A Year of War and Peace+ Day 26

In which the Russian army prepares for inspection and we learn to order our lives well in every act

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War and Peace — Book One, Part Two

Chapter One

In October, 1805, a Russian army was occupying the villages and towns of the Archduchy of Austria, and yet other regiments freshly arriving from Russia were settling near the fortress of Braunau and burdening the inhabitants on whom they were quartered. Braunau was the headquarters of the commander in chief, Kutúzov.

On October 11, 1805, one of the infantry regiments that had just reached Braunau had halted half a mile from the town, waiting to be inspected by the commander in chief. Despite the un-Russian appearance of the locality and surroundings — fruit gardens, stone fences, tiled roofs, and hills in the distance — and despite the fact that the inhabitants (who gazed with curiosity at the…