obtain peace and quarters.” Marshal Bessieres, who did notrelish this employment of the cavalry of the guard whichhe had organised with so much care, combatted this pro-posal of Murat, and advised a retreat. Davoust supportedthe views of Bessieres , proposing to retreat by the straightroad to Smolensko. At last Napoleon decided on the retreat,but the rout was altered, and that pointed out by Muratadopted. Thus, for some days, was exhibited the extra-ordinary spectacle of two adverse armies, each turning theirbac/c-j upon the other. The Russians retreating towardsKaluga, the French to the north upon Mojaisk . It ivas notthe Russian armies that either Napoleon or his generalsfeared, but their dreadful winter, without food or shelter.
Until the 6th of November the weather was tolerablyfine, but on the 7tli the cold increased so as to cause theloss of many hundred horses daily. After the army hadpassed Smolensko , it was no longer by hundreds, but bythousands that the horses perished. During only a fewnights thirty thousand horses were frozen to death. Thewhole of the cavalry were now on foot. The far greaterportion of the cannon, ammunition, and provision waggons,were destroyed or abandoned. The French army, so floridand complete on the 6th of November, was now on the14th without cavalry, cannon, or transport.
Now were all the officers who had succeeded in preservinga horse united into what was called “ the sacred squadron,”consisting of four companies of one hundred men each, anddestined to form a guard for the Emperor Napoleon . Gene-rals Sebastiani, de France , Saint Germain, were namedcaptains; the colonel was General Grouchy, under theorders of the King of Naples ; but this little corps did notfulfil the expectations of those who had formed it. Thehorses which had been preserved alive, when isolated underthe fostering care of their owners and their grooms, when