the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

Weyrother treated the Russian officers like amateurs and, as Langeron
commented ironically, “We may have been, effectively, school boys, but he was far from
being a good professor….” 74 As Weyrother had finished his “peroration,” Langeron was
the only one to speak up, “My General, all this [sounds] good, but what will we do if the
enemy attacks us?” 75 Weyrother responded that since Napoleon had not already attacked
them, the French troops were indeed in weakened position and would avoid combat.
Other Russian officers remained silent; Kutuzov took a nap, tired of voicing his
opposition because “his advice was certainly not listened to.” 76 Count Buxhowden
remained standing during the meeting, and, as Langeron noticed, “he understood nothing
of [the plan].” Miloradovich stood somber and silent while Dokhturov studied the map.
Only Langeron continued questioning the plan, but his inquires were largely ignored.
The war council ended around 3:00 a.m. and the orders were finally handed out at
around 6:00 a.m.. 77 However, the dispositions were written in German, which some of
the Russian regimental commanders could not read. So, another hour was lost in
translating the orders into Russian and communicating them to the troops. 78 A Russian
officer, Aleksey Yermolov, recalled, “General-Adjutant Uvarov was called to the
headquarters and [soon returned with] a disposition written on several sheets of paper,
crowded with difficult names of villages, lakes, streams and distances and heights.
74 Langeron, Journal inedit de la campagne de 1805, 33-34.
75 Ibid., 33-34.
76 Czartoryski, Memoirs, 106.
77 Langeron, Journal inedit de la campagne de 1805, 33-34; Colin, “Campagne de 1805,“
Revue Historique, 77 (1907): 324-25.
78 Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Campaign of 1805, 151; Punin, Kutuzov, 82. Some of the
commanders did not receive orders until immediately before the advance. Thus, while inspecting
troops at the dawn of 2 December, Emperor Alexander encountered infantry brigade of General
Gregor von Berg of the 4 th column. When asked if his guns were loaded, Berg responded they
were not for he had no orders because he did not know about the attack. Autobiographie des
Generalen der Infanterie Gregor von Berg (Dresden, 1871), 175-80.
273