2-750-893 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'A Bas Le Manteau, or The Murmer of the French Grand Army in their retreat through Russia, 1812', (1921). Napoleon I (1769-1821), on horseback, meets his men's request and takes off his coat to partake in their misery. The Russian winter took its toll on the French army. Lack of grass and feed weakened the remaining horses, almost all of which died or were killed for food by starving soldiers. Without horses, the French cavalry ceased to exist; cavalrymen had to march on foot. Engraving by Dubourg after John Augustus Atkinson. From "Napoleon", by Raymond Guyot, [H. Floury, Paris, 1921]