An escort was barely
available for the protection of the King of Naples, the generals, and the
Imperial eagles. And all amidst the cold, the intense cold, stupefying and
benumbing!
Four fifths of the army--or what bore the name of such, though reduced to a
mere conglomeration and bereft of fighting men--had frozen limbs; and when
Koenigsberg was reached, in a state of complete disorganisation, the
surgeons were constantly employed in amputating fingers and toes.
Dr. W. Zelle, a German military surgeon, in his book "1812" describes the
last days of the army. Kowno was occupied by a considerable force of
artillery, with two German battalions, and it contained also very large
supplies, a great deal of ammunition, provisions, clothing, and arms of
various kinds. About an hour's march from Wilna the retreating masses
encountered the hill and defile of Ponary and it was at this point where
the imperial treasure, so far conscientiously guarded by German troops from
Baden and Wuerttemberg, was lost. When the leaders of the treasure became
convinced of the impossibility to save it, the jaded horses not being able
after 15 hours' effort to climb the ice covered hill, they had the wagons
opened, the money chests broken, and the coin surrendered to the soldiers.
The sight of the gold brought new life even to the half frozen ones; they
threw away their arms and were so greedy in loading themselves down with
the mammon that many of them did not notice the approaching Cossacks until
it was too late.
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