Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 301, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1912 — NOT A PREMEDITATED ACT [ARTICLE]

NOT A PREMEDITATED ACT

Duke of Wellington Was Satisfied Burning of Moscow Was the Result of AccldenL It seems that we have always something new to learn about the great men of the past The celebration of the centennial of the battle of Borodino in Russia tempts a writer in the London Times to reproduce a pdxate letter describing a conversation with the duke of Wellington. The duke said he was quite convinced thatthe burning of Moscow wsb the result of accident and not of design and he offered to show how it was done. He took a dolly 1n his hand and twisted it hard into a sharp point, and while he was doing it he said: “Every soldier carries an oil-rag much of this size and shape for wiping his pan after he has fired, and, I am sorry to say, when a town is taken, they toe commonly proceed to plunder. They light these rags for flambeau, and go down to the cellars and. vaults to search for hidden plate and other treasures. When they find candles or better torches they throw away their oil-rags, without taking time to extinguish them, and a more likely act to set fire to s city mostly built of houses of wood can scarcely be imagined. It was so when I was at St Sebastian, and I am quite satisfied that Moscow was burnt in this manner.