Book 3 Part 1 Chapter 9 (Chapter 173 overall)

Chapter Summaries: Dole: Prince Andrei at the camp on the Drissa. Chilling reception by Barclay de Tolly. Prince Andrei studies the situation. The three armies. The commanders. The essential idea. Theories. The eight great parties. Yermolof's famous jest. The ninth party. Shishkof urges the emperor to leave the army.
Briggs: Andrey at Drissa. His ideas on the three armies and eight parties.
Maude: Prince Andrew in the army at Drissa. Eight conflicting parties
Pevear and Volokhonsky (chapters 9-11): Prince Andrei at Russian general headquarters on the Drissa. The eight parties. He meets Pfuel. Attends an informal council of war in the emperor's presence. Asks the emperor's permission to serve in active army.

Translation:

IX. Prince Andrey had arrived at the main apartment of the army at the end of June. The troops of the first army, that in which was found the sovereign, were arranged in a fortified camp in Drissa; the troops of the second army retreated, striving to connect with the first army, from which — as it was said — they were cut off by the large forces of the French. All were unhappy at the common underway military cases in the Russian army; but about the dangers of invasions in the Russian provinces no one thought, no one assumed that war could be carried over onwards of the western Polish provinces. Prince Andrey found Barclay-de-Tolly, to whom he was assigned, on guard at Drissa. So as there was not one large village or place in the surroundings of the camp, all the huge number of generals and courtiers, arriving to the army, was located in circles ten versts by the best houses of the villages, by this and by that side of the river. Barclay-de-Tolly stood at 4 versts from the sovereign. He dryly and coldly accepted Bolkonsky, and said his German reprimand that he will report about him to the sovereign for definition of his destination, but meanwhile asked him to take a place in his staff. Anatole Kuragin, whom Prince Andrey hoped to find in the army, was not here: he was in Petersburg, and this news was nice to Bolkonsky. The interest of the center produced by the great war occupied Prince Andrey, and he was glad for some time to be free from the entertainment which was produced in him by the idea about Kuragin. In the continuation of the first four days, in the time which he was nowhere demanded, Prince Andrey travelled all the fortified camp, and with the help of his knowledge and talking with knowledgeable people, tried to make up for himself about the certain concept. But the question about profitable or not profitable was this camp, stayed unresolved for Prince Andrey. He now had time to bring out from his military experience that conviction that in military cases nothing meant the most thoughtfully considered plans (as he saw this in the Austerlitz campaign), that all depended on how was answered the unexpected and not to be foreseen action of the enemy, that all depends on how and by whom was all the business underway. To so grasp this last question to himself, Prince Andrey, taking advantage of his position and familiarity, tried to delve into the character of the management of the army, the persons and parties involved in the other and brought out to himself the following concept about the position of cases. When the sovereign was still in Vilna, the army was divided in three: 1 army found under the superior Barclay-de-Tolly, 2 under the superior Bagration, 3 under the superior Tormasov. The sovereign was found in the first army, but not in the quality of the commander in chief. In orders it was said that the sovereign will — not command, but said only that the sovereign will be in the army. Besides this the sovereign personally was not the staff of the commander in chief, but was staff imperial of the main apartment. With him was chief imperial staff, general-quartermaster Prince Volkonsky, generals, wing-adjutants, diplomatic officials and a great number of foreigners, but not the staff army. Besides this, without office at the sovereign was found: Arakcheev — the former military minister, Count Bennigsen — by rank the older of the generals, the great prince tsesarevich Konstantin Pavlovich, Count Rumyantsev — Chancellor Stein — the former Prussian minister, Armfeld — a Swedish general, Pful — the main compiler of the plan of the campaign, general-adjutant Pauluchi — a Sardinian native, Voltsogen and many others. Although these faces were found without military posts in the army, by their position had influence, and often the corpus chief and even the commander in chief did not know, in what quality asks or advises that or another Bennigsen, the great prince, Arakcheev, or Prince Volkonsky, and did not know whether from their face, or from the sovereign flowed such an order in the shape of council, and needed or did not need to enforce it. Yet this was the external situation, substantially the same meaning in the presence of the sovereign and all these persons with courtier points (but in the presence of the sovereign all were made courtiers) to all was clear. It was next: the sovereign did not take on himself the title of commander in chief, but ordered all armies; the people surrounding him were his helpers. Arakcheev was the true vigilante performer order and bodyguard of the sovereign; Bennigsen was the landowner of the Vilenskaya provinces, who as if busy in the business of the reception of the sovereign’s597 edges, but in entities was a good general, useful for council and for to have him always ready to shift with Barclay. The great prince was here because of how he was at anything. The former minister Stein was here because of how he was useful for council and because of how the Emperor Aleksandr highly appreciated his personal qualities. Armfeld was the evil hater of Napoleon and in general, assured in himself, what always had influence on Aleksandr. Pauluchi was here because of how he was daring and decisive in speeches. The general-adjutants were here because of how they were everywhere where the sovereign was, and finally the main thing — Pful was here because of how he made up the plan of war against Napoleon and, forced Aleksandr to believe in the expediency of this plan, leading to all the business of the war. At Pful was Voltsogen, delivering the thought of Pful in a more approachable form than Pful himself, sharp, self-confident to the contempt of all, an armchair theorist. Besides these named persons, Russians and foreigners (in particular foreigners that with courage, were peculiar people in the activities among the foreign environment, every day offering a new unexpected thought), were still many minor persons in the army because that here were their principals. In the number of all the thoughts and voices in this huge, anxious, brilliant and proud world, Prince Andrey saw the following sharp subdivisions of directions and parties. The first party was: Pful and his followers, theorists of war, believers in that there is a science to war, and that in this science were unchanging laws, laws of oblique movements, passed on to Pful and his followers requiring retreats into the deep country, by accurate laws, prescribed by an imaginary theory of war, and in every retreat from this theory saw only barbarism, ignorance or malice. To this party belonged the German princes, Voltsogen, Wintsengerode and others, predominantly Germans. The second party was the opposite of the first. As always is, in one extreme were the representatives of another extreme. The people of this party were those that from Vilna required an offensive in Poland and freedom from all forward forms of plans. Besides that the representatives of this party were the representatives of brave action, they together with that were the representatives of nationality, owing to what became a still unilateral dispute. These were Russians: Bagration, the beginning to rise Ermolov and others. At this time was distributed the famous joke of Ermolova, as if asking the sovereign about one mercy — his production into the Germans. The people of these parties said, remembering Suvorov that they needed to not think, not prick needles into a map, but fight, beat the enemy, not admitting him into Russia and not to lose the heart of the troops. To the third party, to which more only had the trust of the sovereign, belonged the courtier doers of deals between both directions. The people of this party, for the most part not of the military and to which belonged Arakcheev, thought and said what people speak usually, not having a belief, but willing to to be seen for such. They said that without doubt war, especially with such a genius as Bonaparte (he again was called Bonaparte) requires the most profound considerations, deep knowledge of science, and in this case Pful was a genius; but together with that it cannot be to not acknowledge how theorists are often one-sided, and because it was not needed to quite trust them, they needed to listen to what speak the opponents of Pful, and to what speak the practical people, experienced in military cases, and from it only take the average. The people of this party insisted in so holding the Drissa camp by the plan of Pful, changing the movements of the other armies. Although by this way action was not achieved for that or another objective, to the people of this party it seemed so better. The fourth direction was a direction whose very prominent representative was the great prince, the heir-tsesarevich, not able to forget his Austerlitz disappointments, where he, as in a review, left before the guard in a hard hat and sword, calculating to well crush the French, and, hit suddenly at the first line, forcibly went into the overall confusion. The people of this party had in their judgments and quality a lack of sincerity. They were afraid of Napoleon, saw in him a force, in themselves a weakness and all expressed this. They said: "nothing besides grief, shame and destruction from this can come! Here we left Vilna, left Vitebsk, and are leaving Drissa. One, that we stay smart to do, this is to conclude peace and as soon as we can, while we are not kicked out of Petersburg!" This view, strongly common in the higher sphere of the army, found itself supported in Petersburg, and at Chancellor Rumyantsev, by other state reasons standing also behind peace. Fifth were the adherents of Barclay-de-Tolly, not so much as a man, as much as a military minister and commander in chief. They said: "what he is (always they so began), but he is an honest, efficient person, and there is no one better than him. Give him real power, because of how the war may not go successful without a unity of bossing, and he will show that what he may do, as he showed himself in Finland. Should our army be arranged and strong and retreated to Drissa, not carrying any defeats, then we are required by this only by Barclay. Should now we replace Barclay with Bennigsen, then all is killed; because of how Bennigsen already showed his inability in the year 1807," said the people of this party. Sixth, the Bennigsenists, said the opposite, how all the same nobody was more efficient and more experienced than Bennigsen, and as twirling, all the same comes to him. And the people of this party proved that all our retreats to Drissa were the most shameful defeats and a continuous row of mistakes. "The more mistakes will be made, said they, by that is better, by at least soon they will understand that it may not go so. But needed was not some Barclay, but a person as Bennigsen, who showed himself already in the year 1807, to whom gave justice itself to Napoleon, and such a person for whom would willingly recognize power, but such is only Bennigsen alone." Seventh— were the faces that always are at the sovereigns, in particular the young and which especially many were at Emperor Alexander, the faces of generals and wing-adjutants, passionately devotees of the sovereign not as an emperor, but adoring him, as a man sincerely and selflessly, as he was adored by Rostov in the year 1805, and seeing in him not only all virtues, but all the qualities man. These faces, although delighted in the modesty of the sovereign, refusing from command of the troops, but condemned this excessive modesty, and wanted only and insisted only for the adored sovereign, leaving the excessive disbelief to himself, declared openly that he become the head of the troops, would make himself staff-apartment commander in chief and, advised where needed with experienced theorists and practicioners, himself would lead his troops, which only this leading would be to a higher state of inspiration. The eighth, itself the biggest group of people, which by its huge number carried off to others, as 99 to the 1st, consisted of people, not willing peace, or war, or offensive movements, or a defensive camp at Drissa, or where would that be, or Barclay, or the sovereign, or Pful, or Bennigsen, but willing only one and itself essential thing: the greatest for themselves benefits and pleasures. In that muddy water intersecting and entangled intrigue which swarmed at the main apartment of the sovereign, in quite much can be in a time what would be unthinkable in another time. One, not wishing only to lose their profitable situation, now agreed with Pful, tomorrow with his opponent, the day after tomorrow claiming that they have no opinions about the famous subject, only so to avoid responsibility and please the sovereign. Another, wishing to get benefits, turned himself the attention of the sovereign, loudly shouting that very thing, in what was hinted by the sovereign on the eve, arguing and shouted in advice, hitting himself on the chest and calling the dissenting to a duel and by that showing that he is ready to be a sacrifice for general use. A third simply begged himself, between two advices and in the absence of enemies, a lump sum for his true service, knowing that now once will refuse him. A fourth accidentally all hit on the eye of the sovereign, burdened by work. The fifth, so that to reach a long time coveted goal — lunch at the sovereigns, fiercely argued the correctness or incorrectness and again spoke opinions for this by bringing more or less strong and fair evidence. All the people of this party caught rubles, crosses, ranks, and in this fishing followed only behind the direction of the weather vane of royal mercy, and only noticed how the vane turned on one side, as all this drone population of the army began to blow in that same side, so that the sovereign by that it was harder to turn it to another. Among the uncertainty of the situation, at threatening, serious dangers, which gave all an especially anxious character, among this vortex of intrigue, pride, collisions, institutions of view and feeling, in the diversity of all these persons, this eighth, itself the big party of people, busy with personal interests, gave a big entanglement and obscurity to the general business. What would lift the question, but really the swarm of these drones, not chopping off still above the same theme, flew over anew and its buzzing muffled and obscured the sincere, arguing voices. Of all these parties at that very time as Prince Andrey had arrived to the army, gathered still a lone ninth party, starting to raise their voice. This was a party of old people, reasonable, state-experienced and able, not sharing one of the contradictory opinions, abstractly looking at all that was done in the staff of the main apartment, and thinking out a means to exit from this uncertainty, indecision, entanglements and weakness. The people of this party said and thought that all the evil going on was predominantly from the presence of the sovereign with the military court in the army, that in the army carried over that vague, conditional and wobbling instability relationship which was comfortable in court, but harmful in the army; that the sovereign needed to reign, but not to manage the army, that the only exit from this situation was the departure of the sovereign with his court from the army; that one presence of the sovereign paralyzes 50 thousand troops, necessary for the provision of his personal safety; that the worst, but independent commander in chief will be itself better, but bound was the presence and power of the sovereign. At that very time as Prince Andrey lived without affairs in Drissa, Shishkov, the state secretary, arriving by one of the head representatives of this party, wrote the sovereign a letter, which Balashev and Arakcheev agreed to sign. In this letter, taking the advantage of the given to him from the sovereign permission to reason about the overall course of cases, he respectfully and under the pretext of the need for the sovereign to inspire to war the people in the capital, suggested the sovereign leave the army. The animation of the sovereign to the people and appeal to him for the defense of the fatherland — that very (in how much it was produced by the personal presence of the sovereign in Moscow) animation of the people, which was the main cause of celebrations in Russia, was presented to the sovereign and acceptable to him, as a pretext for abandonment of the army. 597 les honneurs (honors)
Time: end of June
Mentioned: 1807, 1805

Locations: the headquarters of the army
Mentioned: Drissa, French, Russia (also Russian), Poland (also Polish), German, St. Petersburg, Austerlitz, Vilna, Prussia, Swedish, Sardinian, Vitebsk, Finland, Moscow

Pevear and Volokhonsky Notes: “Everyone was displeased with the general course of military affairs in the Russian army; but of the danger of an invasion of the Russian provinces no one even thought, no one even supposed that the war would be carried further than the western Polish provinces.”

Note on Barclay de Tolly: “In fact, Barclay de Tolly was of Scottish ancestry and was born in Lithuania, but Tolstoy reflects the habit among Russian soldiers of considering all foreigners “Germans”’.

As in Andrei’s taste of the war early in the novel, he rides around everywhere and tries to understand the war as a whole. After Austerlitz, he realizes that plans are less important than how everyone reacts to what the enemy
does, which he tries to figure out by talking to everyone.

Tolstoy spends quite a bit of time laying out the chain of command and the division of command, though he specifies that a lot of the people have no specific function. They have power, but not specific power.

“In reality (Bennigsen) was a good general, useful for his advice and for always being at hand to replace Barclay. The grand duke was there because such was his pleasure.”

This is also the official introduction of Pfuel and how he has convinced Alexander of his plan.

“Especially the foreigners, who, with the boldness characteristic of people acting in an alien milieu, suggested new, unexpected ideas every day”.

This is also the division of the different parties and their ideas.

First party: Pfuel and the Germans, who believe there is a science to war that needs to be followed.

Second party: Bagration, Ermolov, and other Russians. Following Suvorov, they believe that having heart will beat the enemy, not plans, and that the enemy should not enter Russia.

Third party: Arakcheev and others trusted by Alexander. They fall in the middle of the first two, which “attained neither one goal nor the other”.

Fourth party: The grand duke and Rumyantsev. Napoleon will win, so a peace must be concluded or they will lose Petersburg (whose court defends this party).

Fifth party: Barclay de Tolly supporters, especially compared to Bennigsen.

Sixth Party: Bennigsen supporters.

Seventh Party: Those who want Alexander to command the army.

Eighth party: Those who really don’t believe in anything but are only using the situation to try to get favors from the tsar. This is the largest group.

Ninth Party: What Andrei is most associated with, as well as Shishkov, Balashov, and eventually Arakcheev. Alexander and his court need to leave because of the division it is causing.

Characters (characters who do not appear, but are mentioned are placed in italics. First appearances are in Bold. First mentions are underlined. Final appearance denoted by *):

Prince Andrei Bolkonsky

Emperor Alexander (also “sovereign” and “monarch”.)

Barclay de Tolly

Anatol Kuragin

Bagration

Tormasof (“Tormasov” in Wiener, Garnett, and Mandelker. “Tormassow” in Bell.)

General-Quartermaster Prince Volkonsky (“Quartermaster-General...” in Briggs, Edmonds and Maude (who uses “Volkonski”).)

Arakcheyef (the ex-minister of war.)

Count Benigsen (senior general.)

Tsesarevitch Konstantin Pavlovitch (the grand duke.)

Count Rumyantsef (later “Chancellor Rumyantsef”.)

Chancellor Stein (who had been Minister in Prussia.)

Armfeldt (a Swedish general.)

Pfuhl (the principal originator of the plan of the campaign.)

Paulucci (general-adjutant and a Sardinian refugee.)

Woltzogen (as in Dole, Garnett, and Bell. “Wolzogen” in Briggs.)

Napoleon Bonaparte

Winzengerode

Yermolof (“Ermolov” in Mandelker, Wiener, and Maude. “Yermolov” in Dunnigan and Edmonds.)

Suvorof

Rostof (that is, Nikolai.)

Shishkof (the imperial secretary. “Schichkow” in Bell. “Shishkov” in Mandelker, Maude, and Briggs. “Sishkov” in Garnett.)

Balashof

(many generals and courtiers and soldiers, including “flugel-adjutants, diplomatic chinovniks and a great throng of foreigners”.)

Abridged Versions: Start of chapter 6 in Bell, no break.
Gibian: Chapter 9.

Fuller: Entire chapter is cut.

Komroff: The set-up with the different groups of people around the sovereign and the war council is severely shortened and glossed over simply with the real focus being on the group that wants Alexander to leave the
army so the end of the chapter is preserved. Not followed by a break.

Kropotkin: Chapter 7: Some of the recap of Andrei’s mental state and adjustment to military life is removed. Some of the detail about the different men in the command circle is removed as well. The summary of the
eighth party of people is shortened and not broken up into three sections. No break.

Bromfield: Chapter 10: Chapter is basically the same.
Simmons: Chapter 9: the lists of the eight different parties of people is removed and replaced with "In the mass of generals, foreign as well as native, in the Russian army, and among the numerous courtiers
surrounding Alexander I, who insists upon remaining with the army although not as commander in chief, Prince Andrew discerns at least eight groups with various conflicting opinions as to the conduct of the war
and who should lead the troops. Many are swayed by self-interest."

Additional Notes: Maude: “Marquis F.O. Paulucci entered service with the Russian army in 1809, after previously serving with the French; he was briefly Head of Staff of the First Army in 1812...Baron Ludwig Julius
Wolzogen (1774-1845), a Prussian general who served with the Russian army from 1807 to 1815. Maude notes that his Memoirs were published in 1851 and were among the historical materials Tolstoy consulted
whilst writing War and Peace...Count Rumyantsev...was a godson of Catherine I.”

Mandelker: “Paulucci...owing to disagreements with Barclay de Tolly was transferred to the post of Governor-General of Livonia and Courland.”

Montefoire: Page 300: “Alexander agonized between the stolid Barclay, the leader of a “German” faction who favoured a staged withdrawal to lure the enemy into the interior, and the reckless Bagration, backed by the Russian faction who favoured immediate battle. If Alexander had appointed Bagration, the Russians would probably have been defeated somewhere around Vilna….Arakcheev became his indispensable henchman, running the rear as secretary for the empire for military affairs. “The entire French war,” boasted Arakcheev, “passed through my hands.”

Page 302: “Alexander was tempted to take command of the army himself, but Catiche warned him starkly that though “the enemy will be in Moscow in ten days, in God’s name do not command in person for we need without delay a leader in whom the troops have confidence and on that score, you inspire none!”...The sixty-six-year-old Kutuzov possessed the Slavic charisma lacked by Barclay and the world-weary caution lacked by Bagration.”

Troyat/Pinkham: Page 145: “Pfuehl’s plan...proved impracticable because of the numerical weakness of the Russian army.”

Rey: Page 236: "Barclay de Tolly also subscribed to this plan: he was of the opinion that it would be best to avoid any direct engagement with the enemy and to withdraw further and further back, to oblige the enemy to advance and thereby to weaken. But inside the emperor's entourage, some generals--the impetuous Bagration and the young Ermolov (the future conqueror of the Caucasus)--did not share this analysis. Despite Barclay's brilliant military deeds (which meant he could not be accused of cowardice), the minister's plan, if it consisted of fleeing before the enemy, was not morally acceptable to them."