Not So Great Men

Many historians assert that the French failed at Borodino because Napoleon had a cold in his head;⁠1 that if he had not had a cold the orders given by him before and during the battle would have been even more remarkable for their genius, and Russia would have been lost and the face of the world would have been changed. To historians, who can maintain that Russia was transformed at the will of one man — Peter the Great⁠2 — and that France, from a republic, became an empire, and that the French army marched into Russia at the will of one man — Napoleon — the conclusion that Russia has remained a power because Napoleon had a bad cold on the 26th of August may seem indisputable and convincing. Had it depended on Napoleon’s will to fight, or not to fight, at Borodino, or had it depended on his will whether he gave this order or that, it is evident that a cold, affecting the manifestation of his will, might be the saving of Russia, and consequently the valet, who forgot to put on Napoleon’s waterproof boots on the 24th,⁠3 would be the saviour of Russia.⁠4 […]

At the battle of Borodino Napoleon did not fire at any one, nor kill any one. All that was done by his soldiers. Therefore it was not he who killed those men. The soldiers of the French army went out to slay their fellow-men at Borodino, not owing to Napoleon’s commands, but through their own desire to do so. The whole army — French, Italians, Germans, Poles — hungry, ragged, and exhausted by the march, felt at the sight of an army, barring their way to Moscow: the wine is drawn, it must be drunk.⁠5 Had Napoleon forbidden them at that point to fight the Russians, they would have killed him, and have proceeded to fight the Russians, because it was inevitable for them.

When they heard Napoleon’s proclamation offering them as consolation for maiming and death the reminder that posterity would say that they had been at the battle before Moscow, they shouted, Vive l’Empereur, just as they shouted Vive l’Empereur at the sight of the picture of the little boy playing cup and ball with the earth,⁠6 and just as they shouted Vive l’Empereur at every absurdity that was said. There was nothing left for them to do but to shout Vive l’Empereur! and to fight so as to get food and rest as conquerors in Moscow. Therefore it was not owing to Napoleon’s commands that they killed their fellow-men.

And it was not Napoleon who ordained the course of the battle, because none of his instructions were put into execution, and he knew nothing of what was passing before him. Therefore the manner in which these men slaughtered one another did not depend on Napoleon’s will, but proceeded independently of him, from the wills of the hundreds of thousands of men who took part in the affair. It only seemed to Napoleon that all this was due to his will. And therefore the question whether Napoleon had or had not a cold in his head is of no more interest to history than the cold of the lowest soldier of the commissariat.