War and Peace: Volume 2, Part 2: Chapters 15–18 Summary & Analysis

When Rostov returns to his regiment from leave, he realizes that his bond with them is very strong. As he takes up his usual duties, he feels free from the chaos and mistakes of the outside world. Life in the regiment makes things clear and straightforward. He’s determined to become a good person, in a way that doesn’t feel attainable in the outside world. He’s also determined to pay back his debt to his parents.

The Russian army is preparing for a new campaign. Currently, the Pavlogradsky regiment is camped near Bartenstein, an abandoned German village. The roads are impassable with mud, so the men are forced to scavenge through the villages for meager potatoes. Nearly half the regiment are lost to famine or disease. Otherwise, regimental life continues much as normal. Nobody talks much about the war.

Rostov’s and Denisov’s friendship is stronger than ever. Denisov looks out for Rostov and tries to keep him from dangerous duty as much as possible. During one mission, Rostov finds an elderly Pole, his daughter, and baby granddaughter, and he brings them home to shelter in his quarters. When an officer makes vile comments about Rostov’s relationship with the daughter, the two men almost come to a duel. When Denisov reprimands Rostov for this later, he’s moved by Rostov’s goodness; there are tears in his eyes.

One morning in April, Rostov returns from duty to find Denisov shouting at a sergeant major. He disappears for the day and returns with some wagons in tow. An infantry officer argues with Denisov, saying he’s seized his own army’s transport of provisions. Denisov snarls that he’s the one who’ll answer for the seizure, so the officer should leave him alone. As the officer trots off, Denisov laughs and tells Rostov that he forcefully appropriated the entire infantry transport; it was unescorted. The next day, the commander sends Denisov to the regimental staff to explain himself, and he comes home distraught. Denisov explains that he got into a fight with Telyanin, accusing him of withholding provisions from his men.

The next day, however, the regimental adjutant arrives, looking serious. He warns Denisov that a court-martial has been assigned to his case, and that the best-case scenario is demotion. The offended side is arguing that Denisov showed up drunk at the quartermaster’s, called him a thief, and started beating people up. Denisov laughs at this, calling it nonsense. Rostov knows him well, however, and can see that his friend is deeply worried. On the first of May, he’s ordered to turn over the squadron command to the next in seniority. The day before he’s supposed to appear at the division headquarters, however, he receives a slight wound in the leg during a skirmish with the French. He uses this excuse to go to the hospital instead.

In June, during a truce, Rostov gets permission to visit Denisov in the hospital. When he arrives, the doctor tells him that the hospital is a typhus hotspot; patients and doctors succumb one after another. In the soldiers’ ward, Rostov is horrified by the stench and the sight of a suffering Cossack on the floor, his eyes rolled back and begging for a drink. A gray-bearded amputee begs Rostov to have a dead comrade removed from the ward. The doctor’s assistant hustles Rostov out of the room.

In the officers’ ward, Rostov sees Tushin, the artillerist he’d met at the battle of Schöngraben. It turns out that Tushin, who’s had an arm amputated, is Denisov’s roommate. As Tushin leads Rostov into another room, Rostov is shocked by the sound of laughter. Denisov greets Rostov warmly, but Rostov notices a dark undertone beneath his merry words. Denisov only seems interested in talking about his court martial case, and he eagerly reads Rostov the draft of his reply to the commission. Tushin urges Denisov to just sign the petition admitting his guilt and send it to the staff with Rostov; it’s the best outcome he could hope for. That evening, to Rostov’s surprise, Denisov signs the petition begging for the Sovereign’s mercy and gives it to Rostov with a grimace.