War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide

We move further into March of 1806 and return to Bald Hills, the estate of Andrei’s father.  Despite letters and official inquiries, Andrei’s body had not been found nor was he on the list of prisoners.  The newspapers had reported the defeat at Austerlitz in brief and vague terms -- after months of detailing a series of optimistic and brilliant engagements.  Nikolai was able to read between the lines and intuited the extent of the defeat.  Eventually came a correspondence from Kutuzov:   “Your son fell before my eyes, a standard in his hand and at the head of a regiment—he fell as a hero, worthy of his father and his fatherland.” However, no body was recovered. The elder Bolkonsky became grim and withdrawn and revealed what he learned to his daughter.  He focuses on the likelihood that Andrei is dead.  Marya embraced her father with great love and empathy.  She wished to mourn together, but her father exhorts disgust about the use and fate of the Army. “Scoundrels! Destroying the army and men! And why?"