Chapter 4
It is the fourth of October, and a marvellous battle plan has been drawn up, which will definitely result in a Russian victory. Of course, it relies on every column being where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be, which never happens.
A young officer is sent out to deliver a copy of the battle plan to Ermelov, who is determined not to receive it and spends the day being awol, though the officer finds him in the end. Apparently, Ermelov is a real person, Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov, which I guess is why Tolstoy didn't introduce him. According to wikipedia, he played an important role in the quarrel between Barclay de Tolly and Bagration, which has come up a bit in the past few chapters, but I didn't find it very interesting. Apparently there is a huge fuss over who's in charge. I think they should just let Kutuzov get on with things.
Incidentally, I went on a bit of a wikiwalk and learned that Barclay de Tolly did gain the 'Barclay' part of his name from the Scottish clan, who were his ancestors. His father was the first member of his family to be accepted into Russian nobility. I knew Barclay was a Scottish name, I just assumed this Barclay had a different origin. The 'de Tolly' part refers to Towie, in Aberdeenshire.
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