The Two Great Retreats of History

Part 1

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THE

TWO GREAT RETREATS OF HISTORY.

I. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.

II. NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.

WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES

D. H. M.

BOSTON, U.S.A.: PUBLISHED BY GINN & COMPANY. 1889.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by

GINN & COMPANY,

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A.

PREFATORY NOTE.

The two following selections contain, first, Grote's account of the Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, taken from his "History of Greece," and, secondly, an abridgment of Count Ségur's narrative of Napoleon's retreat from Russia.

Grote's History, based on Xenophon's, is given entire, with the exception that, in a very few instances, some slight verbal change has been made in order to better adapt the work to school use.

Two maps are furnished, an introduction is prefixed to each selection, and all needed notes subjoined.

D. H. M.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I. Retreat of the Ten Thousand. PAGE Sketch of Cyrus the Younger (Introductory to the Retreat of the Ten Thousand) v

§ 1. Effect of the death of Cyrus on the Greeks; they resolve to retreat 1

§ 2. Commencement of the retreat 6

§ 3. Negotiations with Tissaphernês 10

§ 4. Treachery of Tissaphernês 19

§ 5. Xenophon's dream and its results 29

§ 6. The Greeks cross the Zab 42

§ 7. The Greeks fight their way across the Karduchian Mountains 50

§ 8. March through Armenia; great suffering from cold and hunger 60

Part 2

§ 9. The Greeks come in sight of the Black Sea 70

§ 10. The Greek cities on the Black Sea; their feelings toward the Ten Thousand 75

§ 11. Plans of the army for the future 79

§ 12. The Ten Thousand begin their march westward 82

§ 13. Plan of Xenophon for founding a city on the Black Sea 88

§ 14. Xenophon defends himself against false accusations 95

§ 15. The army passes by sea to Sinôpê 104

§ 16. The army crosses the Bosphorus to Byzantium; false promises of Anaxibius and their results 116

§ 17. Mutiny of the army in leaving Byzantium 120

§ 18. Xenophon's speech to the soldiers 123

§ 19. The army finally leaves Byzantium; Seuthês offers to hire them 128

§ 20. The army enters the service of Seuthês 135

§ 21. Xenophon crosses over with the army to Asia 138

§ 22. Xenophon takes leave of the army. Conclusion 143

II. Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow.

Sketch of Napoleon (Introductory to the Retreat from Moscow) 152

§ 1. Description of Moscow; arrival of the Czar 157

§ 2. Alarm in Moscow at the advance of the French army; preparations for the destruction of the city 162

§ 3. Departure of the Russian governor from Moscow 168

§ 4. Napoleon's first view of Moscow; the French enter the city 175

§ 5. Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin; the city discovered to be on fire 182

§ 6. The fire compels Napoleon to leave the city 190

§ 7. Napoleon returns to the Kremlin; plunder of the city 195

§ 8. Rostopchin sets fire to his country-seat; anxiety of Napoleon at not hearing from the Czar 201

§ 9. Napoleon determines to leave Moscow 215

§ 10. Departure from Moscow; the first battle 224

§ 11. Napoleon holds a council of war, and decides to retreat northward 233

§ 12. Napoleon's attempt to destroy the Kremlin; view of the battle-field of Borodino 238

Part 3

§ 13. Napoleon reaches Viazma; battle near that place 243

§ 14. Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November; its effect upon the troops 247

§ 15. Defeat and entire dissolution of Prince Eugene's corps at the passage of the Wop 253

§ 16. The Grand Army reaches Smolensk 257

§ 17. Napoleon leaves Smolensk; battle of Krasnoë 263

§ 18. Napoleon reaches Dombrowna and Orcha; he holds a council 267

§ 19. Arrival of Marshal Ney 272

§ 20. Capture of Minsk by the Russians 277

§ 21. March through the forest of Minsk; passage of the Berezina 280

§ 22. Napoleon abandons the Grand Army, and sets out for Paris 291

§ 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure; arrival at Wilna 298

§ 24. Conclusion 308

Index to notes and list of proper names with their pronunciation 316

MAPS. PAGE

1. The advance and the retreat of the Ten Thousand, facing 1

2. The advance and the retreat of Napoleon in his Russian campaign, facing 1

SKETCH OF CYRUS THE YOUNGER.

(INTRODUCTORY TO THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND GREEKS.)

In the year 423 B.C. Darius Nothus ascended the throne of Persia. That country was then the greatest empire in the world, and had an area nearly equal to that of the United States. The capital of this seemingly powerful realm was the ancient city of Babylon on the lower Euphrates. Here the Great King, as he was styled, had his principal palace, from which he issued orders to his twenty or more satraps or governors whose provinces extended in name at least from the shores of the Mediterranean to the banks of the Indus, and from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea.

Darius had married his half-sister Parysatis, a high-spirited but unscrupulous woman, by whom he had two sons, destined to be known in history. The eldest was Artaxerxês, a youth of but little character; and the second, Cyrus, who inherited the decided qualities of his mother. In order to distinguish him from Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, who died more than a hundred years earlier, he is commonly called Cyrus the Younger.

He was his mother's favorite, and as he was born after Darius assumed the crown, while Artaxerxês was born before that date, Parysatis seems to have encouraged Cyrus to consider himself the true heir to the throne, since he was in fact the king's eldest son. Through her influence he was appointed satrap of Lydia and the adjacent provinces of western Asia Minor when he was but sixteen. This position, since it made him the military ruler of that populous and wealthy section of country, was one of great importance, and doubtless had no small influence in shaping the young man's future career.

In 404 Cyrus was summoned from Sardis, the capital of Lydia, to Babylon, and shortly after, his father died, leaving his crown to Artaxerxês, who, from his remarkable memory which appears to have been his chief characteristic, got the title of Artaxerxês Mnemon. But Cyrus certainly was not deficient in this mental quality, for he seems to have remembered his mother's suggestions about his being the rightful heir to the throne so well, that at the coronation of Artaxerxês he plotted his assassination; or at least, Tissaphernês, a neighboring satrap, accused him of it. Cyrus, who appears to have had no adequate defence to make, was forthwith arrested and would probably have been summarily put to death--for in Persia the law's delays were unknown--had not Parysatis interfered. Realizing her son's imminent peril, she rushed forward and, clasping him in her arms, wound her long flowing hair about him, and pressed his neck to hers in such a way that the executioner must have beheaded her with the same stroke with which he decapitated Cyrus.

The prayers and entreaties of Parysatis saved the young man's life, and he was even permitted to return to Sardis and resume his power. He went; but with no intention of remaining in that subordinate position. Not only was he resolved to be revenged on Tissaphernês, but he was equally determined to overthrow the mild Artaxerxês and convince him of the mistake of yielding to a woman's tears.

Cyrus had learned from his residence on the Mediterranean coast, how far superior Greek soldiers were to the troops of Persia. The former would not only fight from patriotic motives, but what was more, they would readily fight outside of Greece, if they were paid well for it; the latter would only fight when they were flogged to it, and officers had to carry whips to drive them into battle by the sting of the lash.

Under the pretext that he was about to engage in a local and private war with his enemy Tissaphernês, Cyrus managed to gradually collect an army of about ten thousand Greeks whom Klearchus, an ex-governor of Byzantium, hired for him. These ten thousand were the real core of the expedition, though in addition a hundred thousand Asiatics were to form the bulk of it. With this force the young satrap believed that he could take Babylon and with it that title of Great King which he coveted. It was true that Artaxerxês would meet him with an army of ten men to his one; but, as Cyrus said, mere "numbers and noise" did not tell on the battle-field, and "numbers and noise" were all that the Persian sovereign had to rely on.

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