Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/54

26 the ground, their breasts pierced with bayonets, their sinewy limbs covered with blood already coagulated, the look of threatening or despair which was still on their features, livid and frozen by death, and above all, the idea that all those gallant men died for their country, covering it with their bodies, filled my mind with an impression painful and deep, which can never be effaced from my memory.

We found Fersen, the Commander in Chief, walking in the court of the brick-house; instead of uniform, he was attired in a coat of red plush, edged with gold lace; he had no sword, so far as I can remember; in short, he could not, on the day of battle, have been dressed in a more citizen-like manner. I was introduced to him, and then ushered into the same house, which, six hours before, had served for our head-quarters. The room was filled with Russian officers, and several of our generals, Kaminski, Sierakowski, Kniaziewicz, and Brigadier Kopec were also there. We could not restrain our tears when we saw