By the time the French Army reached Smolensk the temperatures had fallen down to -26 degrees Centigrade. The army was reduced to a mere 41,00 soldiers.
Wilson's recollection of the scene:
"The naked masses of dead and dying men; the mangled carcasses of 10,000 horses which had in some cases been cut for food before life had ceased; the craving of famine at other points of forming groups of cannibals; the air enveloped in flame and smoke; the prayers of hundreds of naked wretches flying from peasantry, whose shouts of vengeance echoed incessantly through the woods; the wrecks of cannon, powder-wagons, all stores of every description: it formed such a scene as probably was never witnessed in the history of the world."Although Smolensk was stocked up with the cattle and supplies brought from France, most of these resources were soon unfairly consumed by the first groups to reach the city. The rest of the army which arrived later did not get it's share of the food.