Chapter X (4)

Picart told me that at three o'clock a review was to be held by Murat, when orders would be given, telling the remnants of the different corps the places at which they were to meet. I decided to go, so as to meet my comrades there. Picart shaved me with a blunt razor that we had found in the kit of the Cossack killed on November 23rd. It was my first shave since leaving Moscow, and although he ground the razor on his scabbard, and then passed it over his hand to give it an edge, he none the less rasped my face.

At the appointed hour we left our lodging to repair to the rendezvous. The muster was to take place in a large street. Soldiers of all ranks and regiments came. Several of the veterans of the Guard, to draw attention to themselves, had dressed themselves as if for grand parade: to see them one would have thought they had come from Paris, rather than from Moscow. At the rendezvous I had the luck to meet all those with whom I had been on the preceding day, as well as a good many others whom I had not seen since leaving Wilna; but our numbers had diminished. Grangier said to me:

'I hope you will not leave us again; you must come to our quarters, and as we are allowed to make use of sledges or carts to travel in, we will try to find one.'

We stopped in the street a long time waiting for King Murat. Meanwhile there were many surprises at meeting friends, in finding those living whom one had long thought dead. I had the pleasure of meeting Sergeant Humblot, with whom I had been travelling the evening before, and from whom I had been separated in the wood at the time of the Cossack attack. I learned also that the _cantinieres_, Marie and Mother Gateau, had got into good quarters.

As Murat did not come, the names of those men unable to walk were taken, these to be despatched the next day at six o'clock in the morning on sledges furnished by the authorities. We could not find one for ourselves, however, and had to comfort ourselves by preparing to pass a good night, so as to be fit to march the following day.

Picart had said that he wanted to speak to me before we separated. Hardly was the order for departure given, when I felt a smart tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw Picart. He made a sign to me, and Grangier also, to follow him, and when we had moved away a little, he said:

'You are going to do me the kindness of accepting a good pull of white wine--Rhine wine.'

'Is it possible?' I exclaimed.

For only answer he said: 'Follow me.'

He then told us that the evening before he had made the acquaintance of a Jew with the idea of selling him things he wanted to dispose of--his Colonel's epaulettes, for instance--and as he had been often taken for a Jew, he passed himself off as one, saying that his mother was the daughter of the Rabbi at Strasbourg, and that he was called Salomon. The Jew was delighted at the hope of making a good bargain, and had pointed out to him his house, assuring him that he would find some good Rhine wine there.

We went to the back of the synagogue. To one side was a little house, where Picart stopped. He looked all round to see if anyone was there; then, pinching his nose, he called out in a nasal voice, 'Jacob! Jacob!'

At a barred opening we saw a figure appear in a long fur cap and adorned with a dirty beard. Recognising Picart, he said to him in German: 'Ah, my dear Salomon, it is you. I will open the door.'

We entered a very warm room, stinking and disgusting. As soon as we were seated on a bench around the stove, we saw three other Jews, who, Jacob said, constituted his family.

Picart, who knew how to go to work with his pretended co-religionists, began by opening his knapsack and drawing out, to begin with, a pair of epaulettes--not a Colonel's, but a Field-Marshal's--and a parcel of lace stripes, the whole of it new, picked up on the Wilna mountain out of the deserted waggons.

There were also some silver covers that had come from Moscow. The Jews opened their eyes wide. Picart now asked for wine and bread. Some excellent Rhine wine was brought. The bread was not exactly of the same quality, but just then it was better than one could have hoped for.

While we were drinking, the Jews were inspecting the articles spread out upon the bench. Jacob asked Picart how much he wanted for all that.

'Name it yourself,' answered Picart.

The Jew mentioned a price very far from what Picart wanted.

He said: 'No.'

Jacob went a little higher.

This time Picart, on whom the wine was beginning to take effect, looked at the Jew sneeringly, and answered him by laying a finger on the side of his nose, and humming the Rabbi's chant in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

The four Jews began to rock like Chinamen, and chant verses. Grangier looked at Picart, thinking he was tipsy, and I, in spite of my sufferings, was almost dying of laughter. At last Picart stopped singing to pour us out some drink. Meanwhile the Jews talked together about the price of the articles. Jacob offered a still higher price; but it was not yet as much as Picart wanted, so he recommenced his chant, till finally a bargain was concluded, on condition that he received gold. Jacob paid Picart in Prussian gold pieces. He was probably satisfied with his bargain, for he gave us nuts and onions. The wine had gone to our heads, for when Picart received his money we began to 'perform the Sabbath' like him.

This charivari would have gone on a long time if there hadn't been a knocking at the door made by the butt-ends of muskets. Jacob looked through the grating and saw several soldiers, who told him they were billeted on him, and that if he didn't open at once the door would be beaten in. He opened directly. We made up our mind to retire, and I said good-bye to Picart, with a promise to meet again at Elbing, the place to which we were under orders to march.

On reaching our lodging we had some rice bouillon; then I attended to my feet and shoes and stockings, and, as we were in a warm room and on fresh straw, I soon fell asleep.

The next day--the 17th--by five o'clock in the morning the town looked deserted. Men who had not been under a roof for two months, and who now slept warmly, were in no hurry to leave their quarters. Two or three drummers, still remaining among those belonging to the Guard, beat the _grenadiere_ for us, and the _carabiniere_ for the infantry. When in the street, we noticed that it was less cold than on the preceding evening. A sledge drove up, drawn by two horses, and stopped. It was driven by two Jews, and laden with groceries. I proposed that they should drive us--for payment, of course--as far as Darkehmen, our day's destination, or that we should seize the sledge if they refused.

At first, under one pretext or another, they made a good many difficulties. We offered half the price down, the other half on our arrival. The Jews then agreed. The price was fixed at forty francs, we paying them the half at once; but as they reckoned the five-franc pieces at the value of only a thaler each (worth no more than four), that cost us an additional ten francs. We made no difficulty, however, and to win their confidence we foolishly let them see we had a great deal of money. A sergeant-major named Pierson showed them several pieces of silver plate he had. On this they began to speak in Hebrew, so that we could not understand what they were saying.

There were five of us--Leboude, Grangier, Pierson, Oudict, and myself. The sledge was unloaded, the horses rested, and we prepared to start. We placed our muskets in the bottom of the sledge, our knapsacks upon them, and off we went. It was past six o'clock; the entire remnant of the army was already in motion, but without order or organization, so that we could hardly get out of the town. Those who had not the strength to walk tried to seize the sledges.

Our drivers made us understand that they were going to take us round a road to the left, where there was not a soul to be seen, and that in less than an hour we should have rejoined the highway and overtaken the head of the column. We ought to have inquired why other sledge-drivers, who ought to have known of the road, did not take it, as it was such a good one; but this we did not think of. After we had been travelling at a fast trot a good quarter of an hour, I saw that the way we were following was turning imperceptibly towards the left, separating us from the road the army was following, and that the ground over which we were gliding, and which they made us believe was a road, was nothing but an embankment between a canal on our right and a ditch on our left. I wanted to point this out to my comrades, so I shouted as loud as I could several times, 'Halt! Stop!'

Grangier asked me what I wanted.

I redoubled my cries: 'They are tricking us! We are with rascals!'

Then Pierson, who was on the front seat, carrying a silver urn that he had brought from Moscow, and which he continually made use of for brewing tea, began to shout 'Halt!' in his turn.

The rascal Jews jumped down from the bundle of hay on which they were seated, and, still going on, but not so rapidly, they took the horses by the bridle, turned the sledge, and upset us from the top to the bottom of the bank into the ditch. Happily for me, I was sitting at the back, with my legs hanging over the side of the sledge, so I had been able to see their intention, and letting myself slip down, I avoided the fall; but my comrades rolled to the bottom, more than twenty-five feet, and came down, bruised all over, on the ice. As their feet and hands were frozen, they shouted loudly. These cries changed into cries of rage against the Jews, who, keeping their hold upon the horses' bridles, had prevented the sleigh, although overturned, from rolling to the bottom, and had by now already dragged it to the edge of the bank. They were preparing to escape with our baggage; but I drew my sword, and gave one of the Jews a cut on his head. He had to thank his fur cap that his head wasn't split in two. I struck him a second blow, which he parried with his left hand covered with sheepskin. They would have escaped us, but Pierson came up to help me, while the others, still at the bottom of the embankment--which they had not the strength to climb--were swearing and shouting to us to kill the Jews. The one whom I had struck escaped by crossing the canal; the other, who was holding the horses, asked for mercy, saying it was his comrade's fault. Pierson, however, gave him a few blows with the flat of his sword, while he entreated pardon, calling us 'General' and 'Colonel.'

Pierson, taking the horse's bridle, ordered the Jew to go down and help our comrades to climb out. He hastened to obey, and was rewarded by blows of the fist very forcibly applied. When they were all up again, Leboude announced that we had acquired a right to the sledge and horses, as these two rascals had attempted to kill us in order to make off with our possessions.

We ordered the Jew to drive us at a gallop, and by the shortest way, to where we might rejoin the army, but we had to go back the whole way we had come.

When we got near the town, the Jew wanted to go there under pretext of fetching something from his house; no doubt it was to give us up to the Cossacks, who were now filling the town. We gave him a taste of sword-point in his back, and threatened to kill him if he took another step in the direction of the town. Accordingly, he hastened to turn to the right, the road the army had taken; we caught sight of the last stragglers a long distance ahead. We got up with them a quarter of an hour later, and then, rapidly descending a hill, left them behind.

I was at the back of the sledge; the pole of one of the sledges, descending, caught me on the right side, and threw me six feet out on the snow. I lay unconscious. A quarter-master belonging to the Mamelukes, who knew me, hurried to lift me up and seat me upon the snow.[69] My comrades came running up, too; they imagined the pole had wounded me, but my clothes, fortunately, had deadened the blow. Also, as luck would have it, the edge of the pole was covered with sheepskin.

I was lifted up and placed again upon the sledge, and, except for some sickness, I was no worse for the accident.

It might have been about nine o'clock when we arrived at a large village; a great many men were already there. We turned into a house to warm ourselves; we left our sledge at the door, after having taken the precaution to unload our baggage and make the Jew come in with us, for fear that he might make off with our conveyance.

The soldiers who were warming themselves told us that herrings and gin were on sale in the village. As the others had been very kind to me, and as they all, except myself, had frozen feet, I undertook to go for them, and on leaving I recommended them to keep their eyes upon the sledge.

'Don't bother about that,' said Pierson; 'I'll answer for it.'

I went off with our Jew as guide and interpreter. He led me to the house of one of his friends, where I found some herrings, some gin, and some poor rye-cakes. While I was warming myself over a glass of gin, I noticed my guide had disappeared with another Jew, with whom he had been talking a moment before. Seeing that he did not come back, I returned to rejoin my friends with the provisions; but on nearing the house I saw that the sledge was gone. My comrades, calmly warming themselves, asked me for the provisions. I asked them for the sledge. They looked into the street; the sledge was gone! Without saying a word, I threw the provisions down, and, feeling miserable, lay on the straw beside the stove. Half an hour afterwards there was a call to arms, and we were told that two short leagues away there were sledges for everybody, so that Gumbinnen should be reached the same day.

On reaching the place, we found a great number of sledges, and directly afterwards they made us set off. During the journey I felt ill; the movement of the sledge made me sea-sick. I chose at last to march for a while on foot, but I nearly perished with the cold, which had now become almost unbearable. My comrades happily saw my wretched condition, had the sledge stopped, and came to fetch me. I couldn't go a step further. We reached Gumbinnen none too soon. We all five of us received a billet, and had a very warm room and some straw.

The first thing we did after we were installed was to inquire if anything to eat and drink was to be had for money. The villager, who looked like a good fellow, said he would do his best to get us what we wanted; an hour later he brought us soup, roast goose and potatoes, beer and gin. We devoured it with our eyes, but, unhappily, the goose was so tough that we could eat only very little of it, and that little nearly choked us; we were reduced to potatoes.

With Sergeant-Major Oudict, I went into the town to see if we could find anything to buy. Chance led us to a house where Oudict met a Surgeon-Major, a fellow-countryman. He was quartered with the remnant of the regiment, two officers, and three soldiers. They were in a pitiable condition; they had almost all lost their toes and hands. While we were here a man offered to sell us a horse and sledge, which we eagerly purchased for the sum of eighty francs.

The next day, the 18th, after having made an attempt to eat our goose, which was no more tender than the day before, we mounted our sledge and set out for Wehlau, where we were to sleep; but we were hardly outside the town before Pierson, who drove the sledge, and understood nothing about it, turned a somersault with it, broke the shaft, and threw us out upon the snow. We were near a house, which we entered to get the sledge mended; while the peasant was busy at the job, we warmed ourselves, but when we came to set out again our weapons were gone. The Prussians had taken our muskets, piled up against the door. We shouted, we swore: 'We will have our arms, or we will set fire to the house!' But the peasant swore in his turn that he had seen nothing of them. We had to make up our minds to leave without them. Happily, after about an hour's progress, we met a waggon which had left Gumbinnen that morning with a consignment of muskets for the Imperial Guard, so we were able to get others. Finally, at three o'clock we reached Wehlau.

We saw more than 2,000 soldiers gathered together near the Hotel de Ville, waiting for their billets. A big Prussian rascal came up to us, and told us, if we cared about it, we could lodge with him for a small sum; he had a well-warmed room, straw for us to sleep on, and a stable for our horse. We accepted eagerly. On reaching his house, he put the horse in the stable, and made us mount to the second floor, and there showed us a room only passably clean; it was the same with the straw, but it was warm--that was the essential.

A woman appeared, nearly six feet high, with a veritable Cossack face. She told us that she was the mistress of the house, and that if we needed anything we had only to give her some money, and she would go and fetch it. This was just what we wanted, for we had none of us any inclination to go out. I gave her five francs to bring us some bread, meat, and beer. She brought us all three shortly afterwards. Soup was made, and after having eaten, and seen that the horse was cared for, we slept till the following morning.

Before leaving, we gave our hostess a five-franc piece for the night, but she told us that was not enough. We gave her a second; but still this did not meet her reckoning. She required five francs a head for each man, and one more for the horse.

At that I told her that she was a cheat, and that she should have no more. She passed her hand over my face, and answered: 'Poor little Frenchman! Six months ago that was all very well--you were the stronger; but to-day things are different. You are going to give me what I ask, or I will keep my husband from putting the horse into the sledge, and have you taken by the Cossacks!' For reply, I told her that I snapped my fingers at the Cossacks and at the Prussians. 'Oh yes,' she answered; 'but you wouldn't say so if you knew they were close at hand.' On this, seeing the whole wickedness of the woman, I caught her by the neck to strangle her, but she was the stronger; she threw me down upon the straw, and tried, in her turn, to strangle me. Luckily, a kick behind from one of my comrades made her get up. Just then the husband came in; but he received a great blow from his dear wife's fist. She was like a fury, telling him he was no more than a great coward, and that if he did not instantly go and fetch the neighbours and the Cossacks she would tear his eyes out. As we were five against two, we prevented them leaving the house, and forced them to harness the horse to the sledge. But we had to give what this female scoundrel demanded; there was no time for bargaining, the Cossacks being close by. Before leaving, I told this she-devil that, should I come back, I would make her return the money we had given her, with interest. She replied to this by spitting in my face. I wanted to strike her with the butt-end of my musket, but my comrades kept me back.

We mounted the sledge to get away as quickly as possible.

This day, December 19th, we were to sleep at Insterbourg, where we arrived by nightfall. We were quartered with some worthy people.

The next day, the 20th, fell on a Sunday. We left at daylight, in order to sleep at Eylau. There we repaired at once to the town-hall, and without any difficulty obtained our billets. We were with good people again; we found a fire in the room, and each of us was offered a glass of gin. Afterwards our hostess went in search of our rations, taking our billet with her, for the inhabitants had just received orders to supply us with provisions.

When we were warmed and had rested a little, we made up our minds, while waiting for our soup, to pay a visit to the field of battle. We walked over most of it, and saw several simple wooden crosses. We noticed one in particular, with this inscription:

'Here rest twenty-nine officers of the brave 14th (line regiment),
who died on the field of honour.'[70]

After making some notes on the placing of the troops the day of this terrible battle, we entered the town, which appeared to us deserted.

It was Sunday, and on account of the season the inhabitants were shut up in their houses, and we were the only Frenchmen about, the others having taken another direction.

Returning to our lodging, we stretched ourselves out on the straw while waiting for our meal.

Hardly were we settled down, when a Prussian veteran entered to warn us that Cossacks had been seen on a hill about a quarter of a league from the town, and that he advised us to be off as quickly as possible. As it was only too true, we made hasty preparations for departure. Our meat, barely half cooked, we packed up in straw.

Our peasant set off with us to put us in the right road. On reaching it, he pointed the Cossacks out to us, upon a hill. There were more than thirty. The weather was foggy; the snow had not ceased to fall since our departure. We had not gone half a league before night overtook us. We met two peasants and asked them if there was still far to go before we got to a village. They told us a large wood would have to be crossed first; but that we should find to the right, about twenty-five paces from the road, an inn, owned by a forest-keeper, and that we might be able to lodge there. After about half an hour's progress, we reached the house indicated. It was nine o'clock; we had gone four leagues.

Before the door was opened we were asked who we were and what we wanted. We answered that we were Frenchmen, soldiers of the Imperial Guard, and that we wanted, for payment, lodging, food, and drink. The door was instantly opened, and we were made welcome. We first put up our horses in the stable. Then we were shown into a large room, where we saw three Chasseurs of the Guard laid on the straw. They had arrived during the day, but in worse plight than ours, for they had lost their horses, and, although their feet were frozen, they were thus forced to go on foot. Something was brought us to eat, and then we lay down and slept like the blessed.

On waking, we were surprised not to see the Chasseurs, but we learned from the master of the house that about an hour previously a Jew, travelling with a sledge, had offered to drive them three leagues for two francs, and that they had eagerly accepted. We heard this news with delight. After paying five francs--all that was asked--for our horse and ourselves, we set out, our host advising us to follow the track of the sledge in front of us.

We had a nine leagues' journey that day, and reached Heilsberg, where we were to sleep, by nightfall.

We first repaired to the burgomaster for our billets; we were lucky enough to find ourselves all told off to the same house, where we were fairly well received. Six Chasseurs of the Guard were there already. They gave us soup, meat, a quantity of good potatoes, and beer; we asked for wine, which of course we paid for. They procured us some at a thaler (four francs) a bottle, which was good and not dear. Before lying down to sleep on some good straw, we asked our hostess to have something ready for us by five o'clock in the morning, for we had a long stretch between us and our next halting-place.

The next day, December 22nd, we rose very early. A servant appeared, bringing us a candle; we ordered him to see to the horse, promising him a _pourboire_ when he was ready harnessed to the sledge. Soup was brought us--in fact, everything we asked for. So each of us flattered our hostess, calling her 'Good woman! beautiful creature!' and giving her little slaps on the back and arms. When our meal was over, we prepared to set off; the sledge was ready, and we were bidding good-bye to the woman, when she suddenly said:

'This is all very well, gentlemen, but before leaving don't forget to pay me.'

'What! pay you! We are billeted on you! You have to feed us!'

'Yes,' she answered, 'that holds good for yesterday, but for what you have had to-day I must have two thalers (ten francs).'

I declared I would not pay; but when the woman saw that we were getting ready to leave without giving her any money, she ordered the door to be shut, and a dozen great Prussian rascals entered, armed with big sticks the thickness of my arm. It was not a case for discussion; we paid and went away. _Autre temps, autre moeurs._ Now we were the weaker.

The Chasseurs had left while we were breakfasting. We had still two days' journey to Elbing, twelve leagues; and, as we did not wish to tire our horse, we made up our minds to put up at three leagues from the town.

After going about a league, we saw several sledges coming on our left, also going towards Elbing. This made us think we could not have followed the road taken by the remnant of the army, and that, instead of going to Eylau, we ought to have taken the direction of Friedland.

A large-sized sledge, drawn by two powerful horses, passed close by us. It was going so swiftly that we could not distinguish to what regiment the men in it belonged. In about half an hour's time we caught sight of a good house. It turned out to be a posting-station, and an inn also. There were several soldiers of the Guard at the door, setting out on sledges that had been procured for them.

We dismounted and entered, asking for wine, as we had been just told that there was plenty of it and very good. The men who told us seemed to have themselves partaken copiously; they were both in a state of wild gaiety. This happened to almost all those who, like ourselves, had endured so much misery and privation. The least amount of drink went to our heads. One of them asked us if we had met the regiment of Dutch Grenadiers who had formed a part of the Imperial Guard.

We said, 'No.'

'It passed you,' said the Velite, 'and yet you didn't see it? That big sledge that overtook you contained the entire Dutch regiment! There were seven of them!'

The posting-master told the two soldiers that there was a sledge at their disposal, and that he would drive them the three leagues to Elbing for fifteen francs. As they had a driver, we decided to go with them, and five minutes later we were on the way.

Grangier and I were unwell and dreadfully sick. This was the result of our being unaccustomed to nourishing food; we ought to have taken it quietly, by degrees. We resolved to do this in future. On reaching a village, we each took a glass of Dantzig gin, and went on again till we reached the village where we were to put up. It was night; we presented ourselves at the burgomaster's to get our billet, but were brutally refused, and told that the only place for us to sleep in was the street. We had something to say about this, but the door was shut in our faces. We went to several inns where we asked for a lodging, offering payment, but everywhere we met with the same reception.

We decided, and the Chasseurs also, that we would keep together, that they should make use of our sledge, and that, as it was not big enough to hold us all, two should each go on foot in turn.

In this way we meant to try and reach some village where we might find the inhabitants more hospitable. At about a gun-shot off, we caught sight of a house a little way back from the road. We made up our mind to force a lodging, if they would not take us in with a good will. However, the peasant told us that he would lodge us with pleasure; but that if it was known to the villagers, he would suffer for having given us shelter. If no one had seen us enter, he would risk putting us up. We assured him that no one had seen us, that he could take us without any fear, and that before we left we would give him two thalers. He seemed very pleased, and his wife still more so, and we established ourselves round the stove.

While the man was out, putting our horse up in the stable, the woman came up to us and told us in a low voice, and all the time looking to see if her husband was coming, that the peasants were ill-disposed towards the French, for this reason: When the army passed through in May, some Chasseurs of the Guard had been quartered for a fortnight in the village; and one of them, who stayed at the burgomaster's, was so young and handsome that all the women and girls flocked to their doors to see him. He was quarter-master. It happened one day that the burgomaster caught him kissing and embracing his wife, with the result that the lady got a thrashing. The quarter-master, in his turn, beat the burgomaster. The lady is now in a certain condition, and the fault is put down to the quarter-master. We all listened, and smiled at the way in which the woman related the story.

'That is not all,' she continued; 'there are three other women in the village in the same condition as the burgomaster's wife, and that is why they mean mischief towards the French, such handsome fellows as they are.' She had scarcely uttered the words before the old soldier had risen, caught her round the neck, and kissed her.

'Take care! here is my husband!' she cried.

And in he came, telling us that he had fed the horse, and would give him something to drink presently; but that, if we wanted to oblige him, we would set off before daybreak, so that no one might know that he had taken us in.

'I have a sledge,' he said, 'and for a small consideration I will drive those of you who have none.'

The Chasseurs accepted.

They now served us with milk, soup, and potatoes; afterwards we lay down to sleep fully dressed, with our arms loaded.

The next day, the 23rd, the peasant came to awaken us before four in the morning, saying that it was time we set out. We paid the woman, kissed her, and took our leave.

At a second village the inhabitants mobbed us, throwing stones and snowballs. We reached one of the suburbs of Elbing, and stopped at an inn to warm ourselves, for the cold had increased. We had some coffee there, and at nine o'clock we entered the town with the rest of the army who had arrived, like ourselves, but by other roads.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 59: This Sergeant Daubenton was a veteran who had been through the Italian campaigns.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 60: This dwelling was a Gothic castle, of which many are to be found in Spain.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 61: _Ruban de queue_: a soldier's expression to designate a long march.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 62: _Monter a la roue_: an expression used by old soldiers to indicate the taking of money from the waggons abandoned on the mountain of Ponari.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 63: It was the convent that I had visited on June 20th, at the time of the passage of the Niemen.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 64: I have learnt that Marie is still living, and is a member of the Legion of Honour, and decorated with the St. Helena medal. She resides at Namur.--_Author's Note._ Bourgogne died in 1867.]

[Footnote 65: Boucsin is the slang for noise (_tapage_). In this case the drummer's nickname was his real one.]

[Footnote 66: Colonel Richard, ex-commanding officer at Conde, was one among them. He and I have often spoken of the incident.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 67: This Cossack, whose face the sergeant cut with his sabre, was the one I saw in the wood, and whose face his comrades bandaged.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 68: The gunner was mistaken as to the number of Cossacks, for I learned from one of my friends who was there that they were not more than 250, probably those whom the burgomaster spoke of to the two brothers.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 69: This Mameluke was named Angelis, and we knew each other in Spain. He was one of the Mamelukes whom the Emperor had brought from Egypt; only a few of this fine body escaped the fatalities of this campaign.--_Author's Note._]

[Footnote 70: Besides 590 non-commissioned officers and soldiers.--_Author's Note._]