Ida meets Ney in Russia

I dimly remember that somebody (Cadmus?) mentioned they wanted to read more from Ida. So here’s a brief snippet of Ida – for once – getting in trouble with her hero, of Ney scolding her and … being jealous of Eugène?

The meeting takes place somewhen in late 1812 or early 1813, as much as it’s possible to tell from Ida’s chronological rollercoaster ride. In any case, after or at the end of the Russian retreat. Because of course Ida had joined the Russian campaign as well.

And not only she. If any tumblerinas here plan on learning how to time travel and want to go back to see the Grande Armée march towards Moscow, they don’t need to worry about incognitos. Most likely they would barely be noticed, as apparently there were wagonloads of groupies following their heroes around.

Okay: four. But that’s only those ladies Ida travelled with. Plus, two of them died on the way back.

Ida was particularly fond of a Polish-Lithuanian girl named Nidia, as madly in love with general Montbrun as Ida was in love with Ney. Not that either of the two got to see their idol much during the march. As a matter of fact, the first thing Nidia learned before entering Moscow was that Montbrun had been killed at the battle of Borodino. Other than that, Ida claims to have had a bad feeling about this city from the start:

As we entered Moscow, occupied at last by our troops, this immense city seemed to us like a vast tomb; its empty streets, deserted buildings and solemnity of destruction were heartbreaking. Despite the pomp of victory, I felt struck by I don't know what new kind of melancholy when I saw it; the flags seemed to me gloomy and almost surrounded by funeral crêpes and black forebodings. We were staying in Rue Saint-Pétersbourg, near the Miomonoff palace, which was soon occupied by Prince Eugène. The sight of this young hero and the cheers of the soldiers, who adored him, gave us back all the illusions of victory.

Okay, so I just added this because it’s so rare to see Eugène receive some praise. (I should also mention that the adored young hero was growing bald at an alarming rate and that his bad teeth were killing him.)

As a matter of fact, Ida claims that Nidia was especially interested in Eugène because he was rumoured to maybe become king of Poland (yes, another candidate). These rumours did really exist, Eugène mentions them in a letter to his wife before the campaign started. (And he also makes it pretty clear that these are just rumours and that he has not the slightest ambition to stay in this country. He may have used different vocabulary than Lannes but he didn’t like the region any better.)

The following night, Ida and Nidia wake up to a burning Moscow and are saved by soldiers of 4th corps. On the retreat, they seem to have followed headquarters as closely as possible, which was their safest bet to stay alive (because where the emperor is, there’s food and firewood and a resemblance of order) but still witness horrible tragedies. After the crossing of the Berezina, they apparently followed the remnants of Eugène’s 4th corps to Marienwerder, before Nidia says goodbye and goes back to defending Poland.

But before, on the way, at Valutina (?), Ida finally sees Ney again

At this point, after the retreat, Ida at least starts to question her decision to follow the Grande Armée around. Or something like that.

I have just recounted my fatigue, my difficulties and my perils in a war beyond human endurance, because of the new aspects it seemed to give to destruction and death. A powerful feeling made me undertake everything and endure everything. Why was I going to face the hazards of a campaign? Why was I going to expose the weakness of a woman to the rigours of a climate of iron? In order to obtain yet another glance from the one whose smile had always paid me for my military errands. This look was always like a world offered to my hopes; the dream alone of this reward had made possible all the impossibilities of time, distance, sex and fortune. My life was thus burnt for a few hours, still uncertain. I was giving up everything for a moment in space. Alas! this time, how I was going to regret this moment that had cost me so much to conquer! I had just gambled my existence for a flash of happiness, and this flash, the quickest of my life, became the cruelest.

I had to spend three fatal hours in a miserable shack on the outskirts of Volutina. My dress was so horrible that it was a real disguise. In a person dressed like that, one could hardly suspect a woman. Ney, however, only had to look my way to recognise me. To have been seen was enough to have been discovered. I was about to rush to the front of this first happiness; I was about to testify to the soul of my life how proud I was of this divination of friendship, of this perspicacity of memory, when words of an energy which was far from that of the feeling of which I was possessed, intimated to me the order of the most positive dismissal: "What are you doing here? What do you want? Go away quickly." With this address and a few short, curt rebukes about my reckless rage and my fury at following him everywhere, I only had the strength to reply: "It is a rage, indeed, but it is not at least the rage of pleasure or vanity," pointing to my coarse clothes and my face burnt by the sun and faded by fatigue. He took no notice of either the harangue or the costume. He was off and running. His displeasure at seeing me there was so great; he let it out so vividly that I thought he was going to push me back to the opposite bank of the Dniéper in his anger. Stunned by the reception, struck by lightning, I remained motionless for more than an hour, staring at him, thinking I saw him; he had disappeared without paying any more attention to me or worrying about me.

From which we can deduct that Ney was not a reader of Jane Austen novels. Otherwise he would have known that whenever you have behaved in a way that made a woman fall in love with you that’s f-ing your fault, monsieur!

In 1813, when I recalled to Marshal Ney this scene of such violent fury, followed by such cruel silence and abandonment, he told me that he had been so mortally frightened by the extravagance which had pushed me into the midst of so many perils and the licentiousness of an army, that he had even been tempted to beat me. Truth requires me to admit that the temptation had been so strong that he had, I believe, yielded to it a little; it was without his knowing it, for the great passions know neither all they want nor all they do. Anger is therefore still love, since it is as blind as fury.

Girl, get help. Seriously.

When we crossed the Dniéper at Serokodia, I could have had another word with him. A new laurel had just hidden his wrongs and healed my wound. I could have, I wanted to say to him: You have just added to your immortal glory here; you alone have just saved Frenchmen lost in deserts of ice; I would have liked to express to him what all parties repeat today, what posterity will proclaim on the ashes of the brave... But I stuck to the joy of hearing the distant cheers. There was then a little fear in my delirium for him, and I almost have the idea that I idolised him even more by fearing him in that way…

Did I mention the thing about getting help?

Yes, even the reproach was appreciated by my heart, and still seemed to me a tender interest. I found I don't know what pleasure in hearing myself scolded later for my association with Nidia, my marches and counter-marches with the Viceroy's troops. No matter how many times I told the Marshal that Eugène's protection had been focused exclusively on the young Lithuanian girl, and that I had slipped unnoticed into this benevolence, he took it into his head to believe nothing of these sincere protestations. To make him reconsider such a strongly conceived idea would have meant exposing myself to a repeat of the Dniéper order and military correction. I had no intention of trying the same pleasure twice. Finally, he saw the evidence of my attachment, and he found the generosity to prove this belated but strong conviction to me [...]

By calling her his brother-in-arms, by the way. And this, I believe, really meant a lot to Ida.

Ukraine has liberated several villages in its Northeastern territories

GO UKRAINE, GO!

World, let us get behind Ukraine and kick rusky ass!

It’s no wonder Russia is suffering severe setbacks. Drunken Russians are shooting each other in Ukraine.

Russian soldiers had a drunken firefight with FSB officers at a bar in occupied Ukraine that ended with at least 3 dead: report 

According to the report, three FSB officers — Igor Yakubinsky, Sergei Privalov and D.A. Borodin — entered the bar and came across two soldiers who were consuming alcohol, Sgt. Sergei Obukhov and Junior Sgt. Igor Sudin.

The soldiers were reportedly reprimanded by the FSB officers for drinking while in uniform, which led Obukhov to draw his sidearm and fire rounds into the floor. Privalov tried to grab the weapon, prompting Sudin to open fire with his AK-74 rifle. The FSB officers then began returning fire, according to the report.

The firefight led to the deaths of Obukhov, Privalov, and Yakubinsky. Meanwhile, Borodin and Sudin were "hospitalized with injuries of varying degrees of severity," per the documents obtained by Yahoo. Their current condition is unclear.

In the lead up to the start of Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine and afterwards, there have repeatedly been reports of low morale among Russian forces — as well as issues with alcohol.

The amount of territory Ukraine has liberated from the drunken orcs in the past week is roughly the size of Luxembourg. Ukrainian troops have reached the border with Russia.

Go Blue (and Yellow)!  🇺🇦

Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow by Jerzy Kossak

here's my 6, go wild

Replayed Modern Warfare 3 2011 on Veteran tonight and goooooooood night. Blood Brothers never gets any easier to watch no matter how many times you've done it and the ending really never misses huh

I apologize for the amount of yapping in the tags I reread it all on mobile and started giggling because it went on for so long but eh. Blessed are those who won't shut the freak up and all that

Thank You!

Happy Liberation Day Kherson!!   🇺🇦

Lefebvre's French

I swear I was looking for stuff related to the Junots. Really! Instead I came across this anecdote in the "Mémoires anecdotiques" by Armand Alexandre Hippolyte de Bonneval, and while I cannot verify its autheticity, it's just too cute to not be repeated. This allegedly happened in 1812, during the march from the Berezina to Vilna.

I had just encountered Marshal Lefebvre. Like the rest of us, he was on foot, with a long stick in his hand, and we were walking side by side. When we reached a bridge cluttered with baggage and troops that made it almost impossible to cross, the marshal found a large six-foot tall figure in front of him, dressed in a cuirassiers' coat. He gave him three or four strokes on the back with his stick, and shouted in his German accent: "Moof ahead, vat the hell, you are blocking my way!"

I just have to add the original French here as I am unable to imitate the effect in English: "Allez tonc, qué tiable, fous m'embechez de basser!"

The other quickly turned around; it was the Duc de Trévise [Marshal Mortier]. - "Ah, my comrade," said a confused Lefèbvre, "if I'd known it vas you, I vouldn't have hit so hard!"

In Alsacien French: "Ah, mon gamarate, si ch'avais su que c'edait fous, che n'aurais pas dapé si vort!"

Seattle Poolhouse An illustration of a sizable contemporary backyard house with a rectangular lap pool

The blue and gold flag of Ukraine once again flies over Kherson. 🇺🇦

Ukrainian forces enter Kherson as Russia completes retreat from key southern city 

As the city was liberated by Ukrainian troops, people ripped down Russian propaganda billboard signs by hand.

^^^ РОССИЯ ЗДЕСЬ НАВСЕГДА! = Russia is here forever!  Well, forever = 8.5 months.

Kherson was the only regional capital captured by Russia during the invasion. Now it’s been liberated. Слава Україні! Героям Слава! 

Russian forces in full retreat from Kharkiv as Ukraine seeks to turn tide of war – POLITICO

Russian forces in full retreat from Kharkiv as Ukraine seeks to turn tide of war – POLITICO

Russia’s front line troops have fled their positions in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region as Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday forged ahead with a blitzkrieg to liberate occupied territories. Over the past days, Ukrainian troops have made unexpectedly rapid gains in a counteroffensive to the east of the city of Kharkiv, attacking key strategic towns such as Balakliia, Kupiansk and Izyum, which…

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Napoleon's retreat from Moscow by Adolph Northen

There is always an Option to decline Orders...

The Russians, being "forced" to kill people in Ukraine, are just following what they like. Many Russians hate Ukraine and its Citizens. That has become evident in the recent times....

No need to feel sorry for the Russians of the Russian Army dying in Ukraine...

No need at all...

If one declines to follow Orders, then will Putin take up Arms and go running into Ukraine?

NO!!

Please choose Peace.