War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

The night before the Battle, General Weyrother, who coordinated the advance, traveled to Kutuzov’s quarters in a castle near Austerlitz for a council of war. Kutuzov was a reluctant and relegated host.   Weyrother is presented as full of vigor while Kutuzov was morose, with his uniform unbuttoned and nearly asleep in a chair. Weyrother was familiar with the terrain but was unable to competently explain the nature of this Moravian land. He spoke in front of an enormous map and went through the battle-plan. It involved a flanking maneuver and pursuit over a forest as well as descriptions of how the columns would march. He was exhausted and lost all sense of deference to the other attendees. Kutuzov’s response was to snore – at one point waking up startled and giving a condescending “YES! YES!,” and nodding off again.   Tolstoy then symbolizes how some high-level officers are said to have reacted at the historic encounter.   Friedrich Wilhelm Graf von Buxhöwden, hardly paid attention. Like many of the Russian