. The complete works of Count Tolstoy. the opposite ofwhat the previously despatched officer has reported; anda spy, a captive, and a general, who has made a recon-naissance,— all describe differently the position of thehostile army. People, who are in the habit of not understanding, or 386 WAR AND PEACE of forgetting these necessary conditions of the activity ofevery commander-in-chief, represent to us, for example,the position of the troops at Fili, and assume that on Sep-tember 1st the commander-in-chief was quite at libertyto decide the question about abandoning or defendingMoscow, whereas
. The complete works of Count Tolstoy. the opposite ofwhat the previously despatched officer has reported; anda spy, a captive, and a general, who has made a recon-naissance,— all describe differently the position of thehostile army. People, who are in the habit of not understanding, or 386 WAR AND PEACE of forgetting these necessary conditions of the activity ofevery commander-in-chief, represent to us, for example,the position of the troops at Fili, and assume that on Sep-tember 1st the commander-in-chief was quite at libertyto decide the question about abandoning or defendingMoscow, whereas, with the position of the Eussian armywithin five miles of Moscow, this question could not haveexisted. When was this question decided ? At the Drissa,at Smolensk, and, most palpably, on the 24th at Shevar-dind, and on the 26th at Borodino, and on every day, andhour, and minute of the retreat from Borodino to Fili. rt8r ,1э1пбв volirnoyoioQ эНТ astion С The Dorogomilov Barrier, 1811 PhotogravKicfrom a Contemporary Painthig. III. When Erm61ov, who had been sent by Kutuzov toexamine positions, told the field-marshal that it was im-possible to fight at the walls of Moscow, Kutuzov lookedat him in silence. Let me have your hand, he said, and, turning it soas to feel his pulse, he said, You are not well, my what you are saying. Kutuzov was still unable to understand that it waspossible to retreat beyond Moscow, without giving battle. At the Poklonnaya Hill, within six versts of the Doro-gomilov barrier, Kutuzov got out of his carriage and satdown on a bench at the edge of the road. An immensethrong of generals was gathered about him. Count Kos-topchin, who had arrived from Moscow, joined them. Allthis brilliant assembly, breaking up into several coteries,discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the posi-tion, the condition of the troops, the proposed plans, thestate of Moscow, in general mihtary affairs. All felt that,although they had not been summoned fo
Size: 1328px × 1881px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthortolstoyl, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1904
