The stores of brandy, and boats loaded with alcohol, were simultaneously ignited, and a fierce conflagration like a sea of flame raged below the Kremlin.

Napoleon, compelled to force his way through these volcanic fires himself, narrowly escaped.
For five days they continued, devouring supplies and everything upon which the army had depended for shelter and subsistence.

For thirty-five days more they waited among the blackened ruins.

All was over with the French conquest.

The troops were eating their horses, and thousands were already perishing with hunger.