THEM. Zherin. Injury of P.I. Bagration in the Battle of Borodino. 1816

Napoleon, wanting to support the attacking efforts at the Semyonov flushes, ordered his left wing to strike the enemy at Kurgan Heights and take it. The battery on the heights was defended by the general's 26th Infantry Division. The troops of the corps of the Viceroy of Beauharnais crossed the river. Koloch and began an attack on the Great Redoubt, which was occupied by them.

C. Vernier, I. Lecomte. Napoleon, surrounded by generals, leads the Battle of Borodino. Colorized engraving

At this time, generals and. Having taken command of the 3rd battalion of the Ufa Infantry Regiment, Ermolov regained the heights with a strong counterattack at about 10 o'clock. The “fierce and terrible battle” lasted half an hour. The French 30th Line Regiment suffered terrible losses, its remnants fled from the mound. General Bonnamy was captured. During this battle, General Kutaisov died unknown. French artillery began a massive shelling of Kurgan Heights. Ermolov, having been wounded, handed over command to the general.

At the southernmost tip of the Russian position, the Polish troops of General Poniatowski launched an attack on the enemy near the village of Utitsa, got stuck in the battle for it and were unable to provide support to those corps of the Napoleonic army that fought at the Semyonovsky flashes. The defenders of the Utitsa Kurgan became a stumbling block for the advancing Poles.

At about 12 noon, the sides regrouped their forces on the battlefield. Kutuzov helped the defenders of Kurgan Heights. Reinforcement from the army of M.B. Barclay de Tolly received the 2nd Western Army, which left the Semyonov flushes completely destroyed. There was no point in defending them with heavy losses. The Russian regiments retreated beyond the Semenovsky ravine, taking up positions on the heights near the village. The French launched infantry and cavalry attacks here.

Battle of Borodino from 9:00 to 12:30

Battle of Borodino (12:30-14:00)

At about 1 p.m., the Beauharnais corps resumed its attack on Kurgan Heights. At this time, by order of Kutuzov, a raid by the Cossack corps of the ataman and the cavalry corps of the general began against the enemy left wing, where the Italian troops were stationed. The Russian cavalry raid, the effectiveness of which historians debate to this day, forced Emperor Napoleon to stop all attacks for two hours and send part of his guard to the aid of Beauharnais.

Battle of Borodino from 12:30 to 14:00

During this time, Kutuzov again regrouped his forces, strengthening the center and left flank.

F. Rubo. "Living Bridge". Canvas, oil. 1892 Panorama Museum “Battle of Borodino”. Moscow

Battle of Borodino (14:00-18:00)

A cavalry battle took place in front of Kurgan Heights. The general's Russian hussars and dragoons attacked the enemy cuirassiers twice and drove them “all the way to the batteries.” When the mutual attacks here stopped, the parties sharply increased the force of artillery fire, trying to suppress the enemy batteries and inflict maximum damage on them in manpower.

Near the village of Semenovskaya, the enemy attacked the guards brigade of the colonel (Life Guards Izmailovsky and Lithuanian regiments). The regiments, forming a square, repelled several attacks by enemy cavalry with rifle salvoes and bayonets. The general came to the aid of the guards with the Ekaterinoslav and Order Cuirassier regiments, which overthrew the French cavalry. The artillery cannonade continued throughout the field, claiming thousands of lives.

A.P. Shvabe. Battle of Borodino. Copy from a painting by the artist P. Hess. Second half of the 19th century. Canvas, oil. TsVIMAIVS

After repelling the Russian cavalry raid, Napoleon's artillery concentrated a large force of its fire against the Kurgan Heights. It became, as the participants in the battle put it, the “volcano” of Borodin’s day. At about 15 o'clock in the afternoon, Marshal Murat gave the order for the cavalry to attack the Russians at the Great Redoubt with its entire mass. The infantry launched an attack on the heights and finally captured the battery position located there. The cavalry of the 1st Western Army bravely came out to meet the enemy cavalry, and a fierce cavalry battle took place under the heights.

V.V. Vereshchagin. Napoleon I on the Borodino Heights. 1897

After this, the enemy cavalry for the third time strongly attacked a brigade of Russian guards infantry near the village of Semenovskaya, but was repelled with great damage. The French infantry of Marshal Ney's corps crossed the Semenovsky ravine, but its attack with large forces was not successful. At the southern end of the position of the Kutuzov army, the Poles captured the Utitsky Kurgan, but were unable to advance further.

Desario. Battle of Borodino

After 16 hours, the enemy, who had finally captured Kurgan Heights, launched attacks on Russian positions to the east of it. Here the general's cuirassier brigade, consisting of the Cavalry and Horse Guards regiments, entered the battle. With a decisive blow, the Russian guards cavalry overthrew the attacking Saxons, forcing them to retreat to their original positions.

North of the Great Redoubt, the enemy tried to attack with large forces, primarily with cavalry, but had no success. After 5 p.m., only artillery was active here.

After 16 hours, the French cavalry tried to deliver a strong blow from the village of Semenovskoye, but ran into the columns of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Finland regiments. The guards moved forward with the beating of drums and overthrew the enemy cavalry with bayonets. After this, the Finns cleared the edge of the forest from enemy shooters, and then the forest itself. At 19:00 in the evening the gunfire here subsided.

The last bursts of battle in the evening took place at the Kurgan Heights and the Utitsky Kurgan, but the Russians held their positions, themselves more than once launching decisive counterattacks. Emperor Napoleon never sent his last reserve into battle - the divisions of the Old and Young Guards to turn the tide of events in favor of French weapons.

By 6 pm the attacks had ceased along the entire line. Only the artillery fire and rifle fire in the forward lines, where the Jaeger infantry acted bravely, did not subside. The sides did not spare artillery charges that day. The last cannon shots were fired at about 10 pm, when it had already become completely dark.

Battle of Borodino from 14:00 to 18:00

Results of the Battle of Borodino

During the battle, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, the attacking “Grand Army” was able to force the enemy in the center and on his left flank to retreat only 1-1.5 km. At the same time, Russian troops preserved the integrity of the front line and their communications, repelling many attacks by enemy infantry and cavalry, while at the same time distinguishing themselves in counterattacks. The counter-battery fight, for all its ferocity and duration, did not give any advantage to either side.

The main Russian strongholds on the battlefield - Semenovsky flashes and Kurgan Heights - remained in the hands of the enemy. But the fortifications on them were completely destroyed, and therefore Napoleon ordered the troops to leave the captured fortifications and retreat to their original positions. With the onset of darkness, mounted Cossack patrols came out onto the deserted Borodino field and occupied the commanding heights above the battlefield. Enemy patrols also guarded the enemy's actions: the French were afraid of attacks in the night by Cossack cavalry.

The Russian commander-in-chief intended to continue the battle the next day. But, having received reports of terrible losses, Kutuzov ordered the Main Army to retreat to the city of Mozhaisk at night. The withdrawal from the Borodino field took place in an organized manner, in marching columns, under the cover of a strong rearguard. Napoleon learned about the enemy’s departure only in the morning, but he did not dare to immediately pursue the enemy.

In the “battle of the giants,” the parties suffered huge losses, which researchers are still discussing today. It is believed that during August 24-26, the Russian army lost from 45 to 50 thousand people (primarily from massive artillery fire), and the “Grand Army” - approximately 35 thousand or more. There are other figures, also disputed, that require some adjustment. In any case, the losses in killed, died from wounds, wounded and missing were equal to approximately a third of the strength of the opposing armies. The Borodino field also became a real “cemetery” for the French cavalry.

The Battle of Borodino in history is also called the “battle of the generals” due to the large losses in the senior command. In the Russian army, 4 generals were killed and mortally wounded, 23 generals were wounded and shell-shocked. In the Grand Army, 12 generals were killed or died from wounds, one marshal (Davout) and 38 generals were wounded.

The fierceness and uncompromising nature of the battle on the Borodino field is evidenced by the number of prisoners taken: approximately 1 thousand people and one general on each side. Russians - approximately 700 people.

The result of the general battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 (or Napoleon’s Russian Campaign) was that Bonaparte failed to defeat the enemy army, and Kutuzov did not defend Moscow.

Both Napoleon and Kutuzov demonstrated the art of great commanders on the day of Borodin. The “Great Army” began the battle with massive attacks, starting continuous battles for the Semenovsky flushes and Kurgan Heights. As a result, the battle turned into a frontal clash of sides, in which the attacking side had minimal chances of success. The enormous efforts of the French and their allies ultimately proved fruitless.

Be that as it may, both Napoleon and Kutuzov, in their official reports about the battle, declared the result of the confrontation on August 26 as their victory. M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov was awarded the rank of field marshal for Borodino. Indeed, both armies showed the highest heroism on the Borodin field.

The Battle of Borodino did not become a turning point in the campaign of 1812. Here we should turn to the opinion of the famous military theorist K. Clausewitz, who wrote that “victory lies not simply in capturing the battlefield, but in the physical and moral defeat of the enemy forces.”

After Borodin, the Russian army, whose fighting spirit had strengthened, quickly regained its strength and was ready to expel the enemy from Russia. Napoleon’s “great” “army,” on the contrary, lost heart and lost its former maneuverability and ability to win. Moscow became a real trap for her, and the retreat from it soon turned into a real flight with the final tragedy on the Berezina.

Material prepared by the Research Institute (military history)
Military Academy of the General Staff
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

The Battle of Borodino or the Battle of Borodino is the largest battle of the Patriotic War between Russia and Napoleonic France, which took place on September 7, 1812 near the village of Borodino.
The army of the Russian Empire was commanded by General M. Kutuzov, and the French army was led by the Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte himself. It is still not clear who won this battle. The Battle of Borodino is rightfully considered the bloodiest one-day battle.

Causes of the Battle of Borodino

Emperor Napoleon with a huge French army invaded the territory of the Russian Empire. At the same time, the Russian army was constantly retreating; panic in the ranks and a hasty retreat could not allow organizing the army for a decisive defense. Then the emperor assigns command of the Russian army to Kutuzov. He decided to continue retreating, hoping to exhaust the French army and receive reinforcements.
Deciding that there was no longer time to postpone the battle, Kutuzov decided to position his troops near Borodino. The Emperor demanded that Napoleon be stopped in front of Moscow, and only this area made it possible to do this. Before Napoleon's troops arrived, the Russian army managed to build the necessary fortifications.

Number of opponents

The Russian army in total consisted of about 120 thousand soldiers and more than six hundred artillery pieces. Among them there were also about 7-8 thousand Cossacks.
The French slightly defeated the Russian army in the number of troops, they had approximately 130-140 thousand soldiers, but a slightly smaller number of artillery pieces, no more than 600.

Progress of the Battle of Borodino

The Battle of Borodino began with French artillery shelling of Russian army positions at half past six in the morning. At the same time, Napoleon ordered General Delzon's division to go into battle under the cover of fog. They went to the very center of Russian positions - the village of Borodino. This position was defended by a corps of rangers. The French were significantly outnumbered, but the rangers retreated only when there was a threat of encirclement. The rangers retreated across the Kolocha River, followed by Delzon's division. Having crossed the river, he tried to take up positions, but having received reinforcements, the rangers were able to repel the attacks of the French.
Then Napoleon, following the flank, began an attack on the Bagration flushes (fleshes are field fortifications, sometimes they can be long-term). First came the artillery bombardment, and then the attack began. The first attack was successful, and the Russian rangers retreated, but after coming under fire from grapeshot, the French army was forced to retreat.
At eight o'clock in the morning the attack on the southern flush was repeated and ended in success for the French army. Then General Bagration decides to make an attempt to knock the French out of their positions. Having gathered impressive forces for a counterattack, the Russian army manages to push back the enemy. The French retreated with heavy losses, many officers were wounded.
Napoleon decided to make the third attack more massive. The attacking forces were reinforced by Marshal Ney's three infantry divisions, Murat's cavalry and a large amount of artillery (about 160 guns).
Having learned about Napoleon's intentions, General Bagration decided to further strengthen the flushes.
Napoleon launched a third attack with a powerful artillery barrage, after which the French successfully occupied the southern flush. A bayonet battle ensued, as a result of which two Russian generals were wounded. The Russian army launched a counterattack with three cuirassier regiments and practically pushed the French back, but the French cavalry that arrived in time repelled the attack of the cuirassiers (heavy cavalry) and completely occupied the flush by ten o'clock in the morning.
Napoleon concentrated about 40 thousand soldiers and 400 guns in flushes. Bagration had to stop the French, but could not do this, since he had only 20 thousand soldiers, then he decides to counterattack on the left wing. This attack was stopped and hand-to-hand combat ensued, lasting about an hour. The Russian army gained an advantage, but when Bagration himself was wounded by a random shrapnel, the Russian army lost morale and began to retreat. Bagration was slightly wounded; he was hit by a shrapnel in the thigh and was carried away from the battlefield.
The flushes were abandoned, and the Russian army retreated beyond the Semenovsky Creek. There were still untouched reserves here, and Russian artillery numbering 300 guns well controlled the approaches to the stream. The French, seeing such a defense, decided not to attack for now.
Napoleon continued to attack the left flank of the Russian army, but ordered the main attack on the center of the Russian positions. A bloody battle ensued, which resulted in the withdrawal of the French troops; they never managed to dislodge the Russian army from the position of Semenovsky Creek. Here they remained until the very end of the Battle of Borodino.
At that moment, when the French army was fighting for the flushes, Napoleon ordered to bypass the Russian positions in the Utitsky forest area. The French managed to push the Russian army back from the Utitsky heights and placed artillery there. The French then launched a massive artillery attack. The Russian army was forced to retreat to the Utitsky Kurgan. But the massive fire of French artillery and a decisive assault allowed the French to push back the Russians and occupy the mound.
General Tuchkov tried to retake the mound and personally led the attack. In this battle, the mound was returned, but the general himself was mortally wounded. Kurgan was abandoned by the Russians when the main forces retreated beyond Semenovsky Creek.
The Battle of Borodino was not going in favor of the Russian army, and then Kutuzov attempted a cavalry raid into the rear of the French army. At first, the raid was successful, the cavalry managed to push back the French left flank, but after receiving reinforcements, the cavalry was driven back. This raid was successful in one thing: the enemy’s decisive strike was delayed for two hours, during which the Russian army was able to regroup.
In the center of the Russian positions there was a high mound on which an artillery battery was located, defended by the forces of General Raevsky.
Napoleon's army continued to attack, even despite heavy artillery fire. The French managed to occupy the redoubt, but the Russian army soon recaptured it. The French suffered serious losses. By this point, Raevsky’s troops were exhausted, and Kutuzov ordered him to retreat to the second line. Instead, General Likhachev was ordered to defend the artillery battery.
Noticing that the situation in the center of the Russian army was going badly for the Russians, he decided to concentrate the attack on the Raevsky battery, protected by Likhachev.
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Napoleon began a powerful artillery barrage with more than 100 guns and then went on the attack. The French cavalry successfully bypassed the mound and attacked Raevsky's battery. The cavalry was forced to retreat. But the Russian army, distracted by the cavalry attack, left the front and flank uncovered, and it was there that the French delivered a crushing blow. The bloodiest clash of the Battle of Borodino ensued. General Likhachev, who was defending the battery, was seriously wounded and captured. An hour later the battery was broken.
This success did not force Napoleon to continue the offensive against the center of the Russian army, since he believed that its defenses were still strong. And after the capture of Raevsky’s battery, the Battle of Borodino began to gradually slow down. The artillery exchange continued, but Napoleon decided not to launch a new attack. The Russian army also decided to retreat to make up for their losses.

Results of the Battle of Borodino

Losses
Sources say that the Russian army lost about 40 thousand soldiers wounded and killed. More than fifty generals fell in this battle or were captured. These figures do not take into account the losses of the militia and Cossacks; if we take into account these figures, then the number of fallen can easily be raised to 45 thousand soldiers, of which 15 thousand were killed.
The number of deaths on the French side is quite difficult to determine, since most of the documentation was lost during the retreat. But most historians, based on surviving data, named the number - 30 thousand soldiers, of which about 10 thousand were killed. The number of dead French generals reaches fifty. The documents also state that many of the wounded died from their wounds, approximately 2/3. This means that the death toll can be increased to 20 thousand soldiers.

Grand total

The Battle of Borodino went down in history as the bloodiest one-day battle until the end of the nineteenth century. Before this, there was nothing like this in world history that could happen in one day. The total number of those killed in battle, as well as those who died from wounds, reached approximately 50 thousand. The Russian army lost almost a third of its entire army, while Napoleon lost 1/5 of his entire army.
It remains interesting that both commanders (Napoleon and Kutuzov) attribute the victory in the Battle of Borodino to their own account. Modern Russian historians assess the result of the Battle of Borodino as uncertain, but Western historians say that it was a decisive victory for Napoleon, because the entire Russian army was forced to retreat from its position near Borodino. Napoleon failed to completely break the Russian army, and it did not lose its fighting spirit.
The fact remains that Napoleon was unable to completely defeat the Russians, a decisive victory was not achieved, and later, due to the crisis of Napoleon’s strategy, his defeat followed. If Napoleon had completely defeated the Russians at Borodino, this would have been a decisive and crushing defeat for the Russian Empire, on the basis of which Napoleon would have been able to sign a peace beneficial to France. The Russian army, having retained its strength, was able to prepare for subsequent battles.

The Russian army under the command of M.I. Kutuzov with the French army (1812).

The Battle of Borodino is the largest battle of the Patriotic War of 1812. In France, this battle is called the Battle of the Moscow River.

Starting the war, Napoleon planned a general battle along the border, but the retreating Russian army lured him far from the border. After leaving the city of Smolensk, the Russian army retreated to Moscow.

The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Mikhail Golenishchev-Kutuzov, decided to block Napoleon’s path to Moscow and give a general battle to the French near the village of Borodino, located 124 km west of Moscow.

The position of the Russian army on the Borodino field occupied 8 km along the front and up to 7 km in depth. Its right flank adjoined the Moscow River, the left - to a difficult forest, the center rested on the Kurganaya heights, covered from the west by the Semenovsky stream. The forest and bushes in the rear of the position made it possible to secretly position troops and maneuver reserves. The position provided good visibility and artillery fire.

Napoleon later wrote in his memoirs (translated by Mikhnevich):

“Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I fought near Moscow. The French in it showed themselves worthy of winning, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible... Of the fifty battles I fought, in the battle near Moscow [the French] showed the most valor and the least success was achieved."

Kutuzov in his memoirs assessed the Battle of Borodino as follows: “The battle of the 26th was the bloodiest of all those known in modern times. We completely won the battlefield, and the enemy then retreated to the position in which he came to attack us.”

Alexander I declared the Battle of Borodino as a victory. Prince Kutuzov was promoted to field marshal with an award of 100 thousand rubles. All lower ranks who were in the battle were granted 5 rubles each.

The Battle of Borodino did not lead to an immediate turning point in the course of the war, but it radically changed the course of the war. To successfully complete it, it took time to make up for losses and prepare a reserve. Only about 1.5 months passed when the Russian army, led by Kutuzov, was able to begin expelling enemy forces from Russia.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Background

Since the beginning of the invasion of the French army into the territory of the Russian Empire in June of the year, Russian troops have been constantly retreating. The rapid advance and overwhelming numerical superiority of the French made it impossible for the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, General Barclay de Tolly, to prepare troops for battle. The prolonged retreat caused public discontent, so Alexander I removed Barclay de Tolly and appointed General of the Infantry Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. However, he also had to retreat in order to gain time to gather all his forces.

On August 22 (Old Style), the Russian army, retreating from Smolensk, settled down near the village of Borodino, 124 km from Moscow, where Kutuzov decided to give a general battle; it was impossible to postpone it further, since Emperor Alexander demanded that Kutuzov stop Napoleon’s advance towards Moscow. On August 24 (September 5), the Battle of Shevardinsky Redoubt took place, which delayed the French troops and enabled the Russians to build fortifications in the main positions.

Alignment of forces at the beginning of the battle

Number

The total number of the Russian army is determined by memoirists and historians in a wide range of 110-150 thousand people:

The discrepancies are mainly related to the militia; the number of participants in the battle is not precisely known. The militia were untrained, most armed only with pikes. They mainly performed auxiliary functions, such as building fortifications and carrying the wounded from the battlefield. The discrepancy in the number of regular troops is caused by the fact that the problem has not been resolved whether all the recruits brought by Miloradovich and Pavlishchev (about 10 thousand) were included in the regiments before the battle.

The size of the French army is estimated more definitely: 130-150 thousand people and 587 guns:

However, taking into account the militias in the Russian army implies adding to the regular French army numerous “non-combatants” who were present in the French camp and whose combat effectiveness corresponded to the Russian militias. In this case, the size of the French army will also increase by 15-20 thousand (up to 150 thousand) people. Like Russian militias, French non-combatants performed auxiliary functions - they carried out the wounded, carried water, etc.

It is important for military history to distinguish between the total size of an army on the battlefield and the troops that were committed to battle. However, in terms of the balance of forces that took direct part in the battle of August 26, the French army also had a numerical superiority. According to the encyclopedia “Patriotic War of 1812”, at the end of the battle Napoleon had 18 thousand in reserve, and Kutuzov had 8-9 thousand regular troops (in particular the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky guards regiments), that is, the difference in reserves was 9-10 thousand people against a two to three times greater difference in the number of regular troops of the armies at the beginning of the battle. At the same time, Kutuzov said that the Russians brought into battle “every last reserve, even the guard by evening,” “all reserves are already in action.” However, it should be borne in mind that Kutuzov asserted this with the aim of justifying the retreat. Meanwhile, it is reliably known that a number of Russian units (for example, the 4th, 30th, 48th Jaeger Regiments) did not take direct part in the battle, but only suffered losses from enemy artillery fire.

If we evaluate the qualitative composition of the two armies, we can turn to the opinion of the Marquis of Chambray, a participant in the events, who noted that the French army had superiority, since its infantry consisted mainly of experienced soldiers, while the Russians had many recruits. In addition, the French had a significant superiority in heavy cavalry.

Starting position

The initial position chosen by Kutuzov looked like a straight line running from the Shevardinsky redoubt on the left flank through a large battery, later called the Raevsky battery, the village of Borodino in the center to the village of Maslovo on the right flank. Leaving the Shevardinsky redoubt, the 2nd Army bent its left flank beyond the river. Kamenka and the battle formation of the army took the form of an obtuse angle. The two flanks of the Russian position occupied 4 km each, but were not equivalent. The right flank was formed by Barclay de Tolly's 1st Army, consisting of 3 infantry. and 3 cavalry. corps and reserves (76 thousand people, 480 guns), the front of his position was covered by the Kolocha River. The left flank was formed by Bagration's smaller 2nd Army (34 thousand people, 156 guns). In addition, the left flank did not have strong natural obstacles in front of the front like the right. After the loss of the Shevardinsky redoubt on August 24 (September 5), the position of the left flank became even more vulnerable and relied only on three unfinished flushes.

However, on the eve of the battle, the 3rd Inf. Tuchkov's corps of the 1st was withdrawn from an ambush behind the left flank by order of Chief of Staff Bennigsen without the knowledge of Kutuzov. Bennigsen's actions are justified by his intention to follow the formal battle plan.

Around the same time, Junot's 8th French (Westphalian) Corps made its way through the Utitsky forest to the rear of the flushes. The situation was saved by the 1st cavalry battery, which at that time was heading to the flash area. Its commander, Captain Zakharov, seeing a threat to the flashes from the rear, hastily deployed his guns and opened fire on the enemy, who was building up to attack. 4 infantry arrived in time. The regiment of Baggovut's 2nd corps pushed Junot's corps into the Utitsky forest, inflicting significant losses on it. Russian historians claim that during the second offensive, Junot's corps was defeated in a bayonet counterattack, but Westphalian and French sources completely refute this. According to the recollections of direct participants, the 8th Corps participated in the battle until the evening.

According to Kutuzov's plan, Tuchkov's corps was supposed to suddenly attack the flank and rear of the enemy, who was fighting for Bagration's flushes, from an ambush. However, early in the morning, Chief of Staff L.L. Bennigsen advanced Tuchkov’s detachment from an ambush.

Around 9 am, in the midst of the battle for Bagration's flushes, the French launched the first attack on the battery with the forces of the 4th Corps of Eugene Beauharnais, as well as the divisions of Morand and Gerard from the 1st Corps of Marshal Davout. By influencing the center of the Russian army, Napoleon hoped to complicate the transfer of troops from the right wing of the Russian army to Bagration's flushes and thereby ensure his main forces a quick defeat of the left wing of the Russian army. By the time of the attack, the entire second line of Raevsky’s troops, by order of Bagration, had been withdrawn to protect the flushes. Despite this, the attack was repulsed by artillery fire.

Almost immediately, Beauharnais re-attacked the mound. Kutuzov at that moment brought into battle for the Raevsky battery the entire horse artillery reserve in the amount of 60 guns and part of the light artillery of the 1st Army. However, despite the dense artillery fire, the French of the 30th regiment of General Bonamy managed to break into the redoubt.

At this moment, the chief of staff of the 1st Army, A.P. Ermolov, and the chief of artillery, A.I. Kutaisov, were near the Kurgan Heights, following Kutuzov’s orders to the left flank. Having led the battalion of the Ufa Regiment and joining it with the 18th Jaeger Regiment, Ermolov and A.I. Kutaisov attacked with bayonets directly at the redoubt. At the same time, the regiments of Paskevich and Vasilchikov attacked from the flanks. The redoubt was recaptured and Brigadier General Bonamy was captured. Of the entire French regiment under the command of Bonamy (4,100 people), only about 300 soldiers remained in the ranks. Artillery Major General Kutaisov died in the battle for the battery.

Despite the steepness of the sunrise, I ordered the Jaeger regiments and the 3rd battalion of the Ufa Regiment to attack with bayonets, the favorite weapon of the Russian soldier. The fierce and terrible battle did not last more than half an hour: desperate resistance was met, the high ground was taken away, the guns were returned. Brigadier General Bonamy, wounded by bayonets, was spared [captured], and there were no prisoners. The damage from our side is very great and is far from commensurate with the number of attacking battalions.

Chief of Staff of the 1st Army A.P. Ermolov

Kutuzov, noticing the complete exhaustion of Raevsky’s corps, withdrew his troops to the second line. Barclay de Tolly sends the 24th infantry to the battery to defend the battery. Likhachev's division.

After the fall of Bagration's flushes, Napoleon abandoned the development of an offensive against the left wing of the Russian army. The initial plan to break through the defenses on this wing in order to reach the rear of the main forces of the Russian army became meaningless, since a significant part of these troops fell out of action in the battles for the flushes themselves, while the defense on the left wing, despite the loss of the flushes, remained undefeated . Noticing that the situation in the center of the Russian troops had worsened, Napoleon decided to redirect his forces to the Raevsky battery. However, the next attack was delayed for two hours, since at that time Russian cavalry and Cossacks appeared in the rear of the French.

Taking advantage of the respite, Kutuzov moved the 4th infantry from the right flank to the center. Corps of Lieutenant General Osterman-Tolstoy and 2nd Cav. Corps of Major General Korf. Napoleon ordered increased fire on the mass of infantry of the 4th Corps. According to eyewitnesses, the Russians moved like machines, closing ranks as they moved. The path of the corps could be traced along the trail of the bodies of the dead.

General Miloradovich, commander of the center of Russian troops, ordered Adjutant Bibikov to find Evgeniy of Württemberg and tell him to go to Miloradovich. Bibikov found Yevgeny, but because of the roar of the cannonade, no words could be heard, and the adjutant waved his hand, indicating the location of Miloradovich. At that moment, a flying cannonball tore off his hand. Bibikov, falling from his horse, again pointed in the direction with his other hand.

According to the memoirs of the commander of the 4th Infantry Division,
General Eugene of Württemberg

Osterman-Tolstoy's troops joined the left flank to the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, located south of the battery. Behind them were the cavalrymen of the 2nd Corps and the approaching Cavalry and Horse Guard regiments.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the French opened crossfire from the front and flashes of 150 guns at Raevsky's battery and began an attack. 34 cavalry regiments were concentrated to attack against the 24th Division. The 2nd Cavalry was the first to attack. corps under the command of General Auguste Caulaincourt (the corps commander, General Montbrun, had been killed by this time). Caulaincourt broke through the hellish fire, went around the Kurgan Heights on the left and rushed to Raevsky’s battery. Met from the front, flanks and rear by persistent fire from the defenders, the cuirassiers were driven back with huge losses (Raevsky’s battery received the nickname “the grave of the French cavalry” from the French for these losses). Caulaincourt, like many of his comrades, found death on the slopes of the mound.

Meanwhile, Beauharnais's troops, taking advantage of Caulaincourt's attack, which constrained the actions of the 24th division, broke into the battery from the front and flank. A bloody battle took place at the battery. The wounded General Likhachev was captured. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Raevsky's battery fell.

Having received news of the fall of Raevsky's battery, at 17 o'clock Napoleon moved to the center of the Russian army and came to the conclusion that its center, despite the retreat and contrary to the assurances of his retinue, had not been shaken. After this, he refused requests to bring the guard into the battle. The French offensive on the center of the Russian army stopped.

End of the battle

After the French troops occupied the battery, the battle began to subside. On the left flank, Poniatovsky carried out ineffective attacks against Dokhturov's 2nd Army. In the center and on the right flank, matters were limited to artillery fire until 7 pm.

At 12 o'clock at night, Kutuzov's order arrived, canceling preparations for the battle scheduled for the next day. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army decided to withdraw the army beyond Mozhaisk in order to make up for human losses and better prepare for new battles. The organized withdrawal of Kutuzov is evidenced by the French General Armand Caulaincourt (brother of the deceased General Auguste Caulaincourt), who was at the Battle of Napoleon and therefore well informed.

The Emperor repeated many times that he could not understand how the redoubts and positions which had been captured with such courage and which we had so stubbornly defended gave us only a small number of prisoners. He asked many times the officers who arrived with reports where the prisoners who were supposed to be taken were. He even sent to the appropriate points to make sure that no other prisoners had been taken. These successes without prisoners, without trophies did not satisfy him...
The enemy carried off the vast majority of their wounded, and we only got those prisoners that I already mentioned, 12 guns of the redoubt ... and three or four others taken in the first attacks.

Chronology of the battle

Chronology of the battle. The most significant battles

Designations: † - death or mortal wound, / - captivity, % - wound

There is also an alternative point of view on the chronology of the Battle of Borodino. See, for example,.

Result of the battle

Colorized engraving of Sharon. 1st quarter of the 19th century

Russian casualty estimates

The number of losses of the Russian army has been repeatedly revised by historians. Different sources give different numbers:

According to the surviving reports from the RGVIA archive, the Russian army lost 39,300 people killed, wounded and missing (21,766 in the 1st Army, 17,445 in the 2nd Army), but taking into account the fact that the data in the reports for various reasons is incomplete (do not include losses of the militia and Cossacks), historians increase this number to 45 thousand people.

French casualty estimates

Most of the documentation of the Grand Army was lost during the retreat, so estimating French losses is extremely difficult. The losses of officers and generals have been established, which significantly exceed those in the Russian army (see below). Due to the fact that the Russian troops were no more saturated with officers than the French, these data are not fundamentally consistent with assumptions about lower overall French losses, but indicate the opposite. The question of the total losses of the French army remains open.

The most common figure in French historiography for the losses of the Napoleonic army of 30 thousand is based on the calculations of the French officer Denier, who served as an inspector at Napoleon’s General Staff, who determined the total French losses during the three days of the battle of Borodino at 49 generals and 28,000 lower ranks, of which 6,550 killed and 21,450 wounded. These figures were classified by order of Marshal Berthier due to a discrepancy with the data in Napoleon's bulletin about losses of 8-10 thousand and published for the first time in the city. The figure of 30 thousand given in the literature was obtained by rounding Denier's data.

But later studies showed that Denier's data were greatly underestimated. Thus, Denier gives the number of 269 killed officers of the Grand Army. However, in 1899, the French historian Martinien, based on surviving documents, established that at least 460 officers, known by name, were killed. Subsequent studies increased this number to 480. Even French historians admit that “since the information given in the statement about the generals and colonels who were out of action at Borodino is inaccurate and underestimated, it can be assumed that the rest of Denier’s figures are based on incomplete data.” . If we assume that the total losses of the French army are underestimated by Denier in the same proportion as the losses of officers, then a simple calculation based on incomplete data from Marignen gives an approximate estimate of 28,086x460/269 = 48,003 (48 thousand people). For the number 480, the corresponding result is 50,116. This figure concerns the losses of regular troops only and should be correlated with the losses of regular Russian units (approx. 39,000 people).

The French historian, retired general Segur estimated the French losses at Borodino at 40 thousand soldiers and officers. The writer Horace Vernet called the number of French losses “up to 50 thousand” and believed that Napoleon failed to win the Battle of Borodino. This estimate of French losses is one of the highest given by French historians, although based on data from the Russian side.

In Russian literature, the number of French casualties was often given as 58,478. This number is based on false information from the defector Alexander Schmidt, who allegedly served in Berthier's office. Subsequently, this figure was picked up by patriotic researchers and indicated on the Main Monument. However, the proof of the falsity of the data provided by Schmidt does not cancel the historical discussion about French losses in the region of 60 thousand people, based on other sources.

One of the sources that can, in the absence of documentation from the French army, shed light on the losses of the French, is data on the total number of those buried on the Borodino field. The burial and burning were carried out by the Russians. According to Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, a total of 58,521 bodies of those killed were buried and burned. Russian historians and, in particular, employees of the museum-reserve on the Borodino field estimate the number of people buried on the field at 48-50 thousand people. According to A. Sukhanov’s data on the Borodino field and in the surrounding villages, without including French burials, 49,887 dead were buried in the Kolotsky Monastery. Based on the losses killed in the Russian army (maximum estimate - 15 thousand) and adding to them the Russian wounded who subsequently died on the field (there were no more than 8 thousand, since out of 30 thousand wounded, 22 thousand were taken to Moscow) , the number of French people buried on the battlefield alone is estimated at 27 thousand people. In the Kolotsky monastery, where the main military hospital of the French army was located, according to the testimony of the captain of the 30th linear regiment, Ch. Francois, 3/4 of the wounded died in the 10 days following the battle - an indefinite number measured in thousands. This result returns to the estimate of French losses of 20 thousand killed and 40 thousand wounded, indicated on the monument. This assessment is consistent with the conclusions of modern French historians about the severe underestimation of losses of 30,000 people, and is confirmed by the very course of the battle, in which the French troops, which during the attacks outnumbered the Russian troops by 2-3 times, due to some objective reasons, were not able to develop their success . Among European historians, the figure of losses of 60 thousand is not widespread.

The losses of the officers of the parties amounted to: Russians - 211 killed and approx. 1180 wounded; French - 480 killed and 1,448 wounded.

The losses of the generals of the parties in killed and wounded were: Russian - 23 generals; French - 49 generals.

Grand total

After the 1st day of the battle, the Russian army left the battlefield and no longer interfered with Napoleon's advance on Moscow. The Russian army failed to force Napoleon's army to abandon its intentions (to occupy Moscow).

After dark, the French army was in the same positions in which it was before the start of the battle, and Kutuzov, due to large losses and small numbers of reserves, given that reinforcements had already approached Napoleon - fresh divisions of Pinault and Delaborde (about 11 thousand people) , decided to continue the retreat, thus opening the way to Moscow, but preserving the army and the opportunity to continue the fight. Kutuzov’s decision was also influenced by the fact that the size of Napoleon’s army before the start of the battle was estimated at 160-180 thousand people (Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky).

Napoleon, who tried to defeat the Russian army in one battle, was able to achieve partial displacement of Russian troops from their positions with comparable losses. At the same time, he was sure that it was impossible to achieve more in the battle, since Napoleon did not consider the refusal to bring the guard into battle to be wrong. " The attack by the guard might not have had any consequences. The enemy still showed quite firmness"- Napoleon noted much later. In conversations with private individuals, Napoleon clearly assessed both his capabilities in the Battle of Borodino and the danger of a Russian counterattack on the exhausted French army. After the fight for flushes, he no longer hoped to defeat the Russian army. Military historian General Jomini quotes him as saying: “ As soon as we captured the position of the left flank, I was already sure that the enemy would retreat during the night. Why was it voluntarily exposed to the dangerous consequences of the new Poltava?».

Napoleon's official point of view was expressed in his memoirs. In 1816 he dictated on St. Helena:

The Battle of Moscow is my greatest battle: it is a clash of giants. The Russians had 170 thousand people under arms; they had all the advantages: numerical superiority in infantry, cavalry, artillery, excellent position. They were defeated! Undaunted heroes, Ney, Murat, Poniatovsky - that’s who owned the glory of this battle. How many great, how many beautiful historical deeds will be noted in it! She will tell how these brave cuirassiers captured the redoubts, cutting down the gunners on their guns; she will tell about the heroic self-sacrifice of Montbrun and Caulaincourt, who met death at the height of their glory; it will tell how our gunners, exposed on a level field, fired against more numerous and well-fortified batteries, and about these fearless infantrymen who, at the most critical moment, when the general who commanded them wanted to encourage them, shouted to him: “Calm, all your soldiers decided to win today, and they will win!”

A year later, in 1817, Napoleon decided to give a new version of the Battle of Borodino:

With an army of 80,000, I rushed at the Russians, who were 250,000 strong, armed to the teeth and defeated them...

Kutuzov also considered this battle his victory. In his report to Alexander I, he wrote:

The battle on the 26th was the bloodiest of all those known in modern times. We completely won the battlefield, and the enemy then retreated to the position in which he came to attack us.

Alexander I declared the Battle of Borodino as a victory. Prince Kutuzov was promoted to field marshal with an award of 100 thousand rubles. All lower ranks who were in the battle were granted five rubles each.

The Battle of Borodino is one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century. According to the most conservative estimates of total losses, 2,500 people died on the field every hour. Some divisions lost up to 80% of their strength. The French fired 60 thousand cannon shots and almost one and a half million rifle shots. It is no coincidence that Napoleon called the battle of Borodino his greatest battle, although its results were more than modest for a great commander accustomed to victories.

The Russian army retreated, but retained its combat effectiveness and soon expelled Napoleon from Russia.

Notes

1. ; The quotation presented by Mikhnevich was compiled by him from a free translation of Napoleon's oral statements. The primary sources do not convey Napoleon’s similar phrase in exactly this form, but the review as edited by Mikhnevich is widely cited in modern literature.
2. Extract from the notes of General Pele on the Russian War of 1812, “Readings of the Imperial Society for the History of Antiquities”, 1872, I, p. 1-121
3. Some of the bloodiest one-day battles in history (“The Economist” Nov 11th 2008). Retrieved April 30, 2009.
4. M. Bogdanovich, History of the Patriotic War of 1812 according to reliable sources, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1859, p. 162.
   Bogdanovich's data is repeated in ESBE.
5. Tarle, “Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia”, OGIZ, 1943, p. 162
6. Russian united armies at Borodino August 24-26 (September 5-7) 1812 Alexey Vasiliev, Andrey Eliseev
7. Tarle, “Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia”, OGIZ, 1943, p. 172
8. Zemtsov V.N. Battle of the Moscow River. - M.: 2001.
9. http://www.auditorium.ru/books/2556/gl4.pdf Troitsky N. A. 1812. The Great Year of Russia. M., 1989.
10. Chambray G. Histoire de I'expedition de Russie.P., 1838
11. Clausewitz, Campaign in Russia 1812 “... on the flank where it was necessary to expect an enemy attack. This, undoubtedly, was the left flank; One of the advantages of the Russian position was that this could be foreseen with complete confidence.”
12. Borodino, Tarle E.V.
13. Tarle, “Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia”, OGIZ, 1943, p. 167
14. http://www.auditorium.ru/books/2556/gl4.pdf Troitsky N. A. 1812. THE GREAT YEAR OF RUSSIA
15. Caulaincourt, “Napoleon’s Campaign in Russia”, chapter 3. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
16. Inscription on the Main Monument. 2nd side: “1838 - Grateful fatherland who laid their bellies on the field of honor - Russians: Generals Killed - 3 Wounded - 12 Warriors Killed - 15,000 Wounded - 30,000"
17. BATTLE AT KOLOTSK MONASTERY, SHEVARDIN AND BORODINO AUGUST 24 AND 26, 1812 (V). Retrieved April 30, 2009.
18. The historian Tarle in “Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia” repeats these figures from historians A. I. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky and M. I. Bogdanovich)
19. Mikheev S.P. History of the Russian Army. Vol. 3: The era of wars with Napoleon I. - M.: edition of S. Mikheev and A. Kazachkov, 1911. - P. 60
20. About the losses of the Russian army in the battle of Borodino on August 24-26, 1812. article by S. V. Lvov
21. P. Denniee. Itineraire de l'Empereur Napoleon. Paris, 1842
22. Martinien A. Tableaux par corps et par batailles des officiers tues et blesses pendant les guerres de l’Empire (1805-1815). P., 1899;
23. Henri Lashuk. "Napoleon: campaigns and battles 1796-1815"
24. Horace Vernet, “The History of Napoleon,” 1839. In describing the battle of Borodino, Vernet used the work of Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, as written in the corresponding chapter.

“The RUSSIANS HAVE THE GLORY OF BEING UNDEFEATED”

After the battle of Smolensk, the retreat of the Russian army continued. This caused open discontent in the country. Under pressure from public opinion, Alexander I appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army. Kutuzov’s task was not only to stop Napoleon’s further advance, but also to expel him from Russian borders. He also adhered to retreat tactics, but the army and the whole country expected a decisive battle from him. Therefore, he gave the order to look for a position for a general battle, which was found near the village. Borodino, 124 kilometers from Moscow.

The Russian army approached the village of Borodino on August 22, where, at the suggestion of Colonel K.F. Tolya, a flat position with a length of up to 8 km was chosen. On the left flank, the Borodino field was covered by the impenetrable Utitsky forest, and on the right, which ran along the bank of the river. Kolochi, Maslovsky flashes were erected - arrow-shaped earthen fortifications. In the center of the position, fortifications were also built, which received different names: Central, Kurgan Heights, or Raevsky’s battery. Semenov's (Bagration's) flushes were erected on the left flank. Ahead of the entire position, on the left flank, near the village of Shevardino, a redoubt also began to be built, which was supposed to play the role of a forward fortification. However, the approaching army of Napoleon, after a fierce battle on August 24, managed to take possession of it.

Disposition of Russian troops. The right flank was occupied by the battle formations of the 1st Western Army of General M.B. Barclay de Tolly, on the left flank there were units of the 2nd Western Army under the command of P.I. Bagration, and the Old Smolensk Road near the village of Utitsa was covered by the 3rd Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General N.A. Tuchkova. Russian troops occupied a defensive position and were deployed in the shape of the letter "G". This situation was explained by the fact that the Russian command sought to control the Old and New Smolensk roads leading to Moscow, especially since there was a serious fear of the enemy’s outflanking movement from the right. That is why a significant part of the corps of the 1st Army was in this direction. Napoleon decided to deliver his main blow to the left flank of the Russian army, for which on the night of August 26 (September 7), 1812, he transferred the main forces across the river. I pound, leaving only a few cavalry and infantry units to cover my own left flank.

The battle begins. The battle began at five o'clock in the morning with an attack by units of the corps of the Viceroy of Italy E. Beauharnais on the position of the Life Guards Jaeger Regiment near the village. Borodin. The French took possession of this point, but this was their diversionary maneuver. Napoleon launched his main blow against Bagration's army. Marshal Corps L.N. Davout, M. Ney, I. Murat and General A. Junot were attacked several times by Semenov flushes. Units of the 2nd Army fought heroically against an enemy superior in numbers. The French repeatedly rushed into flushes, but each time they abandoned them after a counterattack. Only by nine o'clock did Napoleon's armies finally capture the fortifications of the Russian left flank, and Bagration, who at that time tried to organize another counterattack, was mortally wounded. “The soul seemed to fly away from the entire left flank after the death of this man,” witnesses tell us. Furious rage and a thirst for revenge took possession of those soldiers who were directly in his environment. When the general was already being carried away, cuirassier Adrianov, who served him during the battle (giving him a telescope, etc.), ran up to the stretcher and said: “Your Excellency, they are taking you to treatment, you no longer need me!” Then, eyewitnesses report, “Adrianov, in sight of thousands, took off like an arrow, instantly crashed into the ranks of the enemy and, having hit many, fell dead.”

The fight for Raevsky's battery. After the capture of the flushes, the main struggle unfolded for the center of the Russian position - the Raevsky battery, which at 9 and 11 a.m. was subjected to two strong enemy attacks. During the second attack, E. Beauharnais' troops managed to capture the heights, but soon the French were driven out of there as a result of a successful counterattack by several Russian battalions led by Major General A.P. Ermolov.

At noon, Kutuzov sent the Cossacks cavalry general M.I. Platov and the cavalry corps of Adjutant General F.P. Uvarov to the rear of Napoleon's left flank. The Russian cavalry raid made it possible to divert Napoleon's attention and delayed a new French assault on the weakened Russian center for several hours. Taking advantage of the respite, Barclay de Tolly regrouped his forces and sent fresh troops to the front line. Only at two o'clock in the afternoon did Napoleonic units make a third attempt to capture Raevsky's battery. The actions of Napoleonic infantry and cavalry led to success, and soon the French finally captured this fortification. The wounded Major General P.G., who led the defense, was captured by them. Likhachev. The Russian troops retreated, but the enemy was unable to break through the new front of their defense, despite all the efforts of two cavalry corps.

Results of the battle. The French were able to achieve tactical successes in all main directions - the Russian armies were forced to leave their original positions and retreat about 1 km. But Napoleonic units failed to break through the defenses of the Russian troops. The thinned Russian regiments stood to the death, ready to repel new attacks. Napoleon, despite the urgent requests of his marshals, did not dare to throw in his last reserve - the twenty thousandth Old Guard - for the final blow. Intense artillery fire continued until the evening, and then the French units were withdrawn to their original lines. It was not possible to defeat the Russian army. This is what the domestic historian E.V. wrote. Tarle: “The feeling of victory was absolutely not felt by anyone. The marshals were talking among themselves and were unhappy. Murat said that he did not recognize the emperor all day, Ney said that the emperor had forgotten his craft. On both sides, artillery thundered until the evening and bloodshed continued, but the Russians did not think not only of fleeing, but also of retreating. It was already getting very dark. A light rain began to fall. “What are the Russians?” - asked Napoleon. - “They are standing still, Your Majesty.” “Increase the fire, it means they still want it,” the emperor ordered. - Give them more!

Gloomy, not talking to anyone, accompanied by his retinue and generals who did not dare to interrupt his silence, Napoleon drove around the battlefield in the evening, looking with inflamed eyes at the endless piles of corpses. The emperor did not yet know in the evening that the Russians had lost not 30 thousand, but about 58 thousand people out of their 112 thousand; He also did not know that he himself had lost more than 50 thousand of the 130 thousand that he led to the Borodino field. But that he had killed and seriously wounded 47 (not 43, as they sometimes write, but 47) of his best generals, he learned this in the evening. French and Russian corpses covered the ground so thickly that the imperial horse had to look for a place to put its hoof between the mountains of bodies of people and horses. The groans and cries of the wounded came from all over the field. The Russian wounded amazed the retinue: “They did not emit a single groan,” writes one of the retinue, Count Segur, “perhaps, away from their own, they counted less on mercy. But it is true that they seemed more steadfast in enduring pain than the French.”

The literature contains the most contradictory facts about the losses of the parties; the question of the winner is still controversial. In this regard, it should be noted that none of the opponents solved the tasks set for themselves: Napoleon failed to defeat the Russian army, Kutuzov failed to defend Moscow. However, the enormous efforts made by the French army were ultimately fruitless. Borodino brought Napoleon bitter disappointment - the outcome of this battle was in no way reminiscent of Austerlitz, Jena, or Friedland. The bloodless French army was unable to pursue the enemy. The Russian army, fighting on its territory, was able to restore the size of its ranks in a short time. Therefore, in assessing this battle, Napoleon himself was most accurate, saying: “Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I fought near Moscow. The French showed themselves worthy of victory. And the Russians have gained the glory of being undefeated.”

RESCRIPT OF ALEXANDER I

“Mikhail Illarionovich! The current state of military circumstances of our active armies, although it was preceded by initial successes, the consequences of these do not reveal to me the rapid activity with which it would be necessary to act to defeat the enemy.

Considering these consequences and extracting the true reasons for this, I find it necessary to appoint one general commander-in-chief over all active armies, whose election, in addition to military talents, would be based on seniority itself.

Your well-known merits, love for the fatherland and repeated experiences of excellent feats acquire you a true right to this power of attorney of mine.

Choosing you for this important task, I ask Almighty God to bless your deeds for the glory of Russian weapons and may the happy hopes that the fatherland places on you be justified.”

KUTUZOV'S REPORT

“The battle of the 26th was the bloodiest of all those known in modern times. We completely won the battlefield, and the enemy then retreated to the position where he came to attack us; but an extraordinary loss on our part, especially due to the fact that the most necessary generals were wounded, forced me to retreat along the Moscow road. Today I am in the village of Nara and must retreat further to meet the troops coming to me from Moscow for reinforcements. The prisoners say that the enemy loss is very great and that the general opinion in the French army is that they lost 40,000 people wounded and killed. In addition to Divisional General Bonami, who was captured, there were others killed. By the way, Davoust is wounded. Rearguard action occurs daily. Now, I learned that the corps of the Viceroy of Italy is located near Ruza, and for this purpose the detachment of the Adjutant General Wintzingerode went to Zvenigorod in order to close Moscow along that road.”

FROM CAULAINCUR'S MEMOIRS

“Never before have we lost so many generals and officers in one battle... There were few prisoners. The Russians showed great courage; the fortifications and territory which they were forced to cede to us were evacuated in order. Their ranks were not disorganized... they faced death bravely and only slowly succumbed to our brave attacks. There has never been a case where enemy positions were subjected to such furious and systematic attacks and that they were defended with such tenacity. The Emperor repeated many times that he could not understand how the redoubts and positions that were captured with such courage and which we defended so tenaciously gave us only a small number of prisoners... These successes without prisoners, without trophies did not satisfy him... »

FROM THE REPORT OF GENERAL RAEVSKY

“The enemy, having arranged his entire army in our eyes, so to speak, in one column, walked straight to our front; Having approached it, strong columns separated from its left flank, went straight to the redoubt and, despite the strong grapeshot fire of my guns, climbed over the parapet without firing their heads. At the same time, from my right flank, Major General Paskevich with his regiments attacked with bayonets into the left flank of the enemy, located behind the redoubt. Major General Vasilchikov did the same thing to their right flank, and Major General Ermolov, taking a battalion of rangers from the regiments brought by Colonel Vuich, struck with bayonets directly at the redoubt, where, having destroyed everyone in it, he took the general leading the columns prisoner . Major Generals Vasilchikov and Paskevich overturned the enemy columns in the blink of an eye and drove them into the bushes so hard that hardly any of them escaped. More than the action of my corps, it remains for me to describe in a nutshell that after the destruction of the enemy, returning again to their places, they held out in them until against repeated attacks of the enemy, until the killed and wounded were reduced to complete insignificance and my redoubt was already occupied by the General. -Major Likhachev. Your Excellency himself knows that Major General Vasilchikov gathered the scattered remnants of the 12th and 27th divisions and, with the Lithuanian Guards Regiment, held until the evening an important height, located on the left limb of our entire line ... "

GOVERNMENT NOTICE ABOUT LEAVING MOSCOW

“With extreme and crushing heart of every son of the Fatherland, this sadness announces that the enemy entered Moscow on September 3rd. But let the Russian people not lose heart. On the contrary, let each and every one swear to be inflamed with a new spirit of courage, firmness and undoubted hope that all the evil and harm inflicted on us by our enemies will ultimately turn on their head. The enemy occupied Moscow not because he overcame our forces or weakened them. The commander-in-chief, in consultation with the leading generals, decided that it would be useful and necessary to give in for the time of necessity, in order to use the most reliable and best methods to turn the short-term triumph of the enemy into his inevitable destruction. No matter how painful it is for every Russian to hear that the capital city of Moscow contains within itself the enemies of its fatherland; but it contains them empty, naked of all treasures and inhabitants. The proud conqueror hoped, having entered it, to become the ruler of the entire Russian kingdom and prescribe to it such peace as he saw fit; but he will be deceived in his hope and will not find in this capital not only ways to dominate, but also ways to exist. Our forces gathered and now increasingly accumulating around Moscow will not cease to block all his paths and the detachments sent from him for food were exterminated daily, until he sees that his hope of defeating the minds of the capture of Moscow was in vain and that, willy-nilly, he will have to open a path for himself from her by force of arms..."