Tolstoy dismisses historians who claim battle there was anticipated and the position fortified "(in an attempt to conceal the mistakes of our commanders and thereby diminishing the glory of the Russian army and people)" and does a wonderful recount of the strategy, or lack thereof, of how Kutuzov and his troops find themselves there. "The fact is that the former positions were stronger, and the position at Borodino (the one on which the battle was fought) not only was not strong, but could no more be considered a position than any other place in the Russian empire on which, by guesswork, one might randomly stick a pin in a map."- Adrienne
Adrienne Wetmore
from page 193-194, Volume 2 of original text
collage, ink
made 6/3/11
Pevear/Volokhonsky translation page 755-756
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