September 1812: La Neige

The Return from the Petroff Palace
Vasily Vereshchagin (PD)

Soldat Plouffe entered the stable, the rain followed him through the door. A chorus of voices greeted him.

"Damn it, Plouffe, close that door!"

Lieutenant Marais looked up, "Easy on the lad, or your turn on sentry duty will be next! Situation, Soldat?"

"It's still raining, Sergeant, I mean, Sir."

Many of the men were still getting used to Marais being an officer. He had been offered a commission in 1809, outside Vienna, but when it had been discovered that his education was woefully insufficient, it had been taken back. Marais could read at the time, but he was terrible with numbers. Since then he had learned much, he could, as he liked to say, "Cipher with the best of 'em now!" So now his promotion was confirmed.

"Well, I doubt you shall be offered a place at the École polytechnique¹ any time soon, but you'll be able to keep the company's books straight." Chef de Bataillon Lecerf had commented when handing Marais a set of lieutenant's epaulettes and his duty gorget².

Normally upon promotion to the officer ranks, a soldier shot his pack, to indicate he wouldn't have to carry one ever again. He would also turn in his musket for an officer's epée, but considering the circumstances, all concerned felt that the pack and the musket should remain in Marais' possession. At least until they returned to France.

"Fat chance of that happening," muttered a soldier in the ranks. No one chided the man for that as all thought the same way.

A rain storm had come up on the 18th, helping to quell most of the remaining fires, but three-quarters of the city of Moscow was in ruins. Many neighborhoods still burned. The Emperor had returned to the Kremlin, which had escaped the fire, and was still awaiting news from St. Petersburg.

"Boys, we'd better think seriously about packing." Marais told his men after the battalion commander had left.

Lieutenant Leavitt grinned, "I'll pack the silverware!"

Marais nodded at the humor, but added, "Warm clothing, food, and ammunition are your priorities. I know you've all acquired a bit of loot, but no one will be carrying that for you. If you carry gold instead of food, no one is going to share their rations with you. If you dump your ball and powder, I will personally shoot you. It's a long way back to friendly territory, essentials only!"

The Emperor gazed out of one of the big windows of the suite he was using for an office. There had still been no word from St. Petersburg. He had a splitting headache and when two of the marshals began to bicker, he turned.

"OUT! ALL OF YOU!! Beaufils, you remain."

The young diplomat watched the marshals and their entourages depart, he was nervous as he realized that other than the Emperor's mameluke³ Roustam, who waited just outside the door, he was alone with the Emperor. He swallowed nervously as he watched the Emperor continue to stare out the window. Suddenly Napoléon turned.

"So Beaufils, do you think the Czar will treat with me?"

"No Sire, I do not."

"Why?"

"I was told by a member of their diplomatic corps that everything French has been banned from the Czar's presence. Normally the Russian court speaks French, now it is only Russian and German."

"German!?" the Emperor bellowed.

Beaufils quailed at the man's anger.

The Emperor reached out and placed a hand on Beaufils' shoulder, "I'm not angry with you, only at the people surrounding the Czar. At our meeting on the Nieman after Friedland I had him eating from the palm of my hand. Ah, to have a few moments with him, we could settle this nonsense once and for all."

Beaufils knew better than to respond.

"Very well, you are dismissed, I have no more need of diplomats at this time. Send in Maréchal Berthier on your way out. If the road to Paris must be paved with Russian blood, so be it."

In Defeated Moscow
Vasily Vereshchagin (PD)

The men were bitching, but Marais refrained from saying a word. They had spent the day, in the rain, guarding one of the city's marketplaces while men from another regiment executed what were termed "arsonists" by the Emperor.

Simple peasants for the most part, a number of them seemed to actually be insane. There was a rumor that the mayor of Moscow had released the inmates of a number of asylums to let them cause problems with the French army.

That they did. Though a number of them had been caught setting fires, most of them were too addled to do much of anything. Except get caught.

"Lieutenant Marais."

Marais turned, it was his fellow officer, Lieutenant Leavitt. "What is it?"

"More sentry duty I'm afraid. The Emperor wants to have a ball. We've been volunteered to guard it by none other than Général de Division Compans himself."

Leavitt pulled Marais aside, "I can take the company for you, Pierre. You can rest tonight."

Marais placed his hand on Leavitt's shoulder, the man was becoming a good friend, "That's alright, André, but I think Lecerf will want us both there."

Marais shook his head, "What else could possibly go wrong, André? We barely have enough food to keep ourselves alive, some regiments have had men starve to death. The cavalry is practically on foot and what shall we tow our cannon with? I daresay all the horses will have been eaten inside of a month."

Leavitt began to speak but stopped as one of the men called over, "Lieutenant! It's snowing."

"And there is is." Marais sighed.

¹ School founded in Paris in 1794 teaching engineering and mathematics.

² A half-moon of metal worn at the throat by an officer to indicate that he was on duty. This was one of the last vestiges of armor still worn in the 19th Century. The epaulettes are another.

³ The Mameluke were a class of slave soldier. Napoléon had first encountered them in Egypt and had been impressed by their spirit and fighting qualities. He incorporated a squadron of them into the cavalry of the Imperial Guard. Though by 1812 very few of the original Mamelukes still served, many of them were various "exotics" picked up throughout the empire. Roustam, however, was one of the originals, he was a Georgian who had been gifted to the Emperor by the Sheikh of Cairo in 1798. (Source)