Book Nine: 1812 - Chapter II

by Leo Tolstoy

　　On the twenty-ninth of May Napoleon left Dresden, where he had spentthree weeks surrounded by a court that included princes, dukes, kings,and even an emperor. Before leaving, Napoleon showed favor to theemperor, kings, and princes who had deserved it, reprimanded the kingsand princes with whom he was dissatisfied, presented pearls anddiamonds of his own- that is, which he had taken from other kings-to the Empress of Austria, and having, as his historian tells us,tenderly embraced the Empress Marie Louise- who regarded him as herhusband, though he had left another wife in Paris- left her grieved bythe parting which she seemed hardly able to bear. Though thediplomatists still firmly believed in the possibility of peace andworked zealously to that end, and though the Emperor Napoleonhimself wrote a letter to Alexander, calling him Monsieur mon frere,and sincerely assured him that he did not want war and would alwayslove and honor him- yet he set off to join his army, and at everystation gave fresh orders to accelerate the movement of his troopsfrom west to east. He went in a traveling coach with six horses,surrounded by pages, aides-de-camp, and an escort, along the road toPosen, Thorn, Danzig, and Konigsberg. At each of these towns thousandsof people met him with excitement and enthusiasm.

　　The army was moving from west to east, and relays of six horsescarried him in the same direction. On the tenth of June,* coming upwith the army, he spent the night in apartments prepared for him onthe estate of a Polish count in the Vilkavisski forest.

　　*Old style.

　　Next day, overtaking the army, he went in a carriage to theNiemen, and, changing into a Polish uniform, he drove to the riverbankin order to select a place for the crossing.

　　Seeing, on the other side, some Cossacks (les Cosaques) and thewide-spreading steppes in the midst of which lay the holy city ofMoscow (Moscou, la ville sainte), the capital of a realm such as theScythia into which Alexander the Great had marched- Napoleonunexpectedly, and contrary alike to strategic and diplomaticconsiderations, ordered an advance, and the next day his army began tocross the Niemen.

　　Early in the morning of the twelfth of June he came out of his tent,which was pitched that day on the steep left bank of the Niemen, andlooked through a spyglass at the streams of his troops pouring outof the Vilkavisski forest and flowing over the three bridges thrownacross the river. The troops, knowing of the Emperor's presence,were on the lookout for him, and when they caught sight of a figure inan overcoat and a cocked hat standing apart from his suite in front ofhis tent on the hill, they threw up their caps and shouted: "Vivel'Empereur!" and one after another poured in a ceaseless stream out ofthe vast forest that had concealed them and, separating, flowed on andon by the three bridges to the other side.

　　"Now we'll go into action. Oh, when he takes it in hand himself,things get hot... by heaven!... There he is!... Vive l'Empereur! Sothese are the steppes of Asia! It's a nasty country all the same. Aurevoir, Beauche; I'll keep the best palace in Moscow for you! Aurevoir. Good luck!... Did you see the Emperor? Vive l'Empereur!...preur!- If they make me Governor of India, Gerard, I'll make youMinister of Kashmir- that's settled. Vive l'Empereur! Hurrah!hurrah! hurrah! The Cossacks- those rascals- see how they run! Vivel'Empereur! There he is, do you see him? I've seen him twice, as I seeyou now. The little corporal... I saw him give the cross to one of theveterans.... Vive l'Empereur!" came the voices of men, old andyoung, of most diverse characters and social positions. On the facesof all was one common expression of joy at the commencement of thelong-expected campaign and of rapture and devotion to the man in thegray coat who was standing on the hill.

　　On the thirteenth of June a rather small, thoroughbred Arab horsewas brought to Napoleon. He mounted it and rode at a gallop to oneof the bridges over the Niemen, deafened continually by incessantand rapturous acclamations which he evidently endured only becauseit was impossible to forbid the soldiers to express their love ofhim by such shouting, but the shouting which accompanied himeverywhere disturbed him and distracted him from the military caresthat had occupied him from the time he joined the army. He rode acrossone of the swaying pontoon bridges to the farther side, turned sharplyto the left, and galloped in the direction of Kovno, preceded byenraptured, mounted chasseurs of the Guard who, breathless withdelight, galloped ahead to clear a path for him through the troops. Onreaching the broad river Viliya, he stopped near a regiment ofPolish Uhlans stationed by the river.

　　"Vivat!" shouted the Poles, ecstatically, breaking their ranks andpressing against one another to see him.

　　Napoleon looked up and down the river, dismounted, and sat down on alog that lay on the bank. At a mute sign from him, a telescope washanded him which he rested on the back of a happy page who had runup to him, and he gazed at the opposite bank. Then he becameabsorbed in a map laid out on the logs. Without lifting his head hesaid something, and two of his aides-de-camp galloped off to thePolish Uhlans.

　　"What? What did he say?" was heard in the ranks of the Polish Uhlanswhen one of the aides-de-camp rode up to them.

　　The order was to find a ford and to cross the river. The colonelof the Polish Uhlans, a handsome old man, flushed and, fumbling in hisspeech from excitement, asked the aide-de-camp whether he would bepermitted to swim the river with his Uhlans instead of seeking a ford.In evident fear of refusal, like a boy asking for permission to get ona horse, he begged to be allowed to swim across the river before theEmperor's eyes. The aide-de-camp replied that probably the Emperorwould not be displeased at this excess of zeal.

　　As soon as the aide-de-camp had said this, the old mustachedofficer, with happy face and sparkling eyes, raised his saber, shouted"Vivat!" and, commanding the Uhlans to follow him, spurred his horseand galloped into the river. He gave an angry thrust to his horse,which had grown restive under him, and plunged into the water, headingfor the deepest part where the current was swift. Hundreds of Uhlansgalloped in after him. It was cold and uncanny in the rapid current inthe middle of the stream, and the Uhlans caught hold of one another asthey fell off their horses. Some of the horses were drowned and someof the men; the others tried to swim on, some in the saddle and someclinging to their horses' manes. They tried to make their wayforward to the opposite bank and, though there was a ford one third ofa mile away, were proud that they were swimming and drowning in thisriver under the eyes of the man who sat on the log and was not evenlooking at what they were doing. When the aide-de-camp, havingreturned and choosing an opportune moment, ventured to draw theEmperor's attention to the devotion of the Poles to his person, thelittle man in the gray overcoat got up and, having summonedBerthier, began pacing up and down the bank with him, giving himinstructions and occasionally glancing disapprovingly at thedrowning Uhlans who distracted his attention.

　　For him it was no new conviction that his presence in any part ofthe world, from Africa to the steppes of Muscovy alike, was enoughto dumfound people and impel them to insane self-oblivion. He calledfor his horse and rode to his quarters.

　　Some forty Uhlans were drowned in the river, though boats weresent to their assistance. The majority struggled back to the bank fromwhich they had started. The colonel and some of his men got across andwith difficulty clambered out on the further bank. And as soon as theyhad got out, in their soaked and streaming clothes, they shouted"Vivat!" and looked ecstatically at the spot where Napoleon had beenbut where he no longer was and at that moment considered themselveshappy.

　　That evening, between issuing one order that the forged Russianpaper money prepared for use in Russia should be delivered asquickly as possible and another that a Saxon should be shot, on whom aletter containing information about the orders to the French armyhad been found, Napoleon also gave instructions that the Polishcolonel who had needlessly plunged into the river should be enrolledin the Legion d'honneur of which Napoleon was himself the head.

　　Quos vult perdere dementat.*

　　*Those whom (God) wishes to destroy he drives mad.