Leo Tolstoy Archive


Sevastopol
Chapter 26


Written: 1888
Source: "Sevastopol," by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Isabel F. Hapgood, Published by Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 13 Astor Place
Transcription/Markup: Andy Carloff
Online Source: RevoltLib.com; 2021


Leo Tolstoy

Vlang found his battery on the second line of defense. Out of the twenty soldiers who had been in the mortar battery, only eight survived.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Vlang set out with the battery on a steamer loaded down with soldiers, cannon, horses, and wounded men, for Severnaya.

There was no firing anywhere. The stars shone brilliantly in the sky, as on the preceding night; but a strong wind tossed the sea. On the first and second bastions, lightnings flashed along the earth; explosions rent the atmosphere, and illuminated strange black objects in their vicinity, and the stones which flew through the air.

Something was burning near the docks, and the red glare was reflected in the water. The bridge, covered with people, was lighted up by the fire from the Nikolaevsky battery. A vast flame seemed to hang over the water, from the distant promontory of the Alexandrovsky battery, and illuminated the clouds of smoke beneath, as it rose above them; and the same tranquil, insolent, distant lights as on the preceding evening gleamed over the sea, from the hostile fleet.

The fresh breeze raised billows in the bay. By the red light of the conflagrations, the masts of our sunken ships, which were settling deeper and deeper into the water, were visible. Not a sound of conversation was heard on deck; there was nothing but the regular swish of the parted waves, and the steam, the neighing and pawing of the horses, the words of command from the captain, and the groans of the wounded. Vlang, who had had nothing to eat all day, drew a bit of bread from his pocket, and began to chew it; but all at once he recalled Volodya, and burst into such loud weeping that the soldiers who were near him heard it.

“See how our Vlanga[N] is eating his bread and crying too,” said Vasin.

“Wonderful!” said another.

“And see, they have fired our barracks,” he continued, with a sigh. “And how many of our brothers perished there; and the French got it for nothing!”

“At all events, we have got out of it alive—thank God for that!” said Vasin.

“But it's provoking, all the same!”

“What is there provoking about it? Do you suppose they are enjoying themselves there? Not exactly! You wait, our men will take it away from them again. And however many of our brethren perish, as God is holy, if the emperor commands, they will win it back. Can ours leave it to them thus? Never! There you have the bare walls; but they have destroyed all the breastworks. Even if they have planted their standard on the hill, they won't be able to make their way into the town.”

“Just wait, we'll have a hearty reckoning with you yet, only give us time,” he concluded, addressing himself to the French.

“Of course we will!” said another, with conviction.

Along the whole line of bastions of Sevastopol, which had for so many months seethed with remarkably vigorous life, which had for so many months seen dying heroes relieved one after another by death, and which had for so many months awakened the terror, the hatred, and finally the admiration of the enemy,—on the bastions of Sevastopol, there was no longer a single man. All was dead, wild, horrible,—but not silent.

Destruction was still in progress. On the earth, furrowed and strewn with the recent explosions, lay bent gun-carriages, crushing down the bodies of Russians and of the foe; heavy iron cannons silenced forever, bombs and cannon-balls hurled with horrible force into pits, and half-buried in the soil, then more corpses, pits, splinters of beams, bomb-proofs, and still more silent bodies in gray and blue coats. All these were still frequently shaken and lighted up by the crimson glow of the explosions, which continued to shock the air.

The foe perceived that something incomprehensible was going on in that menacing Sevastopol. Those explosions and the death-like silence on the bastions made them shudder; but they dared not yet believe, being still under the influence of the calm and forcible resistance of the day, that their invincible enemy had disappeared, and they awaited motionless and in silence the end of that gloomy night.

The army of Sevastopol, like the gloomy, surging sea, quivering throughout its entire mass, wavering, plowing across the bay, on the bridge, and at the north fortifications, moved slowly through the impenetrable darkness of the night; away from the place where it had left so many of its brave brethren, from the place all steeped in its blood, from the place which it had defended for eleven months against a foe twice as powerful as itself, and which it was now ordered to abandon without a battle.

The first impression produced on every Russian by this command was inconceivably sad. The second feeling was a fear of pursuit. The men felt that they were defenseless as soon as they abandoned the places on which they were accustomed to fight, and they huddled together uneasily in the dark, at the entrance to the bridge, which was swaying about in the heavy breeze.

The infantry pressed forward, with a clash of bayonets, and a thronging of regiments, equipages, and arms; cavalry officers made their way about with orders, the inhabitants and the military servants accompanying the baggage wept and besought to be permitted to cross, while the artillery, in haste to get off, forced their way to the bay with a thunder of wheels.

In spite of the diversions created by the varied and anxious demands on their attention, the instinct of self-preservation and the desire to escape as speedily as possible from that dread place of death were present in every soul. This instinct existed also in a soldier mortally wounded, who lay among the five hundred other wounded, upon the stone pavement of the Pavlovsky quay, and prayed God to send death; and in the militia-man, who with his last remaining strength pressed into the compact throng, in order to make way for a general who rode by, and in the general in charge of the transportation, who was engaged in restraining the haste of the soldiers, and in the sailor, who had become entangled in the moving battalion, and who, crushed by the surging throng, had lost his breath, and in the wounded officer, who was being borne along in a litter by four soldiers, who, stopped by the crowd, had placed him on the ground by the Nikolaevsky battery, and in the artillery-man, who had served his gun for sixteen years, and who, at his superior's command, to him incomprehensible, to throw overboard the guns, had, with the aid of his comrades, sent them over the steep bank into the bay; and in the men of the fleet, who had just closed the port-holes of the ships, and had rowed lustily away in their boats. On stepping upon the further end of the bridge, nearly every soldier pulled off his cap and crossed himself.

But behind this instinct there was another, oppressive and far deeper, existing along with it; this was a feeling which resembled repentance, shame, and hatred. Almost every soldier, as he gazed on abandoned Sevastopol, from the northern shore, sighed with inexpressible bitterness of heart, and menaced the foe.

FOOTNOTES:

[I] In many regiments the officers call a soldier, half in scorn, half caressingly, Moskva (Moscovite), or prisyaga (an oath).

[J] This effect cannot be reproduced in English.

[K] “My good sir,” a familiarly respectful mode of address.

[L] “Manual for Artillery Officers,” by Bezak.

[M] A game in which the loser is rapped on the nose with the cards.

[N] The feminine form, as previously referred to.


PUBLICATIONS
――OF――
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.,
13 ASTOR PLACE, N.Y.

American Histories for Youth. By Jacob Abbott. In eight volumes, each volume complete in itself. Illustrated by Darley, Chapin, Herrick, Perkins, Parsons, Beaulieu, and others. 12mo, cloth, 4 vols., 2 vols, in one$6.00
Adventure Library. Fully illustrated. New and uniform style of binding. 5 vols., 12mo7.50
Anna Karenina. A novel. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.75
At Home and in War. Reminiscences and anecdotes of the Turko-Russian War, etc., by Col. Alexander V. Verestchagin. Authorized translation from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood. 12mo, illustrated, with portraits1.75
August Stories. By Jacob Abbott, author of “The Rollo Books,” etc. 4 vols. Illustrated. 16mo4.50
Birchwood. By JAK. 12mo, illustrated1.25
Birchwood (The), Series. By JAK. 6 vols. 12mo, illustrated7.50
Blind Brother, The. ($1,500 Prize Volume.) By Homer Greene. 12mo, illustrated.90
Boyhood of Living Authors. Lives of Holmes, Aldrich, Trowbridge, Clark Russell, Gladstone, etc. By William H. Rideing. 12mo1.00
Boys' Book of Famous Rulers. By Lydia Hoyt Farmer. With portraits and numerous illustrations. Lives of Agamemnon, Julius Cæsar, Charlemagne, Frederick the Great, Napoleon, etc. 12mo1.50
Burnham Breaker. By Homer Greene, author of “The Blind Brother,” a new and powerful story of the Pennsylvania coal regions. 12mo1.50
Cambridge Book of Poetry and Song. Selected from English and American authors. Collected and edited by Charlotte F. Bates, of Cambridge, compiler of “The Longfellow Birthday Book,” “Seven Voices of Sympathy,” etc. With a steel portrait of Longfellow, and 16 full-page illustrations, from original designs. Over 900 pp. royal 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, $5.00: half mor., gilt, $7.50; full mor., gilt, $10.00; tree calf, gilt12.00
Childhood, Boyhood, Youth. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood. With portrait of the author. 12mo1.50
Christ and Christianity Series. By Rev. H.R. Haweis. 5 vols., 12mo. Also sold separately.
The Story of the Four (Evangelists)1.25
The Picture of Jesus (the Master)1.25
The Picture of Paul (the Disciple)1.25
The Conquering Cross (the Church)1.25
The Light of the Ages (Asia, Africa, Europe)1.25
Christmas Country. Translated from the Danish and German by Mary J. Safford. 12mo, illustrated1.25
Crime and Punishment. A Russian Realistic Novel. By Feodor M. Dostoyevsky. 12mo1.50
Cuore. An Italian Schoolboy's Journal. By Edmondo De Amicis. Translated from the 39th Italian Edition by Isabel F. Hapgood. 12mo1.25
“The best book for boys that has yet been written.”—Portland Press.
Dead Souls. (Tchitchikoff's Journeys; or Dead Souls.) By Nikolai V. Gogol. Translated from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood. 2 vols., 12mo2.50
A Dictionary of Quotations from the Poets. With index of authors, chronological data, and concordance index. By Anna L. Ward. Crown 8vo, beveled boards, cloth, $2.50; interleaved edition, cloth, $3.50; half calf or half morocco5.00
Dove Series. 6 vols. Illustrated. 16mo5.00
Eliot (George) Poems. Illustrated edition. 8vo, cloth, gilt, $4.50; full morocco, $9.00; tree calf9.00
Eminent Authors of the Nineteenth Century. By Dr. Georg Brandes (“The Taine of the North”). Translated by Rasmus B. Anderson, U.S. Minister to Denmark. A series of essays upon the works of John Stuart Mill, Hans Christian Andersen, Ernest Renan Gustave Flaubert, and other European writers. With portraits. 12mo, cloth, gilt top, $2.00; half calf4.00
Fairy Legends of the French Provinces. Translated from the original by Mrs. M. Carey. 12mo1.25
Famous American Authors. By Sarah K. Bolton, author of “Poor Boys Who Became Famous.” With portraits of Longfellow, Holmes, Emerson, Lowell, Aldrich and other noted writers. 12mo1.50
Famous American Statesmen. By Sarah K. Bolton, author of “Poor Boys Who Became Famous,” etc. With portraits of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Webster, Sumner, Garfield, and others. A companion book to “Famous American Authors.” 12mo1.50
Farmer Boy Series. By Rev. Wm. M. Thayer. 16mo, 4 vols.4.25
Fitch Club (The). By JAK. 12mo, illustrated1.25
Foster, Elon, D.D.
I. Cyclopædia of Prose Illustrations. First Series.
II. Cyclopædia of Poetical Illustrations. First Series.
III. Cyclopædia of Prose Illustrations. Second Series.
IV. Cyclopædia of Poetical Illustrations. Second Series.
Royal 8vo, cloth. Per vol.
5.00
Sheep. Per vol.6.00
Half morocco. Per vol.7.00
Girls Who Became Famous. By Sarah K. Bolton. Short biographies of Harriet Beecher Stowe, George Eliot, Jean Ingelow, Harriet Hosmer, Margaret Fuller, and other eminent women. With 20 portraits. Companion book to “Poor Boys Who Became Famous.” 12mo1.50
General Gordon, the Christian Hero. By the author of “Our Queen,” “New World Heroes,” etc. A careful and well written life of this knightly soldier. With portraits. 12mo1.25
Georgey's Menagerie. By Madeline Leslie. 6 vols. Illustrated. 16mo4.50
The Giant Dwarf. By JAK. The Giant Dwarf is a simple but eminently sensible and wholesome story of German and American life. 12mo, illustrated1.25
Girl's Book of Famous Queens. By Lydia Hoyt Farmer. With portraits. Lives of Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, Catharine de Medicis, Josephine, etc. 12mo, fully illustrated1.50
Gotthold's Emblems; or Invisible Things understood by Things that are made. By Christian Scriver. 12mo1.25
Great Masters of Russian Literature. By Ernest Dupuy. Sketches of the Life and Works of Gogol, Turgenieff, Tolstoi. With portraits. Translated by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.25
Her Majesty's Tower. By W. Hepworth Dixon. A history of the tower of London. From the seventh London edition. 2 vols., 12mo, with 47 illustrations, cloth, $3.50; half calf7.50
Heart and Nature (From). Poems by Sarah K. Bolton and Charles K. Bolton; gilt top1.00
Hints to Our Boys. By A.J. Symington, with an introduction by Lyman Abbott, D.D. Square, 16mo.75
Home, A, in the Holy Land. By Mrs. Finn. An excellent and faithful description of home life in the Holy Land at the present day. 12mo1.50
House, The, at Crague. By Mary B. Sleight. 12mo1.25
Initials and Pseudonyms. A dictionary of literary disguises. By William Cushing, A.M. Giving the noms de plume and real names of nearly 7000 authors, with brief notices, date of writer's birth and death, etc.
First Series.—Royal 8vo, cloth, $5.00; half morocco, $7.50; interleaved, cloth, $7.50; interleaved, half morocco10.00
Second Series.—Royal 8vo, cloth, $3.00; half morocco, $6.00; interleaved, cloth, $5.00; interleaved, half morocco8.00
In Perils Oft. Romantic biographies illustrative of the adventurous life. By W.H. Davenport Adams. With 16 illustrations. 12mo1.50
The Invaders, and Other Stories. Tales of the Caucasus. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.25
Irving's (Washington) Works. 8 vols., 12mo, cloth, $10.00; library edition, cloth, gilt top, $12.00; half calf, $20.00; 10 vols., “Astor” edition, cloth, gilt top, $15.00; half calf30.00
Ivan Ilyitch, and Other Stories. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.25
Jonas Books. By Jacob Abbott, author of “The Rollo Books,” etc. 6 vols., 16mo, gilt and black5.00
Juno Stories. By Jacob Abbott, author of “The Rollo Books,” etc. 4 vols., illustrated, 16mo4.50
Labor Movement in America (The). By Prof. Richard T. Ely. A short and comprehensive review of the Labor question in this country. The growth and present condition of Labor organizations; Cooperation in America; Communism; Socialism; Trades Unions, etc. 12mo1.50
Lafayette (The Life of). “The Knight of Liberty,” by Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer, author of “Boy's Book of Famous Rulers,” etc. Fully illustrated. 12mo1.50
Les Miserables. By Victor Hugo. A new and complete translation from the French by Isabel F. Hapgood. Popular edition in one volume. 12mo1.50
Les Miserables. Illustrated edition. Fine paper, and 160 full-page illustrations. 5 vols., 12mo, cloth, $7.50; half calf15.00
Life. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Authorized translation by Isabel F. Hapgood. With portrait. 12mo1.25
Life and Epistles of St. Paul. By Conybeare and Howson. Tinted paper, with maps and illustrations, 12mo, $1.50; popular edition, without illustrations, 12mo1.00
“A marvel of Scripture Biography.”—Spurgeon.
Life of Trust, The. By George Muller. With an introduction by Francis Wayland. New edition. 12mo1.50
Little Arthur's England. By Lady Callcott. With 36 illustrations. Elegantly printed, and bound in red cloth, giving in concise and easy language all the essential facts of English History for Young People. 12mo1.25
Little Arthur's France. On the plan of Little Arthur's England. With illustrations. 12mo1.25
Long Exile, The, and Other Stories for Children. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.25
Lucy Books, The. By Jacob Abbott, author of “The Rollo Books,” etc. 6 vols. 16mo, gilt and black5.00
Marquis of Penalta (Marta y Maria). A Realistic Social Novel. By Don Armando Palacio Valdes. Translated from the Spanish by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.50
Maximina. A novel. By Don Armando Palacio Valdes. Translated from the Spanish by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.50
Meditations of a Parish Priest. By Joseph Roux. Translated from the French by Isabel F. Hapgood. 12mo1.25
My Confession and the Spirit of Christ's Teaching. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. An autobiographical account of the changes in the author's religious opinions. Translated from the Russian. 12mo1.00
My Religion. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. A companion book to “My Confession.” Translated by Huntington Smith. 12mo1.00
Napoleon and the Russian Campaign. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. With portrait of the author. Translated by Huntington Smith. 12mo1.00
Noted Princes, Authors, and Statesmen of our Time. By James T. Fields, E.P. Whipple, Louise Chandler Moulton, and other brilliant writers. Edited by James Parton. 8vo, with over fifty illustrations2.50
Poor Boys who became Famous. By Sarah K. Bolton. Short Biographies of George Peabody, Horace Greeley, Michael Faraday, and other noted people, with portraits. 12mo1.50
Poems in Color. With 56 illustrations by W.J. Whittemore. I Remember, by Hood. Sunrise on the Hills, by Longfellow. Worship of Nature, by Whittier. Sea Pictures, by Tennyson. To a Waterfowl, by Bryant. To a Mountain Daisy, by Burns. Lithograph covers, each, 50 cents; cloth covers, each, 75 cents; celluloid covers, each1.00
Professor Johnny. By JAK, author of “Birchwood,” “Fitch Club,” and “Riverside Museum.” 12mo. Illustrated1.25
Prudence Winterburn. By Sarah Doudney. 12mo. Illustrated1.25
Riverside Museum. By the author of “Birchwood” and “Fitch Club.” 12mo. Illustrated1.25
A Russian Proprietor, and other stories. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole. 12mo1.50
The Rollo Books. By Jacob Abbott, the “Prince of Writers for the Young.” A new and cheaper edition. 14 vols., bound in 7. 16mo. Illustrated8.75
Search, The, for the Star. A tale of life in the wild woods. By Edward Willett. 12mo. Illustrated1.25
Shillaber's, Mrs., Cook Book. A Practical Guide for Housekeepers. By Lydia Shillaber. With an introduction by Mrs. Partington. 12mo, cloth, $1.25; kitchen edition, in oilcloth1.25
Shipton's, Anna, Works. 11 vols., 16mo, cloth. Per vol..75
Asked of God.
Lost Blessing.
Precious Gems.
Promise and the Promiser.
Secret of the Lord.
Sure Mercies of David.
“Tell Jesus.”
The Lord was There.
Waiting Hours.
Watch-Tower in the Wilderness.
Wayside Service.
* The above in paper covers, per vol..25
Sigrid. An Icelandic Love Story. Translated from the Danish of Jon Thordsson Thoroddsen. 12mo1.25
Silent Times. A book to help in reading the Bible into Life. By Rev. J.R. Miller, D.D. 12mo1.25
Soul's Inquiries Answered, The. By G.W. Moon. With blank pages for Diary of grateful records. 18mo, alligator flex., gilt edges1.25
Cloth, beveled, gilt edges1.00
Beveled, red edges.75
Without diary, plain edge.50
St. Paul's Problem and Its Solution. By Faye Huntington. 12mo, cloth1.25
St. John's Eve, and other Stories. By Nikolai V. Gogol. Translated from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood. 12mo1.25
Stories from Life. By Sarah K. Bolton, author of “Poor Boys who became Famous,” “Girls who became Famous,” etc. 12mo1.25
Summer Legends. A collection of dainty tales by Rudolph Baumbach, translated from the German by Mrs. Helen B. Dole. 16mo1.25
Sunday School Library No. 6. 50 vols. 16mo. Illustrated. In a wooden case. Price reduced from $59.50 to29.00
Sunday School Library No. 7. 50 vols. 12mo. Illustrated. In a wooden case. Price reduced from $59.75 to29.00
Taras Bulba. By Nikolai V. Gogol, with portrait of the author. A tale of the Cossacks. Translated from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood. 12mo1.00
Taxation in American States and Cities. By Prof. Richard T. Ely. 12mo1.75
Tennyson's Poems. A new and complete edition. Illustrated by Church, Dielman, Schell, Harry Fenn, and other artists. With portrait, 24 full-page illustrations, and vignette titles, engraved by Andrew. Uniform in style with the Cambridge Book of Poetry. The finest Edition of Tennyson ever published in this country. Royal 8vo, cloth, gilt, $5.00. Morocco, $10.00. Tree calf12.00
Tennyson's Poems. Complete Handy Volume Edition, 8 vols. Large type. From the latest text, including Earlier Poems. Cloth, gilt top, 8 vols., $6.00; parchment, gilt top, $10.50; half-calf, gilt edges, $12.00; American seal russia, gilt edge, round corners, $15.00; full calf, flexible, gilt edges, round corners, $21.00; full calf, gilt edges, padded, round corners, $25.00; tree calf, gilt edges30.00
All of the above are boxed in fancy leatherette or calf boxes, according to style of binding, and make the most elegant and convenient edition of this author's poems.
The Two Pilgrims. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. 12mo. Souvenir style.30
The Vagrant and other Tales. By Vladimir Korolenko. Translated from the Russian by Mrs. Align Delano. 12mo1.25
Vital Question, A. By Nikolai Tchernuishevsky. Translated from the Russian by Nathan Haskell Dole and S.S. Skidelsky. 12mo1.25
Walter's Tour in the East. By D.C. Eddy, D.D., author of “The Percy Family.” With illustrations by E.J. Whitney. 6 vols. 12mo, illustrated7.50
Walton's Complete Angler. Major's edition, with 80 illustrations. 12mo, cloth, $2.00; half calf, or half morocco4.00
What Men Live By. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. 12mo. Souvenir style.30
What To Do. Thoughts Evoked by the Census of Moscow. Containing passages excluded by the Press Censor of Russia. A sequel to “My Confession” and “My Religion.” By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by Isabel F. Hapgood. 12mo1.25
Where Love Is There God Is Also. By Count Lyof N. Tolstoi. 12mo. Souvenir style.30
Who Saved the Ship. By JAK, author of “Birchwood,” “Fitch Club,” etc. 12mo. Illustrated1.25
Wrecked on Labrador. A story for boys. By W.A. Stearns. 12mo1.50

Transcriber's Note

What appeared to be clear typographical errors were corrected; any other mistakes or inconsistencies were retained.

All quotation marks have been retained as they appear in the original publication.

The formatting on the publisher's publications' list was very inconsistent, it was made consistent whenever possible.