War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy [652]
Napoleon the genius did that. But to say that Napoleon destroyed his army because he wanted to or because he was very stupid, would be just as unfair as to say that Napoleon brought his army as far as Moscow because he wanted to and because he was very intelligent and a genius.
In either case his personal activity, having no more power than the personal activity of each soldier, merely coincided with the laws according to which the phenomenon was accomplished.
Historians quite falsely (only because what followed did not justify his actions) describe for us the weakening of Napoleon’s powers in Moscow. Just as earlier, and also later, in the year thirteen, he employed all his skill and powers to do the best for himself and his army. Napoleon’s activity during this time was no less astounding than it was in Egypt, in Italy, in Austria, and in Prussia. We do not know for certain how great Napoleon’s genius really was in Egypt, where forty centuries looked down upon his greatness, because all his great deeds are described for us only by the French. We cannot correctly judge his genius in Austria and Prussia, because information about his activity there must be drawn from French and German sources; and the incomprehensible surrender into captivity of whole corps without a battle and of fortresses without a siege was bound to incline the Germans towards recognizing his genius as the sole explanation of the war that was conducted in Germany. But we, thank God, have no reason to recognize his genius in order to cover up our shame. We paid for the right to look at the matter simply and directly, and we shall not give up that right.
His activity in Moscow is as astounding and marked by genius as everywhere else. Order after order and plan after plan proceed from him, from the time of his entry into Moscow until he leaves it. The absence of the inhabitants and the deputation and the burning of Moscow itself do not throw him off. He does not lose sight either of the welfare of his army, or of the doings of the enemy, or of the welfare of the peoples of Russia, or of the management of affairs in Paris, or of diplomatic considerations to do with terms for the coming peace.
IX
In the military respect, Napoleon, as soon as he enters Moscow, gives General Sébastiani strict orders to keep track of the movements of the Russian army, sends corps to various roads, and orders Murat to find Kutuzov. Then he makes careful arrangements for fortifying the Kremlin; then he draws up a brilliant plan for the future campaign over the whole map of Russia. In the diplomatic respect, Napoleon summons the robbed and bedraggled Captain Yakovlev, who does not know how to get out of Moscow, lays out for him in detail his policy and his magnanimity, and, having written a letter to the emperor Alexander in which he considers it his duty to inform his friend and brother that Rastopchin has arranged things badly in Moscow, he sends Yakovlev to Petersburg. Having laid out his plans and magnanimity in the same detail before Tutolmin,5 he sends this old man, too, to Petersburg for negotiations.
In the legal respect, orders are given immediately after the fires to find the culprits and execute them. And the villain Rastopchin is punished by an order that his houses be burned down.
In the administrative respect, Moscow is granted a constitution, a city council is established, and the following is published:
Inhabitants of Moscow!
Your misfortunes are cruel, but His Majesty the Emperor and King wishes to put an end to the course thereof. Fearful examples have taught you how he punishes disobedience and crime. Strict measures have been taken to put an end to disorder and restore general safety. A paternal administration, chosen from among yourselves, will constitute your municipality or city council. The latter will attend to you, to your needs, to your well-being. The members thereof will be distinguished by a red ribbon worn over the shoulder, and the mayor will have besides