# The Raevski Redoubt explained — War and Peace

> Chapter companion for War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

Pierre, in a state of terror, flees back to the Russian battery (the Raevski Redoubt) only to find it in the chaotic aftermath of its capture by the French. He has a brief, confused physical struggle with a French officer before a cannonball forces them apart. A fierce Russian counter-attack, led by General Ermólov, recaptures the battery. Pierre wanders the now-retaken position, witnessing the horrific carnage of dead and wounded from both sides, and realizes the 'family circle' of soldiers he had been with is gone. The battle's fury shows no sign of abating.

## Themes in this chapter

### War and History

The chapter is a raw, ground-level view of historical battle, stripping away glory to focus on terror, confusion, instinct, and the horrific human cost of combat.

### Search for Meaning

Pierre's horrified observation of the carnage represents a search for meaning in the face of senseless violence; his thought 'now they will be horrified at what they have done' underscores his struggle to comprehend the brutality.

## Character check-ins

### Count Pyotr Kirílych Bezúkhov

Experiences the raw terror and chaos of close combat at the redoubt; has a physical struggle with a French officer; witnesses the brutal aftermath of the fighting and the destruction of the soldierly 'family' he had briefly joined.

## Key lines

> Beside himself with terror Pierre jumped up and ran back to the battery, as to the only refuge from the horrors that surrounded him.

Overwhelmed by fear, Pierre instinctively runs to the battery, seeking safety amidst the surrounding chaos.

_Highlights Pierre's visceral, non-intellectual reaction to the battlefield._

> "Am I taken prisoner or have I taken him prisoner?" each was thinking.

Both Pierre and the French officer are momentarily frozen in confusion, unsure who has captured whom.

_Emphasizes the absurdity and disorientation of close combat, stripping it of clear heroism or purpose._

> Pierre again went up onto the knoll... and of that family circle which had received him as a member he did not find a single one.

Returning to the battery, Pierre finds none of the soldiers who had warmly accepted him, only the dead.

_Symbolizes the total destruction of the temporary human connection and belonging he found, underscoring war's devastation._

> the roar of cannon and musketry did not diminish, but even increased to desperation like a man who, straining himself, shrieks with all his remaining strength.

The battle's fury intensifies to a desperate, screaming pitch, showing no sign of ending.

_A powerful simile conveying the battle as a living entity in its death throes, highlighting its relentless and exhaustive brutality._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/war_and_peace/chapters/xxxii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/war_and_peace
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/war_and_peace/chapters