From the last days of October until mid-December, at which time the army
arrived at Wilna, horse meat was the only food of the soldiers; many could
not obtain even this, and they died from starvation before the intense cold
weather set in. The meat which the soldiers ate was either that of
exhausted and sick horses which had not been able to walk any further, or
of such as had been lying dead on the road for some time. With the greatest
greed and a beastly rage the men threw themselves on the dead animals; they
fought without distinction of rank and with a disregard of all military
discipline--officers and privates alike--for the possession of the best
liked parts of the dead animal--the brain, the heart, and the liver. The
weakest had to be contented with any part. Many devoured the meat raw,
others pierced it with the bayonet, roasted it at the camp fire and ate it
without anything else, often with great relish.

Such was the sad condition when the setting in of extreme cold weather
brought the misery--the horrors--to a climax.

During the last days of October, when the army had scarcely reached
Borodino, cold winds blew from the North.

The first snowfall was on October 26th., and the snow made the march of the
enfeebled army difficult in the extreme.

From that date on the cold increased daily, and the camping over night was
terrible; the extremities of those who had no chance to protect themselves
with clothes nor to come near the campfire became frozen.

During the first days of November the thermometer had fallen to -12 Reaumur
(+4 Fahrenheit).