I was reading War and Peace and became a bit confused about troop movements during the Kutuzov's fallback to Vienna. I wanted to check my understanding and hopefully resolve some contradictions I see.
In Chapter 6, Kutuzov sends Nesvitsky to deliver a command to a colonel(who I think is different from Bogdanich). The command includes a detail that he should tell the hussars "they should cross last". In chapter 7, Nesvitsky struggles to cross the bridge, which is crowded with infantry. Though he succeeds thanks to the help of Denisov who is returning to the other side. I don't know why Denisov is crossing back to where his squadron is, but it seems he was trying to clear the bridge. Once on the other side, the infantry is halted, Nesvitsky delivers the message, and he leaves back across the bridge. The hussars then overtake the halted infantry who look on with ill-will. This is an odd thing to happen because it directly violates the order given and I'm unsure if I've miss read something.
In chapter 8, the remaining infantry crosses the bridge, which presumably includes the halted soldiers that the Hussars overtook. It is then stated that "Only Denisov's squadron of hussars were left on the farther side of the river facing the enemy". This isn't exactly true because the Cossacks haven't crossed but it does imply that there are no more Hussars left. Bogdanich then comes across the bridge and commands that Denisov to stop delaying and cross with his squadron. The next sentence is particularity vague and confusing: "The squadron crossed the bridge and passed out of range of the enemy's guns without losing a single man. The second squadron that had been in the line followed them across". If this means there are two squadrons on the far side of the bridge it would contradict the earlier statement. It could also mean that the first squadron had just succeeded fully crossing the bridge. But I feel like this is a bit of an odd reading of the sentence. Moreover, there is a statement("the colonel moved forward and ordered the second squadron, the one in which Rostov was serving under Denisov") which implies that "The squadron" is not referring Denisov's, but rather the second is. However, Bogdanich command to Denisov makes it seem like "The squadron" is referring to Denisov's squadron.
How did the troops actually move in the aforementioned chapters?