Briggs: He failed in militarism, diplomacy, justice, religion and everything else
Translation:
X.
Yet strange business, all these orders, cares and plans, arriving quite not worse than other issued in similar cases, did not affect the entities of the affairs, but as the arrows of the dial on a clock, separated from the mechanism, spun arbitrarily and aimlessly, not seizing the wheels.
In military regards, the ingenious plan of the campaigns, about which Thier speaks: his genius never invented anything more deep, more skilled and more surprising947 and regarding which Thier, marching in polemics with Mr. Fen, proves how the making of this ingenious plan must be attributed not to the 4th, but to the 15th of October, this plan never was and could not be performed because of how nothing was close to reality. The strengthening of the Kremlin, for which it was needed to level to the ground the mosque948 (so Napoleon called the church of Vasiliy the Blessed), manifested as completely useless. Summing up the mines under the Kremlin only promoted the execution of the willingness of the emperor in the output from Moscow, so that the Kremlin was blown, i.e. so that was beaten that floor, about which killed the child. The pursuit Russian army, which Napoleon was so anxious of, represented an unheard of phenomenon. French warlords had lost the 60 thousand Russian army, and only, by the words of Thier, the art and it seems also the genius of Murat succeeded to find, as a pin, this 60 thousand Russian army.
In diplomatic regards, all the arguments of Napoleon about his generosity and justice, before Tutolmin, and before Yakovlev, anxious predominantly about acquired greatcoats and wagons, manifested as useless: Aleksandr did not accept these ambassadors and did not respond to their embassy.
In legal regards, after the execution of the imaginary arsonists, burned another half of Moscow.
In administrative regards, the institution of the municipality did not stop robbery and brought only favor to some face, participating in this municipality and, under the pretext of observation of order, robbing Moscow to preserve it from robbery.
In religious regards, the business so easily arranged in Egypt through visits to mosques, here brought no results. Two or three priests, found in Moscow, tried to perform the will of Napoleon, but one of them by the cheek nailed a French soldier in the time of service, but another reported the following to a French civil servant: The priest, which I found and invited to start serving mass, cleaned and locked the church. On that same night he came again to break the door and locks, to tear books and to produce other disorders.949
In trade regards, the announcement to hard-working artisans and all peasants followed with no answer. Hard-working artisans were not, but peasants caught those commissars which too long away stopped by with this announcement, and killed them.
In regards to amusing the people and troops of theaters, the business exactly so the same did not succeed. The institution in the Kremlin and in the house of the Poznykov theaters immediately again closed, because of how the actresses and actors were robbed.
The charity did not bring desired results. Fake and not fake bank notes filled Moscow, and did not have prices. For the French, gathering plunder, the need was only gold. Not only the fake bank notes, which Napoleon so graciously distributed in misfortune, did not have prices, but silver gave back lowering its cost for gold.
Yet in the very startling phenomenon of the invalidity of higher orders of that time, Napoleon was trying hard to stop the looting and restore discipline.
Here is what was delivered to the ranks of the army.
"Looting continues in the city, despite the command to stop them. Order is still not restored, and not one merchant sends trade in a legal way. Only marketers allow themselves to sell, and those are robbed things.
My portion of the county continues to be subjected to the robbery of soldiers of the 3rd corps, which is not content with that to take away the meager property of miserable inhabitants, hiding in cellars, but with more cruelty inflict them with wounds of sabres, as I myself many times have seen.
Nothing new, only that the soldiers allow themselves to rob and to steal on the 9-th of October.
Theft and robbery continues. Exists a gang of thieves in our participation, which will need to be stopped by strong measures. 11th of October.950
"The Emperor is extremely displeased that, despite the strict command to stop the robbery, only visible are detachments of guards of marauders, returning to the Kremlin. In the old guard disorder and robbery is stronger than when it was resumed yesterday, the last night and today. With condolences the Emperor sees that the selected soldiers, designated to his person, due to serve as an example of subordination, to such an extent extending to insubordination, breaking cellars and shops harvested for the army. Others are humiliated to that not listened to are sentries and guards officers, swearing at them and beating them."
“The chief master of ceremonies of the palace strongly complains in that,” writes the governor, “despite all the prohibitions, the soldiers continue to walk all hours in the courtyards and even under the windows of the emperor.”951
This army, as a loose flock, trampling under their feet that food which could save it from a hungry death, broke apart and perished with every afternoon of the superfluous stay in Moscow.
Yet it did not move.
It ran only then, when it was suddenly swept by panicky fear, produced by the interceptions of the wagons by the Smolensk road and the Tarutinskaya battle. This very same news about the Tarutinskaya battle, suddenly in the look of the receiving Napoleon, called in him the wish to punish the Russians, as speaks Thier, and he gave an order about a speech, which was required all the army.
Running away from Moscow, these troops seized with themselves all that was robbed. Napoleon also took away with himself his own treasure.952 Seeing the wagons and the cluttered army, Napoleon was terrified (as speaks Thier). Yet he, with his experience of war, did not tell to burn all extra wagons, as he did this with the wagons of the marshal, coming up to Moscow; he looked at these wagons and carriages, in which rode the soldiers, and said that this was very well, that these crews were used for food, sick and wounded.
Only the position of the troops was alike to the position of a wounded animal, feeling its death and not knowing what does. A study of the skillful maneuvers and goals of Napoleon and his troops, to the time of the entry in Moscow and to the destruction of the troops, all care to a study of the matters of the dying jumps and convulsions of a deadly wounded animal. Very often a wounded animal, having heard the rustle, fling at the shot to the hunter, run forward, backwards and accelerates to its end. That same very was done by Napoleon under the pressure of only his troops. The rustle of the Tarutinskaya battle scared away the beast, and it rushed forward to the shot, ran to the hunter, returned again backwards, and finally, as any animal, ran backwards, by the most disadvantageous, dangerous way, but to a friendly, old following.
Napoleon, presenting to us the only lead of these movements, (as a wild figure momentarily on the nose of a ship presents as the force of leading a ship), Napoleon in all this time of activities was similar to a child, which, holding behind ribbons attached inside the carriage, imagines that he rules it.
947 que son génie n’avait jamais rien imaginé de plus profond, de plus habile et de plus admirable (that his genius never imagined anything more profound, more skillful and more admirable)
948 la Mosquée (the Mosque)
949 Le prêtre, que j’avais découvert et invité à recommencer à dire la messe, a nettoyé et fermé l’égise. Cette nuit on est venu de nouveau enfoncer les portes, casser les cadenas, déchirer les livres et commettre d’autres désordres. (The priest, whom I had discovered and invited to start saying mass again, cleaned and closed the church. This night we came to break down the doors again, breaking padlocks, tearing up books and committing other messes.)
950 "La partie de mon arrondissement continue à être en proie au pillage des soldats du 3 corps, qui, non contents d’arracher aux malheureux réfugiés dans des souterrains le peu qui leur reste, ont même la réfocité de les blesser à coups de sabre, comme j’en ai vu plusieurs exemples".
"Rien de nouveau outre que les soldats se permettent de voler et de piller. Le 9 octobre".
"Le vol et le pillage continuent. Il y a une bande de voleurs dans notre district qu’il faudra faire arrêter par de fortes gardes: Le 11 octobre". ("The part of my district continue to be pillaged by soldiers of the 3rd corps, who, not content with snatching from the unhappy refugees in the underground the little that remains to them, even have the refocity to wound them with saber blows, as I have seen several examples."
"Nothing new other than that the soldiers permit themselves to steal and pillage. October 9".
"The theft and pillaging continues. There is a band of thieves in our district that will have to be stopped by strong guards: October 11".)
951 "Le grand maréchal du palais se plaint vivement", "que malgré les défenses réiterées, les soldats continuent à faire leurs besoins dans toutes les cours et même jusque sous les fenêtres de l’Empereur" ("The grand marshal of the palace complains strongly," "that despite the repeated defenses, the soldiers continue to do their business in all the courtyards and even under the Emperor's windows"
952 trésor (treasure)
Mentioned: 15th, 4th of October
Locations: Kremlin, Moscow
Mentioned: Church of Basil the Blessed (also la Mosquee), Russian, French, Egypt, Poznyakov's house, Tarutino
Pevear and Volokhonsky Notes: The orders and proclamations from the previous chapter are not carried out because they "did not touch the essence of the matter, but...turned arbitrarily and aimlessly, without catching the gears."
Tolstoy compares Napoleon's desire to blow up the Kremlin to "the floor against which the little child hurt himself should be given a beating." We get detail about how each of the plans set up in the previous chapter failed.
Eventually, things get so bad in the city that the army is demanding to leave and the news of the battle of Tarutino gives Napoleon the excuse to leave. "The plight of the whole army was like the plight of a wounded animal that feels itself perishing and does not know it was doing." In another analogy we have seen before, the chapter ends with "Napoleon, during all this time of his activity, was like a child who, holding the straps tied inside a carriage, fancies that he is driving it."
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 *):
Thiers
Napoleon (also "emperor")
M. Fain ("Mr. Fain" in Wiener.)
Murat
Yakovlef
Tutolmin
Alexander
Abridged Versions: End of Chapter 6 in Bell.
Gibian: end of chapter 2.
Fuller: Entire chapter is cut.
Komroff: Entire chapter is cut.
Kropotkin: Entire chapter is cut.
Simmons: The quotations are removed to streamline the information about the failures. End of chapter 2.
Additional Notes: Mandelker: "Baron Agathon Jean Francois Fain (1778-1837) was Napoleon's private secretary and the author of a Manuscript about the Year 1812."
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