“Now what will become of this ceremony if you do not pacify your women?” the General asked.
I was, naturally, flattered by what Polovtzev told me, but I considered that duty came first and that I must not give in for the sake of the honours promised to me, in spite of the assurances he gave me that he would order the women to ask my pardon if I consented to form a committee.
“I would not keep the rebels in the Battalion for anything,” I said. “Once having been insulted by them, I shall always consider them prejudicial to the organization. They would sap my strength here and would disgrace me at the front. The purpose of the Battalion was to set an example to the demoralized men. Give them a committee, and all is lost. I shall have the same state of things as in the army. The disintegration there is a sufficient reason for my determination not to introduce the new system.”
“Yes, I agree with you that the committees are a curse,” confided the General. “But what is to be done?”
“I know this much, that I, for one, will have nothing to do with committees,” I declared emphatically.
The General jumped to his feet, struck the table with his fist and thundered:
“And I order you to form a committee!”
I jumped up as well, I also struck the table and declared loudly:
“I will not! I started this work on condition that I should be allowed to run the Battalion as I saw fit and without any committees.”
“Then there is nothing left but to disband your Battalion!” proclaimed General Polovtzev.
“This very minute if you wish!” I replied.
I drove to the Institute. Knowing that the women had been ordered to return I placed ten sentries armed with rifles at the gates with instructions not to allow anyone to enter, and to shoot in case of trouble. Many of the rebels came but on being threatened with the rifles they retired. They went back to Polovtzev who, for the moment at least, could do nothing for them. He reported the matter to Kerensky with a recommendation that some action should be taken to control me.
I proceeded to reorganize my Battalion. There was only a remnant of three hundred left of it, but it was a loyal remnant, and I was not upset by the diminution in numbers. Most of the remaining women were peasants like myself, illiterate but very devoted to Mother Russia. All of them but one were under thirty-five years of age. The exception was Orlova, who was forty, but of an unusually powerful constitution. We resumed the drilling with greater zeal than ever.
A day or two later Kerensky’s adjutant telephoned. He wanted me to come to the Winter Palace to see the War Minister. The antechamber was again crowded with many people and I was greeted by several acquaintances. At the appointed time I was shown into Kerensky’s study.
Kerensky was pacing the room vigorously as I entered. His forehead was knit in a heavy frown.
“Good morning, Minister,” I greeted him.
“Good morning,” he answered coldly, without extending his hand.
“Are you a soldier?” he asked abruptly.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Then why don’t you obey your superiors?”
“Because I am in the right in this case. The orders are against the interests of my country and in violation of my charter.”
“You must obey!” Kerensky raised his voice to a high pitch, and his face was flushed with anger. “I order you to form a committee tomorrow, to treat the women courteously, and to cease punishing them! Otherwise I will get rid of you!” The War Minister banged his fist on the table to give emphasis to his words.
But I felt that I was right, so this fit of temper did not frighten me, but, on the contrary, strengthened my determination.
“No!” I shouted, bringing down my fist, too, “no, I am not going to form any committees. I started out with the understanding that there would be the strictest discipline in the Battalion. You can disband it now. A soldier I was and a soldier I shall remain. I shall go home, retire to a village and settle there in peace.” And I ran out, slamming the door angrily in the face of the astonished Minister.
In high agitation I returned to the Institute, and having assembled the women, I addressed them as follows:
“I am going home tomorrow. The Battalion will be disbanded, because I would not consent to form a committee. You all know that I had warned all the applicants previously that I should be a severe disciplinarian. I wanted to make this Battalion an example that would shine forever in the history of our country. I hoped to show that where men failed women could succeed. I dared to dream that women would inspire men to great deeds and save our unhappy land. But my hopes are now shattered. The majority of the women who responded to my appeal proved themselves weak and cowardly, and they have wrecked my scheme for the salvation of suffering Russia. I have just come back from Kerensky. He told me that I must form a committee, but I refused. Have you any idea what a committee would mean?”
“No, no, Commander,” the women answered.
“A committee,” I explained, “means nothing but talk, talk, talk. The committees have destroyed the army and the country. This is war, and in war there should be not talk, but action. I can’t submit to the order to introduce in this Battalion the very system that has shattered our glorious army. So I am going home. … Yes, I leave tomorrow. …”
The women threw themselves at my feet in tears. They wept and begged me to remain with them. “We love you. We will stand by you to the last,” they cried. “You can punish us, beat us if you will. We know and appreciate your motives. You want to help Russia and we want you to make use of us. You
