Section 217. THE BURNING OF MOSCOW. (Comp. S. 156, N. 1.) I.
Reading edition
Section 217. THE BURNING OF MOSCOW. (Comp. S. 156, N. 1.) I.
On the 14th of September, 1812, while the rear-guard of the Russians were in the act (S. 216, N. 1) of evacuating Moscow, Napoleon reached the hill called the Mount of Salvation[1], because it is there where the natives kneel and cross themselves at first sight of the Holy City.
Moscow seemed as lordly and striking[2] as ever, with the steeples of its thirty churches, and its copper domes glittering in the sun; its palaces of Eastern architecture mingled with trees, and surrounded with gardens[3]; and its Kremlin[4], a huge triangular mass of towers,[5] something between a palace and a castle, which rose like a citadel out of the general[6] mass of groves and buildings. But not a chimney sent up smoke[7], not a man appeared on the battlements, or at the gates. Napoleon gazed[8] every moment expecting to see a train of bearded boyards arriving to (S. 19, N. 7) fling themselves at his feet, and place their wealth at his disposal. His first exclamation was: “Behold at last that celebrated city!” His next: “It was full[9] time!” His army, less regardful of the past or the future[10], fixed their eyes on the goal of their wishes, and a shout of “Moscow! Moscow!” passed from rank to rank.
Bonaparte, as if unwilling to encounter the sight of the empty streets, stopped immediately on entering the first suburb. His troops were quartered in the desolate city. During the first few hours after their arrival[11], an obscure rumour, which could not be traced[12], but one of those which are sometimes found to get abroad before the approach of some awful certainty[13], announced that the city would be endangered by fire in the course of the night[14].