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On the afternoon following Borodino, Napoleon visited the battlefield. ‘Whole lines of Russian regiments, lying on the ground wet with their blood, showed that they preferred death to retiring a single step,’ recalled Bausset. ‘Napoleon collected all possible information on these sorrowful places, he even observed the numbers on the buttons of their uniforms in order… to ascertain the nature and positions of the Corps put in motion by the enemy, but what he was chiefly anxious about was the care of the wounded.’

When his horse trod on a dying Russian, Napoleon reacted by ‘lavishing the attentions of humanity on this unfortunate creature’, and when one of the staff officers pointed out that he was ‘only a Russian’ Napoleon snapped back, ‘After a victory there are no enemies, only men.’


Source:

Roberts, Andrew. "Retreat." Napoleon: A Life. New York: Penguin, 2014. 609. Print.

Original Source(s) Listed:

Bausset, Private Memoirs p. 319.

ed. Summerville, Napoleon’s Expedition to Russia p. 86.


Further Reading:

Бородинское сражение / Bataille de la Moskova (Battle of Borodino)

Napoleone di Buonaparte / Napoléon Bonaparte / Napoleon I

>On the afternoon following Borodino, [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) visited the battlefield. ‘Whole lines of Russian regiments, lying on the ground wet with their blood, showed that they preferred death to retiring a single step,’ recalled Bausset. ‘Napoleon collected all possible information on these sorrowful places, he even observed the numbers on the buttons of their uniforms in order… to ascertain the nature and positions of the Corps put in motion by the enemy, but what he was chiefly anxious about was the care of the wounded.’ >When his horse trod on a dying Russian, Napoleon reacted by ‘lavishing the attentions of humanity on this unfortunate creature’, and when one of the staff officers pointed out that he was ‘only a Russian’ Napoleon snapped back, ‘After a victory there are no enemies, only men.’ ____________________________ **Source:** Roberts, Andrew. "Retreat." *Napoleon: A Life*. New York: Penguin, 2014. 609. Print. **Original Source(s) Listed:** Bausset, *Private Memoirs* p. 319. ed. Summerville, *Napoleon’s Expedition to Russia* p. 86. ___________________________ **Further Reading:** [Бородинское сражение / Bataille de la Moskova (Battle of Borodino)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Borodino) [Napoleone di Buonaparte / Napoléon Bonaparte / Napoleon I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon)

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