Liveblogging Napoleon's Russian Invasion: Mozhaysk

Kutusov has escaped total ruin at Borodino; Napoleon pushes on:

The ninth of September found Mozhkaysk still standing and open, with the Russian rear guard occupying the hills on the farther side where the whole army had been the evening before. Our troops entered the city, some to cross it in pursuit of the enemy, others bent on pillage or seeking lodgings. The latter found neither inhabitants nor , only the dead whom they had to throw out of the windows so they could take their places, and the dying, whom they brought together in one building. The wounded were everywhere, and in such numbers that the Russians had not dared to set fire to the dwellings. However, their humanity, which had not always been so scrupulous, gave way before the necessity of firing on the French troops they saw marching in. Using explosive shells, they set fire to the city,entirely built of wood, and roasted may of their own wounded.

--Philippe Paul, comte de Ségur, Defeat: Napoleon's s Russian Campaign 83

(NYRB Classics 2008)