Book Nine: 1812 - Chapter XI

by Leo Tolstoy

　　Prince Andrew's eyes were still following Pfuel out of the room whenCount Bennigsen entered hurriedly, and nodding to Bolkonski, but notpausing, went into the study, giving instructions to his adjutant ashe went. The Emperor was following him, and Bennigsen had hastenedon to make some preparations and to be ready to receive the sovereign.Chernyshev and Prince Andrew went out into the porch, where theEmperor, who looked fatigued, was dismounting. Marquis Paulucci wastalking to him with particular warmth and the Emperor, with his headbent to the left, was listening with a dissatisfied air. The Emperormoved forward evidently wishing to end the conversation, but theflushed and excited Italian, oblivious of decorum, followed him andcontinued to speak.

　　"And as for the man who advised forming this camp- the Drissa camp,"said Paulucci, as the Emperor mounted the steps and noticing PrinceAndrew scanned his unfamiliar face, "as to that person, sire..."continued Paulucci, desperately, apparently unable to restrainhimself, "the man who advised the Drissa camp- I see no alternativebut the lunatic asylum or the gallows!"

　　Without heeding the end of the Italian's remarks, and as thoughnot hearing them, the Emperor, recognizing Bolkonski, addressed himgraciously.

　　"I am very glad to see you! Go in there where they are meeting,and wait for me."

　　The Emperor went into the study. He was followed by Prince PeterMikhaylovich Volkonski and Baron Stein, and the door closed behindthem. Prince Andrew, taking advantage of the Emperor's permission,accompanied Paulucci, whom he had known in Turkey, into the drawingroom where the council was assembled.

　　Prince Peter Mikhaylovich Volkonski occupied the position, as itwere, of chief of the Emperor's staff. He came out of the study intothe drawing room with some maps which he spread on a table, and putquestions on which he wished to hear the opinion of the gentlemenpresent. What had happened was that news (which afterwards proved tobe false) had been received during the night of a movement by theFrench to outflank the Drissa camp.

　　The first to speak was General Armfeldt who, to meet thedifficulty that presented itself, unexpectedly proposed a perfectlynew position away from the Petersburg and Moscow roads. The reason forthis was inexplicable (unless he wished to show that he, too, couldhave an opinion), but he urged that at this point the army shouldunite and there await the enemy. It was plain that Armfeldt hadthought out that plan long ago and now expounded it not so much toanswer the questions put- which, in fact, his plan did not answer-as to avail himself of the opportunity to air it. It was one of themillions of proposals, one as good as another, that could be made aslong as it was quite unknown what character the war would take. Somedisputed his arguments, others defended them. Young Count Tollobjected to the Swedish general's views more warmly than anyoneelse, and in the course of the dispute drew from his side pocket awell-filled notebook, which he asked permission to read to them. Inthese voluminous notes Toll suggested another scheme, totallydifferent from Armfeldt's or Pfuel's plan of campaign. In answer toToll, Paulucci suggested an advance and an attack, which, he urged,could alone extricate us from the present uncertainty and from thetrap (as he called the Drissa camp) in which we were situated.

　　During all these discussions Pfuel and his interpreter, Wolzogen(his "bridge" in court relations), were silent. Pfuel only snortedcontemptuously and turned away, to show that he would never demeanhimself by replying to such nonsense as he was now hearing. So whenPrince Volkonski, who was in the chair, called on him to give hisopinion, he merely said:

　　"Why ask me? General Armfeldt has proposed a splendid positionwith an exposed rear, or why not this Italian gentleman's attack- veryfine, or a retreat, also good! Why ask me?" said he. "Why, youyourselves know everything better than I do."

　　But when Volkonski said, with a frown, that it was in theEmperor's name that he asked his opinion, Pfuel rose and, suddenlygrowing animated, began to speak:

　　"Everything has been spoiled, everything muddled, everybodythought they knew better than I did, and now you come to me! Howmend matters? There is nothing to mend! The principles laid down by memust be strictly adhered to," said he, drumming on the table withhis bony fingers. "What is the difficulty? Nonsense, childishness!"

　　He went up to the map and speaking rapidly began proving that noeventuality could alter the efficiency of the Drissa camp, thateverything had been foreseen, and that if the enemy were reallygoing to outflank it, the enemy would inevitably be destroyed.

　　Paulucci, who did not know German, began questioning him inFrench. Wolzogen came to the assistance of his chief, who spoke Frenchbadly, and began translating for him, hardly able to keep pace withPfuel, who was rapidly demonstrating that not only all that hadhappened, but all that could happen, had been foreseen in hisscheme, and that if there were now any difficulties the whole faultlay in the fact that his plan had not been precisely executed. He keptlaughing sarcastically, he demonstrated, and at last contemptuouslyceased to demonstrate, like a mathematician who ceases to prove invarious ways the accuracy of a problem that has already been proved.Wolzogen took his place and continued to explain his views inFrench, every now and then turning to Pfuel and saying, "Is it not so,your excellency?" But Pfuel, like a man heated in a fight whostrikes those on his own side, shouted angrily at his own supporter,Wolzogen:

　　"Well, of course, what more is there to explain?"

　　Paulucci and Michaud both attacked Wolzogen simultaneously inFrench. Armfeldt addressed Pfuel in German. Toll explained toVolkonski in Russian. Prince Andrew listened and observed in silence.

　　Of all these men Prince Andrew sympathized most with Pfuel, angry,determined, and absurdly self-confident as he was. Of all thosepresent, evidently he alone was not seeking anything for himself,nursed no hatred against anyone, and only desired that the plan,formed on a theory arrived at by years of toil, should be carried out.He was ridiculous, and unpleasantly sarcastic, but yet he inspiredinvoluntary respect by his boundless devotion to an idea. Besidesthis, the remarks of all except Pfuel had one common trait that hadnot been noticeable at the council of war in 1805: there was now apanic fear of Napoleon's genius, which, though concealed, wasnoticeable in every rejoinder. Everything was assumed to be possiblefor Napoleon, they expected him from every side, and invoked histerrible name to shatter each other's proposals. Pfuel alone seemed toconsider Napoleon a barbarian like everyone else who opposed histheory. But besides this feeling of respect, Pfuel evoked pity inPrince Andrew. From the tone in which the courtiers addressed himand the way Paulucci had allowed himself to speak of him to theEmperor, but above all from a certain desperation in Pfuel's ownexpressions, it was clear that the others knew, and Pfuel himselffelt, that his fall was at hand. And despite his self-confidence andgrumpy German sarcasm he was pitiable, with his hair smoothlybrushed on the temples and sticking up in tufts behind. Though heconcealed the fact under a show of irritation and contempt, he wasevidently in despair that the sole remaining chance of verifying histheory by a huge experiment and proving its soundness to the wholeworld was slipping away from him.

　　The discussions continued a long time, and the longer they lastedthe more heated became the disputes, culminating in shouts andpersonalities, and the less was it possible to arrive at any generalconclusion from all that had been said. Prince Andrew, listening tothis polyglot talk and to these surmises, plans, refutations, andshouts, felt nothing but amazement at what they were saying. A thoughtthat had long since and often occurred to him during his militaryactivities- the idea that there is not and cannot be any science ofwar, and that therefore there can be no such thing as a militarygenius- now appeared to him an obvious truth. "What theory and scienceis possible about a matter the conditions and circumstances of whichare unknown and cannot be defined, especially when the strength of theacting forces cannot be ascertained? No one was or is able toforesee in what condition our or the enemy's armies will be in a day'stime, and no one can gauge the force of this or that detachment.Sometimes- when there is not a coward at the front to shout, 'We arecut off!' and start running, but a brave and jolly lad who shouts,'Hurrah!'- a detachment of five thousand is worth thirty thousand,as at Schon Grabern, while at times fifty thousand run from eightthousand, as at Austerlitz. What science can there be in a matter inwhich, as in all practical matters, nothing can be defined andeverything depends on innumerable conditions, the significance ofwhich is determined at a particular moment which arrives no oneknows when? Armfeldt says our army is cut in half, and Paulucci sayswe have got the French army between two fires; Michaud says that theworthlessness of the Drissa camp lies in having the river behind it,and Pfuel says that is what constitutes its strength; Toll proposesone plan, Armfeldt another, and they are all good and all bad, and theadvantages of any suggestions can be seen only at the moment of trial.And why do they all speak of a 'military genius'? Is a man a geniuswho can order bread to be brought up at the right time and say whois to go to the right and who to the left? It is only because militarymen are invested with pomp and power and crowds of sychophants flatterpower, attributing to it qualities of genius it does not possess.The best generals I have known were, on the contrary, stupid orabsent-minded men. Bagration was the best, Napoleon himself admittedthat. And of Bonaparte himself! I remember his limited, self-satisfiedface on the field of Austerlitz. Not only does a good army commandernot need any special qualities, on the contrary he needs the absenceof the highest and best human attributes- love, poetry, tenderness,and philosophic inquiring doubt. He should be limited, firmlyconvinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he willnot have sufficient patience), and only then will he be a braveleader. God forbid that he should be humane, should love, or pity,or think of what is just and unjust. It is understandable that atheory of their 'genius' was invented for them long ago because theyhave power! The success of a military action depends not on them,but on the man in the ranks who shouts, 'We are lost!' or whoshouts, 'Hurrah!' And only in the ranks can one serve with assuranceof being useful."

　　So thought Prince Andrew as he listened to the talking, and heroused himself only when Paulucci called him and everyone was leaving.

　　At the review next day the Emperor asked Prince Andrew where hewould like to serve, and Prince Andrew lost his standing in courtcircles forever by not asking to remain attached to the sovereign'sperson, but for permission to serve in the army.