Finally, it must be observed that the proper means of checking the evils which afflicted the contending armies were very little understood. Not only was there a deficiency of trained _personnel_, but the medical art was, as compared with what it is to-day, in a very undeveloped condition. It cannot be said that Napoleon did not endeavour to provide his troops with medical and surgical assistance, but it was never adequate, either in quantity or quality. The officers were rarely qualified to make good the deficiencies of the sanitary services. Among the corps commanders there were certainly some who thoroughly understood the details of administration. Davout was undoubtedly the best of them; but Ney was also a careful and conscientious administrator. As early as August he is found issuing orders for the preparation of winter clothing. Among the divisional leaders, also, there were some who thoroughly understood how to look after their men--De Fezensac instances Ledru des Essarts as one of them. Still, the careful administrators were certainly in a minority, and their excellent intentions were often hampered by lack of scientific knowledge. Turning from the general examination of these evils to consideration of the intrinsic damage which they caused, it is to be noted that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Army Corps and the 4 corps of Reserve Cavalry totalled on June 24th about 315,000 men. The returns of August 3rd and 4th give an aggregate of less than 213,000. There were, therefore, even on the showing of the official returns, 102,000 men in rear. Detachments account for about 20,000. There remain 82,000; and, since allowance must be made for drafts and absentees rejoined, it will probably be fair to estimate that the losses amounted to 100,000. The loss in battle cannot be estimated higher than 15,000; it follows that 85,000 men had disappeared from the muster-rolls by reason of straggling and sickness--that is, nearly 30 per cent. Of course, they were not all permanently lost to the army, but a very large proportion were, owing to the terrible lack of provision for the temporarily disabled soldiers. The mortality among the horses had been very large, mainly owing to lack of forage. The number dwindled day by day, and this circumstance was, in a sense, more fatal than loss of men. Every disabled horse meant further lessening of the means of transport. The cavalry regiments were unable to mount even their diminished effectives except by sweeping up horses from the countryside; and these were rarely of much service. The guns of the reserve parks had to be left at Vilna, and even part of the artillery of several army corps.