Note 132 — Chapter LVIII
Reading edition
"As chance would have it, the day of this success was the Emperor's birth-day. The army never thought of celebrating it. In the disposition of the men and of the place, there was nothing that harmonized with such a celebration; empty acclamations would have been lost amid those vast deserts. In our situation there was no other festival than the day of a complete victory. Murat and Ney, however, in reporting their success to the Emperor, paid homage to that anniversary. They caused a salute of a hundred guns to be fired. The Emperor remarked, with displeasure, that in Russia it was necessary to be more sparing of French powder; he was answered that it was Russian powder taken the preceding day. The idea of having his birth-day celebrated at the expense of the enemy drew a smile from Napoleon. It was admitted that this very rare species of flattery became such men."—Ségur, tom. i., p. 223.