Finding most of his acquaintances have left Moscow, although the Rostovs are still in town, Pierre decides to drive to the army. More and more troops throng the road as he drives along. The more he plunges into the sea of soldiers, the more joyful Pierre feels. He believes the qualities of a happy life — wealth, comfort, life itself — can be easily flung away in exchange for the value of"something else," though he does not know what. The object of the sacrifice is unimportant; outstanding is his joy in the sacrifice.
Two days after the Shevardino engagement, the armies fight the battle of Borodino. There is no sense in this engagement, Tolstoy assures us, for the French are now closer to ruination and the Russians closer to the destruction of Moscow, which they fear above all else. The plains of Borodino provide a poor battlefield for both sides, and the Russian forces get reduced by one-half.
Pierre speaks to a doctor he meets who tells him he expects 20,000 casualties from tomorrow's battle. Pierre goes on, musing about the healthy, sound-limbed young men doomed to die the next day. Arriving on a hilltop overlooking Borodino, Pierre sees a religious procession approach. He watches Kutuzov and his officers kneel and kiss the holy image. Boris Drubetskoy accosts Bezuhov and offers to show him around the camp. Boris belongs to Count Bennigsen's party, the group opposed to Kutuzov. Pierre compares the excitement in Boris caused by thoughts of personal success with the excitement he sees in the faces of common soldiers, faces expressing the problems of life and death. While Kutuzov cordially greets Pierre, Dolohov appears. He begs Bezuhov to forgive their differences and forget their quarrel, since this might be their last day of living. The two men embrace tearfully.
