Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/239

Rh On the 19th of October he looked his last on Moscow from the Sparrow Hills on the west, and began his long and disastrous retreat. The winter came early, and was unusually severe. Hardly had he left the city before

the ground was deep with snow, and from that time onward he was harassed by Cossacks, while his men perished of hunger and cold. Do you know how many men were lost in the Russian campaign of 1812?"

"Yes," said Fred; "I have just been reading the history of the campaign.