[119] Ségur, tom. i., p. 147; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 58.
[120] Ségur, tom. i., p. 122; De Pradt, p. 119.
[121] "The fortnight's halt at Wilna decided, in all probability, the fate of the war. This delay, on the part of the conqueror of Ratisbon and Ulm is so extraordinary, that it can alone be attributed to a cause which will for ever remain a secret."—Jomini, tom. iv., p. 58.
[122] "Those who were nearest to Napoleon's person said to each other, that a genius so vast as his, and always increasing in activity and audacity, was not now seconded as it had been formerly by a vigorous constitution. They were alarmed at no longer finding their chief insensible to the heat of a burning atmosphere; and they remarked to each other with melancholy forebodings, the tendency to corpulence by which his frame was now distinguished, the certain forerunner of premature decay."—Ségur, tom. i., p. 165.
[123] "How happens it that the English author is more just towards Napoleon than one of his generals? Sir Walter allows here, what I have already observed, namely, the inconceivable accusation brought against the faculties of Napoleon at a time when he showed so much energy and perseverance, and when he not only resisted, and extricated himself from, the most frightful reverses imaginable, but even rose from them with surprising splendour. In an operation so gigantic as the attack upon Russia, in a plan for the boldest campaign, prudence and extreme slowness were imperative. How then, under such circumstances, can a general officer, a pupil, as it were, of Napoleon, criticise his stay at Wilna, and the extraordinary slowness of his movements? Would to heaven that this delay had been carried far enough to prevent the grand army from crossing the Dnieper during this campaign! But the great inconvenience of Napoleon, as general of the grand army, was the necessity of not prolonging his absence from Paris, and consequently of terminating the campaign as quickly as possible; and this is another powerful reason why he should not have hazarded so distant an expedition."—Louis Buonaparte, p. 82.
[124] "This was no doubt taking a great circuit; but the prince succeeded in his object, and restored to the hostile army a large body of troops, which would have been rendered completely useless if Napoleon's orders had been punctually executed. The success of this movement proved for the Russians fully equivalent to the gain of a battle. They were drawing nearer to their resources, whilst the French army was compelled to follow them through vast barren wastes, where it could not fail to be eventually annihilated."—Savary, tom. ii., p. 187.
[125] Jomini, tom. iv., p. 66; Ségur, tom. i., p. 160.
[126] Ségur, tom. i., p. 171; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 84.
[127] "Surrounded by disapproving countenances, and opinions contrary to his own, he felt himself uncomfortable. All the officers of his household opposed his plan, each in the way that marked his peculiar character; Berthier, by a melancholy countenance, by lamentations, and even tears; Lobau and Caulaincourt, by a frankness, which in the first was stamped by a cold and haughty roughness, excusable in so brave a warrior; and which, in the second, was persevering even to obstinacy, and impetuous even to violence. The Emperor exclaimed, 'that he had enriched his generals too much; that all they now aspired to was to follow the pleasures of the chase, and to display their brilliant equipages in Paris; and that doubtless they had become disgusted with war.' When their honour was thus attacked, there was no longer any reply to be made; they merely bowed and remained silent. During one of his impatient fits, he told one of the generals of his guard, 'you were born in a bivouac, in a bivouac you will die.'"—Ségur, tom. i., p. 200.
[128] "This town contained 20,000 inhabitants, and presented, from the beauty of its situation, a most delightful aspect. Poland and Lithuania had, during more than two months, and through a space of more than 300 leagues, offered nothing to our view but deserted villages, and a ravaged country. Destruction seemed to precede our steps, and in every direction the whole population was seen flying at our approach, leaving their habitations to hordes of Cossacks, who destroyed every thing which they could not carry away. Having long experienced the most painful deprivations, we regarded, with envious eyes, those well-built and elegant houses, where peace and abundance seemed to dwell. But that repose, which we had so eagerly anticipated, was again denied us, and we were compelled to renew our pursuit of the Russians, leaving on our left this town, the object of our most ardent wishes, and our dearest hopes."—Labaume, Relation de la Campagne de Russie en 1812, p. 74.