ten o’clock
At last there came a moment when a number , pursued by the Russians , found only snow on which to bivouac , and these lay down to rise no more . Insensibly this mass of almost annihilated beings became so compact , so deaf , so torpid , so happy perhaps , that Marechal Victor , who had been their heroic defender by holding twenty thousand Russians under Wittgenstein at bay , was forced to open a passage by main force through this forest of men in order to cross the Beresina with five thousand gallant fellows whom he was taking to the emperor . The unfortunate malingerers allowed themselves to be crushed rather than stir ; they perished in silence , smiling at their extinguished fires , without a thought of France . It was not until ten o'clock that night that Marechal Victor reached the bank of the river . Before crossing the bridge which led to Zembin , he confided the fate of his own rear-guard now left in Studzianka to Eble , the savior of all those who survived the calamities of the Beresina . It was towards midnight when this great general , followed by one brave officer , left the cabin he occupied near the bridge , and studied the spectacle of that improvised camp placed between the bank of the river and Studzianka . The Russian cannon had ceased to thunder .