em, and they would receive and
defend them; but no one moved on either side. Just then Ney was
overthrown, and they retreated along with him.

Kutusoff, however, relying more on his artillery than his soldiers,
sought only to conquer at a distance. His fire so completely commanded
all the ground occupied by the French, that the same bullet which
prostrated a man in the first rank proceeded to deal destruction in the
last of the train of carriages, among the women who had fled from
Moscow.

Under this murderous hail, Ney's soldiers remained astonished,
motionless, looking at their chief, waiting his decision to be satisfied
that they were lost, hoping they knew not why, or rather, according to
the remark of one of their officers, because in the midst of this
extreme peril they saw his spirit calm and tranquil, like any thing in
its place. His countenance became silent and devout; he was watching the
enemy's army, which, becoming more suspicious since the successful
artifice of Prince Eugene, extended itself to a great distance on his
flanks, in order to shut him out from all means of preservation.

The approach of night began to render objects indistinct; winter, which
in that sole point was favourable to our retreat, brought it on quickly.
Ney had been waiting for it, but the advantage he took of the respite
was to order his men to return to Smolensk. They all said that at these
words they remained frozen with astonishment. Even his aide-de-camp
could not believe his ears; he remained silent like one who did not
understand what he heard, and looked at his general with amazement. But
the marshal repeated the same order; in his brief and imperious tone,
they recognized a resolution taken, a resource discovered, that
self-confidence which inspires others with the same quality, and a
spirit which commands his position, however strong that may be. They
immediately obeyed, and without hesitation turned their backs on their
own army, on Napoleon, and on France! They returned once more into that
fatal Russia. Their retrograde march lasted an hour; they passed again
over the field of battle marked by the remains of the army of Italy;
there they halted, and their marshal, who had remained alone in the
rear-guard, then rejoined them.

Their eyes followed his every movement. What was he going to do; and
whatever might be his plan, whither would he direct his steps, without a
guide, in an unknown country? But he, with his warlik