Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 35

Characters Present:

His Serene Highness Kutúzov

Wolzogen

Raévski

Location:

Górki


Kutúzov is sitting quietly, giving permission to give orders, and hearing reports, in which he learns that General Bagratión has been wounded, which saddens him.

He is under the impression that their side is winning, but he is approached by the Wolzogen, who has been sent by Barclay de Tolley, to smugly declare that they are losing, and that they should retreat. Kutúzov reacts angrily, and is then approached by Raévski, who has spent all day at the Knoll Battery, and says that the French are no longer attacking.

Kutúzov asks Raévski if he thinks that they should retreat, like some others do, and then he sends out an order to ready the army to attack on the morrow.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 34

Characters Present:

Napoleon
the French army

Location:

Borodíno

Napoleon, who is sitting off to the side of the battle drinking punch, is approached by a young, handsome and curly-haired adjutant who asks for reinforcements.

Napoleon refuses them at first, but then changes his mind. 

The generals are still struggling to keep the men together, and they are still being slaughtered.

Napoleon goes to inspect the battlefield, and sees piles of bloodied French troops and horses in lying about everywhere, and becomes dejected at the loss, now, after winning all the other battles.

He is asked what he will do, and he declares that he will not have his Guard killed so far from home, and walks away.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 33

Characters Present:

Napoleon
the French army

Location:

Borodíno


The French army is in chaos - orders are carried out before they are supposed to be, or not at all.

When the officers finally manage to reorganise the men, they are herded back into the firing zone, and fear of getting killed sends them into chaos again. 

Napoleon and many of the higher ranking officers do not actually go near any of the danger zones.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 32

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

The Raévski Redoubt AKA the Knoll Battery

Pierre, who is terrified, manages to return to the battery.  He notices that there are no shots being fired from the battery, but he does not notice that the colonel has been killed.

He hears someone yell out "brother" (in French it later turns out) and somehow, he ends up catching a French officer, but there is some confusion about who is whose prisoner.  A canon-ball flies overhead, and they both duck, and Pierre releases his prisoner.  The French begin to flee, and the Russians start to celebrate and take prisoners.

Looking at the horror around him, Pierre thinks that the armies must surely quit after this, but the battle rages on.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 31

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
an adjutant

Location:

Borodíno and the Raévski Redoubt AKA the Knoll Battery


Pierre stumbles down the hill on his horse, and is met by an adjutant who takes him to the Knoll Battery, saying that it will be safer, and that he will have a better view.

Pierre's horse gets shot, and Pierre only notices as it is walking poorly.

Pierre arrives at the Knoll Battery, and being all dressed in white causes the troops to regard him with hostility at first, but then, they adopt him and call him "their gentleman". 

They run out of ammunition at the same time that canon balls start being launched at them. Pierre runs off to get some more, but the ammunition carts are hit just as he reaches them, and he is thrown backwards.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 30

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Boris Drubetskóy
Kutuzov

Location:

Gorki and Borodíno 


Pierre oversleeps and misses the beginning of the battle.  He is eventually awakened by Boris who says that all the men and Kutúzov rode out ages ago.

Pierre gets ready quickly, and goes to have a look at the battle. The rolling green splendor of yesterday is now a beautiful scene of thousands of men; smoke from gun fire; and a mishmash of colours. 

He hears Kutúzov give an order to meet down near a crossing, and Pierre decides to go down there too.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 29

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location:

Borodíno - the night before the Battle of Borodíno


Napoleon comes back from checking the lines, and says that the chess pieces are in place, and the game is about to begin.

He then calls fortune a courtesan, and complains that he cannot taste nor smell anything.

Napoleon rides up to the the Shevárdino Redoubt at 5.30am and waits for the battle to begin.

NB: please see revision of Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 28

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 28

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location:

Borodíno


Many historians say that the Battle of Borodíno was lost because Napoleon had a cold, possibly because his valet had forgotten to bring him his waterproof boots a few days earlier.

Tolstoy argues that 80,000 men, by their own volition, in combination with the events leading to this moment, had gone into battle and gotten killed. 

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 27

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location:

Valúevo, Borodíno, the Shevárdino Redoubt

Tolstoy discusses popular French histories which say that Napoleon rode around the battle all day, giving out orders that seemed genius and mad.

Tolstoy counters at the end of the chapter that this would have been impossible, as Napoleon was far, far away from the actual battle.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 26

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte 
M. de Beausset

Location:
Valúevo

Napoleon being made ready by his valet.  The description makes it sound a lot like a horse is being groomed. 

De Beausset arrives from Paris and gives Napoleon a gift from Mrs Bonaparte - a portrait of their son.  Napoleon orders the portrait to be taken away, as his son is too young to see battle.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 25

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Prince Andrew Bolkonski
Timokhin

Location:

Knyazkóvo

Pierre, Andrew and Timokhin discuss the army under Kutúzov's command.  

Andrew realises that he is very upset at the thought of Moscow being taken by the French.

He sends Pierre away to have some rest before the battle, and then starts to think about how much he had loved Natasha, and how Anatole Kurágin saw nothing of her beautiful soul, only a fresh, young pretty thing to be taken.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 24

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

Knyazkóvo

Prince Andrew is having gloomy thoughts on what is the eve of the battle. He suspects it will be worse than the battle of Austerlitz, and wonders if he will die. 

Pierre is led to Andrew's tent, and Andrew is reminded of the happenings in Moscow with Natasha and greats Pierre with hostility. 

Pierre detects the hostility and everything gets a bit awkward.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 23

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Bennigsen

Location:

Górki; the Raévski Redoubt, also called the Knoll Battery; Semënovsk; and looking over the Shevárdino Redoubt

Pierre goes on a tour of the lines with Bennigsen, who gives commands to generals as they go along.

They ride along to the left of the line, and come upon a hill that is unmanned. The generals argue that it is foolish to leave it unmanned, since having the higher ground is beneficial in battle. Bennigsen agrees with this, and moves troops about without telling the Commander-in-Chief. 

This is a mistake, as the troops were supposed to be concealed to create a sudden ambush.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 22

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Kutúzov
Boris Drubetskóy

Location:

Borodinó

Pierre meets Boris, and Boris promises to show him the line, and though the right flank is very strong, Boris says that the left flank is stronger, but then makes a doubtful sounding remark about Kutúzov knowing what he was doing.

Pierre then goes to speak to Kutúzov about joining the battle, and Boris places himself conveniently near (to be overheard by Kutúzov), and says to Pierre that the militia have put on clean white shirts to be killed in on the morrow.

Kutúzov loses concentration, like old people do, on the conversation, and asks his aide-de-camp to recite a verse, to which Kutúzov nods his head in rhythm to. 

Kutúzov then rides off with Pierre to show him the lines.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 21

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov
Kutúzov

Location:

Borodinó

Pierre arrives at Borodinó, but the battlefield is not what he expected, with the troops on both sides just lurking about in their camps. 

The camps are also not set on either side of a line, but are intermingled, and Pierre asks a nearby officer to explain what their position is. 

A procession comes with some holy men bringing a religious icon, Mary, from Smolénsk.  

Pierre sees Kutúzov bow and kiss the icon, and then have tremendous difficulty rising to his feet because of his great weight.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 20

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Leaving Mozháysk

Pierre leaves Mozaháysk to join the army, and passes lots of wounded soldiers from the battle the day before.

He meets a doctor, who says that 20,000 men are doomed to die or be wounded. The doctor directs Pierre to Tatárinova to find His Serene Highness Kutúzov. 

Pierre travels in his carriage to Tatárinova, but Kutúzov is not there, and he goes on to Górki.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 19

Characters Present:

Location:

Russia 

This chapter describes the wrong moves that Russia took leading up to the battle of Borodíno, which lead to an indecisive result.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 18

Characters Present:

Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Moscow 


Moscow is slowly being deserted. Pierre receives the mornings newspapers, which contradict the gossip that Count Rostopchín had been forbidding people to leave Moscow. 

Pierre cannot decide whether to stay and wait in Moscow, or to join the army. 

He goes into town, and sees some French cooks being flogged, and decides to join the army in Mozháysk.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 17

Characters Present:

Julie Drubetskaya
Pierre Bezukhov

Location:

Moscow at a social gathering, hosted by Julie Drubetskaya 

The people at the gathering gossip about the French, who are getting closer to Moscow, and decide that they, the people in polite society, should all stop speaking French now.

The Rostov family come up in conversation, and Julie tells Pierre that she knows that there is a romance between him and Natasha. Pierre denies it.

They then discuss Nicholas Rostov's rescue of Princess Mary Bolkónskaya, and the budding romance between them.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 16

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Commander-in-Chief/Prince Kutúzhov

Location:

Headquarters 

Prince Andrew and Kutúzhov have a meeting, where Kutúzhov says that he is very fond of Prince Andrew, and that he must consider him as a second father.

Kutúzhov then laments the actions taken in previous wars, that have led to the current state of Russia, and it's war with France.   He becomes quite emotional, and says that he will make the French eat their horses.

Prince Andrew leaves the meeting, feeling like the right choice was made to make Kutúzhov Commander-in-Chief.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 15

Characters Present:

Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Vaska Denísov
Commander in Chief/Prince Kutúzhov

Location:

Headquarters 


Prince Andrew is summoned to headquarters by General Kutúzhov, who is absent when Prince Andrew arrives.

Prince Andrew speaks with Denísov for a while, each reminding the other of Natasha, as they had both been betrothed to her. 

General Kutúzhov arrives, and is described as having grown "corpulent, flaccid and fat", and as making the porch creak as he dismounts from his horse.  

Kutúzhov gets a bit upset about news of Prince Nicholas' death.

Denísov suggests a clever way to cut French communication lines, which Kutúzhov discards, as he dislikes clever people for no obvious reason other than that he is old.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 14

Characters Present:

Princess Mary Bolkonskaya
Nicholas Rostóv
Dron


Location:

Boguchárovo 

Nicholas calls for Dron, the leader of the peasant's to be brought to him, and Dron is subsequently locked in a cupboard while Nicholas rallies the peasants to load Princess Mary's carts.

He has a conversation with Princess Mary before she departs, and they, unbeknownst to one another, fall in love. Dron is released from the cupboard.

Nicholas feels agitated by the taunts by his comrades, but only because he doesn't know what to do about Sonya, his cousin, to whom he is betrothed.  

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 13

Characters Present:

Princess Mary Bolkonskaya
Nicholas Rostóv
Ilyín
Alpátych

Location:

Boguchárovo 

Nicholas and Ilyín ride into Boguchárovo, which has been between opposing armies for a few days.

Alpátych approaches them, and asks them for help: the peasants will not allow Princess Mary to leave, threatening to unharness her horses if she tries.  They have however, stated that they will serve her, as before, if she stays.

Nicholas goes to speak with Princess Mary, and he seems quite taken with her fragility.  She explains to him what has happened, and he assures her that she will have a safe passage away from the village.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 12

Characters Present:

Princess Mary Bolkonskaya

Location:

Boguchárovo 


Princess Mary spends some time brooding alone in her bedroom. 

She thinks of her father, wondering what he meant when he said "dear-est" just before he died.

Princess Mary eventually realises that he meant "Dunyásha" and starts screaming it loudly as she runs to the servant's quarters, and towards her old nursemaid.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 11

Characters Present:

Dron
Princess Mary Bolkonskaya
The Peasants

Location:

Boguchárovo 

Princess Mary is visited by Dron an hour after he first left, who tells her that the peasants have come to speak with her.

Princess Mary goes outside to ask why they haven't left for Moscow, or taken the grain that she offered them.

She gives an impassioned speech, saying to them what what is hers is theirs, but is met by a grim silence. 

Eventually, she asks why they won't leave for safety, and the answer comes back in several voices from the crowd, that imply that she is tricking them into slavery by getting them to move on to Moscow.  They would prefer to stay where they are, despite the danger from the French.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 10

Characters Present:

Alpátych
Dron
Princess Mary Bolkonskaya
Mademoiselle Bourienne
General Rameu

Location:

Boguchárovo 


Princess Mary is grieving alone for her father, but eventually, Mademoiselle Bourienne comes to weep with her.  Mademoiselle Bourienne hands over a letter from the French army, saying that General Rameu has offered to take them under his protection.

This announcement spurs Princess Mary into action, and she calls Dron (this is prior to Alpátych's conversation with him), to tell him to give Prince Andrew's grain to the peasants.  

She starts to worry about the French occupying her house and going through her brother and father's things. 

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 9

Characters Present:

Alpátych
Dron

Location:

Boguchárovo 

Alpátych goes on ahead to Boguchárovo, which is part of the Bolkónski holdings, to tell the peasants to abandon it and move into Moscow, as the French had unexpectedly made it closer than expected.

The Boguchárovovians had the reputation of being rather stubborn with a tendency to rebel against the ruling classes, and this is confirmed when Alpátych has some trouble convincing their leader, Dron, that they should pack up carts and leave.

Though he eventually gets a small agreement from Dron in the end, nothing has been done to affect the move by evening, and Alpátych readies himself to get the help of the police.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 8

Characters Present:

Old Prince Nicholas Bolkónski
Alpátych
Princess Mary Bolkónskaya

Location:

Bald Hill Estate, then Boguchárovo 


When Alpátych returns from Smolénsk, Prince Nicholas finally has the realisation that his household is in danger and everyone goes, except for Princess Mary, who refuses to leave her father, who is insisting on staying to defend Ball Hills.

Prince Nicholas then has a stroke, and becomes paralysed down one side his body, and loses the ability to speak very clearly.  

Princess Mary goes to sit with him, and he manages to tell her that he always thinks of her, thanks her for everything, then asks her to send for Andrew. Mary replies that she had a letter from Andrew saying that Smolénsk was lost, and Prince Nicholas begins to weep. 

Mary goes for a short walk in the garden, and the doctor comes out to say that the old prince has died.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 7

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte
Lavrúshka
Thiers
Nicholas Rostóv

Location:

Russia, Moscow

This chapter details the French historian, Thiers' account of Napoleon's battle-journey through Russia.  He says that Napoleon was drawn to Moscow against his will, by the Russian forces. 

It also details a conversation had between Napoleon and the Cossack, Lavrúska, where Napoleon pretends not to be Napoleon, and Lavrúska pretends not to know that he is Napoleon.

They have a circular conversation about who will win the war, then they part ways. 

Lavrúska returns to his master, Nicholas Rostóv, who takes him on a horse-ride around some neighbouring villages to Ilyín. 

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 6

Characters Present:

Anna Pávlovna
Countess Hélène Berzúkhova
General, Prince, Commander-in-Chief Kutúzov
Prince Vasíli Kurágin
Barclay de Tolley

Location:

Petersburg


The social circles are all gossiping about the war, and  Anna Pávlovna's circle has contradictory gossip to Countess Hélène Berzúkhova's social circle.

Prince Vasíli goes to visit Anna Pávlovna on several occasions, and General Kutúzov tends to be the topic of conversation.

Apparently Barclay de Tolley is doing a terrible job at commanding the army, but Kutúzov seems to be ok, though no one really commits to this idea.

Then, Kutúzov gets promoted to Prince Kutúzov, and then, on the same day, also promoted to Commander-in-Chief Kutúzov, even though the Tsar doesn't really like him. Kurágin says that he has always thought that Kutúzov was a man of great merit.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 5

Characters Present:

General Bagratión
Prince Andrew Bolkónski
Alpátych

Location:

Near Bald Hill Estate

Prince Andrew takes his regiment along the avenue leading to Bald Hill Estate.  Here he meets Alpátych, who is frightened, and also confirms that Old Prince Nicholas and Princess Mary have gone to Moscow.

He receives a letter from General Bagratión, saying that Smolénsk had fallen, though he didn't understand why, as his men found for 35 hours, and Napoleon's fell back after 14 hours.  General Bagratión goes on to say that the whole army is suspicious of the Imperial aide-de-camp, Wolzogen, and says that he is more Napoleon's man than Alexander's.

All the men go for a swim in the pond as the weather has been hot.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 4

Characters Present:

Dessalles
Alpátych
Princess Mary Bolkónskaya
Prince Andrew Bolkónski

Location:

Bald Hill Estate, then 40 miles away, in Smolénsk

Dessalles tells Princess Mary to send a letter via Alpátych to the governor in Smolénsk to ask advice as to whether they should leave Bald Hills or not, due to the fighting.

Alpátych arrives in Smolénsk, and the town is being abandoned, with sounds of firing getting closer, and chaos in the streets. 

He goes to visit the governor who gives him a letter to take back, which says that everything is fine in Smolénsk.

Alpátych then runs into Prince Andrew, who gives him another letter, saying that they should all go to Moscow.  

Alpáytch's innkeeper beats his wife to death for wanting to leave, and then houses start to burn down.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 3

Characters Present:

Old Prince Nicholas Bolkónski 

Location:

Bald Hill Estate



Old Prince Nicholas Bolkónski spends all evening in his study, preparing his final "remarks" which will be sent to the Tsar after he dies. He also wishes to send a note to the governor and orders paper to do it on.

He finally feels ready to go to bed, and has his servant move his bed around the halls, until he finds a place where he hasn't already slept, and spent too much time thinking terrible things. This place is in the corner behind the grand piano.

Prince Nicholas remembers that he received a letter from Prince Andrew at dinner, and it seems to dawn on him how close the French army is, and then he has a flashback to his time in the army.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 2

Characters Present:

Old Prince Nicholas Bolkónski 
Princess Mary Bolkónskaya
Mademoiselle Bourienne
Dessalles
Michael Ivánovich

Location:

Bald Hill Estate


Prince Nicolas blames Princess Mary for his argument with Prince Andrew, but appears to get over it within a week. He also ends his affair with Mademoiselle Bourienne.

He doesn't acknowledge that the war is happening, and makes plans to make improvements to the estate. 

A letter arrives from Prince Andrew, warning that the battle is extraordinarily close to Bald Hill Estate, but Prince Nicholas doesn't listen, and insists that the French won't make it beyond the Niemen River.

Everyone looks embarrassed.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 1

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte
Tsar Alexander
Pfuel
General Bagratión
Petya Rostóv
Toll
Barclay de Tolley
Nevérovski

Location:

Russia

A general discussion of how the emperors approached the war, plus some highlights regarding army movement and town destruction.

Tsar Alexander left the army after a while, so that the men could be focused on one leader.