第651章
第651章butthegenerals,especiallythosenotrussian,burningtodistinguishthemselves,todazzlepeople,totakesomedukeorkingprisonerforsomeincomprehensiblereason—thosegeneralsthoughtthatthen,whenanybattlewassickeningandmeaningless,wastheverytimeforfightingbattlesandconqueringsomebody.kutuzovsimplyedhisshoulderswhentheycametohimoneafteranotherwithprojectsofman?uvreswiththeill-shod,half-clothed,andhalf-starvedsoldiers,whosenumbershadinonemonthdwindledtoone-halfwithoutabattle,andwhowouldeven,underthemostfavourablecircumstances,havealongerdistancetotraversebeforetheyreachedthefrontierthantheyhadcomealready.
thisdesireonthepartofthegeneralstodistinguishthemselves,toexecuteman?uvres,toattack,andtocutofftheenemy,wasparticularlyconspicuouswhenevertherussianarmydidcomeintocontactwiththefrench.
soitwasatkrasnoe,wheretheyhadexpectedtofindoneofthethreecolumnsofthefrench,andstumbleduponnapoleonhimselfwithsixteenthousandtroops.inspiteofallkutuzov’seffortstoavoidthisdisastrousengagement,andtokeephismensafeforthreedaysatkrasnoe,therewasaslaughterofthedisorderedbandsofthefrenchbytheexhaustedsoldiersoftherussianarmy.
tollwroteoutadisposition:firstcolumntoadvancetothisspot,andsoon.andasalways,whatwasdonewasnotatallinaccordancewiththatdisposition.princeeugeneofwurtembergkeptupafirefromthehillsonthemoboffrenchastheyracedby,andaskedforreinforcements,whichdidnotcome.inthenightsthefrenchdispersedtogetroundtherussians,hidthemselvesinthewoods,andallthatcouldledonagain.
miloradovitch,whodeclaredthathehadnowishtoknowanythingaboutthecommissariatarrangementsofhisdetachment,whocouldneverbefoundwhenhewaswanted,thatchevaliersanspeuretsansreproche,ashecalledhimself,alwayseagerforparleyswiththefrench,sentmessengerstodemandtheirsurrender,wastedtime,anddidnotcarryouttheordersgivenhim.
“imakeyouapresentofthatcolumn,lads,”hesaidtohismen,pointingoutthefrenchtohiscavalry.andthecavalry,withspurandsabre,urgedtheirbroken-downhorsesintoatrot,andwithimmenseeffortreachedthecolumnhehadbestowedonthem,thatistosay,amoboffrozen,numb,andstarvingfrenchmen.andthecolumnlaiddowntheirweaponsandsurrendered,whichwaswhattheyhadbeenlongingtodoforweekspast.
atkrasnoethereweretakentwenty-sixthousandprisoners,ahundredcannons,astickofsomesort,whichwaspromptlydubbeda“marshal’sbaton.”andthegeneralsdisputedamongthemselveswhohadgainedmostdistinctionintheaction,andweredelightedatit,thoughtheywerefullofregretatnothavingcapturednapoleonorsomemarshalandhero,andblamedoneanother,andaboveallkutuzov,forfailingtodoso.
thesemen,drawnonbytheirownpassions,werebuttheblindinstrumentsofthemostmelancholylawofnecessity;buttheybelievedthemselvesheroes,andimaginedthatwhattheyweredoingwasthenoblestandmosthonourableachievement.theyblamedkutuzov,anddeclaredfromtheverybeginningofthecampaignhehadpreventedthemfromconqueringnapoleon;thathethoughtofnothingbuthisownsensualgratifications,andwouldnotadvanceoutofpolotnyanyzavodybecausehewascomfortablethere;thathehadcheckedtheadvanceatkrasnoe;thathehadcompletelylosthisheadwhenheheardnapoleonwasnear;thatonemightreallysupposehehadasecretunderstandingwithnapoleon,thathehadbeenboughtoverbyhim,andsoonandsoon.
andnotonlycontemporaries,misledbytheirownpassions,havespokenthus.posterityandhistoryhaveacceptednapoleonasgrand,whileforeignwritershavecalledkutuzovacrafty,dissolute,weak,intriguingoldman;andrussianshaveseeninhimanondescriptbeing,asortofpuppet,onlyofuseowingtohisrussianname…