all events, to bring ourselves down to the habits of the humblest citizens of the province.  If the house had two rooms, one served as sleeping and dining room, the other for his Majesty’s cabinet.  The box of books, geographical maps, the portfolio, and a table covered with green cloth, were the entire furniture.  This was also the council chamber; and from these beggarly huts were sent forth those prompt and trenchant decisions which changed the order of battle and often the fortunes of the day, and those strong and energetic proclamations which so quickly reanimated the discouraged army.  When our residence was composed of three rooms,—­an extremely rare occurrence, then the third room, or closet, was occupied by the Prince de Neuchatel, who always slept as near by as possible.  We often found in these wretched dwellings old decayed furniture of singular shapes, and little images in wood or plaster of male or female saints which the proprietors had left.  Frequently, however, we found poor people in these dwellings, who, having nothing to save from conquest, had remained.  These good people seemed much ashamed to entertain so badly the Emperor of the French, gave us what they had, and were not, on that account, less badly esteemed by us.  More of the poor than rich received the Emperor into their houses; and the Kremlin was the last of the foreign palaces in which the Emperor slept during the Russian campaign.

When there were no houses to be found, we erected the Emperor’s tent, and, in order to divide it into three apartments curtains were hung; in one of these apartments the Emperor slept, the next was the Emperor’s cabinet, and the third was occupied by his aides-de-camp and officers of the service; this latter room being ordinarily used as the Emperor’s dining-room, his meals being prepared outside.  I alone slept in his room.  Roustan, who accompanied his Majesty on horseback, slept in the entrance room of the tent, in order that the sleep which was so necessary to him should not be disturbed.  The secretaries slept either in the cabinet or the entrance room.  The higher officers and those of the service ate where and when they could, and, like the simple soldiers, made no scruple of eating without tables.

Prince Berthier’s tent was near that of the Emperor, and the prince always breakfasted and dined with him.  They were like two inseparable friends.  This attachment was very touching, and points of difference rarely arose between them.  Nevertheless, there was, I think, a little coolness between him and the Emperor at the time his Majesty left the army of Moscow.  The old marshal wished to accompany him; but the Emperor refused, and thereupon ensued an animated but fruitless discussion.

The meals were served on the campaign by M. Colin, controller of the kitchen service, and Roustan, or a bedroom servant.