He watched.

[**The following takes place during Napoleon’s disastrous retreat from his failed invasion of Russia.**] >According to Jakob Walter’s diary, [Napoleon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Jacques-Louis_David_-_The_Emperor_Napoleon_in_His_Study_at_the_Tuileries_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg) was audibly sword at by the troops crossing the [**Berezina**] river. Walter’s unit came to >>a place where Napoleon ordered his pack horses to be unharnessed and where he ate. He watched his army pass by in the most wretched condition. What he may have felt in his heart is impossible to surmise. His outward appearance seemed indifferent and unconcerned over the wretchedness of his soldiers… and, although the French and Allies shouted into his ears many oaths and curses about his own guilty person, he was still able to listen to them unmoved. __________________________ **Source:** Roberts, Andrew. "Retreat." *Napoleon: A Life*. New York: Penguin, 2014. 628. Print. **Original Source Listed:** ed. Raeff, *Napoleonic Foot Soldier* p. 81. __________________________ **Further Reading:** [Jakob Walter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Walter) [Napoleone di Buonaparte / Napoleon Bonaparte / Napoleon I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon) [Бярэ́зіна (Berezina River)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berezina_River) [French Invasion of Russia – Retreat and Losses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia#Retreat_and_losses)