Book Ten: 1812 - Chapter XXXV

by Leo Tolstoy

　　On the rug-covered bench where Pierre had seen him in the morningsat Kutuzov, his gray head hanging, his heavy body relaxed. He gave noorders, but only assented to or dissented from what others suggested.

　　"Yes, yes, do that," he replied to various proposals. "Yes, yes: go,dear boy, and have a look," he would say to one or another of thoseabout him; or, "No, don't, we'd better wait!" He listened to thereports that were brought him and gave directions when hissubordinates demanded that of him; but when listening to the reportsit seemed as if he were not interested in the import of the wordsspoken, but rather in something else- in the expression of face andtone of voice of those who were reporting. By long years of militaryexperience he knew, and with the wisdom of age understood, that itis impossible for one man to direct hundreds of thousands of othersstruggling with death, and he knew that the result of a battle isdecided not by the orders of a commander in chief, nor the place wherethe troops are stationed, nor by the number of cannon or ofslaughtered men, but by that intangible force called the spirit of thearmy, and he watched this force and guided it in as far as that was inhis power.

　　Kutuzov's general expression was one of concentrated quietattention, and his face wore a strained look as if he found itdifficult to master the fatigue of his old and feeble body.

　　At eleven o'clock they brought him news that the fleches captured bythe French had been retaken, but that Prince Bagration was wounded.Kutuzov groaned and swayed his head.

　　"Ride over to Prince Peter Ivanovich and find out about it exactly,"he said to one of his adjutants, and then turned to the Duke ofWurttemberg who was standing behind him.

　　"Will Your Highness please take command of the first army?"

　　Soon after the duke's departure- before he could possibly havereached Semenovsk- his adjutant came back from him and told Kutuzovthat the duke asked for more troops.

　　Kutuzov made a grimace and sent an order to Dokhturov to take overthe command of the first army, and a request to the duke- whom he saidhe could not spare at such an important moment- to return to him. Whenthey brought him news that Murat had been taken prisoner, and thestaff officers congratulated him, Kutuzov smiled.

　　"Wait a little, gentlemen," said he. "The battle is won, and thereis nothing extraordinary in the capture of Murat. Still, it isbetter to wait before we rejoice."

　　But he sent an adjutant to take the news round the army.

　　When Scherbinin came galloping from the left flank with news thatthe French had captured the fleches and the village of Semenovsk,Kutuzov, guessing by the sounds of the battle and by Scherbinin'slooks that the news was bad, rose as if to stretch his legs and,taking Scherbinin's arm, led him aside.

　　"Go, my dear fellow," he said to Ermolov, "and see whether somethingcan't be done."

　　Kutuzov was in Gorki, near the center of the Russian position. Theattack directed by Napoleon against our left flank had been severaltimes repulsed. In the center the French had not got beyondBorodino, and on their left flank Uvarov's cavalry had put theFrench to flight.

　　Toward three o'clock the French attacks ceased. On the faces ofall who came from the field of battle, and of those who stood aroundhim, Kutuzov noticed an expression of extreme tension. He wassatisfied with the day's success- a success exceeding hisexpectations, but the old man's strength was failing him. Severaltimes his head dropped low as if it were falling and he dozed off.Dinner was brought him.

　　Adjutant General Wolzogen, the man who when riding past PrinceAndrew had said, "the war should be extended widely," and whomBagration so detested, rode up while Kutuzov was at dinner. Wolzogenhad come from Barclay de Tolly to report on the progress of affairs onthe left flank. The sagacious Barclay de Tolly, seeing crowds ofwounded men running back and the disordered rear of the army,weighed all the circumstances, concluded that the battle was lost, andsent his favorite officer to the commander in chief with that news.

　　Kutuzov was chewing a piece of roast chicken with difficulty andglanced at Wolzogen with eyes that brightened under their puckeringlids.

　　Wolzogen, nonchalantly stretching his legs, approached Kutuzovwith a half-contemptuous smile on his lips, scarcely touching the peakof his cap.

　　He treated his Serene Highness with a somewhat affectednonchalance intended to show that, as a highly trained military man,he left it to Russians to make an idol of this useless old man, butthat he knew whom he was dealing with. "Der alte Herr" (as in theirown set the Germans called Kutuzov) "is making himself verycomfortable," thought Wolzogen, and looking severely at the dishesin front of Kutuzov he began to report to "the old gentleman" theposition of affairs on the left flank as Barclay had ordered him toand as he himself had seen and understood it.

　　"All the points of our position are in the enemy's hands and wecannot dislodge them for lack of troops, the men are running awayand it is impossible to stop them," he reported.

　　Kutuzov ceased chewing and fixed an astonished gaze on Wolzogen,as if not understand what was said to him. Wolzogen, noticing "the oldgentleman's" agitation, said with a smile:

　　"I have not considered it right to conceal from your Serene Highnesswhat I have seen. The troops are in complete disorder..."

　　"You have seen? You have seen?..." Kutuzov shouted frowning, andrising quickly he went up to Wolzogen.

　　"How... how dare you!..." he shouted, choking and making athreatening gesture with his trembling arms: "How dare you, sir, saythat to me? You know nothing about it. Tell General Barclay from methat his information is incorrect and that the real course of thebattle is better known to me, the commander in chief, than to him."

　　Wolzogen was about to make a rejoinder, but Kutuzov interrupted him.

　　"The enemy has been repulsed on the left and defeated on the rightflank. If you have seen amiss, sir, do not allow yourself to saywhat you don't know! Be so good as to ride to General Barclay andinform him of my firm intention to attack the enemy tomorrow," saidKutuzov sternly.

　　All were silent, and the only sound audible was the heavybreathing of the panting old general.

　　"They are repulsed everywhere, for which I thank God and our bravearmy! The enemy is beaten, and tomorrow we shall drive him from thesacred soil of Russia," said Kutuzov crossing himself, and he suddenlysobbed as his eyes filled with tears.

　　Wolzogen, shrugging his shoulders and curling his lips, steppedsilently aside, marveling at "the old gentleman's" conceitedstupidity.

　　"Ah, here he is, my hero!" said Kutuzov to a portly, handsome,dark-haired general who was just ascending the knoll.

　　This was Raevski, who had spent the whole day at the mostimportant part of the field of Borodino.

　　Raevski reported that the troops were firmly holding their groundand that the French no longer ventured to attack.

　　After hearing him, Kutuzov said in French:

　　"Then you do not think, like some others, that we must retreat?"

　　"On the contrary, your Highness, in indecisive actions it isalways the most stubborn who remain victors," replied Raevski, "and inmy opinion..."

　　"Kaysarov!" Kutuzov called to his adjutant. "Sit down and writeout the order of the day for tomorrow. And you," he continued,addressing another, "ride along the line and that tomorrow we attack."

　　While Kutuzov was talking to Raevski and dictating the order ofthe day, Wolzogen returned from Barclay and said that GeneralBarclay wished to have written confirmation of the order the fieldmarshal had given.

　　Kutuzov, without looking at Wolzogen, gave directions for theorder to be written out which the former commander in chief, toavoid personal responsibility, very judiciously wished to receive.

　　And by means of that mysterious indefinable bond which maintainsthroughout an army one and the same temper, known as "the spirit ofthe army," and which constitutes the sinew of war, Kutuzov's words,his order for a battle next day, immediately became known from one endof the army to the other.

　　It was far from being the same words or the same order thatreached the farthest links of that chain. The tales passing from mouthto mouth at different ends of the army did not even resemble whatKutuzov had said, but the sense of his words spread everywhere becausewhat he said was not the outcome of cunning calculations, but of afeeling that lay in the commander in chief's soul as in that ofevery Russian.

　　And on learning that tomorrow they were to attack the enemy, andhearing from the highest quarters a confirmation of what they wantedto believe, the exhausted, wavering men felt comforted and inspirited.