ten o'clock
Long live Marshal Forward ! '' and , amid renewed battle -- cries in honor of Blucher , and with resistless impetuosity , the Russians assaulted the gate . While these scenes were passing outside the city , Napoleon remained within . He had sat up till daylight with Caulaincourt and Bertmer , receiving reports and issuing orders ; toward morning he had slept a little , and now , at ten o'clock , he dictated his last orders to the two generals . In the streets were heard the roar of artillery , the crashing of falling buildings , the wails , shrieks , and shouts of the terrified inhabitants . The field-pieces rattled past , regiments trotted along , and disappeared around the corners , constituting a scene of indescribable terror and destruction ; but here , in the emperor 's room , every thing presented a spectacle of peace and repose . Caulaincourt and Berthier sat at their desks , writing .