Narrative of the Most Remarkable Events Which Occurred in and near Leipzig Immediately Before, During, and Subsequent to, the Sanguinary Series of Engagements Between the Allied Armies of the French, from the 14th to the 19th October, 1813Shoberl, Frederic
History
Narrative of the Most Remarkable Events Which Occurred in and near Leipzig Immediately Before, During, and Subsequent to, the Sanguinary Series of Engagements Between the Allied Armies of the French, from the 14th to the 19th October, 1813
was the case in Saxony, are always most deplorable. But to return from
this digression:--
For the reception of the wounded, in this instance, orders had been
given to clear out the corn-magazine, which is capable of accommodating
about 2,500. Each of these poor fellows received a written ticket at the
outer gate of the city, and was directed to that hospital. The persons
who superintended this business never gave it a thought to distribute
only such a number of these billets as the building would hold of sick,
but continued to send all that came to the corn-magazine, long after it
was too full to admit another individual. Overjoyed on having at last
found the spot, the wretched cripple exerted his last remains of
strength, that he might obtain relief as speedily as possible at the
hands of the surgeons. Judge then of the feelings of the unfortunate man
when his hopes were here most cruelly disappointed; when he found many
hundreds of his fellow-sufferers moaning with anguish on the wet stones,
without straw to lie upon, without shelter of any kind, without medical
or surgical attendance, nay, even without a drop of water, for which
they so often and so earnestly petitioned;--when he was peremptorily
refused admittance at the door, and he too had no other resource than to
seek a couch like the rest upon the hard pavement, which his wounds
very often were unable to endure. No more attention was here paid to
him than the stones on which he gave vent to his anguish. Many hobbled
farther in quest of something to appease the cravings of hunger and
thirst. But who could give it them? Extreme want had long prevailed in
the city; the very inhabitants had great trouble and difficulty to
obtain for money sufficient to make a scanty meal for themselves and
their families. The fainting soldier might think himself fortunate if
his solicitations procured him a crust of bread or an apple. Thousands
were not so lucky.--Such was the state of things at the magazine; such
was the spectacle exhibited in all the streets, and especially in the
market-place, where every corner provided with a shelter was converted
into an hospital. The consequences were inevitable. Many; as might
naturally be expected, perished, in the night, of hunger, agony, and
cold. Their lot was enviable--they no longer needed any human
assistance. What heart would not have bled at such scenes of
horror!--and yet it was the very countrymen of these unfortunate
wretches who seemed to care the least about them, and passed by with the
most frigid indifference, probably because they are so familiarized with
such spectacles. O ye mothers, ye fathers, ye sisters of France, had ye
here beheld your agonized sons and brothers, the sight, like a hideous
phantom, would surely have haunted you to the last moment of your lives.
The laurels acquired by your nation have indeed been purchased at a most
exorbitant price.
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