_On 14th September, Napoleon reaches Moscow, which he finds deserted by the Inhabitants--The City is discovered to be on fire--Napoleon takes up his quarters in the Kremlin--The fire is stopt next day, but arises again at night--Believed to be wilful, and several Russians apprehended and shot--On the third night, the Kremlin is discovered to be on Fire--Buonaparte leaves it, and takes his abode at Petrowsky--The Fire rages till the 19th, when four-fifths of the City are burnt down--On the 20th, Buonaparte returns to the Kremlin--Discussion as to the Origin of this great Conflagration--Disorganisation and Indiscipline of the French Army--Difficulty as to the Route on leaving Moscow--Lauriston sent with a Letter to the Emperor Alexander--Retrospect of the March of the Russian Army, after leaving Moscow--Lauriston has an Interview with Koutousoff on 5th October--The Result--Armistice made by Murat--Preparations for Retreat--The Emperor Alexander refuses to treat._ On the 14th September, 1812, while the rearguard of the Russians were in the act of evacuating Moscow, Napoleon reached the hill called the Mount of Salvation, because it is there where the natives kneel and cross themselves at first sight of the Holy City. Moscow seemed lordly and striking as ever, with the steeples of its thirty churches, and its copper domes glittering in the sun; its palaces of Eastern architecture mingled with trees, and surrounded with gardens; and its Kremlin, a huge triangular mass of towers, something between a palace and a castle, which rose like a citadel out of the general mass of groves and buildings. But not a chimney sent up smoke, not a man appeared on the battlements, or at the gates. Napoleon gazed every moment, expecting to see a train of bearded boyards arriving to fling themselves at his feet, and place their wealth at his disposal. His first exclamation was, "Behold at last that celebrated city!"--His next, "It was full time." His army, less regardful of the past or the future, fixed their eyes on the goal of their wishes, and a shout of "Moscow!--Moscow!"--passed from rank to rank.[154] Meantime no one interrupted his meditations, until a message came from Murat. He had pushed in among the Cossacks, who covered the rear of the Russians, and readily admitted to a parley the chivalrous champion, whom they at once recognised, having so often seen him blazing in the van of the French cavalry.[155] The message which he sent to Buonaparte intimated, that Miloradovitch threatened to burn the town, if his rear was not allowed time to march through it. This was a tone of defiance. Napoleon, however, granted the armistice, for which no inhabitants were left to be grateful.