Thinking of vengeance, Prince Andrey pursues Anatole to Petersburg but finds his rival has eluded him by joining the army in Moldavia. Meeting Kutuzov in Petersburg, Andrey agrees to accompany his suite to Moldavia, where the general is to take over the command. By this time, however, Anatole has returned to Moscow.
After a brief stay with Kutuzov, Prince Andrey asks to be transferred to the western forces now campaigning in Bucharest. Kutuzov sends him with a commission to Barclay de Tolly. Andrey goes home for a visit, amazed to find Bleak Hills so unchanged after the three eventful years in his own life. He finds a household divided into two hostile camps: his father and Mlle. Bourienne on one side; Princess Marya, Nikolushka, and the nurses on the other. When Andrey defends his sister on one occasion, his father orders him out of the house. Andrey mourns Marya's sufferings, and his father's guilt, of which the stubborn old man is aware, and Andrey wonders what still drives him to seek out Anatole to be further sneered at or perhaps killed. Life seems to Prince Andrey a series of"senseless phenomena following one another without any connection."
In June he reaches Barclay de Tolly's army, and lacking as yet a specific post, Andrey observes the various factions within the high command. Since the emperor is attached to de Tolly's army (Generals Tormasov and Bagration command the other two armies) several parties cluster around Alexander, four of which deserve mention here. One consists of Germans, like Wintzengerode and Pfuhl, who, as rigid military theorists, believe in the science of warfare. Another party favors direct spontaneous action rather than theoretically devised plans. The third group, mainly courtiers, wish to reconcile the first two. Finally, there is the large number of place seekers comprising the fourth party, men guided by selfish motives who chase medals, crosses, promotions.
