Friend and foe, Frenchmen and Russians pillaged the
wagons. Honor, money, and what little had remained of discipline, all was
lost at this point.
However, side by side with these outrages, noble deeds could also be
recorded. Numerous wagons with wounded officers had to be abandoned, the
horses being too weak to take another step, and many of the soldiers
disregarded everything to save these unfortunates, carrying them away on
their shoulders. An adjutant of the emperor, Count Turenne, distributed the
private treasure of the emperor among the soldiers of the Old Guard, and
not one of these faithful men kept any of the money for himself. All was
honestly returned later on, and more than 6 millions of francs reached
Danzig safely.
The retreat during these scenes and the following days, when the terrible
cold caused more victims from hour to hour, was still covered by Ney whose
iron constitution defied all hardships. From five until ten at night he
personally checked the advance of the enemy, during the night he marched,
driving all stragglers before him. From seven in the morning until ten the
rear guard rested, after which time they continued the daily fight.
His Bavarians numbered 260 on December 11th., 150 on the 17th. and on the
13th. the last 20 were taken prisoners. The corps had disappeared. The
remainder of Loison's division and the garrison of Wilna diminished in the
same manner until, finally, the rear guard consisted of only 60 men.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163