Over and above all this the army was encumbered by a disproportionate throng of non-combatants. Besides the ordinary camp-followers, male and female, it has already been observed that there were with the army a number of persons--partly women--who should not have been permitted to accompany it. There were sick and wounded to the number of at least several thousands at the outset. The French colony at Moscow mostly fled with the army. Also a number of Russian prostitutes, and even a good many women and girls of better stamp--including some of the upper classes--accompanied men who had formed connections with them. The precise state of feeling in the army cannot be ascertained. There is no doubt that the struggle at Borodino had badly affected its _morale_, and the French troops at least with their quick intelligence must have looked forward to the future with dread. On the other hand, their natural light-heartedness and their belief in Napoleon probably sustained their spirits. The foreign element was, doubtless, even less hopeful. That the more reflective among the officers were filled with misgiving is indubitable; and there was much discouragement among the generals, many of whom, besides, were war-weary and yearned for rest. Thus, disorganised, with discipline shattered, ill clothed, ill supplied, deficient in transport but laden with useless plunder, encumbered with sick, wounded, and helpless non-combatants, and with demoralisation latent everywhere, the _Grande Armée_ set out from Napoleon’s Farthest to fight its way home. It is perhaps difficult to see things in their true light, every effort at so doing being naturally affected by knowledge of succeeding events. But the conclusion can hardly be avoided that the fate of the _Grande Armée_ was already sealed, and that the shadow of impending disaster lay darkly upon its disorderly columns. The numbers of the Napoleonic host on leaving Moscow can only be approximately computed. The dates of the muster-rolls collected by De Chambray vary so much that they can only be taken as a general guide. There are also errors in the published tables, the 8th Corps having 4916 infantry and artillery instead of 1916. De Chambray also, with all his merits, has the failing, natural enough indeed, and entirely excusable, of rather under-rating French numbers. An example of this may be seen in his estimate of Napoleon’s strength at Borodino. On the whole, working upon the muster-rolls collected by De Chambray, the marching-out strength of Napoleon’s army from Moscow would appear to have been approximately as follows:--