War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy [412]
While the sovereign was still in Vilno, the army was divided in three: the first army was under the command of Barclay de Tolly, the second under the command of Bagration, the third under the command of Tormasov. The sovereign was with the first army, but not as commander in chief. It was not stated in the orders that the sovereign would command, but only that the sovereign would be present in the army. Besides that, the sovereign personally did not have a commander in chief’s staff with him, but the staff of the imperial headquarters. With him were the chief of the imperial staff, the quartermaster general Prince Volkonsky, generals, imperial adjutants, diplomatic officials, and a large number of foreigners, but there was no army staff. Besides them, the following persons were with the sovereign without any specific function: Arakcheev, the former minister of war; Count Bennigsen, the highest ranking of the generals; the Grand Duke Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich; Count Rumyantsev, the chancellor; Stein, a former Prussian minister; Armfelt, a Swedish general; Pfuel, the chief author of the plan of campaign; the adjutant general Paulucci, a native of Sardinia; Wolzogen, and many others. Though these people were with the army without any military function, they had influence through their position, and often a corps commander and even the commander in chief did not know in what capacity Bennigsen, or the grand duke, or Arakcheev, or Prince Volkonsky asked or advised one thing or another, and did not know whether it was from his own person or from the sovereign that this or that order in the form of advice proceeded and whether or not it was necessary to carry it out. But these were externals, while the essential meaning of the presence of the sovereign and of all these persons—from the court point of view (and in the sovereign’s presence everyone becomes a courtier)—was clear to everyone. It was the following: the sovereign did not take upon himself the title of commander in chief, but he gave orders to all the armies; the people of his entourage were his assistants. Arakcheev was the faithful executor-protector of order and the sovereign’s bodyguard; Bennigsen was a landowner of Vilno province, who was as if doing les honneurs for the province, but in reality was a good general, useful for his advice and for always being at hand to replace Barclay. The grand duke was there because such was his pleasure. The ex-minister Stein was there because he was useful for his advice and because the emperor Alexander valued his personal qualities highly. Armfelt was a vicious hater of Napoleon and a self-assured general, which always had an effect on Alexander. Paulucci was there because he was bold and resolute in his speech. The adjutant generals were there because they were wherever the sovereign was, and finally—above all—Pfuel was there because, having drawn up the plan of war against Napoleon and having made Alexander believe in the advisability of this plan, he was directing the whole business of the war. Pfuel had come with Wolzogen, who conveyed Pfuel’s thoughts in a form more accessible than did Pfuel himself, a closet theoretician, abrupt, and self-confident to the point of despising everything.
Besides the persons listed, Russians and foreigners (especially the foreigners, who, with the boldness characteristic of people acting in an alien milieu, suggested new, unexpected ideas every day), there were also many secondary persons, who were with the army because their superiors were there.
Among all the ideas and voices in this immense, restless, brilliant, and proud world, Prince Andrei saw the following