Invasion Of Russia

The finest and best appointed army ver assembled together, either in ncient or modern times, -was that which ionaparte marched for the invasión of ussia. Similes have been exhausted nd description beggared in painting ie magnitude of Napoleon's undertakng and the extent of the means with whioh he proposed to aohieve the oonuest of Russia. ot such the numbers, nor the host ao dread, ij ítorthern Bren or Scythian Timmir led. Ñot France alone was drained to supply the flower of her youth, but all her ributary states were compelled to furish a similar contingent. A variety of workmen of all descriptions, such as masonf, carpenters, etc, -were under orers to attend the march of the army; nd even gardeners were pregsed into he service, as if it had been in the oonmplation of Bonaparte to make some jermanentimprovement in the horticuitïre of Bussia. The accounts of Bonaparte's force on ntering Bussia have been variously esimated, but never at less than 400,000 men. The official report found among 5eithier's papers, which were fouad at Hoscow, raises it as high as 575,000; but the following statement, furnished by a Westphalian Oolonel belonging to the staiï, who was taken prisoner between Smolenskoi and Krasnoi, is deemed authentic, and shows the proportion of the contingents which were brought up by the different powers : Westphalians 30,000 Bavarians ,000 Wurtemburgers lb,tuu Grand uchy of Berg 3,000 Pruesians 2 ,W0 Austrians 80,000 Badanese 6-000 Poles 6.- Swiss, Frenen, Spanlards and Portuguese... 800,000 Vatious 20,000 Total ■. 62t,C0O No common foresight was required to find supplies íor so large an army; and, ndeed, the arrangements on this head appear to have been peifeot in the outget; a certain mimber of bullocks were allotted to each regiment; and in all the rontier towns grain was oollected from ,he surrounding country and laíd np in store. The same precautiona were not aken, however, in providing subsistenoe during the retreal, nor were they altogether necessary, as the army was ;hen redaoed to a mere skeleton. If Xerxes wept to think that in a hundred years his army would be no more, what must have been the feelings of Bonaparte in actually seeing his own army, jqual in numbers and superior in every:hing else to that of Xerxes, annihilated in a period of a hundred days ?