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Chapter 1 - Reflections on the campaign of 1812
Napoleon began the war with Russia because he could not resist going to Dresden, could not help having his head turned by the homage1 he received, could not help donning a Polish uniform and yielding to the stimulating2 influence of a June morning, and could not refrain from bursts of anger in the presence of Kurakin and then of Balashev.
Alexander refused negotiations3 because he felt himself to be personally insulted. Barclay de Tolly tried to command the army in the best way, because he wished to fulfill5 his duty and earn fame as a great commander. Rostov charged the French because he could not restrain his wish for a gallop6 across a level field; and in the same way the innumerable people who took part in the war acted in accord with their personal characteristics, habits, circumstances, and aims. They were moved by fear or vanity, rejoiced or were indignant, reasoned, imagining that they knew what they were doing and did it of their own free will, but they all were involuntary tools of history, carrying on a work concealed7 from them but comprehensible to us. Such is the inevitable8 fate of men of action, and the higher they stand in the social hierarchy9 the less are they free.
The actors of 1812 have long since left the stage, their personal interests have vanished leaving no trace, and nothing remains10 of that time but its historic results.
Providence11 compelled all these men, striving to attain12 personal aims, to further the accomplishment13 of a stupendous result no one of them at all expected — neither Napoleon, nor Alexander, nor still less any of those who did the actual fighting.
The cause of the destruction of the French army in 1812 is clear to us now. No one will deny that that cause was, on the one hand, its advance into the heart of Russia late in the season without any preparation for a winter campaign and, on the other, the character given to the war by the burning of Russian towns and the hatred14 of the foe15 this aroused among the Russian people. But no one at the time foresaw (what now seems so evident) that this was the only way an army of eight hundred thousand men — the best in the world and led by the best general — could be destroyed in conflict with a raw army of half its numerical strength, and led by inexperienced commanders as the Russian army was. Not only did no one see this, but on the Russian side every effort was made to hinder the only thing that could save Russia, while on the French side, despite Napoleon’s experience and so-called military genius, every effort was directed to pushing on to Moscow at the end of the summer, that is, to doing the very thing that was bound to lead to destruction.
In historical works on the year 1812 French writers are very fond of saying that Napoleon felt the danger of extending his line, that he sought a battle and that his marshals advised him to stop at Smolensk, and of making similar statements to show that the danger of the campaign was even then understood. Russian authors are still fonder of telling us that from the commencement of the campaign a Scythian war plan was adopted to lure16 Napoleon into the depths of Russia, and this plan some of them attribute to Pfuel, others to a certain Frenchman, others to Toll4, and others again to Alexander himself — pointing to notes, projects, and letters which contain hints of such a line of action. But all these hints at what happened, both from the French side and the Russian, are advanced only because they fit in with the event. Had that event not occurred these hints would have been forgotten, as we have forgotten the thousands and millions of hints and expectations to the contrary which were current then but have now been forgotten because the event falsified them. There are always so many conjectures17 as to the issue of any event that however it may end there will always be people to say: “I said then that it would be so,” quite forgetting that amid their innumerable conjectures many were to quite the contrary effect.
Conjectures as to Napoleon’s awareness18 of the danger of extending his line, and (on the Russian side) as to luring19 the enemy into the depths of Russia, are evidently of that kind, and only by much straining can historians attribute such conceptions to Napoleon and his marshals, or such plans to the Russian commanders. All the facts are in flat contradiction to such conjectures. During the whole period of the war not only was there no wish on the Russian side to draw the French into the heart of the country, but from their first entry into Russia everything was done to stop them. And not only was Napoleon not afraid to extend his line, but he welcomed every step forward as a triumph and did not seek battle as eagerly as in former campaigns, but very lazily.
At the very beginning of the war our armies were divided, and our sole aim was to unite them, though uniting the armies was no advantage if we meant to retire and lure the enemy into the depths of the country. Our Emperor joined the army to encourage it to defend every inch of Russian soil and not to retreat. The enormous Drissa camp was formed on Pfuel’s plan, and there was no intention of retiring farther. The Emperor reproached the commanders in chief for every step they retired20. He could not bear the idea of letting the enemy even reach Smolensk, still less could he contemplate21 the burning of Moscow, and when our armies did unite he was displeased22 that Smolensk was abandoned and burned without a general engagement having been fought under its walls.
So thought the Emperor, and the Russian commanders and people were still more provoked at the thought that our forces were retreating into the depths of the country.
Napoleon having cut our armies apart advanced far into the country and missed several chances of forcing an engagement. In August he was at Smolensk and thought only of how to advance farther, though as we now see that advance was evidently ruinous to him.
The facts clearly show that Napoleon did not foresee the danger of the advance on Moscow, nor did Alexander and the Russian commanders then think of luring Napoleon on, but quite the contrary. The luring of Napoleon into the depths of the country was not the result of any plan, for no one believed it to be possible; it resulted from a most complex interplay of intrigues23, aims, and wishes among those who took part in the war and had no perception whatever of the inevitable, or of the one way of saving Russia. Everything came about fortuitously. The armies were divided at the commencement of the campaign. We tried to unite them, with the evident intention of giving battle and checking the enemy’s advance, and by this effort to unite them while avoiding battle with a much stronger enemy, and necessarily withdrawing the armies at an acute angle — we led the French on to Smolensk. But we withdrew at an acute angle not only because the French advanced between our two armies; the angle became still more acute and we withdrew still farther, because Barclay de Tolly was an unpopular foreigner disliked by Bagration (who would come his command), and Bagration — being in command of the second army — tried to postpone24 joining up and coming under Barclay’s command as long as he could. Bagration was slow in effecting the junction25 — though that was the chief aim of all at headquarters — because, as he alleged26, he exposed his army to danger on this march, and it was best for him to retire more to the left and more to the south, worrying the enemy from flank and rear and securing from the Ukraine recruits for his army; and it looks as if he planned this in order not to come under the command of the detested27 foreigner Barclay, whose rank was inferior to his own.
The Emperor was with the army to encourage it, but his presence and ignorance of what steps to take, and the enormous number of advisers28 and plans, destroyed the first army’s energy and it retired.
The intention was to make a stand at the Drissa camp, but Paulucci, aiming at becoming commander in chief, unexpectedly employed his energy to influence Alexander, and Pfuel’s whole plan was abandoned and the command entrusted29 to Barclay. But as Barclay did not inspire confidence his power was limited. The armies were divided, there was no unity30 of command, and Barclay was unpopular; but from this confusion, division, and the unpopularity of the foreign commander in chief, there resulted on the one hand indecision and the avoidance of a battle (which we could not have refrained from had the armies been united and had someone else, instead of Barclay, been in command) and on the other an ever-increasing indignation against the foreigners and an increase in patriotic31 zeal32.
At last the Emperor left the army, and as the most convenient and indeed the only pretext33 for his departure it was decided34 that it was necessary for him to inspire the people in the capitals and arouse the nation in general to a patriotic war. And by this visit of the Emperor to Moscow the strength of the Russian army was trebled.
He left in order not to obstruct35 the commander in chief’s undivided control of the army, and hoping that more decisive action would then be taken, but the command of the armies became still more confused and enfeebled. Bennigsen, the Tsarevich, and a swarm36 of adjutants general remained with the army to keep the commander in chief under observation and arouse his energy, and Barclay, feeling less free than ever under the observation of all these “eyes of the Emperor,” became still more cautious of undertaking37 any decisive action and avoided giving battle.
Barclay stood for caution. The Tsarevich hinted at treachery and demanded a general engagement. Lubomirski, Bronnitski, Wlocki, and the others of that group stirred up so much trouble that Barclay, under pretext of sending papers to the Emperor, dispatched these Polish adjutants general to Petersburg and plunged38 into an open struggle with Bennigsen and the Tsarevich.
At Smolensk the armies at last reunited, much as Bagration disliked it.
Bagration drove up in a carriage to to the house occupied by Barclay. Barclay donned his sash and came out to meet and report to his senior officer Bagration.
Despite his seniority in rank Bagration, in this contest of magnanimity, took his orders from Barclay, but, having submitted, agreed with him less than ever. By the Emperor’s orders Bagration reported direct to him. He wrote to Arakcheev, the Emperor’s confidant: “It must be as my sovereign pleases, but I cannot work with the Minister (meaning Barclay). For God’s sake send me somewhere else if only in command of a regiment39. I cannot stand it here. Headquarters are so full of Germans that a Russian cannot exist and there is no sense in anything. I thought I was really serving my sovereign and the Fatherland, but it turns out that I am serving Barclay. I confess I do not want to.”
The swarm of Bronnitskis and Wintzingerodes and their like still further embittered40 the relations between the commanders in chief, and even less unity resulted. Preparations were made to fight the French before Smolensk. A general was sent to survey the position. This general, hating Barclay, rode to visit a friend of his own, a corps41 commander, and, having spent the day with him, returned to Barclay and condemned42, as unsuitable from every point of view, the battleground he had not seen.
While disputes and intrigues were going on about the future field of battle, and while we were looking for the French — having lost touch with them — the French stumbled upon Neverovski’s division and reached the walls of Smolensk.
It was necessary to fight an unexpected battle at Smolensk to save our lines of communication. The battle was fought and thousands were killed on both sides.
Smolensk was abandoned contrary to the wishes of the Emperor and of the whole people. But Smolensk was burned by its own inhabitants-who had been misled by their governor. And these ruined inhabitants, setting an example to other Russians, went to Moscow thinking only of their own losses but kindling43 hatred of the foe. Napoleon advanced farther and we retired, thus arriving at the very result which caused his destruction.
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1
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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2
stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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3
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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7
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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8
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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hierarchy
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| n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层 | |
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10
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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12
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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13
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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14
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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15
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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16
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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17
conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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18
awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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19
luring
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式） | |
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20
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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21
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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24
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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27
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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29
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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31
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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32
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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33
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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34
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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36
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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38
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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39
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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40
embittered
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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42
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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43
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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