Volume 3: Book 15 - Chapter 4

Characters Present:

Kutúzov

Location: 

Krásnoe


The Russian army reaches Krásnoe with 50,000 men.  They attack the French against Kutúzov's wishes, since the war is won, and capture 26,000 men. 

Napoleon has been recorded in history as being heroic and grand, whereas Kutúzov has been described as crafty and dissolute.

Volume 3: Book 14 - Chapter 17

Characters Present:

Napoleon

Location: 

Napoleon leaves Russia and returns to France.  Tolstoy says that historians make the retreat sound heroic, but he implies that it is an act that a child would be told to be ashamed of.

Volume 3: Book 14 - Chapter 1

Characters Present:

Napoleon

Location: 

Russia


Tolstoy discusses the Battle of Borodíno, and surmises that though it was the last large battle, and that it was won by the French, it did not win them the war.

All of the burning of towns, including Moscow was outside of the normal rules of war, and then the French army ceased to exist.

Volume 3: Book 13 - Chapter 18

Characters Present:

Kutúzov
Dokhtúrov

Mouton
Napoleon

Location: 

Kalúga and Malo-Yaroslávets 


Kutúzov orders the evacuation of Kalúga and Dokhtúrov goes on to Malo-Yaroslávets.

The French army are in retreat.  There is a council at Malo-Yaroslávets, where Napoleon, in agreement with a simple soldier called Mouton, decides that the French must get away as quickly as possible.

Some Cossacks almost capture Napoleon, but get distracted by plundering instead. 

Volume 3: Book 13 - Chapter 10

Characters Present:

Napoleon

Location: 

Moscow


All of the measures that Napoleon put in place failed. 

After the people who lit the fires were executed, Moscow burnt down anyway; the French officers lost track of the Russian Army, which was only located after a time, perhaps by luck, but Murat.  And the looting continued.

Volume 3: Book 13 - Chapter 9

Characters Present:

Napoleon

Location: 

Moscow

Napoleon restores order to Moscow by declaring that the people who set the fires shall be punished.  

He writes a letter to Tsar Alexander, telling him that Count Rostopchín had been terrible, and then he makes Rostopchín burn his own houses down. 

Napoleon reinstates church services, and posts a proclamation encouraging citizens to return to their homes.

He sends Murat out in search of Kutúzov.

Volume 3: Book 13 - Chapter 8

Characters Present:

Napoleon

Location: 

Moscow

Tolstoy has a general discussion as to why Napoleon would have allowed his army to plunder Moscow, and to not prepare for winter. 

He also questions historians and their discussions as to why he made such terrible decisions in pursuing or not pursuing Kutúzov. 

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 20

Characters Present:

Bees
Napoleon

Location: 

Moscow 

When a beehive loses its queen, the hive goes into chaos.

Napoleon found the same in empty Moscow. 

Volume 3: Book 11 - Chapter 19

Characters Present:

Napoleon
General/Prince Kutuzhóv

Location: 

Moscow 

Kutuzhóv gives the order to leave Moscow in the evening of the 1st of September, and the city is emptied by the next day.

Meanwhile, Napoleon looks down at the lights in Moscow, thinking magnanimous thoughts, such as how the Tsar and his own nobility could mingle in the Kremlin; and, how he could donate his riches to the charities of Moscow.  He has decided that he respects Moscow too much to destroy it. 

Napoleon's officers have discovered that Moscow is empty, but they are nervous about telling Napoleon, should he be embarrassed, furious or both.

Volume 2: Book 10 - Chapter 38

Characters Present:

Napoleon Bonaparte

Location:

Shevárdino Redoubt


Napoleon feels terrible because of his cold, but also, because of a flicker of remaining humanity, which tells him that he is to blame for all of the death on the battlefield.

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 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 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 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 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. 

Volume 2: Book 9 - Chapter 19

Characters Present:

Natasha Rostova
Pierre Bezukhov


Location: 

Not at the Rostóv's, but somewhere nearby

Pierre realises that he has fallen in love with Natasha Rostova.

He also plays some number games with the French alphabet, and realises that Napoleon's name, when reduced to numbers, becomes reduced to 666, so Pierre concludes that Napoleon is the Antichrist and that the apocalypse will happen soon.

Pierre receives a list from the army of wounded, dead and awarded, and sees Nicholas Rostóv's name on there for bravery, and sends news to the Rostóvs. 

Volume 2: Book 9 - Chapter 7

Characters Present:

Adjutant-General Baláshev
Napoleon Bonaparte 
Bessiérs
Caulauncourt
Berthier

Location: 

Vílna

Despite Baláshev thinking that he would not see Napoleon again, was invited to dine with him and some others that very evening. 

Napoleon is most pleasant throughout the meal, treating Baláshev as one of his own courtiers instead of someone associated with the enemy. 

Eventually Baláshev is taken aside by Napoleon who asks why Alexander has surrounded himself by his personal enemies, to which Baláshev does not reply.

Baláshev thinks that Napoleon is working himself up to another rant, but Napoleon instead tugs Baláshev's earlobe - the highest mark of honour to have bestowed on one by a French emperor. 

The letter that Baláshev takes to Alexander is the last that Napoleon ever sends to him, and it relays the details of Baláshev's interview with him, including the ear-tugging.

Volume 2: Book 9 - Chapter 6

Characters Present:

Adjutant-General Baláshev
Napoleon Bonaparte 

Location: 

Vílna

Baláshev is finally taken to see Napoleon, who is cordial to him at first and insists that he has not started the war. 

Baláshev tries to negotiate the Russian position with him several times but gives up as Napoleon descends into a shouty rant about how the Russians will crushed by his magnificent army.

At the end of his rant, Napoleon says that he is still as devoted to Alexander as he was before, and that he shall prepare a letter for Baláshev to take to him.