 War and Peace by Lyftal Stoi translated by Elmer and Louise Maud book 13 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Ernst Patinama War and Peace by Lyftal Stoi book 13 Chapter 1 1812 Man's mind cannot grasp the causes of events in their completeness but the desire to find those courses is implanted in man's soul and without considering the multiplicity and complexity of the conditions any one of which taken separately may seem to be the cause his snitches are the first approximation to a cause that seems to him intelligible Ernst says this is the cause In historical events where the actions of men are the subject of observation the first and most primitive approximation to present itself was the will of the gods and after that the will of those who stood in the most prominent position the heroes of history but we need only penetrate to the essence of any historic event which lies in the activity of the general mass of man who take part in it to be convinced that the will of the historic hero does not control the actions of the mass but is itself continually controlled it may seem to be a matter of indifference whether we understand the meaning of historical events this way or that yet there is the same difference between a man who says that the people of the west moved on the east because Napoleon wished it and a man who says that this happened because it had to happen as there is between those who declared that the earth was stationary and that the planets moved around it and those who admitted that they did not know what upheld the earth but knew there were laws directing its movement on that of the other planets there is and can be no cause of an historical event except the one cause of all causes but there are laws directing events and some of these laws are known to us while we are conscious of others we cannot comprehend the discovery of these laws is only possible when we have quite abandoned the attempt to find the cause in the will of some one man just as the discovery of the laws of the motion of the planets was possible only when men abandoned the conception of the fixity of the earth the historians consider that next to the battle of Borodino and the occupation of Moscow by the enemy and its destruction by fire the most important episode of the war of 1812 was the movement of the Russian army from the Ryazan to the Kaluga road and to the Tarutino camp the so called flank march across the Krasnaya Pachra river they ascribe the glory of that achievement of genius to different men and dispute as to whom the honor is due even foreign historians including the French acknowledge the genius of the Russian commanders when they speak of that flank march it is hard to understand why military writers and following them others consider this flank march to be the profound conception of some one man who saved Russia and destroyed Napoleon in the first place it is hard to understand where the profundity and genius of this movement lay for not much mental effort was needed to see that the best position for an army when it is not being attacked is where there are most provisions and even a dull boy of 13 could have guessed that the best position for an army after its retreat from Moscow in 1812 was on the Kaluga road so it is impossible to understand by what reasoning the historians reached the conclusion that this maneuver was a profound one and it is even more difficult to understand just why they think that this maneuver was calculated to save Russia and destroy the French for this flank march had it been preceded, accompanied or followed by other circumstances might have proved ruinous to the Russians and salutary for the French if the position of the Russian army really began to improve from the time of that march it does not at all follow that the march was the course of it that flank march might not only have failed to give any advantage to the Russian army but might in other circumstances have led to its destruction what would have happened at Moscow not burnt down if Mura had not lost sight of the Russians if Napoleon had not remained inactive if the Russian army had Krasnaya Pakhra had given battle as Beniksen and Barkley advised what would have happened had the French attacked the Russians while they were marching beyond the Pakhra what would have happened if on approaching Tarutino Napoleon had attacked the Russians with but a tenth of the energy he had shown when he attacked them at Smolensk what would have happened had the French moved on Petersburg in any of these eventualities that flank march that brought salvation might have proved disastrous the third and most incomprehensible thing is that people studying history deliberately avoid seeing that this flank march cannot be attributed to anyone man that no one ever foresaw it and that in reality like the retreat from Philly it did not suggest itself to anyone in its entirety but resulted moment by moment step by step event by event from an endless number of most diverse circumstances and was only seen in its entirety when it had been accomplished and belonged to the past at the council at Philly the prevailing thought in the minds of the Russian commanders was the one naturally suggesting itself namely a direct retreat by the Nizhny road in proof of this there is the fact that the majority of the council voted for such a retreat and above all there is the well-known conversation after the council between the commander in chief and Lanskoy who was in charge of the commissariat department Lanskoy informed the commander in chief that the army supplies were for the most part stored along the Oka in the Tula and Ryazan provinces and that if they retreated on Nizhny the army would be separated from its supplies by the broad river Oka which cannot be crossed early in winter this was the first indication of the necessity of deviating from what it previously seemed the most natural course a direct retreat on Nizhny Novgorod the army turned more to the south along the Ryazan road and nearer to its supplies subsequently the inactivity of the French who even lost sight of the Russian army concerned for the safety of the arsenal at Tula and especially the advantages of drawing nearer to its supplies caused the army to turn still further south to the Tula road having crossed over by a forced march to the Tula road beyond the Pachla the Russian commanders intended to remain at Podolsk and had no thought of the Tarutino position but innumerable circumstances and the reappearance of French troops who had for a time lost touch with the Russians and projects of giving battle and above all, the abundance of provisions in Kaluga province obliged our army to turn still more to the south and to cross from the Tula to the Kaluga road and go to Tarutino which was between the roads along which those supplies lay just as it is impossible to say when it was decided to abandon Moscow so it is impossible to say precisely when or by whom it was decided to move to Tarutino only when the army had got there as the result of innumerable and varying forces did people begin to assure themselves that they had desired this movement and long ago foreseen its result End of Chapter 1 Recording by Ernst Patinama Amsterdam, The Netherlands The famous flank movement merely consisted in this After the advance of the French had ceased the Russian army which had been continually retreating straight back from the invaders deviated from that direct course and not finding itself pursued was naturally drawn toward the district where supplies were abundant if instead of imagining to ourselves commanders of genius leading the Russian army we picture that army without any leaders it could not have done anything but make a return movement toward Moscow describing an arc in the direction where most provisions were to be found and where the country was richest that movement from the Nizhny to the Ryazan, Tula and Kaluga roads was so natural that even the Russian Marauders moved in that direction and demands were sent from Petersburg for Kutuzov to take his army that way at Tarotino Kutuzov received what was almost a reprimand from the emperor for having moved his army along the Ryazan road and the emperor's letter indicated to him the very position he had already occupied near Kaluga having rolled like a ball in the direction of the impetus given by the whole campaign and by the battle of Borodino the Russian army, when the strength of that impetus was exhausted and no fresh push was received assumed the position natural to it Kutuzov's merit lay not in any strategic maneuver of genius as it is called but in the fact that he alone understood the significance of what had happened he alone then understood the meaning of the French army's inactivity he alone continued to assert that the battle of Borodino had been a victory he alone, who as a commander in chief might have been expected to be eager to attack employed his whole strength to restrain the Russian army from useless engagements the beast wounded at Borodino was lying where the fleeing hunter had left him but whether he was still alive whether he was strong and merely lying low the hunter did not know suddenly the beast was heard to moan the moan of that wounded beast the French army which betrayed its calamitous condition was the sending of Le Reston to Kutuzov's camp with overtures for peace Napoleon with his usual assurance that whatever entered his head was right wrote to Kutuzov the first words that occurred to him though they were meaningless Monsieur Le Prince Kutuzov I am sending one of my agitants general to discuss several interesting questions with you I beg your highness to credit what he says to you especially when he expresses the sentiment of esteem and special regard I have long entertained for your person this letter having no other object I pray God, Monsieur Le Prince Kutuzov to keep you in his holy and gracious protection Napoleon Moscow October 30, 1812 Kutuzov replied I should be cursed by posterity where I looked on as the initiator of a settlement of any sort such is the present spirit of my nation but he continued to exert all his powers to restrain his troops from attacking during the month that the French troops were pillaging in Moscow and the Russian troops were quietly encamped at Tarotino a change had taken place in the relative strength of the two armies both in spirit and in number as a result of which the superiority had passed to the Russian side though the condition and the numbers of the French army were unknown to the Russians as soon as that change occurred the need of attacking at once showed itself by countless signs these signs were Leuston's mission the abundance of provisions at Tarotino the reports coming in from all sides of the inactivity and disorder of the French the flow of recruits to our regiments the fine weather the long rest the Russian soldiers had enjoyed and the impatience to do what they had been assembled for which usually shows itself in an army that has been resting curiosity as to what the French army so long lost sight of was doing the boldness with which our outposts now scouted close up to the French stationed at Tarotino the news of easy successes gained by peasants and guerrilla troops over the French the envy aroused by this the desire for revenge that lay in the heart of every Russian as long as the French were in Moscow and above all a dim consciousness in every soldier's mind that the relative strength of the armies had changed and that the advantage was now on our side there was a substantial change in the relative strength and an advance had become inevitable and at once as the clock begins to strike and chime as soon as the minute hand has completed a full circle this change was shown by an increased activity worrying and chiming in the higher spheres End of Chapter 2 Recording by Alex Pirangeli War and Peace Book 13 Chapter 3 Read for LibriVox.org by Anosimum The Russian army was commanded by Kutuzov and his staff and also by the Emperor from Petersburg before the news of the abandonment of Moscow had been received in Petersburg a detailed plan of the whole campaign had been drawn up and sent to Kutuzov for his guidance though this plan had been drawn up on the supposition that Moscow was still in our hands it was approved by the staff and accepted as a basis for action Kutuzov only replied that movements arranged from a distance were always difficult to execute so fresh instructions were sent for the solution of difficulties that might be encountered as well as fresh people to watch Kutuzov's actions and report upon them besides this, the whole staff of the Russian army was now reorganized the post left vacant by Bagration who had been killed and by Barclay who had gone away in Dudgeon had to be filled very serious consideration was given to the question whether it would be better to put A in B's place and B in D's or on the country to put D in A's place and so on as if anything more than A's or B's satisfaction depended on this as a result of the hostility between Kutuzov and Benikson, his chief of staff the presence of confidential representatives of the emperor and these transfers a more than usually complicated play of parties was going on among the staff of the army A was undermining B D was undermining C and so on in all possible combinations and permutations in all these plottings the subject of intrigue was generally the conduct of the war which all these men believed they were directing but this affair of the war went on independently of them as it had to go that is never in the way people devised but flowing always from the essential attitude of the masses only in the highest spheres did all these schemes, crossings and interminglings appear to be a true reflection of what had to happen Prince Mikhail Ilarionovich wrote the emperor on the 2nd of October in a letter that reached Kutuzov after the battle at Tarotino since September the 2nd Moscow has been in the hands of the enemy your last reports are written on the 20th and during all this time not only has no action been taken against the enemy or for the relief of the ancient capital but according to your last report you have even retreated farther Serbakov is already occupied by an enemy detachment and Tula with its famous arsenal so indispensable to the army is in danger from general Witzingerod's reports I see that an enemy corps of ten thousand men is moving on the Petersburg road another corps of several thousand men is moving on Mitrov a third has advanced along the Vladimir road and a fourth rather considerable detachment is stationed between Rusa and Mazarsk Napoleon himself was in Moscow as late as the 25th in view of all this information when the enemy has scattered his forces in large detachment and with Napoleon and his guards in Moscow is it possible that the enemy's forces confronting you are so considerable as not to allow of your taking the offensive on the contrary he is probably pursuing you with his detachment or at most with an army corps much weaker than the army entrusted to you it would seem that availing yourself of these circumstances you might advantageously attack a weaker one and annihilate him or at least oblige him to retreat retaining in our hands an important part of the provinces now occupied by the enemy and thereby averting danger from Tula and other towns in the interior you will be responsible if the enemy is able to direct a force of any size against Petersburg to threaten this capital in which has not been possible to retain many troops for with the army entrusted to you and acting with resolution and energy you have ample means to avert this fresh calamity remember that you have still to answer to our offended country for the loss of Moscow you have experienced my readiness to reward you that readiness will not weaken in me but I and Russia have a right to expect from you all the zeal, firmness and success which your intellect, military talent and the courage of the troops you command justify us in expecting but by the timeless letter which proved that the real relation of the forces had already made itself felt in Petersburg was dispatched Kutuzov had found himself unable any longer to restrain the army he commanded from attacking and a battle had taken place on the 2nd of October a Cossack, Shapovalov, who was outscouting killed one hare and wounded another following the wounded hare he made his way far into the forest and came upon the left flank of Muraz's army and camped there without any precautions the Cossack laughingly told his comrades how he had almost fallen into the hands of the French a cornered hearing the story informed his commander the Cossack was sent full and questioned the Cossack officers wished to take advantage of this chance to capture some horses but one of the superior officers who was acquainted with the higher authorities reported the incident to a general on the staff the state of things on the staff had of late been exceedingly strained Ermilov had been to see Beniksen a few days previously and had entreated him to use his influence with the commander in chief to induce him to take the offensive if I did not know you I should think you did not want what you're asking for I need only advise anything and his highness is sure to do the opposite replied Beniksen the Cossack's report, confirmed by horse patrols who were sent out, was the final proof that events had matured the tightly coiled spring was released the clock began to wear and the chimes to play despite all his supposed power his intellect, his experience and his knowledge of man Kutuzov, having taken into consideration the Cossack's report Beniksen, who sent personal reports to the emperor the wishes he supposed the emperor to hold and the fact that all the generals expressed the same wish could no longer check the inevitable movement and gave the order to do what he regarded as useless and harmful gave his approval, that is to the accomplished fact End of Chapter 3 War and Peace, Book 13, Chapter 4 Read for LibriVox.org Beniksen's note in the Cossack's information that the left flank of the French was unguarded were merely final indications that it was necessary to order an attack and it was fixed for the 5th of October On the morning of the 4th of October Kutuzov signed the dispositions Tol read them to Ermolov asking him to attend to the further arrangements All right, all right I haven't time just now replied Ermolov and left the hut The dispositions drawn up by Tol were very good As in the Austerlitz dispositions it was written though not in German this time The first column will march here and here The second column will march there and there and so on and on paper all these columns arrived at their places at the appointed time and destroyed the enemy Everything had been admirably thawed out as is usual in dispositions and as is always the case not a single column reached its place at the appointed time When the necessary number of copies of the dispositions had been prepared an officer was summoned and sent to deliver them to Ermolov to deal with A young officer of the horse guards Kutuzov's orderly pleased at the importance of the mission entrusted to him went to Ermolov's quarters Gone away, said Ermolov's orderly The officer of the horse guards went to a general with whom Ermolov was often to be found No, and the general's out too The officer mounting his horse rode off to someone else No, he's gone out If only they don't make me responsible for this delay What a nuisance it is, thought the officer and he rode round the whole camp One man said he had seen Ermolov ride past with some other generals Others said he must have returned home The officer searched till six o'clock in the evening without even stopping to eat Ermolov was nowhere to be found and no one knew where he was The officer snatched a little food at a comrade's and rode again to the vanguard to find Miloradovich Miloradovich too was away But here he was told that he had gone to a ball at General Kikens and that Ermolov was probably there too But where is it? Why there, over at Eshkino said a Cossack officer pointing to a country house in the far distance What? Outside our line? They've put two regiments as outposts and they're having such a spree there it's awful Two bands and three sets of singers The officer rode out beyond our lines to Eshkino While still at a distance he heard as he rode the merry sounds of a soldier's dance song proceeding from the house In the meadows, in the meadows, he heard accompanied by whistling and the sound of a torban drowned every now and then by shouts These sounds made his spirits rise but at the same time he was afraid that he would be blamed for not having executed sooner the important order entrusted to him It was already past eight o'clock He dismounted and went up into the porch of a large country house which had remained intact between the Russian and French forces In the refreshment room and the hall footmen were bustling about with wine and vines Groups of singers stood outside the windows The officer was admitted and immediately saw all the chief generals of the army together and among them, Ermolov's big imposing figure They all had their coats unbuttoned and were standing in a semi-circle with flushed and animated faces laughing loudly In the middle of the room a short handsome general with a red face was dancing the trepac with much spirit and agility Ha ha ha! Bravo Nicholas Ivanish! Ha ha ha! The officer felt that by arriving with important orders at such a moment he was doubly to blame and he would have preferred to wait but one of the generals aspired him and hearing what he had come about informed Ermolov Ermolov came forward with a frown on his face and hearing what the officer had to say took the papers from him without a word You think he went off just by chance? said a comrade who was on the staff that evening to the officer of the horse guards referring to Ermolov It was a trick It was done on purpose to get Conovnitsyn into trouble You'll see what a mess there'll be tomorrow End of Chapter 4 This recording is in the public domain War and Peace, Book 13, Chapter 5 Read for LibriVox.org by Laurie Ann Walden Next day the decrepit Kutuzov having given orders to be called early said his prayers, dressed and with an unpleasant consciousness he did not think to direct a battle he did not approve of got into his Kalesh and drove from Letyshovka a village three and a half miles from Taratino to the place where the attacking columns were to meet He sat in the Kalesh dozing and waking up by turns and listening for any sound of firing on the right as an indication that the action had begun but all was still quiet A damp, dull, alter morning was just dawning On approaching Taratino Kutuzov noticed cavalrymen leading their horses to water across the road along which he was driving Kutuzov looked at them searchingly, stopped his carriage and inquired what regiment they belonged to They belonged to a column that should have been far in front and in ambush long before then It may be a mistake, thought the old commander in chief but a little farther on he saw infantry regiments with their arms piled and the soldiers only partly dressed eating their rye porridge and carrying fuel He sent for an officer The officer reported that no order to advance had been received How not Kutuzov began but checked himself immediately and sent for a senior officer Getting out of his Kalesh he waited with drooping head and breathing heavily, pacing silently up and down When Ikan, the officer of the general staff whom he had summoned appeared, Kutuzov went purple in the face Not because that officer was to blame for the mistake but because he was an object of sufficient importance for him to vent his wrath on Trimbling and panting the old man fell into that state of fury in which he sometimes used to roll on the ground and he fell upon Ikan, threatening him with his hands shouting and loading him with gross abuse Another man, Captain Brozen, who happened to turn up and who was not at all to blame, suffered the same fate What sort of another black guard are you? I'll have you shot, scoundrels! yelled Kutuzov in a hoarse voice waving his arms and reeling He was suffering physically He, the commander in chief, a serene highness who everybody said possessed powers such as no man had ever had in Russia to be placed in this position made the laughing stock of the whole army I needn't have been in such a hurry to pray about today or have kept awake thinking everything over all night thought he to himself When I was a chit of an officer no one would have dared to mock me so and now he was in a state of physical suffering as if from corporal punishment and could not avoid expressing it by cries of anger and distress But his strength soon began to fail him and looking about him, conscious of having said much that was amiss he again got into his kalesh and drove back in silence His wrath, once expended, did not return and blinking feebly he listened to excuses and self-justifications Ermolov did not come to see until the next day and to the insistence of Bennington, Conovnitsyn and Toll the movement that had miscarried should be executed next day and once more Kutuzov had to consent End of Chapter 5 This recording is in the public domain War and Peace Book 13, Chapter 6 Read for Libfrock.org by Anna Simon Next day the troops assembled in their appointed places in the evening and advanced during the night It was an autumn night with dark purple clouds but no rain The ground was damp but not muddy and the troops advanced noiselessly Only occasionally a jingling of the artillery could be faintly heard The men were forbidden to talk out loud to smoke their pipes or to strike a light and they tried to prevent their horses neighing The secrecy of the undertaking heightened this charm and they marched gaily Some columns, supposing they had reached their destination halted, piled arms and settled down on the cold ground but the majority marched all night and arrived at places where they evidently should not have been Only Count Orlov Denisov, with his Cossacks the least important detachment of all, got to his appointed place at the right time This detachment halted at the outskirts of a forest on the path leading from the village of Stromilova to Dmitrovsk Toward dawn Count Orlov Denisov, who had dozed off was awakened by a deserter from the French army being brought to him This was a Polish sergeant of Poniatowski's corpse who explained in Polish that he had come over because he had been slighted in the service that he ought long ago to have been made an officer that he was braver than any of them and so he had left them and wished to pay them out He said that Murat was spending the night less than a mile from where they were and that if they would let him have a convoy of a hundred men he would capture him alive Count Orlov Denisov consulted his fellow officers The offer was too tempting to be refused Everyone volunteered to go and everybody advised making the attempt After much disputing and arguing Major General Grecov, with two Cossack regiments decided to go with the Polish sergeant Now remember, said Count Orlov Denisov to the sergeant at parting If you have been lying, I'll have you hanged like a dog But if it's true, you shall have a hundred gold pieces Without replying, the sergeant with a resolute air mounted and rode away with Grecov whose men had quickly assembled They disappeared into the forest and Count Orlov Denisov, having seen Grecov off returned shivering from the freshness of the early dawn and excited by what he had undertaken on his own responsibility and began looking at the enemy camp now just visible in the deceptive light of dawn and the dying campfires Our columns ought to have begun to appear on an open decleavity to his right He looked in that direction but though the columns would have been visible quite far off they were not to be seen It seemed to the Count that things were beginning to stir in the French camp and his keen-sighted adjutant confirmed this Oh, it is really too late, said Count Orlov, looking at the camp As often happens when someone we have trusted is no longer before our eyes it suddenly seemed quite clear and obvious to him that the sergeant was an imposter that he had lied and that the whole Russian attack would be ruined by the absence of those two regiments which he would lead away heaven-only new wear How could one capture a commander-in-chief from among such a mass of troops? I'm sure that Rascal was lying, said the Count They can still be called back, said one of his sweet who, like Count Orlov, felt distrustful of the adventure when he looked at the enemy's camp Eh, really? What do you think? Should we let them go on or not? Will you have them fetched back? Fetched them back, fetched them back, said Count Orlov with sudden determination, looking at his watch It will be too late, just quite light and the adjutant galloped through the forest after Grecoff When Grecoff returned, Count Orlov-Denisov excited both by the abandoned attempt and by vainly awaiting the infantry columns that still did not appear, as well as by the proximity of the enemy, resolved to advance All his men felt the same excitement Mount, he commanded in a whisper The men took their places and crossed themselves Forward with God's aid Hurrah! reverberated in the forest and the Cossack companies trailing their lances and advancing one after another as if poured out of a sack dashed gaily across the brook toward the camp One desperate frightened yell from the first French soldier who saw the Cossacks and all who were in the camp undressed and only just waking up ran off in all directions, abandoning cannons, muskets and horses. Had the Cossacks pursued the French without heeding what was behind and around them they would have captured Murrah and everything there That was what the officers desired but it was impossible to make the Cossacks budge since they had got booty and prisoners None of them listened to orders 1500 prisoners and 38 guns were taken on the spot besides standards and what seemed most important to the Cossacks Horses, saddles, horse-cloths and the like All this had to be dealt with The prisoners and guns secured the booty divided not without some shouting and even the little themselves and it was on this that the Cossacks all busied themselves The French, not being further pursued began to recover themselves They formed into detachments and began firing Orle of Denisov, still waiting for the other columns to arrive advanced no further Meantime, according to the dispositions which said that the first column will march and so on the infantry of the belated columns commanded by Benixen and directed by Tull had started in Diorre and, as always happens, had got somewhere but not to their appointed places As always happens, the men, starting cheerfully began to hold, murmurs were heard there was a sense of confusion and finally a backward movement Adjutants and generals galloped about shouted, grew angry, crawled said they had come quite wrong and were late gave vent to a little abuse and at last gave it all up and went forward, simply to get somewhere somewhere or other and they did indeed get somewhere though not to their right places a few eventually even got to their right place but too late to be of any use and only in time to be fired at Tull, who in this battle played the part of Weyrotter at Auslanditz galloped assiduously from place to place finding everything upside down everywhere Thus he stumbled on Bagovod's corpse in a wood when it was already broad daylight and the corpse should long before have joined Orlov Denysov Excited and vexed by the failure and supposing that someone must be responsible for it Tull galloped up to the commander of the corpse and began abrading him severely saying that he ought to be shot General Bagovod, a fighting old soldier of placid temperament being also upset by all the delay confusion and cross purposes fell into a rage to everybody's surprise and quite contrary to his usual character and said disagreeable things to Tull I prefer not to take lessons from anyone but I can die with my man as well as anybody and advanced with a single division Coming out onto a field under the enemy's fire this brave general went straight ahead leading his men under fire without considering in his agitation whether going into action now with a single division would be of any use or no Danger, cannonballs and bullets that's what he needed in his angry mood one of the first bullets killed him and other bullets killed many of his men and his division remained under fire for some time quite uselessly End of Chapter 6 War and Peace, Book 13, Chapter 7 Read for LibberVox.org by Anna Simon Meanwhile another column was to have attacked the French from the front because of a company that column he well knew that nothing but confusion would come of this battle and are taken against his will and as far as was in his power help the troops back he did not advance he wrote silently on a small grey horse indolently answering suggestions that they should attack The word attack is always on your tongue but you don't see that we are unable to execute complicated maneuvers who asked permission to advance we couldn't take Murat prisoner this morning or get to the place and time and nothing can be done now he replied to someone else when Kutuzov was informed that the French rear where according to the reports of the Cossacks they had previously been nobody there were now two battalions of Poles he gave a sight-long glance at Ermolov who was behind him and to whom he had not spoken since the previous day you see they're asking to attack and making plans of all kinds but as soon as one gets to the business nothing is ready and the enemy, forewarned, takes measures accordingly Ermolov screwed up his eyes and smiled faintly on hearing these words he understood that for him the storm had blown over and that Kutuzov would contend himself with that hint he's having a little fun at my expense said Ermolov softly nudging with his knee he was at his side soon after this Ermolov moved up to Kutuzov and respectfully remarked it is not too late yet, Your Highness the enemy has not gone away if you were to order an attack if not the guards will not so much as see a little smoke Kutuzov did not reply but when they reported to him that Muras troops were in retreat he ordered an advance though at every hundred paces he hold it for three quarters of an hour the battle consisted in what all of Denizov's Cossacks had done the rest of the army merely lost some hundreds of men uselessly in consequence of this battle Kutuzov received a diamond decoration and Beneksen some diamonds and a hundred thousand rubles others also received pleasant recognitions corresponding to their various grades and following the battle fresh changes were made in the staff that's how everything's done with us all topsy-turvy said the Russian officers and generals after the Tautino battle letting it be understood that some fool there is doing all things wrong but we ourselves should not have done so just as people speak today but people who talk like that either do not know what they are talking about or deliberately deceive themselves no battle Tautino, Borodino or Austerlitz takes place as those who planned it anticipated that is an essential condition a countless number of free forces for nowhere is man freer than during a battle where it is a question of life and death influence the cause taken by the fight and that cause never can be known in advance and never coincides with the direction of any one force if many simultaneously and variously directed forces act on a given body the direction of its motion cannot coincide with any one of those forces but will always be a mean what in mechanics is represented by the diagonal of a parallelogram of forces if in the descriptions given by historians especially French ones we find their wars and battles carried out in accordance with previously formed plans the only conclusion to be drawn is that those descriptions are false the battle of Tautino obviously did not attain the aim Tautino had in view to lead the troops into action in the order prescribed by the dispositions nor that which Count Olaf Denisov may have had in view to take Mura prisoner nor the result of immediately destroying the whole corpse which Benikson and others may have had in view nor the aim of the officer who wished to go into action to distinguish himself nor that of the Cossack who wanted more booty than he got but if the aim of the battle was what actually resulted and what all the Russians of that day desired to drive the French out of Russia and destroy their army it is quite clear that the battle of Tautino just because of its incongruities was exactly what was wanted at that stage of the campaign it would be difficult and even impossible to imagine any result more opportune than the actual outcome of this battle with a minimum of effort and insignificant losses despite the greatest confusion the most important results of the whole campaign were attained the transition from retreat to advance an exposure of the weakness of the French and the administration led shock which Napoleon's army had only awaited to begin its flight Napoleon enters Moscow after the brilliant victory de la Moscova there can be no doubt about the victory for the battlefield remains in the hands of the French the Russians retreat and abandon their ancient capital Moscow, abounding in provisions, arms, munitions and incalculable wealth is in Napoleon's hands the Russian army, only half the strength of the French does not make a single attempt to attack for a whole month Napoleon's position is most brilliant he can either fall on the Russian army with double its strength and destroy it negotiate an advantageous peace or in case of a refusal make a menacing move on Petersburg or even in the case of a reverse return to Smolensk or Vilna or remain in Moscow in short, no special genius would seem to be required to retain the brilliant position the French held at that time for that, only very simple and easy steps were necessary not to allow the troops to loot to prepare winter clothing of which there was sufficient in Moscow for the whole army and methodically to collect the provisions of which, according to the French historians there were enough in Moscow to supply the whole army for six months yet Napoleon, that greatest of all geniuses who the historians declare had control of the army took none of these steps he not merely did nothing of the kind but on the contrary he used his power to select the most foolish and ruinous of all the courses open to him of all that Napoleon might have done wintering in Moscow advancing on Petersburg or on Nishni Novgorod or retiring by a more northerly or more southerly route say by the road Kutuzov afterwards took nothing more stupid or disastrous can be imagined than what he actually did he remained in Moscow till October letting the troops plunder the city then hesitating whether to leave a garrison behind him he quitted Moscow approached Kutuzov without joining battle turned to the right and reached Maloyarslavits again without attempting to break through and take the road Kutuzov took but retiring instead to Majaisk along the devastated Smolensk Road nothing more stupid than that could have been devised or more disastrous for the army as the sequel showed had Napoleon's aim been to destroy his army the most skillful strategist could hardly have devised any series of actions that would so completely have accomplished that purpose independently of anything the Russian army might do Napoleon, the man of genius did this but to say that he destroyed his army because he wished to or because he was very stupid would be as unjust as to say that he had brought his troops to Moscow because he wished to and because he was very clever and a genius in both cases his personal activity having no more force than the personal activity of any soldier merely coincided with the laws that guided the event the historians quite falsely represent Napoleon's faculties as having weakened in Moscow and do so only because the results did not justify his actions he employed all his ability and strength to do the best he could for himself and his army as he had done previously and as he did subsequently in 1813 his activity at that time was no less astounding than it was in Egypt, in Italy in Austria and in Prussia we do not know for certain in how far his genius was genuine in Egypt where forty centuries looked down upon his grandeur for his great exploits there are all told us by Frenchmen we cannot accurately estimate his genius in Austria or Prussia for we have to draw our information from French or German sources and the incomprehensible surrender of whole corps without fighting and of fortresses without a siege must incline Germans to recognize his genius as the only explanation of the war carried on in Germany but we, thank God have no need to recognize his genius in order to hide our shame we have paid for the right to look at the matter plainly and simply and we will not abandon that right his activity in Moscow was as amazing and as full of genius as elsewhere order after order and plan after plan were issued by him from the time he entered Moscow till the time he left it he was the leader of all the nations of citizens and of a deputation and even the burning of Moscow did not disconcert him he did not lose sight either of the welfare of his army or of the doings of the enemy or of the welfare of the people of Russia or of the direction of affairs in Paris or of diplomatic considerations concerning the terms of the anticipated peace end of chapter 8 with regard to military matters Napoleon immediately on his entry into Moscow gave General Sabastiani strict orders to observe the movements of the Russian army sent army corps out along the different roads and charged Marat to find Kudazov then he gave careful directions about the fortification of the Kremlin and drew up a brilliant plan for a future campaign over the whole map of Russia with regard to diplomatic questions Napoleon summoned Captain Ukulev who had been robbed and was in rags and did not know how to get out of Moscow minutely explained him his whole policy and his magnanimity and having written a letter to the Emperor Alexander in which he considered it his duty to inform his friend and brother that restoption had managed affairs badly in Moscow he dispatched Ukulev to Petersburg having similarly explained his views and his magnanimity to Tuleman he dispatched that old man to Petersburg to negotiate matters immediately after the fires he gave orders to find and execute the incineraries and the scoundrel restoption was punished by an order to burn down his houses with regard to administrative matters Moscow was granted a constitution a municipality was established and the following announcement issued Inhabitants of Moscow their misfortunes are cruel but his majesty the emperor and king desires to arrest their course terrible examples have taught you how he punishes disobedience and crime strict measures have been taken to put an end to disorder and to re-establish public security a paternal administration chosen from among yourselves will form your municipality or city government it will take care of you of your needs and of your welfare its members will be distinguished by a red ribbon worn across the shoulder and the mayor of the city will wear a white belt as well but when not on duty they will only wear a red ribbon around the left arm the city police is established on its former footing and better order already prevails in consequence of its activity the government has appointed two commissaries general or chiefs of police and 20 commissaries or captains of wards have been appointed to the different wards of the city you will recognize them by the white ribbon they wear on the left arm several churches of different denominations are open and divine services performed in them unhindered your fellow citizens are returning every day to their homes and orders have been given that they should find in them the help and protection due to their misfortunes one of the measures the government has adopted to reestablish order and relieve your condition but to achieve this aim it is necessary that you should add your efforts and should if possible forget the misfortunes you have suffered should entertain the hope of a less cruel fate should be certain that inevitable and ignominious death waits those who make any attempt on your persons or on what remains of your property and finally that you should not doubt that these will be safeguarded since such is the will of the greatest soldiers and citizens of whatever nation you may be reestablish public confidence the source of the welfare of a state soldiers and citizens of whatever nation you may be reestablish public confidence the source of the welfare of a state live like brothers render mutual aid and protection one to another unite to defeat the intentions of the evil minded obey the military and civil authorities and your tears will soon cease to flow as this applies for the army Napoleon decreed that all the troops in turn should enter Moscow all on the rod as looters to obtain provisions for themselves so that the army might have its future provided for with regard to religion Napoleon ordered the priests to be brought back and services to be again performed in the churches with regard to commerce and to provisioning the army following as placarded everywhere proclamation you peaceful inhabitants of Moscow artisans and workmen your misfortune has driven from the city and you, scattered tillers of the soil still kept out in the gardens by groundless fear listen tranquility is returning to this capital an order is being restored in it your fellow countrymen are merging boldly from their hiding places on finding that they are respected any violence to them or to their property is promptly punished his majesty the emperor and king protects them and considers no one among you his enemy except those who disobey his orders he desires to injure misfortunes and restore you to your homes and families respond therefore to his benevolent intentions and come to us without fear inhabitants return with confidence to your abodes you will soon find means of satisfying your needs craftsmen and industrious artisans return to your work your houses your shops where the protection of guards awaits you you shall receive proper pay for your work and lastly you too peasants come from the forests where you are hiding in terror return to your huts without fear you will find protection markets are established in the city where peasants can bring their surplus supplies in the products of the soil the government has taken the following steps to ensure freedom of sale for them one from today peasants husband men and those living in the neighborhood of Moscow may without any danger bring their supplies of all kinds to two appointed markets of which one is on the mukabna street and the other is at the provision market two such supplies will be bought from them at such prices a seller and buyer will agree on and if a seller is unable to obtain a fair price he will be free to take his goods back to his village and no one may hinder him under any pretense three Sunday and Wednesday of each week are appointed as the chief market days and to that end a sufficient number of troops will be stationed along the high roads on Tuesdays and Saturdays at such distances from the town as to protect the carts four similar measures will be taken that peasants with their carts and horses may meet with no hindrance on their return journey five steps will immediately be taken to reestablish ordinary trading inhabitants of the city and villages and you working men and artisans to whatever nation you belong you are called on to carry out the paternal intentions of his majesty the emperor and king and to cooperate with him for the public welfare lay your respect and confidence at his feet and do not delay to unite with us with the object of raising the spirits of the troops and of the people reviews were constantly held and rewards distributed the emperor rode through the streets to comfort the inhabitants and despite his preoccupation with state affairs himself visited the theaters that were established by his order in regard to philanthropy, the greatest virtue of crowned heads, Napoleon also did all in his power he caused the words Maison de Mamire to be inscribed on the charitable institutions thereby combining tender filial affection with the majestic benevolence of a monarch he visited the Foundling Hospital and allowing the orphan saved by him to kiss his white hands, graciously to the women. Then, as Thiers eloquently recounts, he orders his soldiers to be paid in forged Russian money which he had prepared raising the use of these means by an act worthy of himself and of the French army he let relief be distributed to those who had been burned out but his food was too precious to be given to foreigners who were for the most part enemies Napoleon preferred to supply them with money with which to purchase food from outside and had paper rubles distributed to them in reference to army discipline, orders were continually being issued to inflict severe punishment for the non-performance of military duties and to suppress robbery End of Chapter 9 Recording by Tim Cabbage Hill, Oregon www.timjoneer.com T-I-M-G-I-N-E-E-R.com This recording is in the public domain www.timjoneer.com Chapter 10 But strange to say, all these measures, efforts, and plans which were not at all worse than others issued in similar circumstances did not affect the essence of the matter but, like the hands of a clock detached from the mechanism swung about in an arbitrary and aimless way without engaging the cog wheels. With reference to the military side the plan of campaign that work of genius of which Tyr remarks that his genius never devised anything more profound, more skillful or more admirable and enters into a polemic with M. Fein to prove that this work of genius must be referred not to the fourth but to the fifteenth of October. That plan never was or could be executed for it was quite out of touch with the facts of the case. The mining of the Kremlin, for which Lemuski, as Napoleon termed the Church of Basil the Beatified, was to have been raised to the ground proved quite useless. The mining of the Kremlin only helped toward fulfilling Napoleon's wish that it should be blown up when he left Moscow as a child wants a floor on which he has hurt himself to be beaten. The pursuit of the Russian army about which Napoleon was so concerned produced an unheard of result. The French generals lost touch with the Russian army of 60,000 men and according to Tier it was only eventually found like a lost pin by the skill and apparently the genius of Marat. With reference to diplomacy all Napoleon's arguments as to his magnitivity and justice both the Tuttelmen and to Yakovlev whose chief concern was to obtain a great coat and a conveyance proved useless. Alexander did not rejoice and did not reply to their envisage. With regard to legal matters after the execution of the supposed incendiaries the rest of Moscow burned down. With regard to administrative matters the establishment of a municipality did not stop the robberies and was only of use to certain people who formed part of that municipality and under free text of preserving order looted Moscow or saved their own property from being looted. With regard to religion as to which in Egypt matters had so easily been settled by Napoleon's visit to a mosque no results were achieved. Two or three priests who were found in Moscow did try to carry out Napoleon's wish but one of them was slapped in the face by a French soldier while conducting service and a French official reported of another that the priest whom I found and invited to say mass cleaned and locked up the church that night the doors were again broken open the padlocks smashed the books mutilated and other disorders perpetrated. With reference to commerce the proclamation to industrious workmen and to peasants evoked no response. There were no industrious workmen and the peasants caught the commissaries who ventured too far out of town with the proclamation and killed them. As to the theaters for the entertainment of the people and the troops these did not meet with success either. The theaters set up in the Kremlin and in Poznikov's house were closed again at once because the actors and actresses were robbed. Even philanthropy did not have the desired effect. The genuine as well as the false paper money which flooded Moscow lost its value. The French, collecting booty cared only for gold. Not only was the paper money valueless which Napoleon so graciously distributed to the unfortunate but even silver lost its value in relation to gold. But the most amazing example of the ineffectiveness of the orders given by the authorities at that time was Napoleon's attempt to stop the looting and reestablish discipline. This is what the army authorities were reporting. Looting continues in the city despite the decrees against it. Order is not yet restored and not a single merchant is carrying on trade in a lawful manner. The settlers alone ventured to trade and they sell stolen goods. The neighborhood of my ward continues to be pillaged by soldiers of the Third Corps who, not satisfied with taking from the unfortunate inhabitants hiding in the cellars the little they have left even have the ferocity to wound them with their sabers as I have repeatedly witnessed. Nothing new except that the soldiers are robbing and pillaging October 9. Robbery and pillaging continue. There is a band of thieves in our district who ought to be arrested by a strong force. October 11. The emperor is extremely displeased that despite the strict orders to stop pillage, parties of marauding guards are continually seen returning to the Kremlin. Among the old guard, disorder and pillage were renewed more violently than ever yesterday evening, last night and today. The emperor sees with regret that the picked soldiers appointed to guard his person, who should set an example of discipline, carry disobedience to such a point that they break into the cellars and stores containing army supplies. Others have disgraced themselves to the extent of disobeying sentinels and officers, and have abused and beaten them. The grand marshal of the palace, wrote the governor, complains bitterly that in spite of repeated orders the soldiers continue to commit abuses in all the courtyards and even under the very windows of the emperor. That army, like a herd of cattle run wild and trampling underfoot the provender which might have saved it from starvation, disintegrated and perished with each additional day it remained in Moscow. But it did not go away. It began to run away only when suddenly seized by a panic caused by the capture of transport trains on the Smolensk Road by the battle of Tarotino. The news of that battle of Tarotino, unexpectedly received by Napoleon at a review, evoked in him a desire to punish the Russians, Tyr says, and he issued the order for departure which the whole army was demanding. Fleeing from Moscow the soldiers took with them everything they had stolen. Napoleon too carried away his own personal tracer, but on seeing the baggage trains that impeded the army was, Tyr says, horror struck. And yet with his experience of war he did not order all the superfluous vehicles to be burned as he had done with those of a certain Marshal when approaching Moscow. He gazed at the callishes and carriages in which soldiers were riding and remarked that it was a very good thing, as those vehicles could be used to carry provisions, the sick and the wounded. The plate of the whole army resembled that of a wounded animal which feels it is perishing and does not know what it is doing. To study the skillful tactics and aims of Napoleon and his army from the time it entered Moscow till it was destroyed is like studying the dying leaps and shutters of a mortally wounded animal. Very often a wounded animal hearing a rustle rushes straight at the hunter's gun, runs forward and back again and hastens its own end. Napoleon, under pressure from his whole army, did the same thing. The rustle of the battle of Taratino frightened the beast and it rushed forward onto the hunter's gun, reached him, turned back and finally, like any wild beast, ran back along the most disadvantageous and dangerous path where the old scent was familiar. During the whole of that period, Napoleon, who seems to us to have been the leader of all these movements as the figurehead of a ship may seem to have savaged to guide the vessel, acted like a child who, holding a couple of strings inside a carriage, thinks he is driving it. End of Chapter 10 Recording by Joe Maywalt in the Bronx, New York Ministry-of-fon.com This is a recording in the public domain. Book 13, Section 11 Read for LibriVox.org by Miriam Esther Goldman Early in the morning of the 6th of October, Pierre went out of the shed and on returning, stopped by the door to play with a little blue-gray dog with a long body and short, bandy legs that jumped about him. This little dog lived in their shed, sleeping beside Karateev at night. It sometimes made excursions into the town, but always returned again. Probably it had never had an owner. And it still belonged to nobody and had no name. The French called it Azor. The soldier who told stories called it Femgalca. Karateev and others called it gray, or sometimes flabby. It's lack of a master, a name, or even a breed, or any definite color did not seem to trouble the blue-gray dog in the least. Its furry tail stood up firm and round as a plume. Its bandy legs served at the plume. Its bandy legs served it so well that it would often gracefully lift a hind leg and run very easily and quickly on three legs, as if disdaining to use all four. Everything pleased it. Now would roll on its back, yelping with the light, now bask in the sun with a thoughtful air of importance, and now frolic about playing with a chip of wood or a straw. Pierre's attire by now consisted of a dirty, torn shirt, the only remnant of his former clothing. A pair of soldier's trousers, which by Karateev's advice he had tied with string around the ankles for warmth, and a peasant coat and cap. Physically he had changed much during this time. He no longer seemed stout, though he still had the appearance of solidity and strength hereditary in his family. A bearded mustache covered the lower part of his face and a tangle of hair infested with lice, curled round like a cap. The look of his eyes was resolute, calm and animatedly alert as never before. The former slackness which had shown itself even in his eyes was now replaced by an energetic readiness for action and resistance. His feet were bare. Pierre first looked down the fields across which vehicles and horsemen were passing that morning, then into the distance across the river, then at the dog who was pretending to be an earnest about fighting him, and then at his bare feet which he placed with pleasure in various positions, moving his dirty, thick, big toes. Every time he looked at his bare feet a smile of animated self-satisfaction flitted across his face. The sight of them reminded him of all he had experienced and learned during these weeks, and this recollection was pleasant to him. For some days the weather had been calm and clear with slight frosts in the morning, it was called an old wives' summer. In the sunshine the air was warm and that warmth was particularly pleasant with the invigorating freshness of the morning frost still in the air. On everything far and near lay the magic crystal glitter seen only at that time of autumn. The sparrow hills were visible in the distance with the village, the church and the large white house, the bare trees, the sand, the bricks and roofs of the houses, the green church spire and the corner of the white house in the distance all stood out in the transparent air and most delicate outline and with unnatural clearness. Nearby could be seen the familiar ruins of a half-burned mansion occupied by the French with lilac bushes still showing dark green beside the fence. And even that ruined and befouled house which in dull weather was repulsively ugly seemed quietly beautiful now in the clear, motionless brilliance. A French corporal with coat unbuttoned in a homely way, a skull cap on his head and a short pipe in his mouth came from behind a corner of the shed and approached Pierre with a friendly wink. What sunshine, Monsieur Quiro, their name for Peter. Eh, just like spring. And the corporal leaned against the door and offered Pierre his pipe though whenever he offered it Pierre always declined it to be on the march in such weather he began. Pierre inquired what was being said about leaving and the corporal told him that nearly all the troops were starting and there ought to be an order about the prisoners that day. Sokolov, one of the soldiers in the shed with Pierre was dying and Pierre told the corporal that something should be done about him. The corporal replied that Pierre need not worry about that as they had an ambulance and a permanent hospital and arrangements would be made for the sick and that in general everything that could happen had been foreseen by the authorities. Besides, Monsieur Quiro, you have only to say a word to the captain, you know. He is a man who never forgets anything. Speak to the captain when he makes his round he will do anything for you. The captain of whom the corporal spoke often had long chats with Pierre and showed him all sorts of favors. You see, Saint Thomas, he said to me the other day Monsieur Quiro is a man of education who speaks French. He is a Russian senior who has had misfortunes but he is a man. He knows what's what. He wants anything and asks me he won't get a refusal and if one has studied you see one likes education and well-bred people. It is for your sake I mention it Monsieur Quiro. The other day if it had not been for you that affair would have ended ill. And after chatting a while longer the corporal went away. The affair he had alluded to had happened a few days before. A fight between the prisoners and the French soldiers in which Pierre had succeeded in pacifying his comrades. He heard Pierre talking to the corporal immediately asked what the Frenchman had said. While Pierre was repeating what he had been told about the army leaving Moscow a thin, sallow, tattered French soldier came up to the door of the shed. Rapidly and timidly raising his fingers to his forehead by way of greeting he asked Pierre whether the soldier platoche to whom he had given a shirt to sew was in that shed. A week before the French had had boot leather and linen issued to them which they had given out to the prisoners to make up into boots and shirts for them. Ready, ready dear fellow said Karateev coming out with a neatly folded shirt. Karateev on account of the warm weather and for convenience at work was wearing only trousers and a tattered shirt as black as soot. His hair was bound round workman fashion with a wisp of lime tree vast and his round face seemed grouter and pleasanter than ever. A promise his own brother to performance I said Friday and here it is ready said Platon smiling and unfolding the shirt he had sewn. The Frenchman glanced around uneasily and then as if overcoming his hesitation rapidly threw off his uniform and put on the shirt. He had a long greasy flowered silk with a sallow thin bare body but no shirt. He was evidently afraid the prisoners looking on would laugh at him and thrust his head into the shirt hurriedly. None of the prisoners said a word. See it fits well Platon kept repeating pulling the shirt straight. The Frenchman having pushed his head and hands through without raising his eyes looked down at the shirt and examined the seams. You see dear man this is not a sewing shop and I had no proper tools and as they say one needs a tool even to kill a louse said Platon with one of his round smiles obviously pleased with his work. It's good quite good thank you said the Frenchman in French but there must be some linen left over. It will fit better still when it sets to your body said Karateev still admiring his handiwork. You'll be nice and comfortable. Thanks thanks old fellow but the bits left over said the Frenchman again and smiled he took out an assignation rubble note and gave it to Karateev but give me the pieces that are over. Pierre saw that Platon did not want to understand what the Frenchman was saying and he looked on without interfering Karateev thanked the Frenchman for the money and went on admiring his own work. The Frenchman insisted on having the pieces left over and asked Pierre to translate what he said what does he want the bits for said Karateev. They'd make fine leg bands for us well never mind and Karateev with a suddenly changed and saddened expression took a small bundle of scraps from inside his shirt and gave it to the Frenchman without looking at him. Oh dear muttered Karateev and went away the Frenchman looked at the linen considered for a moment then looked inquiringly at Pierre and as if Pierre's look had told him something suddenly blushed and shouted in a squeaky voice Platouche hey Platouche keep them yourself and handing back the odd bits he turned and went out there look at that said Karateev swaying his head people said they were not Christians but they too have souls it's what the old folk used to say a sweating hands an open hand a dry hands close he's naked but yet he's given it back Karateev smiled thoughtfully and was silent while looking at the pieces mut they'll make grand leg bands dear friend he said and went back into the shed end of section 11 recording by Miriam Esther Goldman Louise Book 13 Chapter 12 read for Libre Vox by Ernst Patinama four weeks had passed since Pierre had been taken prisoner and though the French had offered to move him from the men's to the officer's shed he had stayed in the shed where he was first put in burned and devastated Moscow Pierre experienced almost the extreme limits of privation a man can endure thanks to his physical strength and health of which he had till then been unconscious and thanks especially to the fact that the privations came so gradually that it was impossible to say when they began he endured his position not only lightly but joyfully and just at this time he obtained the tranquility and ease of mind he had formerly striven in vain to reach in different ways that tranquility of mind that inner harmony which had so impressed him in the soldiers at the battle of Boridino he had sorted in philanthropy in Freemasonry in the dissipations of town life in wine in heroic feats of self-sacrifice and in romantic love for Natasha he had sorted by reasoning and all these quests and experiments had failed him and now without thinking about it he had found that peace and inner harmony only through the horror of death through privation and through what he recognized in Karateev those dreadful moments he had lived through at the executions had, as it were forever washed away from his imagination and memory the agitating thoughts and feelings that had formerly seemed so important it did not now occur to him to think of Russia or the war or politics or Napoleon it was plain to him that all these things were in a business of his and that he was not called on to judge concerning them and therefore could not do so Russia and summer weather are not bound together he thought repeating words of Karateev's which he found strangely consoling his intention of killing Napoleon and his calculations of the kabbalistic number of the beast of the apocalypse now seemed to him meaningless and even ridiculous his anger with his wife and anxiety that his name should not be smudged now seemed to not merely trivial but even amusing what concern was it of his that somewhere or other that one was leading the life she preferred what did it matter to anybody and especially to him whether or not they found out that the prisoner's name was count Bezuhoff he now often remembered his conversation with Prince Andrew and quite agreed with him though he understood Prince Andrew's thoughts somewhat differently Prince Andrew had thought and said that happiness could only be negative but had said it with the shade of bitterness and irony as though he was really saying that all desire for positive happiness is implanted in us merely to torment us and to never be satisfied but Pierre believed it without any mental reservation the absence of suffering the satisfaction of one's needs and consequent freedom the choice of one's occupation that is of one's way of life now seemed to Pierre to be indubitably man's highest happiness here and now for the first time he fully appreciated the enjoyment of eating when he wanted to eat drinking when he wanted to drink sleeping when he wanted to sleep of warmth when he was cold of talking to a fellow man when he wished to talk and to hear a human voice the satisfaction of one's needs good food, cleanliness and freedom now that he was deprived of all this seemed to Pierre to constitute perfect happiness and the choice of occupation that is of his way of life now that that was so restricted seemed to him such an easy matter that he forgot that the superfluity of the comforts of life destroys all joy and satisfying one's needs while great freedom in the choice of occupation such freedom as his wealth his education and his social position had given him in his own life is just what makes the choice of occupation insolubly difficult and destroys the desire and possibility of having an occupation all Pierre's daydreams now turned on the time when he would be free yet subsequently and for the rest of his life he thought and spoke with enthusiasm of that month of captivity of those irrecoverable strong joyful sensations and chiefly of the complete peace of mind and inner freedom which he experienced only during those weeks when on the first day he got up early went out of the shed at dawn and saw the cupolas and crosses of the new convent of the Virgin still dark at first the whole frost and the dusty grass the sparrow hills painted banks above the winding river vanishing in the purple distance when he felt the contact of the fresh air and heard the noise of the crows flying from Moscow across the field and when afterwards light gleamed from the east and the sun's rim appeared solemnly from behind the cloud and the cupolas and crosses the whole frost, the distance and the river all began to sparkle in the glad light of his strength in life such as he had never before known and this not only stayed with him doing the whole of his imprisonment but even grew in strength as the hardships of his position increased that feeling of alertness and of readiness for anything was still further strengthened in him by the high opinion his fellow prisoners formed of him soon after his arrival at the shed with this knowledge of languages the respect shown him by the French his simplicity his readiness to give anything asked of him he received the allowance of three rubles a week made to officers with his strength which he showed to the soldiers by pressing nails into the walls of his hut his gentleness to his companions and his capacity for sitting still and thinking without doing anything which seemed to them incomprehensible he appeared to them a rather mysterious and superior being the very qualities that had been a hindrance if not actually harmful to him and the world he had lived in his strength his disdain for the comforts of life his absent mindedness and simplicity here among these people gave him almost the status of a hero and Pierre felt that their opinion placed these qualities upon him end of war in peace book 13 chapter 12 read by Ernst Patinama war in peace book 13 chapter 13 read for Libre Vaux by Ernst Patinama the French evacuation began on the night between the 6th and 7th of October kitchens and sheds were dismantled carts loaded and troops and baggage trains started at 7 in the morning a French convoy in marching trim wearing shackles and carrying muskets knapsacks and enormous sacks stood in front of the sheds and animated French talk mingled with curses sounded all along the lines in the shed everyone was ready dressed, belted, shod and only awaited the order to start soldier Sokolov pale and thin with dark shadows around his eyes alone sat in his place barefoot and not dressed his eyes, prominent from the emaciation of his face gazed inquiringly at his comrades who were paying no attention to him and he moaned regularly and quietly it was evidently not so much as sufferings had caused him to moan he had dysentery and nothing left alone Pierre girded with a robe round his waist and wearing shoes Karatayev had made for him from some leather a French soldier had torn off a tea-chest and brought to have his boots mended with went up to the sick man and squatted down beside him you know Sokolov they are not all going away they have a hospital here you may be better off than we said Pierre oh lord oh it will be the death of me oh lord moaned the man in a louder voice I'll go and ask them again directly said Pierre rising and going to the door of the shed just as Pierre reached the door the corporal who had overtim a pipe the day before came up to it with two soldiers the corporal and soldiers were in marching kit with knapsacks and shackles that had metal straps and these changed their familiar faces the corporal came according to orders to shut the door the prisoners had to be countered before being let out corporal what will they do with the sick man Pierre began but even as he spoke he began to doubt whether this was new or a stranger so unlike himself did the corporal see method moment moreover just as Pierre was speaking a sharp rattle of drums was suddenly heard from both sides the corporal frowned at Pierre's words and uttering some meaningless oaths slammed the door the shed became semi-dark and a sharp rattle of the drums on two sides drowned the sick man's groans there it is it again said Pierre to himself and an involuntary shudder ran down his spine and the corporals changed face in the sound of his voice in the stirring and deafening noise of the drums he recognized that mysterious callous force which compelled people against a will to kill the fellow men that force the effect of which he had witnessed during the executions to fear or to try to escape that force to address in treaties or exhortations to those who served as its tools was useless Pierre knew this now one had to wait and endure he did not again go to the sick man not turned to look at him but stood frowning by the door of the hut when the door was opened and the prisoners turned another like a flock of sheep squeezed into the exit Pierre pushed his way forward and approached that very captain who, as the corporal had assured him was ready to do anything for him the captain was also a margin kid and on his coat face appeared that same it which Pierre had recognized in the corporals words and in the role of the drums pass on, pass on the captain reiterated frowning sternly and looking at the prisoners who thronged past him Pierre went up to him though he knew his attempt would be vain what now the officer asked with a cold look as if not recognizing Pierre Pierre told him about the sick man he managed to walk devil take him said the captain pass on, pass on without looking at Pierre but he is dying Pierre again began be so good shouted the captain frowning angrily rattled the drums and Pierre understood that this mysterious horse completely controlled these men and that it was now useless to say any more the officer prisoners were separated and told to march in front there were about 30 officers with Pierre among them and about 300 men the officers who had come from the other sheds were all strangers to Pierre and much better dressed than he they looked at him and at his shoes mistrustfully as at an alien not far from him walked a fat major with a shallow bloated angry face was wearing a Kazan dressing gown and a pie drawn with a towel and to evidently enjoyed the respect of his fellow prisoners he kept one hand in which he clasped his tobacco pouch inside the bosom of his dressing gown and held the stem of his pipe firmly with the other panting and puffing the major grumbled and growled at everybody because he thought he was being pushed and that they were all hurrying when they had nowhere to hurry too he raised at something when there was nothing to be surprised at another, a thin little officer was speaking to everyone conjecturing where they were now being taken and how far they would get that day an official in felt boots and wearing a commissariat uniform ran round from side to side and gazed at the ruins of Moscow loudly announcing his observations as to what had been burned down and what this or that part of the city was that they could see a third officer who by his accent was a pole disputed with the commissariat officer arguing that he was mistaken in his identification of the different wards of Moscow what are you disputing about said a major angrily what does it matter whether it is St. Nicholas or St. Blasius you see it's burned down and there's an end of it pushing for isn't the road wide enough said he turning to a man behind him who was not pushing him at all oh oh oh what have they done the prisoners on one side and another were heard saying as they gazed on the charred ruins all beyond the river and Zubova and the Kremlin just look there's not half of it left yes I told you the whole quarter beyond the river and so it is well you know it's burned so what's the use of talking said the major as they passed near a church in a Hamovniki one of the few unburned quarters of Moscow the whole mass of prisoners suddenly started to one side and exclamations of horror and disgust were heard ah the villains what heathens yes dead so he is and smeared with something Pierre II drew near the church where the thing was that evoked these exclamations and dimly met out something leaning against the palings surrounding the church from the words of his comrades who saw better than he did he found that this was a body of a man set upright against the palings with its face smeared with soot go on what the devil go on 30,000 devils to confer guards began cursing and the French soldiers with fresh virulence drove away with their swords to crowd of prisoners who were gazing at the dead man end of chapter 13 recorded by Ernst Patinama war and peace book 13 chapter 14 read for liberfox.org by Anna Simon through the cross streets of the Chameufniki Quote the prisoners marched followed only by their escort and the vehicles and wagons belonging to that escort but when they reached the supply stores they came among a huge and closely packed train of artillery mingled with private vehicles at the bridge they all halted waiting for those in front to get across from the bridge they had a view of endless lines of moving baggage trains before and behind them to the right where the Kaluga road turns near Neshkrichny endless rows of troops and guards stretched away into the distance these were troops of Boernest Kool which had started before any of the others behind along the riverside and across the stone bridge were Nes troops and transport Davao's troops in whose charge were the prisoners and some were already debouching into the Kaluga road but the baggage trains stretched out so that the last of Boernest train had not yet got out of Moscow and reached the Kaluga road when the vanguard of Nes army was already emerging from the great Ardinka street when they had crossed the Crimean bridge the prisoners moved a few steps forward halted and again moved on and from all sides vehicles and men crowded closer and closer together the advance the few hundred paces that separated the bridge from the Kaluga road taking more than an hour to do so and came out upon the square where the streets of the Transmov square were and the Kaluga road converged and the prisoners jammed close together had to stand for some hours at that crossway from all sides, like the roar of the sea, were heard the rattle of wheels, the tramp of feet and incessant shouts of anger and abuse clashed against the wall of a charred house listening to that noise which mingled in his imagination with the roar of the drums to get a better view, several officer prisoners climbed onto the wall of the half-burned house against which Pierre was leaning what crowds! just look at the crowds they've loaded goods even on the cannon look there, those are furs they exclaimed just see with the black art of lute there, see what that one has behind in the cart why, those are settings taken from some icons by heaven how are the rascals see how that fellow has loaded themselves up he can hardly walk good lord, they've even grabbed those chases see that fellow there sitting on the trunks heavens, they're fighting that's right, hit him on the snout on a snout, like this we shan't get away before evening look, look there why, that must be Napoleon's own see what horses and the monograms with the crown it's like a portable house that fellow has dropped a sack and doesn't see it fighting again a woman with a baby, and not bad looking either yes, I dare say that's the way they'll let you pass just look, there's no end to it Russian winches by heaven so they are in carriages see how comfortably they've settled themselves again as at the church income of Nicky a wave of general curiosity bore all the prisoners forward onto the road and Pierre, thanks to his stature saw over the heads of the others what so attracted their curiosity in three carriages involved among the munition carts closely squeezed together set women with rouge faces dressed in glaring colours who were shouting something in shrill voices from the moment Pierre had recognised the appearance of the mysterious force nothing had seemed to him strange or dreadful neither the corpse smeared with soot for fun nor these women hurrying away nor the burned ruins of Moscow all that he now witnessed scarcely made an impression on him as if his soul, making ready for a hard struggle refused to receive impressions that might weaken it the women's vehicles drove by behind them came more carts soldiers, wagons, soldiers gun carriages, carriages soldiers, ammunition carts more soldiers and now and then women Pierre did not see the people as individuals but saw their movement all these people and horses seemed driven forward by some invisible power during the hour Pierre watched them they all came flowing from the different streets with one and the same desire to get on quickly they all jostled one another began to grow angry and to fight faith gleamed, brows frowned ever the same words of abuse flew from side to side and all the faces bore the same swaggeringly resolute and culturally cruel expression that had struck Pierre that morning on the corporal's face when the drums were beating it was not till nearly evening that the officer commanding the escort collected his men and with shouts and crawls forced his way in among the baggage trains on all sides emerged on to the Kaluga road they marched very quickly without resting and halted only when the sun began to set the baggage carts drew up close together and the men began to prepare for their night's rest they all appeared angry and dissatisfied for a long time oaths, angry shouts and fighting could be heard from all sides a carriage that followed the escort ran into one of the carts and knocked a hole in it in its full several soldiers ran toward the cart from different sides some beat the carriage horses on their heads turning them aside others fought among themselves and Pierre saw that one German was badly wounded on the head by a sword it seemed that all these men now that they had stopped amid fields in the chilled dusk of the autumn evening experienced one and the same feeling of unpleasant awakening from the hurry and eagerness to push on they pleased them at the start once at a standstill they all seemed to understand that they did not yet know where they were going and that much that was painful and difficult awaited them on this journey during this hold the escort treated the prisoners even worse than they had done at the start it was here that the prisoners for the first time received horse flesh for their meteration from the officer down to the lowest soldier they showed what seemed like personal spite against each of the prisoners in unexpected contrast to their former friendly relations this spite increased still more when on calling over the role of prisoners it was found that in a bustle of leaving Moscow one Russian soldier who had pretended to suffer from colic had escaped Pierre saw a Frenchman beat a Russian soldier cruelly for straying too far from the road and heard his friend the captain reprimand and threatened to court Marshal a non-commissioned officer on account of the escape of the Russian to the non-commissioned officers excuse that the prisoner was ill and could not walk the officer replied that the order was to shoot those who lagged behind Pierre felt that that fatal force which had crushed him during the executions but which he had not felt during his imprisonment now again controlled his existence it was terrible but he felt that in proportion to the efforts of that fatal force to crush him there grew and strengthened in his soul a power of life independent of it he ate a supper of bakwit soup with horse flesh and chatted with his comrades neither Pierre nor any of the others spoke of what they had seen in Moscow or of the roughness of their treatment by the French or of the order to shoot them which had been announced to them as if in reaction against the questioning of their position they were all particularly animated and gay they spoke of personal reminiscences of amusing scenes they had witnessed during the campaign and avoided all talk of their present situation the sun had set long since bright stars shone out here and there in the sky a red glow as of a conflagration spread above the horizon from the rising full moon and that vast red bowl swayed strangely in the grey haze it grew light the evening was ending but the night had not yet come Pierre got up and left his new companions crossing between the campfires to the other side of the road where he had been told the common soldier prisoners were stationed he wanted to talk to them on the road he was stopped by a French sentinel who ordered him back Pierre turned back not to his companions by the campfire but to an unharnessed cart where there was nobody tucking his legs under him dropping his head he sat down in the cold ground by the wheel of the cart and remained motionless a long while sunk in thought suddenly he burst out into a fit of his broad good-natured laughter so loud that men from various sides turned with surprise to see what this strange and evidently solitary laughter could mean laughed Pierre and he said aloud to himself the soldier did not let me pass and shut me up they hold me captive what? me? me? my immortal soul and he laughed till tears started to his eyes a man got up and came to see what this queer big fellow was laughing at all by himself Pierre stopped laughing got up, went farther away from the inquisitive man and looked around him the huge, endless bivouac sounded with the crackling of campfires and the voices of many men had grown quiet the red campfires were growing paler and dying down high up in the light sky hung the full moon forests and fields beyond the camp unseen before were now visible in the distance and farther still beyond those forests and fields the bright, oscillating limitless distance lured one to itself Pierre glanced up at the sky and the twinkling stars in its faraway depths and all that is me all that is within me and it is all I thought Pierre and they caught all that and put it into a shed boarded up with planks he smiled and went and lay down to sleep beside his companions end of chapter 14 war and peace book 13, chapter 15 read for lippervox.org by Anna Simon in the early days of October another envoy came to Kutuzov with a letter from Napoleon proposing peace and falsely dated from Moscow, though Napoleon was already not far from Kutuzov on the old Kaluga Road Kutuzov replied to this letter as he had done to the one formally brought by Lariston saying that there could be no question of peace soon after that a report was received from Dorkov's guerrilla detachment operating to the left of Tarotino that troops of Prussia's division had been seen at Farminsk and that being separated from the rest of the French army they might easily be destroyed the soldiers and officers again demanded action generals on the staff excited by the memory of the easy victory at Tarotino urged Kutuzov to carry out Dorkov's suggestion they did not consider any offensive necessary the result was a compromise which was inevitable a small detachment was sent to Farminsk to attack Prussia by a strange coincidence this task which turned out to be a most difficult and important one was entrusted to Dorkov that same modest little Dorkov whom no one had inscribed to us as drawing up plans of battles dashing about in front of regiments showering crosses on batteries and so on and who was thought to be and was spoken of as undecided and under-surning but whom we find commanding wherever the position was most difficult all through the Russo-French wars from Austerlitz to the year 1813 at Austerlitz he remained last at the Auguste Dome rallying their regiments saving what was possible when all were flying and perishing not a single general was left in the rear guard ill with fever he went to Smolensk with 20,000 men to defend the town against Napoleon's whole army in Smolensk at the Malakov Gate he had hardly dozed off in a paroxysm of fever before he was awakened by the bombardment of the town and Smolensk held out all day long at the battle of Borodino when Bargrazium was killed and nine-tenths of the men of our left flank had fallen and the full falls of the French artillery fire was directed against it. The man sent there was this same irresolute and undiscerning Doctorov Kutuzov hastening to rectify a mistake he had made by sending someone else there first and the quiet little Doctorov wrote Lither and Borodino became the greatest glory of the Russian army many heroes have been described to us in verse and prose but of Doctorov scarcely a word has been said it was Doctorov again whom they sent to Forminsk from there to Maloyaroslavets the place where the last battle with the French was fought and where the obvious disintegration of the French army began and we are told of many geniuses and heroes of that period of the campaign but of Doctorov nothing or very little is said and that dubiously and this silence about Doctorov is the clearest testimony to his merit it is natural for a man who does not understand the workings of a machine to imagine that a shaving that has fallen into it by chance and is interfering with its action and tossing about in it is its most important part the man who does not understand the construction of the machine cannot conceive that the small connecting cockwheel which revolves quietly is one of the most essential parts of the machine and not the shaving which merely harms and hinders the working on the 10th of October when Doctorov had gone half way to Forminsk and stopped at the village of Nostrovo preparing faithfully to execute the orders he had received the whole French army having in its convulsive movement reached Muraz's position apparently in order to give battle suddenly without any reason turned off to the left on to the new Kaluga road and began to enter Forminsk where only Brussier had been till then at that time Doctorov had under his command besides Darkov's detachment the two small guerrilla detachments of Fignay and Seslevyn on the evening of October 11 Seslevyn came to the Aristovo headquarters with a French guardsman he had captured the prisoner said that the troops that had entered Forminsk that day were the vanguard of the whole army that Napoleon was there and the whole army had left Moscow four days previously that same evening a house-serve who had come from Borovsk said he had seen an immense army some Cossacks of Doctorov's detachment reported having sighted the French guards marching along the road to Borovsk from all these reports it was evident that where they had expected to meet a single division there was now the whole French army marching from Moscow in an unexpected direction along the Kaluga road Doctorov was unwilling to undertake any action as it was not clear to him now what he ought to do he had been ordered to attack Forminsk but only Boryshe had been there at that time and now the whole French army was there Ermolov wished to act on his own judgment but Doctorov insisted that he must have Kutuzov's instructions so it was decided to send this spatch to the staff for this purpose a capable officer Volkovitinov was chosen who was to explain the whole affair by word of mouth besides delivering a written report toward midnight Volkovitinov having received the dispatch and verbal instructions galloped off to the general staff accompanied by a Cossack with spare horses end of chapter 15 this recording is in the public domain the general owned duty quick it's very important said he to someone who had risen and was sniffing in the dark passage he has been very unwell since the evening and this is the third night he has not slept he has not slept he has not slept he has not slept he has not slept he has not slept he has not slept and this is the third night he has not slept said the orderly pleadingly in a whisper you should wake the captain first but this is very important from general Doctorov said Volkovitinov entering the open door which he had found by feeling in the dark the orderly had gone in before him and began waking somebody your honor your honor a courier what what's that from whom came a sleepy voice from Doctorov and from Alexey Petrovich Napoleon is at Fominsk said Volkovitinov unable to see in the dark who was speaking but guessing by the voice that it was not kind of Nitsyn the man who had wakened yawned and stretched himself I don't like waking him he said fumbling for something he is very ill this is only a rumor here is the dispatch said Volkovitinov my orders are to give it at once to the general on duty wait a moment I'll light a candle you damned rascal where do you always hide it said the voice of the man who was stretching himself to the orderly this was Cherbenin kind of Nitsyn's adjutant I found it I found it he added the orderly was striking a light and Cherbenin was fumbling for something on the candlestick oh the nasty beasts said he with disgust by the light of the sparks Volkovitinov saw Cherbenin's youthful face as he held the candle and the face of another man who was still asleep this was kind of Nitsyn when the flame of the sulfur splinters kindled by the tinder burned up first blue and then red Cherbenin lit the tallow candle the candlestick of which the cockroaches that had been gnawing it were running away and looked at the messenger Volkovitinov was bespattered all over with mud and had smeared his face by wiping it with his sleeve who gave the report inquires Cherbenin taking the envelope the news is reliable said Volkovitinov prisoners, Cossacks and the Scouts all say the same thing there's nothing to be done we'll have to wake him, says Cherbenin rising and going up to the man in the nightcap who lay covered by a great coat Peter Petrovich said he Konovnitsyn did not stir to the general staff he said with a smile knowing that those words would be sure to arouse him and in fact the head in the nightcap was lifted at once on Konovnitsyn's handsome resolute face with cheeks flushed by fever there still remained for an instant a far away dreamy expression remote from present affairs but then he suddenly started and his face assumed its habitual calm and firm appearance well what is it from whom he asked immediately but without hurry blinking at the light while listening to the officer's report Konovnitsyn broke the seal and read the dispatch hardly had he done so before he lowered his legs in their woollen stockings to the earthen floor and began putting on his boots then he took off his nightcap combed his hair over his temples and donned his cap did you get here quickly let us go to his highness Konovnitsyn had understood at once that the news brought was of great importance and that no time must be lost he did not consider or ask himself whether the news was good or bad he did not interest him he regarded the whole business of the war not with his intelligence or his reason but by something else there was within him a deep unexpressed conviction that all would be well but that one must not trust to this and still less speak about it but must only attend to one's own work and he did his work giving his whole strength to the task Peter Petrovich Konovnitsyn like Doctorov seems to have been included merely for propriety's sake on the list of the so-called heroes of 1812 the Barclays, Revskys, Ermolovs, Platovs and Miloradovichs like Doctorov he had the reputation of being a man of very limited capacity and information and like Doctorov he never made plans of battle but was always found where the situation was most difficult since his appointment as general he had always slept with his door open giving orders that every messenger should be allowed to wake him up in battle he was always under fire so that Kutuzov reproved him for it and feared to send him to the front and like Doctorov he was one of those unnoticed cog wheels that without clatter or noise constitute the most essential part of the machine coming out of the hut into the damp dark night Konovnitsyn frowned partly from an increased pain in his head and partly at the unpleasant thought that occurred to him of how all that nest of influential men on the staff would be stirred up by this news especially Benigsen whoever since Taratino had been at daggers drawn with Kutuzov and how they would make suggestions quarrel issue orders and rescind them and this premonition was disagreeable to him though he knew it could not be helped and in fact Tal to whom he went to communicate the news immediately began to expound his plans to a general sharing his quarters until Konovnitsyn who listened in weary silence reminded him that they must go to see his highness end of chapter 16 this recording is in the public domain