His regiment under heavy artillery fire for hours, Prince Andrew is hit by a cannon ball.
Summary:
Prince Andrew’s regiment is being held in reserve, stationary in an open field. They are under heavy artillery fire. They try to spread out and remain close to the ground, but the shelling goes on for hours. Without moving from that spot or firing a single shot at the French, hundreds of men in the regiment are killed or wounded. Naturally, everyone becomes gloomy. They try to divert their attention to anything, to any sight that offers, such as intently watching a passing dog or a horsecart. But the shelling goes on and on. Eventually, a cannon ball hits Andrew in the abdomen and he is terribly wounded. Bleeding profusely, Andrew is carried, barely conscious, to the medical tent. Laying there bleeding, he thinks “Why was I so reluctant to part with life? There was something in this life I did not and do not understand.
quote from the chapter:
Prince Andrew’s regiment was among the reserves which till after one o’clock were stationed inactive behind Semënovsk, under heavy artillery fire. Toward two o’clock the regiment, having already lost more than two hundred men, was moved forward into a trampled oatfield in the gap between Semënovsk and the Knoll Battery, where thousands of men perished that day and on which an intense, concentrated fire from several hundred enemy guns was directed between one and two o’clock.
Without moving from that spot or firing a single shot the regiment here lost another third of its men. From in front and especially from the right, in the unlifting smoke the guns boomed, and out of the mysterious domain of smoke that overlay the whole space in front, quick hissing cannon balls and slow whistling shells flew unceasingly.
Book 10, Chapter 36
His regiment under heavy artillery fire for hours, Prince Andrew is hit by a cannon ball.
Summary:
Prince Andrew’s regiment is being held in reserve, stationary in an open field. They are under heavy artillery fire. They try to spread out and remain close to the ground, but the shelling goes on for hours. Without moving from that spot or firing a single shot at the French, hundreds of men in the regiment are killed or wounded. Naturally, everyone becomes gloomy. They try to divert their attention to anything, to any sight that offers, such as intently watching a passing dog or a horsecart. But the shelling goes on and on. Eventually, a cannon ball hits Andrew in the abdomen and he is terribly wounded. Bleeding profusely, Andrew is carried, barely conscious, to the medical tent. Laying there bleeding, he thinks “Why was I so reluctant to part with life? There was something in this life I did not and do not understand.
quote from the chapter:
Prince Andrew’s regiment was among the reserves which till after one o’clock were stationed inactive behind Semënovsk, under heavy artillery fire. Toward two o’clock the regiment, having already lost more than two hundred men, was moved forward into a trampled oatfield in the gap between Semënovsk and the Knoll Battery, where thousands of men perished that day and on which an intense, concentrated fire from several hundred enemy guns was directed between one and two o’clock.
Without moving from that spot or firing a single shot the regiment here lost another third of its men. From in front and especially from the right, in the unlifting smoke the guns boomed, and out of the mysterious domain of smoke that overlay the whole space in front, quick hissing cannon balls and slow whistling shells flew unceasingly.
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