The Emperor tells Kutúzov of his dissatisfaction at mistakes made at Krásnoe and the Berëzina, and his intention to pursue Napoleon beyond Russia. Kutúzov receives the Order of St. George of the First Class.
The Emperor tells Kutúzov of his dissatisfaction at mistakes made at Krásnoe and the Berëzina, and his intention to pursue Napoleon beyond Russia. Kutúzov receives the Order of St. George of the First Class.
Book 15, Chapter 10
The Emperor tells Kutúzov of his dissatisfaction at mistakes made at Krásnoe and the Berëzina, and his intention to pursue Napoleon beyond Russia. Kutúzov receives the Order of St. George of the First Class.
Summary:
Much is written about the battle of Berëzina, where the broken bridge resulted in a tragic spectacle for the French, and a Russian plan devised in Petersburg failed to catch Napoleon in a strategic trap. Tolstoy believes that historians overestimate the importance of this one battle. To Tolstoy, it only shows the fallacy of all the plans for cutting off the enemy’s retreat and the soundness of Kutúzov’s wish to simply follow the enemy rather than fighting him. Nonetheless, the failure of the Petersburg Berëzina plan was blamed on Kutúzov most of all, and Kutúzov became all the more a target for dissatisfaction, contempt, and ridicule, more and more strongly expressed. Kutúzov could now see that his day was over, that his part was played, and that the power he was supposed to hold was no longer his. And he understood this not merely from the attitude of Alexander’s court. He could also see that the military business in which he had played his part was ended and felt that his mission was accomplished; and at the same time he no longer felt physically up the job. He needed rest. People around him at Vilna noticed that Kutúzov now appeared less interested in military affairs and more interested in social enjoyments. When the Emperor arrived at Vilna his entourage was ceremoniously received. Speaking to Kutúzov privately, the Emperor let Kutúzov know he wasn’t happy with the job Kutúzov had been doing. Kutúzov, true to form, made no rejoinder or remark to the Emperor. The same submissive, expressionless look with which he had listened to the Emperor’s commands on the field of Austerlitz seven years before settled on his face now. On a happier note, however, during this visit Kutúzov was given the Order of St. George of the First Class.
quote from the chapter:
The sole importance of the crossing of the Berëzina lies in the fact that it plainly and indubitably proved the fallacy of all the plans for cutting off the enemy’s retreat and the soundness of the only possible line of action-the one Kutúzov and the general mass of the army demanded-namely, simply to follow the enemy up. The French crowd fled at a continually increasing speed and all its energy was directed to reaching its goal. It fled like a wounded animal and it was impossible to block its path. This was shown not so much by the arrangements it made for crossing as by what took place at the bridges. When the bridges broke down, unarmed soldiers, people from Moscow and women with children who were with the French transport, all-carried on by vis inertiæ-pressed forward into boats and into the ice-covered water and did not surrender.
That impulse was reasonable. The condition of fugitives and of pursuers was equally bad. As long as they remained with their own people each might hope for help from his fellows and the definite place he held among them. But those who surrendered, while remaining in the same pitiful plight, would be on a lower level to claim a share in the necessities of life. The French did not need to be informed of the fact that half the prisoners-with whom the Russians did not know what to do-perished of cold and hunger despite their captors’ desire to save them; they felt that it could not be otherwise. The most compassionate Russian commanders, those favorable to the French-and even the Frenchmen in the Russian service-could do nothing for the prisoners. The French perished from the conditions to which the Russian army was itself exposed. It was impossible to take bread and clothes from our hungry and indispensable soldiers to give to the French who, though not harmful, or hated, or guilty, were simply unnecessary. Some Russians even did that, but they were exceptions.
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