[207] "He called Mortier, and squeezing his hand sorrowfully, told him, that he had not a moment to lose; that the enemy were overwhelming him in all directions; that Koutousoff might have already reached Liady, perhaps Orcsa, and the last winding of the Boristhenes before him; that he would, therefore, proceed thither rapidly with his old guard, in order to occupy the passage. Then, with his heart full of Ney's misfortunes, and despair at being forced to abandon him, he withdrew slowly towards Liady."--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 227. [208] "Napoleon marched on foot at the head of his guard, and often talked of Ney; he called to mind his _coup-d'œil_ so accurate and true, his courage proof against every thing, in short all the qualities which made him so brilliant on the field of battle. 'He is lost. Well! I have three hundred millions in the Tuileries; I would give them all if he were restored to me.'"--RAPP, p. 242. [209] "When Napoleon heard that Ney had just reappeared, he leaped and shouted for joy, and exclaimed, 'I have then saved my eagles! I would have given three hundred millions from my treasury sooner than have lost such a man.'"--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 268; Jomini, tom. iv., p. 190. [210] Jomini, tom. iv., p. 189; Ségur, tom. ii., pp. 245-266. [211] Ségur, tom. ii., p. 279. [212] "Napoleon's confidence increased with his peril; in his eyes, and in the midst of these deserts of mud and ice, that handful of men was always the grand army! and himself the conqueror of Europe! and there was no infatuation in this firmness: we were certain of it, when, in this very town, we saw him burning with his own hands every thing belonging to him which might serve as trophies to the enemy, in the event of his fall. There also were unfortunately consumed all the papers which he had collected in order to write the history of his life; for such was his intention when he set out for that fatal war. He had then determined to halt as a threatening conqueror on the borders of the Dwina and the Boristhenes, to which he now returned as a disarmed fugitive. At that time he regarded the ennui of six winter months, which he would have been detained on these rivers as his greatest enemy; and to overcome it, this second Cæsar intended there to have dictated his Commentaries."--SÉGUR, tom. ii., p. 235. [213] Ségur, tom. ii., p. 278. [214] Ségur, tom. ii., p. 282. [215] Ségur, tom. ii., p. 283.