War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

This episode elaborates on Tolstoy’s depiction of the historic retreat of Kutuzov eastward (following the Danube) towards Vienna. Kutuzov’s army amounted to 35K and were often buttressed by similarly retreating Austrian allies. The first part of Chapter 9 references this march along with three battles where the French vanguard caught up with Kutuzov’s rear-guard.The previous chapters mention Napoleon’s mastery at Ulm, where around 25K Austrians surrendered after a brilliant encircling maneuver.    Austrians who escaped, as well as other allied forces, were also retreating toward Vienna. There was a notion manpower should concentrate on defending the Austrian capital.Kutuzov’s army is being pursued by a significant detachment of the Grand Armée as Napolean wished to pin Kutuzov's army down -- allowing Napolean to concentrate additional forces on taking Vienna. Spoiler alert: it worked! Kutuzov finds himself among an increasingly hostile civilian population. Many were more prone to welcome the French rather