The first in the history of Russia Patriotic War occurred in 1812, when Napoleon I Bonaparte, following his bourgeois ideas, attacked the Russian Empire. All segments of the population rose up against a single enemy, both old and young fought. For such a rise in the national spirit and the entire population with hostility, the war was officially dubbed the Patriotic War.

This event is firmly imprinted in the history of our country and the whole world. The bloody battle between the two great empires was reflected in literature and culture. Napoleon Bonaparte planned to quickly bleed the Russian Empire through quick and deliberate attacks on Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Moscow. The Russian army, led by the greatest leaders, took the battle in the very heart of the country and won, driving the French back beyond the Russian border.

Patriotic War of 1812. Minimum for the Unified State Examination.

At the end of the 18th century, an incident occurred in France that claimed thousands and thousands of lives and brought Napoleon I Bonaparte to the throne of the overthrown Bourbon dynasty. He glorified his name during the Italian and Egyptian military campaigns, establishing his fame as a valiant military leader. Having secured the support of the army and influential people, he disperses Directory, the main ruling body of France at that time, and appoints himself consul, and soon emperor. Having taken power into his own hands, the French emperor quickly launched a campaign aimed at the expansion of European states.

By 1809, almost all of Europe had been conquered by Napoleon. Only Great Britain remained unconquered. The dominance of the British fleet in the English Channel made the peninsula virtually invulnerable. Adding fuel to the fire, the British took away colonies in America and India from France, thereby depriving the empire of key trading points. The only correct solution for France would be to deploy a continental blockade to cut off Britain from Europe. But to organize such sanctions, Napoleon needed the support of Alexander I, Emperor of the Russian Empire, otherwise these actions would have been meaningless

Map: Napoleonic Wars in Russia 1799-1812. "The path of the Napoleonic wars before the war with Russia."

Causes

It was concluded in the interests of Russia World of Tilsit, which was, in essence, a reprieve for the accumulation of military power.

The main points of the agreement were:

• support for the continental blockade of Britain;
• recognition of all French conquests;
• recognition of the governors appointed by Bonaparte in the conquered countries, etc.

The deterioration of relations was caused by non-compliance with the points of the peace agreement, as well as the refusal to allow Napoleon to marry Russian princesses. His proposal was rejected twice. The French emperor needed to marry to confirm the legitimacy of his title.

Occasion

The main reason for the Russian-French war was the violation of the border of the Russian Empire by French troops. You need to understand that Napoleon did not intend to conquer the entire country. His worst enemy was the impregnable Great Britain. The purpose of the campaign against Russia was to inflict military defeat on it and make peace on its own terms against the British.

Participants

"Twenty Language", this is what the troops of the captured states who joined the French army were called. The name itself makes it clear that there were many countries participating in the conflict. There were not many allies on the Russian side.

Goals of the parties

The main reason for this war, as indeed for all conflicts, was the problem of dividing influence in Europe between France, Britain And Russia. It was in the interests of all three to prevent absolute leadership of one of the countries.

The goals were the following:

		Great Britain
Make peace with Russia on your own terms.	Throw back the enemy army beyond your borders.
Capture British colonies in India and win back their own, passing through Russian Asia.	Exhaust the enemy through the tactic of constant retreat into the interior of the country.	Keep Russia on your side, even after the Peace of Tilsit.
Weaken Russia's influence in Europe.	Do not leave any resources in the path of Napoleon's army, thereby exhausting the enemy.	Provide allied states with support in the war.
Use the Russian Empire as a source of resources.	Prevent France from setting up a continental blockade of Great Britain.
Return the old borders with Russia to the form they were before the reign of Peter I.	Deprive France of absolute leadership in Europe.
Block Great Britain on the island in order to further weaken it and seize territories.

Balance of power

At the time Napoleon crossed the Russian border, the military power of both sides could be expressed in the following figures:

Available Russian army There was also a Cossack regiment that fought on the side of the Russians with special rights.

Commanders and military leaders

The commanders-in-chief of the Grand Army and the Russian Army, Napoleon I Bonaparte and Alexander I, respectively, had the most talented tacticians and strategists at their disposal.

From the outside France The following generals are especially noteworthy:

Louis-Nicolas Davout- “Iron Marshal”, Marshal of the Empire, who did not lose a single battle. He commanded the Guards Grenadiers during the war with Russia.

Joachim Murat- King of the Kingdom of Naples, commanded the reserve cavalry of the French army. He took direct part in the Battle of Borodino. Known for his ardor, courage and hot temper.

Jacques MacDonald- Marshal of the Empire, commanded the French-Prussian infantry corps. Served as the reserve power of the Grand Army. Covered the retreat of the French military forces.

Michelle Ney– one of the most active participants in the conflict. The Marshal of the Empire earned the nickname “bravest of the brave” in battle. He fought desperately in the Battle of Borodino, and then covered the retreat of the main parts of his army.

Russian Army She also had many outstanding military leaders in her camp:

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly- at the beginning of the Patriotic War, Alexander I gave him the opportunity to be Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, with the words, - “I have no other army”. He held this post until the appointment of Kutuzov.

Bagration Pyotr Ivanovich- Infantry General, commanded the 2nd Western Army at the time the enemy crossed the border. One of Suvorov's most famous students. He insisted on a general battle with Napoleon. In the Battle of Borodino he was seriously wounded by a fragment of an exploding cannonball and died in agony in the infirmary.

Tormasov Alexander Petrovich- Russian general who commanded the cavalry of the Russian Army. In the south of the Empire, the 3rd Western Army was under his command. His task was to contain France's allies - Austria and Prussia.

Wittgenstein Peter Christianovich- Lieutenant General, commanded the first infantry corps. He stood in the way of the Great Army, which was moving towards St. Petersburg. With skillful tactical actions, he seized the initiative in the battle with the French and pinned down three corps on the way to the capital. In this battle for the north of the state, Wittgenstein was wounded, but did not leave the battlefield.

Golenishchev-Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich- Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in the War of 1812. An outstanding strategist, tactician and diplomat. Became the first full holder of the Order of St. George. During World War II, the French nicknamed him "The old fox from the North." The most famous and recognizable person of the war of 1812.

Main stages and course of the war

Division of the Great Army into three directions: Southern, Central, Northern.

March from the Neman River to Smolensk.

March from Smolensk to Moscow.

• Reorganization of command: approval of Kutuzov to the post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army (August 29, 1812)

Retreat of the Great Army.

• Flight from Moscow to Maloyaroslavets

  Retreat from Maloyaroslavets to the Berezina

  Retreat from Berezina to Neman

Map: Patriotic War of 1812

Peace treaty

While in burning Moscow, Napoleon I Bonaparte tried three times to conclude a peace agreement with the Russian Empire.

The first attempt was made with the help of the captured Major General Tutolmin. Feeling his dominant position, Napoleon continued to demand from the Russian emperor a blockade of Great Britain, an alliance with France and the renunciation of lands conquered by Russia.

For the second time, the commander-in-chief of the Great Army sent a letter to Alexander I with the same negotiator offering peace.

The third time Bonaparte sent his general Lauriston to the Russian emperor with the words, “ I need peace, I need it absolutely, at all costs, save only honor».

All three attempts were ignored by the command of the Russian Army.

Results and consequences of the war

The Great Army lost about 580 thousand soldiers during the six months of the war on the territory of the Russian Empire. These include deserters, allied troops who fled to their homeland. Some 60 thousand people were sheltered by local residents and the nobility alone from Napoleon's army in Russia.

The Russian Empire, for its part, also suffered considerable losses: from 150 to 200 thousand people. About 300 thousand people were injured to varying degrees of severity and about half of them remained disabled.

At the beginning of 1813 The foreign campaign of the Russian army began, which passed through the lands of Germany and France, pursuing the remnants of the Great Army. By pinning Napoleon on his territory, Alexander I achieved his surrender and capture. In this campaign, the Russian Empire annexed the Duchy of Warsaw to its territory, and the lands of Finland were again recognized as Russian.

Historical significance of the war

Patriotic War of 1812 immortalized in the history and culture of many peoples. This event is dedicated to a large number of literary works, for example, “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy, “Borodino” by M.Yu. Lermontova, O.N. Mikhailov "Kutuzov". In honor of the victory, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built, and in the hero cities there are memorial obelisks. On the Borodino field, a reconstruction of the battle is held every year, where an impressive number of people who want to plunge into the era take part.

References:

1. Alexey Shcherbakov - “Napoleon. The winners are not judged."
2. Sergey Nechaev – “1812. An hour of pride and glory."

Invasion of Russia by Napoleonic troops. June 12, 1812 "Great Army" Napoleon (450 thousand people), having crossed the Neman, invaded the Russian Empire. Later, reinforcements totaling about 200 thousand people approached Napoleon. In total, about 650 thousand soldiers and officers went on a campaign against Russia. Essentially it was a European army, since it included German, Dutch, Italian and Polish divisions and corps. But the core "Great Army" were battle-hardened French troops loyal to their emperor.

The Russian command had at its disposal three far apart armies with a total number of 590 thousand people. The largest army, under the command of General Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, directly opposed Napoleon. At the headquarters of the first army there was

A little further south was the second army, under the command of Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration. Even further south, covering Kyiv, was the third army under the command of Alexander Petrovich Tormasov.

« I will not lay down my weapons until not a single enemy warrior remains in my kingdom.“, said Alexander I. The harsh reality, however, was that Barclay’s army could not resist Napoleon’s troops. I had to retreat. The Russian army retreated in perfect order, leaving behind no lagging units, infirmaries, abandoned guns or carts. The immediate goal was to unite the troops of Barclay and Bagration.

Reserves were being pulled up. In the rear, the urgent formation of new military units. On July 6, Alexander I issued a manifesto calling for the creation of a people's militia. On the same day he left the army and went to Smolensk.

In Smolensk, the tsar met with local nobles who asked permission to arm themselves and the peasants. Having approved this petition, Alexander turned to the Smolensk Bishop Irenaeus with a rescript, in which he charged him with the duty of convincing the peasants to arm themselves with whatever they could, not give shelter to their enemies and inflict on them "great harm and horror".

This rescript legalized guerrilla warfare. But the peasants, who went into the forests when the enemy approached, knew nothing about this. Their struggle against the invaders unfolded independently of the royal rescripts. In August, the first partisan detachments.

At this time, Alexander I was already in Moscow. Population ancient capital was overwhelmed by patriotic enthusiasm. " Napoleon can't defeat us- said ordinary Muscovites, - because for this you need to kill us all first" At a meeting with the emperor, the nobility expressed a desire to put 10 people in the militia for every hundred souls of their serfs. The Moscow merchants collected 2.4 million rubles by subscription. The mayor, whose capital consisted of one hundred thousand, was the first to subscribe for 50 thousand, crossing himself and saying: “ God gave them to me and I give them to the Fatherland».

Alexander I in those days he behaved unusually modestly, even timidly. Walking through the Kremlin, he bowed to the people and asked not to push away the people crowding around him. Before going out to the nobility and making a speech, for a long time “ gained courage" The fate of his reign hung in the balance, but he had already grasped the mood of the people, realized that the war was acquiring a national character and that only this could save him in the battle with Napoleon. Someone dared to ask what he intended to do if Bonaparte captured Moscow. - " Make Russia a second Spain", Alexander answered firmly. In Spain at that time there was a popular struggle against the French occupiers.

A. A. Arakcheev, who had already gained a bad reputation, kept a low profile in those days, but relentlessly followed the emperor. Another Pavlovsky nominee, Count F.V. Rostopchin, was appointed to the post of Moscow Governor-General. Distinguished by tyranny and extreme suspicion, he looked for spies everywhere and puzzled Muscovites with his antics. When nobles and merchants gathered in one of the Moscow palaces to meet the tsar, at the side exit the nimble Rostopchin placed a cart with two policemen dressed for the road. Everyone knew that the one who said an extra word would go to Siberia in this cart.

July 22 At Smolensk, the two main Russian armies united. Bagration voluntarily ceded overall command to Barclay. Now the enemy was confronted by an army of 130 thousand people. In the advanced units of Napoleon there were about 150 thousand. "Great Army"became smaller and smaller, losing soldiers in fast marches and skirmishes with partisans, leaving garrisons in occupied cities and barriers against flank attacks. In addition, as the Russian generals noticed, the approaching Napoleonic army widely scattered its units.

July 25 At the military council in Smolensk, a plan arose to go on the offensive, break through Napoleon’s central grouping and, without allowing his corps to connect, beat them piece by piece. Barclay de Tolly was against. He believed that the balance of forces was still in favor of the enemy, and therefore the previous strategy of wearing him out in rearguard battles and accumulating his own reserves should be continued. But under pressure from the generals, Barclay had to give in.

The next day, the Russian armies moved west along two main roads from Smolensk. The third road (the bypass, through the village of Krasnoe) was covered by a division under the command of General D.P. Neverovsky.

Having learned about the actions of the Russian troops, Napoleon quickly concentrated his corps and moved to Smolensk through Krasnoye. He intended to go to the rear of the Russian troops and impose on them a general battle with an inverted front.

August 2 the advanced French corps under the command of I. Murat stumbled upon Neverovsky’s division. The self-confident marshal decided to disperse the Russians with a cavalry attack, without resorting to artillery. The French cavalry rushed to the attack forty times that day - and did not achieve success. Neverovsky's soldiers fired back at the enemy, fought back with bayonets and slowly retreated. The French were unable to break through their defenses and capture Smolensk on the move. Soon Barclay de Tolly and Bagration returned to Smolensk.

Battle for Smolensk A.Yu.Averyanov, 1995.

5th of August French units captured the outskirts of the burning city. But by the evening of the same day they were driven out of there. And at night Barclay gave the order for a general retreat.

This decision caused bewilderment and grumbling in the army and society. Barclay was not very liked before. A far-sighted strategist and courageous warrior, he was silent, withdrawn, inaccessible, and almost never spoke to soldiers. The complete opposite of Barclay was Bagration, a descendant of the Georgian kings, a military general who went through the school of A.V. Suvorov. Lack of theoretical education and excessive ardor prevented Bagration from becoming a major strategist. But he was a brilliant tactician, a master of attack and maneuver. From the very beginning of the war, Bagration called for active offensive actions. After Smolensk, his relationship with Barclay went completely wrong. First, those around Bagration, and then throughout the army and in society, they started talking about the fact that Barclay “ takes a guest to Moscow" Rumors of betrayal began to spread.

Barclay treated these rumors and rumors with stoic calm. He believed that the Russian army should retreat until the balance of forces changed—maybe even to the Volga. However, his authority was undermined. The first and second armies did not always act in concert; the long retreat lowered the morale of the soldiers, and cases of looting became more frequent. But Alexander I hesitated in appointing a commander-in-chief.

Meanwhile, having victoriously completed the war with Turkey, M. I. Kutuzov returned to St. Petersburg. At that time he was 67 years old. A student and ally of Suvorov, he had broad strategic thinking and extensive life and military experience. In addition, he was known as a charming person and an excellent storyteller. He spoke with ladies in French, in letters to his wife he spoke in the old-fashioned language of the 18th century, and in conversations with men and soldiers he spoke simple Russian.

They immediately started talking like the only person, capable of taking the post of commander in chief. The Moscow and St. Petersburg militias elected him as their commander, and in St. Petersburg he was elected unanimously, and in Moscow he beat Rostopchin. Alexander did not like Kutuzov, knowing his negative attitude towards the coup of March 11, 1801. But in the current situation, the tsar had to give in. In the future, he more than once thought about replacing Kutuzov, but never decided to do it.

On Alexander's part it was reasonable action- give the leadership of military operations entirely into the hands of Kutuzov. He himself concentrated on diplomatic work. He was a good diplomat. After holding difficult negotiations with the Swedish king, Alexander managed to keep him from an alliance with Napoleon. Thus, another diplomatic victory was achieved in this war.

On the way to the army, Kutuzov often repeated: “If I only find Smolensk in our hands, then the enemy will not be in Moscow.”. But news came that Smolensk was abandoned. Beyond Smolensk, Russian troops no longer had a stronghold until Moscow itself. " The key to Moscow has been taken", Kutuzov said with disappointment. After that, his thoughts returned again and again to what choice he should make. “The issue has not yet been resolved,- he wrote in one of his letters, - whether to lose the army or lose Moscow".

August 17 near the village of Tsarevo Zaymishche, Kutuzov arrived in the army, greeted with general jubilation. The officers congratulated each other, and the soldiers quickly formed a saying: “ Kutuzov came to beat the French.” “Is it possible to retreat with such fellows?“he said, examining the troops. Using decisive measures, Kutuzov improved the supply of the army, stopped looting, and improved discipline. The commander-in-chief pinned great hopes on the militia being formed in Moscow.

Moscow lived an unusual life these days. Most of those who could bear arms joined the militia. Old people, women, children set off on their journey. After leaving Smolensk, lines of carriages and carriages stretched from the Moscow outposts. Then they were replaced by carts and carts. And then the pedestrians started walking.

August 14 A ceremonial farewell to the Moscow militia took place. The wonderful Russian poet V.A. Zhukovsky left with the militia, although the man was not at all a military man. He said that " enlisted under the banners not for the rank, not for the cross and not by choice, but because at that time everyone had to be a military man, even without the desire" The Moscow militia took part in Battle of Borodino.

WITH August 27 At three training sites in St. Petersburg, accelerated training of 13 thousand warriors was carried out over five days. Subsequently, the St. Petersburg and Novgorod militias were used to strengthen the troops covering St. Petersburg. Somewhat later, other militias, as well as Kalmyk, Tatar and Bashkir regiments, joined the hostilities.

Battle of Borodino and Moscow fire. At the end of August, the numerical superiority was still on the side of the French. But Kutuzov knew that it was impossible to hold back the army rushing into battle for too long. Moreover, Russian society demanded decisive action and was ready to do everything to win.

After Kutuzov's arrival, the Russian army retreated for another five days. In the evening August 22 she stopped at the village of Borodina on the New Smolensk road, 110 km from Moscow. To the south of the village, about five kilometers, there was the village of Utitsa - on the Old Smolensk road. Deploying between them on the hilly terrain, the Russian army blocked the enemy’s path to Moscow. When the commander-in-chief examined Borodino field, a gigantic eagle soared high in the sky above him. " Wherever he goes, the eagle goes“, recalled Kutuzov’s orderly. This was considered a good sign.

The Russian army numbered 132 thousand people (including 21 thousand poorly armed militias). French army - 135 thousand. Kutuzov's headquarters, believing that there were about 190 thousand people in the enemy army, chose a defensive plan.

The French approached Borodino the very next day, but were detained near the village of Shevardino. 24 August The enemy stormed the Shevardinsky redoubt, which was defended by a small detachment of Russian troops. At this time, fortifications were hastily erected on the Borodino field. In the center of the defense, on Kurgan Heights, a battery of 18 guns was deployed. She was part of the corps led by General N.N. Raevsky. Subsequently, it began to be called the Raevsky battery. To the left of it, not far from the village of Semenovskoye, earthen fortifications (fleshes) were dug, on which 36 guns were placed. This was the key point of defense of the left flank, commanded by P.I. Bagration. His name remains in the name of the flashes.

August 26, 1812. it started at half past six in the morning battle of Borodino. Napoleon intended to break through the Russian positions in the center, bypass the left flank, push the Russian army back from the Old Smolensk Road and clear his way to Moscow. But the roundabout maneuver failed: the French were stopped near Utitsa. Napoleon unleashed the main blow on Bagration's flushes. Their assault lasted almost continuously for six hours. Bagration was seriously wounded, command of the flank passed to Lieutenant General P. P. Konovnitsyn. Around noon, at the cost of huge losses, the French captured the fortifications. Russian troops retreated to the nearest hills. The attempt of the French cavalry to dislodge the Russians from their new position was unsuccessful.

At the same time, two French attacks on Raevsky's battery. Together with the general, his two sons, 15 and 10 years old, were on the battery. While the French were preparing a third attack, they had Russian cavalry in their rear, led by Cossack ataman M.I. Platov and General F.P. Uvarov. Several hours passed before the French organized a response. Kutuzov used this time to transfer reinforcements to “hot spots.” The third, decisive attack on Raevsky’s battery was launched at about two o’clock in the afternoon. The fight lasted more than an hour and a half. Under pressure from superior forces, the Russians were forced to retreat. Napoleon threw his cavalry after them. But the Russian cavalry responded with a counterattack, and the French were stopped. Wedged into the defense of the Russian troops, they were unable to achieve a breakthrough. The path to Moscow was still closed. The day ended with the roar of artillery. The cannonade of the Battle of Borodino was heard in Moscow. With the onset of darkness, Napoleon ordered the abandonment of a number of captured points, including Raevsky's battery.

The attacking side usually suffers larger losses. In battles August 24-26 Napoleon lost 58.5 thousand soldiers and officers. But the losses of the Russian army were not much less - 44 thousand. This was explained by the fact that during the battle the armies repeatedly changed roles - the Russians knocked out the French from captured positions. Russian troops suffered heavy losses from enemy artillery. In the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army had a slight advantage in the number of guns, but the French fired more concentrated fire. The actions of the Russian artillery were affected by the death of its commander, General A.I. Kutaisov, at the height of the battle. The Russian army lost about a thousand officers and 23 generals. The brave Bagration died from a wound.

Due to heavy losses and taking into account that Napoleon had an untouched reserve (Old Guard), Kutuzov ordered in the morning August 27 withdraw from the battlefield.

The next day the Russian army left Moscow.

The abandonment of Moscow by Kutuzov was strongly reminiscent of the abandonment of Smolensk by Barclay de Tolly. And again, dissatisfied voices began to be heard in the army and in society. But Kutuzov, unlike Barclay, did not believe that it was necessary to retreat “ all the way to the Volga" Leaving Moscow along the Ryazan road, he performed his famous flank march maneuver. When the Russian troops managed to break away from the enemy, the field marshal ordered the country roads through Podolsk to reach the Kaluga road. With this maneuver, Kutuzov made the further movement of the French to the east pointless and covered the food warehouses located in the Kaluga region, and at the same time the path to the food-rich southern provinces. Napoleon did not immediately understand what trap he found himself in.

September 2 In the half-empty Moscow abandoned by Russian troops, terrible events took place. Marauders from " Great Army"and ordinary robbers. The French command at first did not attach any importance to the fires that started in different places. But in dry and warm weather they grew quickly. And now Arbat and Zamoskvorechye have completely caught fire, wooden houses on Mokhovaya have caught fire. The fire engulfed the shopping arcades of Kitay-Gorod. Barges with hay on the Moscow River turned into huge bonfires. A ring of fires tightened around the Kremlin, where Napoleon stayed. Late in the evening he left the Kremlin with his retinue and moved along the burning Tverskaya to the Petrovsky Country Palace.

Kutuzov was drinking tea and talking with peasants when he was informed about the fire. After a pause, he said: “ It's a shame, really, but wait, I'll break his head.».

Moscow burned for six days. Three quarters of the city's buildings were destroyed. The fire also destroyed food warehouses. The French army immediately found itself on the brink of starvation.

Document: I. T. Radozhitsky "Camping notes of an artilleryman from 1812 to 1816."

(Extract)
...The Battle of Borodino was described by many eyewitnesses and is known to almost everyone; and therefore, avoiding repetition, I will describe only some pictures and cases.
With the rising of the sun, a terrible cannonade of cannons, howitzers, and unicorns opened up along the entire line from the left flank to the middle. The shots were so frequent that there was no gap left in the blows: they continued continuously, like a clap of thunder, producing an artificial earthquake. Thick clouds of smoke, swirling from the batteries, rose to the sky and obscured the sun, which was covered with a bloody veil, as if changing from human bitterness and rage. Figner and I on the right flank remained for a long time calm spectators of this phenomenon and stood silently at our guns... The enemy cannonballs reached us in the last leaps or rolled on their way out; the grenades flapped in the air and, scattering into fragments, made terrible sounds.

A fierce battle took place on the left flank; The Russians stood courageously in the trenches. The French paid for every step forward with countless losses of people. One cannot help but be surprised at the despair with which they climbed to their death; One cannot be surprised at the presence of the spirit of the Russians, with which they defended themselves, holding back the aspirations of the superior forces of the enemy.

When the French in the middle of our line captured the mound lunette for the first time and were overturned, at that time the infantry of the 4th Corps was ordered to move to reinforce those fighting near the lunette. The news of our exploits in shooting down the enemy in this place quickly spread along the line. Of the Yelets regiment, Major T..., in delight of the military spirit, galloped from the battlefield along our line, proclaiming to everyone that the French had been defeated and the Neapolitan king had been captured... But this imaginary Murat was General Bonamy. When the Russian grenadier wanted to stab him, he cried out to save himself: “I am the king!” Then the mustache, taking the king by the collar, dragged him to the commander-in-chief. Prince Kutuzov immediately congratulated the private non-commissioned officer and awarded him the insignia of the Military Order of St. George. The meeting near the lunette was not cheap and it cost us: here at the battery they killed the chief of all artillery, Count Kutaisov, a general who promised a lot with his personal merits.

A howitzer is a type of artillery gun used for overhead firing at hidden targets.

The Unicorn was a howitzer with a long barrel that allowed it to fire over the heads of its infantry. Named after a fantastic beast.

The infantry of the 4th Corps went to the center, but the artillery still remained in reserve. Figner and I were constantly waiting to see if they would invite us to a bloody feast... We were only ordered to take the guns out of the bushes, put them together and be ready. Out of curiosity, I drove up to the nearest mound, in front of the village. Gorki, from which the Russian battery fired at enemy columns. Here a vast battlefield opened up before me. I saw how our infantry in dense masses converged with the enemy; I saw how, approaching one another, they fired battle fire, turned around, scattered and, finally, disappeared; Only the dead remained on the spot, and the wounded returned. The other columns converged again and again disappeared in the same way. This spectacle of the extermination of people amazed me so much that I could not look any longer and with a clenched heart I drove off to my guns...

It seemed that the commander-in-chief did not lose hope of victory, as long as the large lunette in the center of the line and the village of Semenovskoye, on the left flank, were in our hands. Rejecting as much as possible the increasing danger on the left flank, he tried to regain what was lost and use all his strength to turn the wavering victory to the Russian banners. To distract the enemy's attention, he ordered Lieutenant General Uvarov with the 1st Cavalry Corps to cross the river. I pound and attack their left flank, open behind the villages. Borodin. We watched with pleasure as our cavalry on the other side of the river moved forward in long lines of red, blue hussars and lancers, then struck the French cavalry and drove it far beyond Borodino; there she attacked the battery... But four regiments of enemy infantry, having formed a square from Borodino, went towards our cavalry; she attacked each square in turn and, unable to break a single one, retreated. At this time, Figner received orders to approach the village of Gorki with artillery; On the way, we heard strong rifle fire to the right, fired by the French against our cavalry, and suddenly several scattered hussars galloped past us. Some of them, shot through, immediately fell from their horses, including one fine officer, shot in the chest by a bullet, fell from his horse two steps in front of us... Soon after that we saw two Don Cossack regiments, quite skillfully walking forward in all directions , under the cannonballs, without any damage; then they gathered and attacked the French together.

In the afternoon, when the Italian Viceroy1 made his last attack on our mound lunette, the battery and rifle fire thrown from it in all directions, likened this mound to a fire-breathing vent; Moreover, the shine of sabers, broadswords, bayonets, helmets and armor from the bright rays of the setting sun, all together presented a terrible and majestic picture. We are from the village. Gorki witnessed this bloody attack. Our cavalry interfered with the enemy's in a cruel battle: they shot, hacked and stabbed each other from all sides. The French had already approached the very lunette, and our guns fell silent after the final salvo... Meanwhile, the enemy infantry climbed onto the rampart from all sides and was overturned by Russian bayonets into the ditch, which was filled with the corpses of the dead; but fresh columns took the place of the broken ones and with new fury climbed to die; ours met them with equal ferocity and themselves fell with the enemies. Finally, the French furiously burst into the lunette and stabbed everyone they came across; The artillerymen, who acted with deadly force on the battery, suffered especially. Then the mound lunette remained in the hands of the enemy. This was the last trophy of their exhausted strength...

They said that at the beginning of the battle an eagle flew over the head of Prince Kutuzov, and the prince, taking off his hat, seemed to greet him as a harbinger of victory; but many doubted that the commander-in-chief would begin to deal with the eagle at a time when all his thoughts and attention were directed to the action of the battle. It was more likely that the random appearance of an eagle during the battle seemed to be something foreshadowing. It cannot be disputed that prudent commanders do not miss the slightest opportunity to instill courage in their soldiers. So Napoleon, wanting to strengthen the hope of victory among his troops, cried out at sunrise on the day of the Battle of Borodino: “This is the sun of Austerlitz!” But he was cruelly deceived.

The Italian Viceroy is Eugene Beauharnais, stepson of Napoleon, commander of the 4th Corps of the Grand Army. Napoleon appropriated the title of King of Italy to himself.

200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812

22nd of June Napoleon addressed an appeal to the troops, in which he accused Russia of violating the Tilsit Agreement and called the attack on Russia the second Polish war.

On the evening of June 11 (23)*, 1812, the departure Life Guards Cossack Regiment noticed suspicious movement on the Neman. When it became completely dark, a company of French sappers crossed the river from an elevated and wooded bank to the Russian bank on boats and ferries, and the first shootout took place. This happened three miles up the river from Kovno, in Lithuania. After midnight on June 24, 1812, the crossing of French troops across the border Neman began across four bridges built above Kovno.

At 6 o'clock in the morning on June 12 (24), 1812, the vanguard French troops entered the Russian city of Kovno. The crossing of 220 thousand soldiers of the Great Army near Kovno took 4 days. The river was crossed by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd infantry corps, guards and cavalry. On the evening of June 24, the Emperor Alexander I was at Bennigsen's ball in Vilna, where he was informed about Napoleon's invasion.

On June 17 (29) - June 18 (30), near Prena south of Kovno, another group (79 thousand soldiers: 6th and 4th infantry corps, cavalry) under the command of the Viceroy of Italy Eugene Beauharnais crossed the Neman. Almost simultaneously, on June 18 (30), even further south, near Grodno, the Neman crossed 4 corps (78-79 thousand soldiers: 5th, 7th, 8th infantry and 4th cavalry corps) under the overall command of the King of Westphalia, Jerome Bonaparte.

In the northern direction near Tilsit, the Neman crossed the 10th Corps of Marshal MacDonald. In the southern direction, from Warsaw across the Bug, a separate Austrian corps of General Schwarzenberg (30-33 thousand soldiers) began to invade.

The 7th Saxon Corps under the command of General Rainier (17-22 thousand) was supposed to cover the right flank of Napoleon's main forces from the 3rd Russian Army under the command of General Tormasov (25 thousand). Rainier took position along the line Brest-Kobrin-Pinsk, spraying an already small body over 170 km.

In Russian military circles, before the start of the Napoleonic invasion, a plan for conducting offensive operations on the territory of neighboring states was considered, one of which was Prussia. A supporter of this plan was the Minister of War (Barclay de Tolly) of the government of Alexander I. One of the positive conditions was the terrain for conducting military operations on the territory of Prussia, and the presence of abundant food. Large reserves were created for offensive operations. material resources in shops(supply bases) of the Bialystok region, Grodno and Vilna provinces.

However, the initial period of the war was associated with the retreat of the Russian armies into the interior of the country. Parts 1st Western Army were scattered from the Baltic to Lida, the headquarters was in Vilna. The commander of the 1st Army was Infantry General M.B. Barclay de Tolly, his chief of staff was Major General A.P. Ermolov; Quartermaster General - Colonel of the Quartermaster Unit K.F. Tol.

Due to Napoleon's rapid advance, the scattered Russian corps faced the threat of being defeated piecemeal. Dokhturov's corps found itself in an operational environment, but was able to escape and arrive at the Sventsyany assembly point. The French cut off Dorokhov's cavalry detachment, which joined P.I.'s army. Bagration. After the 1st Army united, Barclay de Tolly began to gradually retreat to Vilna and further to Drissa.

On June 26, the army left Vilna and on July 10 arrived at the Drissky fortified camp, in which, according to Pfuel’s plan, the Russian army was supposed to exhaust the enemy. The generals managed to convince the tsar of the absurdity of this plan, and on July 16 the army retreated through Polotsk to Vitebsk, leaving Wittgenstein’s 1st Corps to defend St. Petersburg.

In Polotsk, the harm from Alexander I’s stay with the army became so obvious that in early July the tsar’s closest confidants (A.S. Shishkov, A.A. Arakcheev and A.D. Balashov) convinced him to leave under the pretext of the need to be present in the capital for preparation of reserves.

The 1st Army continued its systematic retreat.

The 2nd Western Army (up to 45 thousand) at the beginning of the invasion was located near Grodno (in the west of Belarus) about 150 km from the 1st Army. At the head of the 2nd Western Army was P.I. Bagration, the position of chief of staff was held by Major General E.F. Saint-Prix, adjutant general of Alexander I; Quartermaster General - Major General M.S. Vistitsky 2nd; General on duty - Colonel S.N. Marin.

P.I. Bagration tried to connect with the main 1st Army, but upon reaching Lida (100 km from Vilno), he realized that the French would not allow this. The 2nd Army retreated south. The Cossacks of Ataman Platov, who were the vanguard of the 2nd Army at the beginning of the war, and became its rearguard during the retreat, entered into a border battle with the French battle near Grodno.

The battle between the rearguard of the right wing of the Great Army (the brigade of General Allix de Vaux) and the vanguard of the 2nd Western Army (the corps of General [Ataman] Platov), ​​one of the first battles that took place at the initial stage of the Patriotic War of 1812.

On June 8 (20), 1812, regiments of Ataman Platov’s Cossack corps (14 regiments) arrived in the vicinity of Grodno to guard the borders. Four days later, 130 kilometers north of Grodno near the city of Kovno (Kaunas), Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte with 220 thousand soldiers began crossing the Neman River to attack Kovno.

On June 12 (24), 1812, from the city of Lomza (Poland), King Jerome Bonaparte advances the right wing of the “Great Army” of 79 thousand soldiers through Augustow to Grodno.

June 14 (26), 1812, evening Cossack Corps of Ataman Platov, which was the vanguard of the 2nd Western Army, Alexander I was ordered to act on the flank and rear of the enemy. Regiments of his Cossack corps from the border with Grodno settlements, are withdrawn from the borders to concentrate at Sventsyan through Lida. Ataman Platov begins the evacuation of part of the garrison, imperial officials with their families and city supplies (more than 1000 convoys) in the direction of Minsk through Novogrudok. Platov places Cossack regiments on the approaches to the city.

On June 15 (27), 1812, four kilometers west of Grodno on the Lososyanka River, several Cossack regiments of Ataman Platov entered into battle with three regiments of the division of General. Dombrovsky, moving towards Grodno. Near the river, the Cossacks started a firefight, which delayed the enemy’s advance.

On June 16 (28), 1812, the Cossack positions were withdrawn to the bridge near Grodno, in the Zanemansky suburb. In the morning, with the reinforcements of General Kaminsky arriving, under the overall command of Artillery General Allix de Vaux, the French attacked the suburb in the direction of the bridge over the Neman.

The lancers were the first to attack the suburbs, starting a battle with Cossack hundred. After a quick cavalry attack by the lancers, the infantry went forward to the bridge. The city garrison helped the Cossack regiments hold the bridge. Beyond the Neman, Ataman Platov took up defense on the heights of the right bank of the Neman and from there fired at the advancing units from 12 guns of a company of Don artillery. A fierce firefight with the enemy continued until the evening. Ataman Platov, not seeing the possibility of delaying the increasing onslaught of the enemy regiments only with the forces of the Cossacks, without having regular infantry, burned the bridge across the Neman.

On June 16 (28), 1812, in the evening, the Cossack corps of Ataman Platov set out from Grodno in the direction of Lida through Shchuchin.

* New style dates are shown in brackets ( Gregorian calendar)

Literature:
1. Tarle E.V. Napoleon’s invasion, 1959
2. Kersnovsky A.A. History of the Russian Army
3. Notes of General A.P. Ermolov, chief of the General Staff of the 1st Western Army, during the Patriotic War of 1812

Compilation and presentation:
Golovinsky V.V., Dorofeev R.A. website

1812, June 12 – the beginning of the Patriotic War. The invasion of Napoleon's troops into Russia. The invasion of Napoleonic armies into Russia (which he learned about while in Vilna) was perceived by Alexander not only as the greatest threat to Russia, but also as a personal insult, and Napoleon himself henceforth became his mortal personal enemy. Not wanting to repeat the experience of Austerlitz and submitting to pressure from his environment, Alexander left the army and returned to St. Petersburg.

During the entire time that Barclay de Tolly carried out a retreat maneuver, which brought upon him the fire of sharp criticism from both society and the army, Alexander showed almost no solidarity with the military leader. After Smolensk was abandoned, the emperor yielded to everyone’s demands and appointed M.I. Kutuzov to this post. With the expulsion of Napoleonic troops from Russia, Alexander returned to the army and was in it during the foreign campaigns of 1813–1814.

The victory over Napoleon strengthened Alexander's authority; he became one of the most powerful rulers of Europe, who felt himself a liberator of its peoples, who was entrusted with a special mission, determined by God's will, to prevent further wars and devastation on the continent. He also considered the tranquility of Europe to be a necessary condition for the implementation of his reform plans in Russia itself.

To ensure these conditions, it was necessary to maintain the status quo determined by the decisions of the Congress of Vienna (1815), according to which the territory of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Russia, and the monarchy was restored in France, and Alexander insisted on the establishment of a constitutional-monarchical system in this country, which should have served as a precedent for the establishment of similar regimes in other countries.

The Russian emperor, in particular, managed to enlist the support of his allies for his idea of ​​​​introducing a constitution in Poland. As a guarantor of compliance with the decisions of the Congress of Vienna, the emperor initiated the creation of the Holy Alliance (September 14, 1815) - the prototype international organizations XX century Alexander was convinced that he owed his victory over Napoleon to the providence of God; his religiosity constantly intensified. Baroness J. Krüdener and Archimandrite Photius had a strong influence on him. According to some reports, his faith acquired an ecumenistic character, and he himself gradually became a mystic.

Alexander directly participated in the activities of the congresses of the Holy Alliance in Aachen (September - November 1818), Troppau and Laibach (October - December 1820 - January 1821), Verona (October - December 1822). However, the growing Russian influence in Europe caused opposition from the allies. In 1825, the Holy Alliance essentially disintegrated.

The date of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is one of the dramatic dates in the history of our country. This event gave rise to many myths and points of view regarding the reasons, plans of the parties, the number of troops and other important aspects. Let's try to understand this issue and cover Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 as objectively as possible. Let's start with the background.

Background to the conflict

Napoleon's invasion of Russia was not a random or unexpected event. This is in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” it is presented as “treacherous and unexpected.” In fact, everything was natural. Russia brought disaster upon itself through its military actions. First, Catherine the Second, fearing revolutionary events in Europe, helped the First Anti-French Coalition. Then Paul the First could not forgive Napoleon for the capture of Malta, an island that was under the personal protection of our emperor.

The main military confrontations between Russia and France began with the Second Anti-French Coalition (1798-1800), in which Russian troops, together with Turkish, English and Austrian troops, tried to defeat the army of the Directory in Europe. It was during these events that the famous Mediterranean campaign of Ushakov and the heroic transition of the thousands of Russian army through the Alps under the command of Suvorov took place.

Our country then first became acquainted with the “loyalty” of the Austrian allies, thanks to whom Russian armies of thousands were surrounded. This, for example, happened to Rimsky-Korsakov in Switzerland, who lost about 20 thousand of his soldiers in an unequal battle against the French. It was the Austrian troops who left Switzerland and left the 30,000-strong Russian corps alone with the 70,000-strong French corps. And the famous one was also forced, since the same Austrian advisers showed our commander-in-chief the wrong path in the direction where there were completely no roads and crossings.

As a result, Suvorov found himself surrounded, but with decisive maneuvers he was able to get out of the stone trap and save the army. However, ten years passed between these events and the Patriotic War. And Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 would not have taken place if not for further events.

The Third and Fourth Anti-French Coalitions. Violation of the Tilsit Peace

Alexander the First also started a war with France. According to one version, thanks to the British, a coup d'état took place in Russia, which brought young Alexander to the throne. This circumstance may have forced the new emperor to fight for the British.

In 1805, the Third was formed. It included Russia, England, Sweden and Austria. Unlike the previous two, the new alliance was framed as defensive. No one was going to restore the Bourbon dynasty in France. England needed the alliance most of all, since 200 thousand French soldiers were already stationed near the English Channel, ready to land on the island, but the Third Coalition prevented these plans.

The culmination of the alliance was the “Battle of the Three Emperors” on November 20, 1805. It received this name because all three emperors of the warring armies - Napoleon, Alexander the First and Franz the Second - were present on the battlefield near Austerlitz. Military historians believe that it was the presence of “dignitaries” that created complete confusion for the allies. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Coalition troops.

We try to briefly explain all the circumstances, without an understanding of which Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 will be incomprehensible.

In 1806, the Fourth Anti-French Coalition emerged. Austria no longer took part in the war against Napoleon. The new union included England, Russia, Prussia, Saxony and Sweden. Our country had to bear the entire brunt of the fighting, since England helped mainly only financially, as well as at sea, and the other participants did not have strong ground armies. In one day everything was destroyed at the Battle of Jena.

On June 2, 1807, our army was defeated near Friedland and retreated beyond the Neman - the border river in the western possessions of the Russian Empire.

After this, Russia signed the Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon on June 9, 1807 in the middle of the Neman River, which was officially interpreted as equality of the parties when signing the peace. It was the violation of the Peace of Tilsit that became the reason why Napoleon invaded Russia. Let us examine the contract itself in more detail so that the reasons for the events that occurred later are clear.

Terms of the Peace of Tilsit

The Tilsit Peace Treaty implied Russia's accession to the so-called blockade of the British Isles. This decree was signed by Napoleon on November 21, 1806. The essence of the “blockade” was that France was creating a zone on the European continent where England was prohibited from trading. Napoleon could not physically blockade the island, since France did not have even a tenth of the fleet that the British had at their disposal. Therefore, the term “blockade” is conditional. In fact, Napoleon came up with what today are called economic sanctions. England traded actively with Europe. From Russia, therefore, the “blockade” threatened the food security of Foggy Albion. In fact, Napoleon even helped England, since the latter quickly found new trading partners in Asia and Africa, making good money on this in the future.

Russia in the 19th century was an agricultural country that sold grain for export. The only major buyer of our products at that time was England. Those. the loss of the sales market completely ruined the ruling elite of nobles in Russia. We are seeing something similar today in our country, when counter-sanctions and sanctions have hit the oil and gas industry hard, resulting in the ruling elite incurring colossal losses.

In fact, Russia joined the anti-British sanctions in Europe, initiated by France. The latter itself was a large agricultural producer, so there was no possibility of replacing a trading partner for our country. Naturally, our ruling elite could not fulfill the conditions of the Tilsit Peace, as this would lead to the complete destruction of the entire Russian economy. The only way to force Russia to comply with the demands of the “blockade” was by force. That is why the invasion of Russia took place. The French emperor himself did not intend to go deep into our country, wanting to simply force Alexander to fulfill the Peace of Tilsit. However, our armies forced the French emperor to advance further and further from the western borders to Moscow.

date

The date of Napoleon's invasion of Russian territory is June 12, 1812. On this day, the enemy troops crossed the Neman.

The Invasion Myth

There is a myth that Napoleon's invasion of Russia happened unexpectedly. The emperor held a ball, and all the courtiers had fun. In fact, balls for all European monarchs of that time took place very often, and they did not depend on political events, but, on the contrary, were its integral part. This was an unchanging tradition of monarchical society. It was there that public hearings on the most important issues. Even during the First World War, magnificent celebrations were held in the residences of nobles. However, it is worth noting that Alexander the First Ball in Vilna nevertheless left and retired to St. Petersburg, where he stayed throughout the entire Patriotic War.

Forgotten heroes

The Russian army was preparing for the French invasion long before this. War Minister Barclay de Tolly did everything possible to ensure that Napoleon's army approached Moscow at the limit of its capabilities and with huge losses. The Minister of War himself kept his army in full combat readiness. Unfortunately, the history of the Patriotic War treated Barclay de Tolly unfairly. By the way, it was he who actually created the conditions for the future French catastrophe, and the invasion of Napoleon’s army into Russia ultimately ended in the complete defeat of the enemy.

Tactics of the Minister of War

Barclay de Tolly used the famous “Scythian tactics”. The distance between Neman and Moscow is huge. Without food supplies, provisions for horses, or drinking water, the “Grand Army” turned into a huge prisoner of war camp, in which natural death was much higher than losses from battles. The French did not expect the horror that Barclay de Tolly created for them: peasants went into the forests, taking livestock with them and burning food, wells along the army’s route were poisoned, as a result of which periodic epidemics broke out in the French army. Horses and people were dying of hunger, mass desertion began, but there was nowhere to run in unfamiliar terrain. In addition, partisan detachments from peasants destroyed individual French groups of soldiers. The year of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is a year of unprecedented patriotic upsurge of all Russian people who united to destroy the aggressor. This point was also reflected by L.N. Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace”, in which his characters demonstratively refuse to speak French, since it is the language of the aggressor, and also donate all their savings to the needs of the army. Russia has not seen such an invasion for a long time. The last time our country was attacked by the Swedes was almost a hundred years ago. Not long before this, the entire secular world of Russia admired the genius of Napoleon and considered him the greatest man on the planet. Now this genius threatened our independence and turned into a sworn enemy.

The size and characteristics of the French army

The size of Napoleon's army during the invasion of Russia was about 600 thousand people. Its peculiarity was that it resembled a patchwork quilt. The composition of Napoleon's army during the invasion of Russia consisted of Polish lancers, Hungarian dragoons, Spanish cuirassiers, French dragoons, etc. Napoleon gathered his “Great Army” from all over Europe. She was a motley, speaking different languages. At times, commanders and soldiers did not understand each other, did not want to shed blood for Grand France, so at the first sign of difficulty caused by our “scorched earth” tactics, they deserted. However, there was a force that kept the entire Napoleonic army at bay - Napoleon's personal guard. This was the elite of the French troops, who went through all the difficulties with the brilliant commanders from the first days. It was very difficult to get into it. The guardsmen were paid huge salaries and were given the best food supplies. Even during the Moscow famine, these people received good rations, when others were forced to look for dead rats for food. The Guard was something like Napoleon's modern security service. She watched for signs of desertion and brought order to Napoleonic's motley army. She was also thrown into battle in the most dangerous sectors of the front, where the retreat of even one soldier could lead to tragic consequences for the entire army. The guards never retreated and showed unprecedented perseverance and heroism. However, there were too few of them in percentage terms.

In total, about half of Napoleon's army were French themselves, who showed themselves in battles in Europe. However, now this was a different army - aggressive, occupying, which was reflected in its morale.

Army composition

The Grand Army was deployed in two echelons. The main forces - about 500 thousand people and about 1 thousand guns - consisted of three groups. The right wing under the command of Jerome Bonaparte - 78 thousand people and 159 guns - was supposed to move to Grodno and divert the main Russian forces. The central group led by Beauharnais - 82 thousand people and 200 guns - was supposed to prevent the connection of the two main Russian armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration. Napoleon himself moved towards Vilna with renewed vigor. His task was to defeat the Russian armies separately, but he also allowed them to unite. Marshal Augereau's 170 thousand men and about 500 guns remained in the rear. According to the calculations of the military historian Clausewitz, Napoleon involved up to 600 thousand people in the Russian campaign, of which less than 100 thousand people crossed the border river Neman back from Russia.

Napoleon planned to impose battles on the western borders of Russia. However, Baclay de Tolly imposed a game of cat and mouse on him. The main Russian forces all the time avoided battle and retreated into the interior of the country, drawing the French further and further from Polish supplies, and depriving them of food and supplies on their own territory. That is why the invasion of Napoleon's troops into Russia led to the further catastrophe of the Grand Army.

Russian forces

At the time of the aggression, Russia had about 300 thousand people with 900 guns. However, the army was divided. The First Western Army was commanded by the Minister of War himself. Barclay de Tolly's group numbered about 130 thousand people with 500 guns. It stretched from Lithuania to Grodno in Belarus. Bagration's Second Western Army numbered about 50 thousand people - it occupied a line east of Bialystok. Tormasov's third army - also about 50 thousand people with 168 guns - was stationed in Volyn. There were also large groups in Finland - not long before there was a war with Sweden - and in the Caucasus, where Russia traditionally waged wars with Turkey and Iran. There was also a group of our troops on the Danube under the command of Admiral P.V. Chichagov in the amount of 57 thousand people with 200 guns.

Napoleon's invasion of Russia: the beginning

On the evening of June 11, 1812, a patrol of the Life Guards Cossack Regiment discovered suspicious movement on the Neman River. With the onset of darkness, enemy sappers began to build crossings three miles up the river from Kovno (modern Kaunas, Lithuania). Crossing the river with all forces took 4 days, but the French vanguard was already in Kovno on the morning of June 12. Alexander the First was at a ball in Vilna at that time, where he was informed about the attack.

From Neman to Smolensk

Back in May 1811, suggesting a possible invasion of Napoleon into Russia, Alexander the First told the French ambassador something like the following: “We would rather reach Kamchatka than sign peace in our capitals. Frost and territory will fight for us.”

This tactic was put into practice: Russian troops rapidly retreated from the Neman to Smolensk in two armies, unable to unite. Both armies were constantly pursued by the French. Several battles took place in which the Russians openly sacrificed entire rearguard groups in order to hold the main French forces for as long as possible, in order to prevent them from catching up with our main forces.

On August 7, a battle took place at Valutina Mountain, which was called the battle for Smolensk. Barclay de Tolly had by this time united with Bagration and even made several attempts to counterattack. However, all these were just false maneuvers that made Napoleon think about the future general battle near Smolensk and regroup the columns from the marching formation to the attacking one. But the Russian commander-in-chief well remembered the emperor’s order “I have no more army,” and did not dare to give a general battle, rightly predicting future defeat. At Smolensk the French suffered huge losses. Barclay de Tolly himself was a supporter of further retreat, but the entire Russian public unfairly considered him a coward and a traitor for his retreat. But only Russian Emperor, who had already escaped once at Austerlitz from Napoleon, still continued to trust the minister. While the armies were divided, Barclay de Tolly could still cope with the wrath of the generals, but when the army was united near Smolensk, he still had to make a counterattack on Murat’s corps. This attack was needed more to calm the Russian commanders than to give a decisive battle to the French. But despite this, the minister was accused of indecisiveness, procrastination, and cowardice. His final discord with Bagration emerged, who was zealously eager to attack, but could not give an order, since formally he was subordinate to Barcal de Tolly. Napoleon himself expressed annoyance that the Russians did not give a general battle, since his ingenious outflanking maneuver with the main forces would have led to a blow to the Russian rear, as a result of which our army would have been completely defeated.

Change of commander in chief

Under public pressure, Barcal de Tolly was nevertheless removed from the post of commander-in-chief. Russian generals in August 1812 already openly sabotaged all his orders. However, the new commander-in-chief M.I. Kutuzov, whose authority was enormous in Russian society, also gave the order for further retreat. And only on August 26 - also under public pressure - he finally gave a general battle near Borodino, as a result of which the Russians were defeated and left Moscow.

Results

Let's summarize. The date of Napoleon's invasion of Russia is one of the tragic ones in the history of our country. However, this event contributed to a patriotic upsurge in our society and its consolidation. Napoleon was mistaken that the Russian peasant would choose the abolition of serfdom in exchange for support for the occupiers. It turned out that for our citizens, military aggression turned out to be much worse than internal socio-economic contradictions.