Meanwhile the army of Napoleon, constantly dwindling, advanced daily farther and farther into the interior of Russia. Napoleon felt that he was being enticed forward, but there was no thought of retreating. On the contrary, successes were achieved daily, though great events were rare. The policy of the Russian commanders was still that of retreat, laying waste the country as they went. The faithful peasants aided and abetted them. Every man proved himself a patriot. "Only let us know the right moment," they declared, "and every hut in the village shall burn to the ground, every acre of corn shall be destroyed before the detested foreigner arrives to eat the fruit of our labours."
From the beginning of the campaign to the present time—two months and a half—Napoleon had lost by illness and battle 150,000 men; the Grand Army was melting away before his eyes. He now did all that was possible, by ordering up large reinforcements, to fill the voids.
But meanwhile the Russian troops, unaware that the continuous retreating movement was a part of the deliberate policy of their leaders, grew more and more discontented both with Bagration and Barclay de Tolly, generals who had, nevertheless, done passing well with the troops entrusted to them.
And seeing that the feeling of discontent was daily spreading, and the more quickly since the fall and destruction of Smolensk, the Tsar Alexander now united both his armies under the supreme command of Kootoozof.
This new appointment aroused enthusiasm. Kootoozof had no intention of altering the policy of his lieutenants. He knew, none better, that every step gained with much pain and difficulty, by the French armies, must presently be retraced with tenfold and hundredfold more difficulty, and pains unimaginable. The Don Cossacks were already being recruited in preparation for the French retreat; the militia, raised in response to the manifesto of the Tsar, would be ready for work in a month or two; great things were preparing for the discomfiture of the little Corporal and his men—the rod was in pickle—let them advance by all means toward Moscow!
But when old Kootoozof passed his troops in review, he repeated a hundred times for their edification words of encouragement and patriotic appreciation.
"Holy Mother!" he would ejaculate; "what soldiers! With troops such as these success is sure! We shall beat the French, my children—only wait and see!" And again, "With such soldiers we shall not retreat for long!"
Kootoozof halted his army at Borodino: 120,000 men, all told; and here, early in the morning of the 7th of September, the great Russian army confessed and communicated and were blessed by the priests with Holy Water. During the morning an eagle hovered for a few moments over the head of old Kootoozof, until frightened away by the shouts of enthusiasm by which the soldiers saluted the happy omen. The battle raged all day with varying success, the French capturing the redoubts, losing them again, and again recapturing these and other outworks. The Russians slowly retreated and were not pursued. Both sides claimed the victory, and both lost enormously; but whereas the losses of the French were at this stage irreparable, those of the Russian army were comparatively of small consequence.
Then Kootoozof held a great council of his generals, whereat some voted for a final battle in defence of Moscow, some argued that there were greater issues at stake than the safety of the ancient capital which, after all, was "only a city like another". Kootoozof, however, reserved the final decision for himself, having, probably, long since made up his mind as to what should be done. He marched his army through the suburbs of Moscow, and presently spent the month during which Napoleon's soldiers occupied the Holy City in so disposing his forces that not only was the road to St. Petersburg blocked by a constantly growing army, but access to the richer provinces of the Empire was also barred; while hordes of Cossacks lay in wait along the line of retreat which, so soon as Moscow should be found no longer tenable, would, Kootoozof calculated, inevitably present itself as the last resource for the invading forces. In a word, Napoleon should be practically blockaded in Moscow.
But meanwhile, on the 14th September, the advance guard of the French army entered the city. Through the streets of the White Town and of China Town (known, respectively, as Biélui Gorod and Kitai Gorod) they marched, singing joyful songs. Then pillage began and continued until Napoleon himself arrived within the city walls.