and visibly embittered by the
recollection of the event to which he owed his appointment.

The number of Russian prisoners taken by the French during the war was
very trifling, and we were assured, that there was no instance in the
whole course of it, of a single Russian battalion or squadron laying
down its arms. The number of prisoners taken by the Cossacks alone,
from the time when the French left Moscow until the passage of the
Niemen, was 90,000, and the number of cannon 550. It is true that these
were for the most part stragglers, and men unable to fight; but it must
be remembered, that many of them could only have been overtaken in their
flight by these hardy and enterprising troops. To prove the value of the
service rendered by the Cossacks, it is only necessary to observe, that
many of the officers who distinguished themselves most in all the
campaigns, Platoff, Orloff Denizoff, Wasilchikoff, Czernicheff,
Tettenborn, &c. commanded Cossacks almost exclusively, and attributed
much of their success to the quality of their troops. Most of the
Cossacks whom we saw appeared to be well disciplined, and had a truly
military air; and we were told, that all the 83 regiments of Cossacks
are at present in a state of tolerable discipline. We cannot go so far
as Dr Clarke in praise of their cleanliness, but we often observed their
native easy courtesy of manner; and there can be no doubt, as he
observes, of their being a much handsomer race than the generality of
Russians. Their figures are more graceful, and their features are
higher, and approach often to the Roman style of countenance. One troop
of the Cossacks of the guards, composed of those from the Black Sea,
attracted our particular admiration; and the noble manly figures of the
men, the elegant forms of the horses, and the picturesque appearance of
the arms and uniforms of the whole body of Cossacks of the guard, were
very striking. The hereditary Prince of Georgia was at Paris as one of
the Colonels of this regiment, and his figure and countenance were such
as might have rendered him remarkable even in his native country, in
which the "human form divine" is understood to attain its highest
perfection.

The Cossacks were kept in good order when under the inspection of their
officers; but during the campaigns, they were often obliged to act in
patroles, two or three together, at a distance from their officers; and
in these situations, it may be supposed that they w