The View from the Battery — War and Peace

Having ridden the whole line from right flank to left, Andrew finishes at Tushin's battery on the high ground, dismounts beside the farthest of four unlimbered cannon, and takes in the Russian position and the French at Schon Grabern: infantry and dragoons on the steep right, the easiest descent to the brook in the centre, smoke that may be a battery on the far left. An artillery sentry paces, stands at attention, then resumes at a sign. Andrew sketches reserves, flank attacks, and an echelon retreat like a chess problem he can solve on paper.

From a newly built wattle shed officers argue about death. One is afraid of the unknown; there is no sky, only atmosphere. A manly voice asks Tushin for herb vodka. Andrew recognizes the agreeable, philosophizing tone of the barefoot captain and listens with pleasure until planning and philosophy share the same air.

A whistle grows nearer and louder. A cannonball strikes near the shed with superhuman force, throwing up earth as if the ground itself groaned. Tushin, short pipe in the corner of his mouth, runs out pale but moving, followed by a dashing infantry officer buttoning his coat as he hurries to his company. Andrew's map-making stops where the first shot lands.