When the Smoke Clears — War and Peace

Bagration rides into smoke on the right flank, meets wounded men, confused troops, and a colonel who cannot say whether his regiment was broken or repulsed. No one sees clearly; everyone fires into the fog.

Officers beg him to leave; he orders cease fire and reform to let fresh battalions pass. Wind lifts the smoke, French columns appear marching down the hill, and Bagration’s face turns eager, like a swimmer on the bank.

He says Forward, with God, and walks toward the enemy; Andrew feels an invisible power pulling him forward as Hurrah rolls through the ranks and men rush downhill in a joyful, irregular mass.