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 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 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 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.