was in need of, bread and
brandy, delicacies and even horses and sleighs; in their restaurants all
who had money or valuables could be accommodated. And these places were
crowded with soldiers who feasted at the well supplied tables, and even
hilarity developed among these men saved from the ice fields of Russia.
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