“That night he walked for a long time in front of my regiment with General Joubert and myself. He pointed out to us the unfortunate results of the failure at Dorogobuje. The enemy had gained a day’s march; had forced us to abandon ammunition, baggage, wounded: all these misfortunes would have been avoided had we held Dorogobuje for twenty-four hours. General Joubert spoke of the weakness of the troops, of their discouragement. The marshal replied quickly, that the worst that could have happened was to be killed, and that a glorious death was too fine a thing to be shunned. For my part, I contented myself with remarking that I had not left the heights of Dorogobuje till I had twice received the order.” The “bravest of the brave” could see no terrors in death. His own insensibility to it made him slow to sympathise with others. A few days later, M. de Fezensac learned the death of M. Alfred de Noailles, who had been one of his brother aides-de-camp to Berthier. “He was the first friend I had lost in this campaign, and it caused me very deep sorrow. Marshal Ney, to whom I spoke on the subject, told me, for sole consolation, _that apparently it was his turn; and that at any rate it was better we should have to regret him than if he had to regret us_. In similar circumstances he always showed the same insensibility: on another occasion I heard him reply to an unfortunate wounded man, who begged to be carried away—‘_What would you have me do? You are a victim of war_;’ and he passed on. Most assuredly he was neither cruel nor devoid of feeling; but the frequency of the misfortunes of war had hardened his heart. Penetrated with the idea that the fate of all soldiers is to die upon the field of battle, he thought it quite natural they should fulfil their destiny; and it has been seen in this narrative that he prized not his own life more highly than the lives of others.”