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Having reached the left flank, instead of going to the front

where the firing was, he began to look for the general and his

staff where they could not possibly be, and so did not deliver

the order.

The command of the left flank belonged by seniority to the

commander of the regiment Kutuzov had reviewed at Braunau and in

which Dolokhov was serving as a private. But the command of the

extreme left flank had been assigned to the commander of the

Pavlograd regiment in which Rostov was serving, and a

misunderstanding arose. The two commanders were much exasperated

with one another and, long after the action had begun on the

right flank and the French were already advancing, were engaged

in discussion with the sole object of offending one another. But

the regiments, both cavalry and infantry, were by no means ready

for the impending action. From privates to general they were not

expecting a battle and were engaged in peaceful occupations, the

cavalry feeding the horses and the infantry collecting wood.