Exhaustion
overcame thousands of troopers, who dropped by the wayside and beneath
the snows gave their bodies to enrich the Russian ground. The retreat
became a rout and all would have been lost had it not been for the
almost superhuman efforts of the valiant rear-guard under Marshal Ney.
As it was, a mere remnant of the _Grande Armee_ certainly fewer
than 50,000 men--recrossed the Niemen on 13 December, and, in pitiable
plight, half-starved and with torn uniforms, took refuge in Germany.
Fully half a million lives had been sacrificed upon the fields of
Russia to the ambition of one man. Yet in the face of these distressing
facts, this one man had the unblushing effrontery and overweening
egotism to announce to the afflicted French people that "the emperor
has never been in better health!"
[Sidenote: Final Coalition against Napoleon]
For a moment the Tsar Alexander hesitated. Russia at least was freed
from the Napoleonic peril. To make peace in this hour of triumph might
be of great advantage to his country and would involve no further risks
on his part.
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