The French soldiers went to kill and be killed at the battle of Borodinó not because of Napoleon’s orders but by their own volition. The whole army—French, Italian, German, Polish, and Dutch—hungry, ragged, and weary of the campaign, felt at the sight of an army blocking their road to Moscow that the wine was drawn and must be drunk. Had Napoleon then forbidden them to fight the Russians, they would have killed him and have proceeded to fight the Russians because it was inevitable.
When they heard Napoleon’s proclamation offering them, as compensation for mutilation and death, the words of posterity about their having been in the battle before Moscow, they cried “ Vive l’Empereur! ” just as they had cried “ Vive l’Empereur! ” at the sight of the portrait of the boy piercing the terrestrial globe with a toy stick, and just as they would have cried “ Vive l’Empereur! ” at any nonsense that might be told them. There was nothing left for them to do but cry “ Vive l’Empereur! ” and go to fight, in order to get food and