MOSCOW SACKED

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXI, Issue 8833, 14 October 1942, Page 4

MOSCOW SACKED

(Continued from previous issue) “The tyrant’s patience whs exhausted, and, finding that neither threats nor promises could shake the fidelity of these men to their sovereign, he gave the order, and they were immediately butchered. In the moment of death each stepped before the other, first to receive the shaft that was to separate him from his companion. With calmness in their countenances, and fortitude in their demeanour, they simply made the sign of the cross upon their breast, and fell under the stroke of their

assassins. The author of their fate

dared not look upon them; but he list- ■' ened with exultation to the firing of the hundred balls which successively deprived the dauntless band of existence. This cruel massacre soon became known to the wretched remains of the inhabitants; and while detestation of the act doubly envenomed their hatred of Napoleon, they repeated their oaths sooner .to die than to acknowledge his authority. Both sexes joined in the vow; and then, with tears of despair, they divided to seek a temporary refuge in the cellars and among the smoking ruins of their

orice happy dwellings. During the * night they sometimes met to repledge their faith in each other; but in the day, scarcely a native of the city was to be seen.

All Gates Closed “Notwithstanding the terrific example which the French leader had made of the hundred Muscovites whom he supposed had set fire to the Kremlin, he yet feared a repetition of the attempt from others of the people; and, to take every precaution for his security, he ordered all the gates to be kept close shut, with the single except. of that which opens to tje Nicolisky street, and by which no one should enter but the officers highest in his confidence. Thus did the dread of a few loyal spirits (too few to emerge from their secret hiding places) hold the invader of their country a prisoner, even in the centre of his vaunted conquests. Do we not, in this, see that there are times in which even the most successful guilt will stand in awe of virtue. It is to be deplored that her power is not more often tried.

Conflagration Spreads

“The .fire which had been lit in the Kremlin found answering beacons throughout the whole range of the circles which comprised the city of Moscow. The conflagration continued to spread in every direction, and, -with its devouring flames, augmented the horrors of the night. The soldiers, regardless of order or discipline, and instigated by the example of too many of their officers, seized the opportunity presented to pillage and destroy. ‘ißonaparte beheld the increasing destruction with uneasiness lest the ungovernable progress of the flames should wrest from him the glory of possessing Moscow by the utter consumption of the city. To avert this blow to his pride he commanded his generals to leave no means untried to extinguish the thousand fires by which he was enveloped. His orders were sedulously obeyed; but it was not until the 2flth. of the month that the fierceness of the flames ceased to rage.

“From the night of September 14 until that of Saturday 19 the fire blazed in all quarters. It first broke out near the Foundling 'Hospital and then almost immediately, on the side of the city close tp the stone 'bridge, and in the neighbourhood of the place which the King of Naples selected for his residence. A third and more extensive fire 'burst out and spread itself along the face of the centre of the town. The inhabitants beheld their burning houses with a resignation which could only proceed from the belief that they should not long survive their destruction. The conviction that their losses would be deprivation to the enemy also, that in the flames perished his most important resources, was the tranquilliser of every regret. New fires broke forth wherever the French soldiers directed their ruthless steps. Women cast themselves into the flames to escape violation; and the blood of the brave Muscovite was vainly shed tc extinguish fires kindled by his patriot hands. A Sea Of Fire “On the morning of the third day after the entrance of these robbers a violent wind rose and then indeed the conflagration became general. In less than an hour the whole extent of the capital, for many wersts, seemed a sheet of flame. All the immense tract of land above the river, which

used to be covered with houses, was one sea of fire; and the sky was hidden from our eyes by the tremendous volumes of smoke which rolled over the city. "Direful as was this calamity,

though it even menaced the lives of our destroyers, yet they felt no pity; not a touch of remorse came near their obdurate hearts. Still they pursued the search of plunder; still they heaped crime upon crime; and deepened with every act of cruelty the tremendous horrors of the scene.

“Surely the Almighty Judge in His utmost wrath never did before present so awful a spectacle to mankind. “Through billows of fire, upon every

elevated spot, hundreds of the bloodthirsty robbers were seen chasing their unhappy victims to nameless outrages and to more welcome death. Where was there an asylum for suffering human-nature ? Where for feeble age, shrinking from -the impending torture? Where for the

bleeding limbs of the ( young patriot? Where for the frantic maid flying from the grasp of the lawless ruffian? There was no refuge on earth; and guilt, for a time had its triumph. “Napoleon from the windows of the Kremlin must have contemplated the progress of this deluge of destruction. While he shuddered for his own sake at the story ocean of fire swelling

and sinking and urging its waves to

wards him he must, assuredly, have . been visited by some thoughts to re-

mind him that he was a vulnerable man; that an hour would come when he must account for the scene before him, to the Being by whom himself and all the' creatures now perishing by his means, were alike created! If ever his conscience has spoken to him, if ever it has made itself heard, it was in one of these dreadful nights. The flames of Moscow must have been to him the torch of the furies. Shelter For Invaders “Whatever might have been the private feelings of this chief of banditti, he was aware of the necessity of preserving some place of shelter for his followings during the approaching inclement season; and, to secure what had escaped the united devastation of sacrifice and of rapine, he attempted to institute a civil authority and a police. He who had unyoked the demons of licentiousness and robbery, now felt alarmed lest the effects of their blind fury should recoil upon himself; and to ensure his own safety he was at last obliged 1 to fix limits to aggression On others. “After making several ineffectual efforts, sometimes menacing, and at other times alluring by promises, he at length persuaded certain individuals to take on them so desperate a duty, and to form themselves into a municipal body. Monsieur Lesseps, who had once been the French consulgeneral at Saint Petersburg (land whose exertions deserved the credit of having gained this point) was appointed Intendant of the Province of Moscow. Active as were the officers of this necessary authority, it was so novel a thing, that the objects of it hardly acknowledged its power; and robbery and murder continued to stalk abroad with as daring fronts as ever. Even these new magistrates as they went about in discharge of their offices, were affronted, assailed, and .beaten to their quarters with insult. Every corps of the army, marching in from the camp without the barriers, could prove the same right to plunder, as that which had been exercised whose good fortune had sent them first into the field of pillage. Napoleon had promised them the treasures of Moscow.

Loot For Soldiers

“After the capture of Smolenzk and the" disappointment sustained there by the removal of the riches, Napoleon had decided on making an attempt upon Moscow; and, should he carry the place, to devote the wealth of its princes and its people to the avidity of his soldiers. With this view, and to appease the murmurs that reached his ear respecting the unsatisfied wants of the army, he announced to them that Moscow was his next object; that his troops should winter there; and that from the bosom of its abundance, while his soldiers were imbibing new strength from its full stores, he would dictate terms of peace to the Emperor Alexander, and fix the glory of France on a pinnacle that would irradiate the whole world.

“While on his march, and perceiving spires and minarets of Moscow at a distance he pointed to them, and exclaimed to his followers:—‘Behold the end of your campaign! Its gold and its plenty are -yours.’ “It was to these promises that he owed his present embarrassment. How could he hope to conciliate any part of a people whose fellow citizens he abandoned to the most wanton destruction? To extirpate is not to conquer. And th eservices of the most conquered would be too useful to him in his proposed advance to the subjugation of -the empire, to allow him to witness the calamities of Moscow without seeming to check their tide. To do it in reality was beyond even the power of Bonaparte, and, what he could not remedy, he sought to excuse by publishing an apology for military robbery. This manoeuvre produced no other effect than to develop to all parties the convenient political morality of its author. Sacking of Moscow

“The fire was at last extinguished but the work of desolation still continued in the sacking of the place, committing violences in the streets and defying the civil authorities. To oppose this insubordination, Napoleon had resort to placards and proclamations, and finding them despised, he went so far as to have two or three of the most atrocious offenders shot. When even this small show of justice appeared amongst their enemies, a few of the poor inhabitants, perishing with hunger, took heart and crept from the obscure recesses in which they had lain concealed. But what a change had taken place during their short retreat. 'Moscow was no longer to be recognised. “Nothing remained of its once magnificent city, but a vast plain, covered with ruins and smoking ashes. Everywhere the dilapidated streets were choked up with human bodies and the carcases of dead horses. And yet there was a more direful spectacle to behold: wretched fathers and husbands, running to and fro, seeking from the murdered heaps the mangled remains of their wives and daughters. Others rushed wildly from their coverts, demanding something to appease the cravings of famishing nature. And some, exhausted by want and misery without a murmur or turning an eye of supplication to their oppressors, fell extended on the earth, expiring on their native soil to which they had devoted their existence. “Thus, day after day, increased the distresses of this venerable city. But while tyranny trampled it in the dust, he did not escape feeling some part of the injury he inflicted. In the rencontres of licentiousness and the assassination of the helpless people, the French soldiers forgot how to use their arms in the open field. Though full of threats and bombasts, all their exploits, during their stay at Moscow, may be summed up in a few reconnoitring skirmishes, and two of these abortive attempts to procure provisions.”

(Concluded)