History and us. History and we are Heroes of bygone times

Exploits and miracles of the Patriotic War of 1812

In the shadow of the terrible war - the Great Patriotic War, when its witnesses are still alive and it appears bright and visible, the war of 1812 is drawn to us mainly in a heroic halo, but the tonality once set was still more in our memory: “Yes, there were people in our time” . But that feat of the Russian people is no less great. There are written memories of him. Let us open them, and from two hundred years ago we will hear the forgotten voices of ordinary people with their joys, worries, sins and passions.

In that national misfortune, destinies were broken, entire families were cut short and new ones were born, people also experienced, suffered, loved and hated, lost and gained some shelter, and some - the fatherland.

In the invasion of "twelve languages" on Russia in 1812, a pattern of human life was quietly and imperceptibly woven on the canvas, commonly called by contemporaries - life, but descendants call it history! This pattern is sometimes bizarre. And at first glance it looks like a game of chance. But that's just how it seems. In events far from each other, one can often see a more or less obvious connection, and then the events appear in a slightly different light.

We will tell about one of the episodes of the war, directly related to our region. Let's open the annals of the Zvenigorod Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, plunge into the events of the memorable year 1812. After the battle of Borodino, both the Russians and the French advanced along the old Smolensk road to Moskva. On August 28, the commander of the 4th infantry corps of Napoleon's Great Army, Prince Eugene Beauharnais, received an order from Bonaparte to leave Mozhaisk for Zvenigorod, then move along the Zvenigorod road to Moscow and cut off the rearguard of the Russian army.

Eugene, or Eugene Beauharnais, is the Italian viceroy, son of Josephine and stepson of Napoleon. His name is carved on the south side of the Arc de Triomphe in the Place des Stars in Paris.

Kutuzov, having learned about this maneuver of the French emperor, sent a detachment of Major General Vintsengerode to Zvenigorod. The two-thousand-strong Russian detachment in every possible way hampered the movement of the French corps, which outnumbered them ten times, but the forces were too unequal. In the early morning of August 31, the French approached the monastery of St. Sava Storozhevsky, stopping for a halt at its southern slope. There was a small battle between the Russians and the French. The Cossacks showed miracles of courage, took prisoners without losing a single person. But they retreated. From the report of Winzengerode to Emperor Alexander I: "My small detachment ... did everything possible to resist the large corps, but naturally was forced to yield to superiority." And yet, at the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, the Beauharnais corps was stopped for six hours. Do not delay the French for this time, who knows where Prince Eugene would have spent the night. And so ... On the night of August 31 to September 1, the French corps partly remained in quiet Zvenigorod, the rest were housed in the monastery. Viceroy Beauharnais stayed in one of the cells of the monastery. Fearing an attack by the Cossacks, the French posted sentries around the monastery for the night.

In the memoirs of Napoleonic officers, the monastery is depicted in different ways. Some call it a beautiful castle, others see the monastery as old, almost ruined. It should be noted that even before the Battle of Borodino, the most valuable monastic things and documents were sent in a wagon train to Moscow; Savvin left the monastery and the bulk of the monks. However, not all.

The French were about to plant the monastery gates when a monk opened them for them. He, instead of taking the officers to the rector, invited them to go to the cell. Lieutenant of the Engineer Troops Eugene Lebom recalled: “I noticed one pious hermit who was about to take refuge in one almost underground cell. This monk, feeling my good attitude towards him, admitted that he spoke French... “The French came to the territory of Russia,” this venerable monk told me, “they devastated our homeland... But, ignoring our morals and our character They believe that we will submit to slavery and that, forced to choose between our fatherland and our independence, we will soon, like others, languish in chains and renounce the national pride that constitutes the strength of the people. No, Napoleon is wrong, we are too enlightened to endure his tyranny, and not corrupt enough to prefer slavery to freedom.”

An illustrative example: the daughter of Emperor Paul I replied to the proposal to marry Bonaparte: "I'd rather go for the last Russian stoker than for this Corsican." Those who expressed themselves in French were handed over to the police station, from where the tired police escorted them through the back door. But that is an outward manifestation. Much more important is that the Russian people remained Russian.

About the further events of that night, which forever entered the annals of the monastery, 25 years after the incident, the son of Eugene Beauharnais told: “It was already about 10 o'clock in the evening. My father, tired from the long journey on horseback, went to a special room prepared for him by the monks. Here he could not remember, in a dream or in reality, but he sees that the door to his room opens and a man in long black clothes enters with quiet steps, approaches him so close that in the moonlight he could see the features of his face. He looked like an old man with a gray beard. For about a minute he stood, as if looking at the prince, and finally, in a low voice, said: “Do not lead your army to plunder the monastery and especially take away anything from the church. If you fulfill my request, then God will have mercy on you, you will return to your homeland safe and sound. Having said this, the elder quietly left the room. The next morning, Eugene Beauharnais, "entering the temple, saw a tomb and an image that struck him with the resemblance to a man who presented himself to him at night." When asked who it was, one of the monks answered that it was the image of St. Sava, the founder of the monastery, whose body has been in the tomb for the fifth hundred years. Prince Eugene reverently bowed to the relics, asked the monks for the image of Savva Storozhevsky and the blessing of the governor. In the future, he was not wounded in any of the battles, safely returning to Europe. But during the retreat from Russia, the Beauharnais corps lost thousands of people.

The appearance of a Russian saint to the invaders as a sign from above is a rare case, but not unique. Let us recall the vision of Tamerlane in Yelets. The incident in the Savvin Monastery could be considered a literary fiction, if not for one "but". Prince Beauharnais is a Catholic, and is hardly familiar with ancient Russian hagiographic literature. However, each of the readers - according to his faith.

In fairness, it should be noted that despite the Beauharnais ban on robbing the monastery, it nevertheless underwent partial ruin. However, it is not a fact that this was the work of the soldiers of the 4th corps, because after they left the monastery on the same day was occupied by the 3rd cavalry corps of General Griou. The general attributed the ruin to the 4th Corps... Whatever it was, the bed of Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich was burned, expensive chairs were stripped, rare paintings disappeared, including portraits of Peter I and Sofya Alekseevna, painted in Rome. Mirrors were smashed, beautiful wallpapers were torn off - a gift from the monastery of Queen Elizabeth Petrovna, frames, stoves, ceilings were knocked out and broken.

Then, in September-October, groups of French marauders attacked the Savvin Monastery more than once, they were attracted by the apparent monastic riches.

True, the French finders were afraid to act openly, the terrible name of Figner for them dominated these parts. Indeed, the cold-blooded and brave partisan was cruel to the conquerors. "The Savva Compound (in Okhotny Ryad) was plundered, but during the Moscow fire the image of the Monk Savva remained unharmed."

Happily emerging from the crucible of the war of 1812, shortly before his death, Prince Eugene told one of his sons - Maximilian - about his miraculous vision, gave him the image of the saint and secured a promise that if fate ever brought him to Russia, he must definitely visit Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery and bow to the saint.

In 1837, when Duke Maximilian was already 20 years old, he first came to our country, as a lieutenant of a cavalry regiment, accompanying the Bavarian King Louis. Soon Maximilian was introduced to the daughter of the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, Mary. Some time after they met, in the same 1837, the betrothal of Maximilian Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna took place. Two years later, on July 14, 1839, the Russian imperial court played a magnificent wedding - the eldest daughter of Nicholas I, Maria, married the Duke of Leuchtenberg Maximilian. On this occasion, the poet Arkady Rodzianko wrote impromptu: “Oh, wondrous game of fate! / In our days, a wonderful marriage took place / The son of a married carpenter / He married the granddaughter of a carpenter. Everything is clear with the great-great-granddaughter of the “sovereign carpenter” of Peter I. And Rodzianko calls Yevgeny Beauharnais a “married carpenter”. When the French revolutionary court sentenced his father Alexandre Beauharnais to the guillotine, Eugene was forced to study with a Parisian carpenter. Let's pay attention to the date of the wedding - July 14th. 50th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille.

Immediately after the wedding, the young people went to the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery to bow to the holy relics of St. Savva - after all, the Zvenigorod miracle worker saved the life of Eugene Beauharnais, Maximilian's father.

Maximilian and Maria Nikolaevna had seven children. One of the daughters is Evgenia Maksimilianovna, married to Oldenburgskaya, and is the future owner of the famous Ramon estate near Voronezh.

For the descendants of the Viceroy of Italy, Beauharnais, Russia has become a new homeland. This line of the Romanovs especially revered the Monk Savva. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, many Orthodox brotherhoods were organized in Russia to spread the spirit of enlightenment. On September 6, 1901, under the patronage of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the Savva Orthodox Brotherhood was solemnly opened, for the needs of which many wealthy people made donations. The princes Yusupovs and Evgenia Maksimilianovna of Oldenburg were especially zealous. At its expense, poor students of various educational institutions were allocated allowances, medicines, and excursions were organized. For the inhabitants of Zvenigorod, on the initiative of Evgenia Maksimilianovna, in 1907 they held several shows through the “magic lantern” of “foggy pictures”. Success is colossal! It must be said that the “Zvenigorod sessions” were organized after “foggy pictures” were shown for the first time in the Voronezh province on the territory of the modern Ramonsky district, mainly, of course, of a spiritual content.

Exactly 100 years after the Patriotic War and 100 years before our days, in the autumn of 1912, in Vienna, in the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Sava, Natalya Wulfert (Brasova) and the brother of Olga Romanova, the wife of the last owner of the Ramon Castle, were married - Mikhail.

Some episodes of the events that happened with Eugene Beauharnais in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery were used by the Russian monarchist writer Rafail Mikhailovich Zotov. In his novel "Two Brothers, or Moscow of 1812", there is an episode with a hermit of the Moscow monastery, who knows French and converses in it with an enemy colonel who has occupied the monastery. In the novel, as in the true Zvenigorod events, the French were not allowed to see the rector. And the French colonel is brought out by the novelist as not the worst representative, although an enemy, who argues in his own way on the conquered territory. Of course, Zotov took another episode as a basis, which happened in 1812 in the blazing Moscow left by the inhabitants, but the writer created a collective image and, according to the laws of the genre, flourished it. But in the autobiographical work of Rafail Mikhailovich “Stories about the campaigns of 1812, the ensign of the St. Petersburg militia Zotov”, the author, with his own perception of what was happening around and personal experiences, is extremely accurate. These "stories" are valuable for the Voronezh residents because the first campaigns and battles of R.M. Zotov began together with the Voronezh Infantry Regiment, which is reflected in his work.

Back in early 1811, Colonel Mikhail Fedorovich Naumov was instructed to form the Voronezh Infantry Regiment, which was supposed to strengthen our army in view of the upcoming war with Napoleon. Naumov was appointed chief of the regiment. Having quickly formed a regiment, Mikhail Fedorovich was with him in the capital at the beginning of the war, and with the outbreak of hostilities, he received the task of teaching shooting, rifle techniques and military service to the St. Petersburg militia. Young Rafail Zotov writes: “Then everything was seething with some kind of speed in actions, in words, in all deeds ... Who would now believe that 14,000 people who had just been cut off from the plow and had no idea about military service were trained were all methods of exercise in five days ... Only with the Russian people can such miracles be done. So succeeded the chief of the Voronezh regiment M.F. Naumov, and the St. Petersburg militia was considered one of the most trained and combat-ready.

There were battles for Polotsk. Zotov's team, together with the Voronezh Infantry Regiment, was supposed to go from the village of Yurevichi and cover our artillery pieces.

The season is October. “Soon we entered the forest. The mud was knee-deep; the road is terrible, barely passable. So writes Zotov. At the first shelling of the enemy, the militias, who did not sniff gunpowder, involuntarily leaned back. “Here, to the left of us, we saw the Voronezh residents quietly and orderly retreating and guessed that we had also retreated before that, but too quickly.” A psychological touch is remarkable: “I remember how at that time one glorious police officer was near me, loading his gun on the move (as he said: just in case), he was hit by a bullet right in the forehead ... and fell back, holding an unbitten cartridge in his teeth . Well? I was the first, quite recently moved to tears by the suffering of a dying horse, to laugh at this cartridge sticking out in my mouth, and all the soldiers and officers around me shared my laughter... Strange human nature! How quickly, how easily she becomes accustomed to fear and suffering.

Soon the militia united with the Voronezh regiment, “... and our arrival gave it spirit. We joined their right flank and fired with zeal. Suddenly we saw that they (the Bavarians - I.M.), having ceased fire, were coming at us with hostility ... Our front moved; the officers retreated behind the front and went around their platoons, persuading the soldiers not to be shy. This time the Bavarians were not shy, but marched on us with audacity. A few minutes later, both fronts converged, and hand-to-hand combat began ... ".

The Bavarian column was defeated. The militia and the Voronezh regiment, with the help of the Yamburg dragoons, managed to push the enemy back. Then the Voronezh people withdrew "for the shots" to the reserve, to the right, ten miles away, the battle was in full swing. After that, the Voronezh regiment and two militia squads clashed with the French horsemen at arms, took them with strong artillery fire, grapeshot, and with the help of the same dragoons drove the French back. But Rafail Zotov did not see all this anymore - he was wounded. On the approach to the city of Polotsk “The entire battlefield of October 6 lay before us, still fresh, uncleaned, littered with piles of bodies, lined gun carriages, boxes, empty batteries and dying horses. The autumn grass in the field had a trail blackened with blood in places.

Further, the Voronezh regiment fought near Chashniki and Smolyan. Because of his injury, Zotov did not participate in these cases. But in the battles mentioned, our fellow countryman, ensign of the Nevsky Infantry Regiment Sergey Yakovlevich Bogdanchikov, shed blood. Originally from the "village of Ertila on Bityug, Bobrovsky district", from the same palace, in 1812 Bogdanchikov was no longer a recruit. Behind him were battles and campaigns. Bogdanchikov's memoirs have come down to us in the form of notes by his grandson Mikhail, a hereditary honorary citizen of the city of Pavlovsk-on-Don. Mikhail Bogdanchikov compiled his memoirs for the centenary of the Patriotic War, writing down from memory his childhood impressions heard from his grandfather. Of course, there are inaccuracies in them - the grandson was already writing down his grandfather's memories of his youth already in his seventies, but these are almost the last memoirs about the Patriotic War of 1812.

These memoirs give a visual representation of how ingloriously the great army of Napoleon left Russia. And it is especially valuable that the words of Bogdanchikov are the words of a simple Russian soldier who endured the hardships of war, while his very speech is akin to folklore: “Their strength was copied there so that ours could not fit on the bridge. They set fire to the bridge, which collapsed, and they all drowned, who could not yet cross. Grandfather had to go through the Berezina over the heads of the French, and at that time a carriage drove up from that side, and Napoleon was wounded here, put in a carriage and taken away in front of grandfather ... "

Many glorious deeds of our ancestors! Some of them are well known, others less so. The son of Evgenia Maximilianovna, the great-grandson of Eugene Beauharnais, Peter of Oldenburg, ended his life as an emigrant in France. In French soil, in the Orthodox monastery of the Intercession of the Mother of God, our contemporary, the nun mother Elisabeth, found quiet shelter in the town of Busse-sein-hat. It is between Basel and Paris. She is the three times great granddaughter of Eugene Beauharnais. In the world - the Princess of Leuchtenberg.

France... And the landscape is Russian! The monastery is Orthodox, and the nun is a direct descendant of the participants in the events and episodes described here.

Igor Markin

Russia will never forget the "day of Borodin", the heroes of the war of 1812 and their exploits. Battles and wars are won not by guns, but by people. The list of heroes of the war of 1812 is truly huge. For a long time these people were for the Russians the same standard of courage, military resourcefulness and fidelity to duty, which then became the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. In addition, military experience forced some of them to draw rather unexpected conclusions of a civil nature for themselves - the careers of many brave winners of Napoleon ended in the Nerchinsk mines ... A brief biography of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 will be told below.

Suvorov hardening

The victory over the unique (and there is nothing to belittle a truly worthy enemy!) Napoleon's army would not have been possible if the Russian officers of 1812 had not received sufficient combat experience before that. Many of them were recruited under the guidance of the legendary A. V. Suvorov. So, M. I. Kutuzov was the right hand of the great commander during the legendary assault on Izmail. He, in the company of M. B. Barclay de Tolly, participated in the assault on Ochakovo and the capture of Akkerman. P. I. Bagration moved up the career ladder thanks to the personal support of Suvorov. And even D.V. Davydov, the "flying hussar", was blessed by the generalissimo for military service - having visited the Davydovs' estate, Suvorov predicted a military career for Denis, although he was small in stature and not of a heroic build.

"Barclay, winter or Russian god"

This poetic stanza quite accurately reflects the unfair attitude towards M. B. Barclay de Tolly in Russian society for a long time. His role in the war was considered approximately on a par with the role of the "Russian god", that is, it seems to be, but it seems not.

This can be explained by the influence of the then nationalists, for whom he was primarily a "German". Contemporaries condemned the commander for constant retreats, willingly and indiscriminately taking the side of the hot P. Bagration and glorifying the military genius of M. Kutuzov. At the same time, few people noticed that Kutuzov calmly continued Barclay's tactics, not only retreating, but also giving Moscow to the enemy.

Commander-in-chief of the beginning

M. B. Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) came from Hanseatic Germans, his ancestry went back to the Scottish nobility. Nevertheless, in Russia he was considered a man of dubious origin. Having started service (real!) At the age of 15, he reached the rank of colonel 20 years later. The officer had to fight with the Turks, as well as against Kosciuszko. In the last pre-war years, he served as governor of Finland, and in early 1812 he became Minister of War. In this post, he tried to implement a series of reforms designed to improve discipline in the army and improve its leadership. The measures taken played a role during the war. In 1807, he first described to the Tsar the hypothetical (at that time) “scorched earth” tactics, which he considered appropriate in the event of a war with Napoleon and which was successfully used in the war with him.

When the French crossed the border, Barclay was the commander of the First (Western) Army in Lithuania. He did not want to stick to the original (little real) plan of warfare developed by General Ful, and began a fighting retreat. This was later blamed on him - the army wanted to give battle to the enemy and did not really think about how this battle would end (it would end badly, because that was Napoleon's desire - in a general battle to immediately defeat the Russians, whom he outnumbered, equipped and experience). But the retreating Barclay "burned the ground", exhausted the enemy with numerous fights, avoiding a pitched battle. And saved the army. Then Kutuzov did the same when he took command at the end of August. That's just his reasoning about the fact that the loss of Moscow is not the loss of Russia and it is more important to save the army, the descendants considered it a sign of genius, and Barclay's similar reasoning was cowardice.

It was Barclay who, at the council in Fili, most decisively spoke out in favor of leaving the first capital, although the final decision belonged to Kutuzov.

Field Marshal with a bad temper

The biography of the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (1745-1813), is also not so unambiguous. This man had vast military experience, participated in three Russian-Turkish wars, he was highly appreciated by A. V. Suvorov. Just before the start of the Patriotic War, in 1812, he completed a successful campaign against the Turks in Moldavia. He had many well-deserved awards, including a complete set of St. George's crosses (at that time - a huge rarity, although Barclay had the same set). Among the soldiers and officers, who were determined to wage a decisive war, Kutuzov was very popular.

At the same time, he was condemned for frank servility to the monarchs and their favorites, for promiscuity in personal relationships. Kutuzov also knew sensitive defeats (in particular, he was a participant in the battle of Austerlitz in 1805, which is considered the pinnacle of the military achievements of the French emperor). Tsar Alexander I did not like Kutuzov, and in August 1812 he was appointed commander-in-chief only under pressure from the "public".

But the fact that the hero of the war of 1812, Kutuzov, from whom they expected a general battle and a massive offensive against the French, continued without hesitation Barclay's retreat tactics, saving the army, should be considered a genuine manifestation of genius. He decided to retreat even after the Battle of Borodino, which ended, strictly speaking, "in a draw."

The feat of the commander is not to rush at the enemy with a cry of "hurrah", but to organize the matter in such a way that the soldiers and lower officers do this not in vain.

Behind - Tula

After all, what, in fact, made Napoleon direct the main blow to Moscow, and not to St. Petersburg, which was both the capital and closer? Not at all some sentimental considerations in which he did not understand much. The emperor was a pragmatist - transport routes converged in the first capital, which could deliver reinforcements from the depths of Russia. And most importantly - a stone's throw from her was Tula, the main arsenal of Russia! The fall of this city could indeed be fatal.

But the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 Kutuzov did not give Tulu to the emperor. He gave Moscow away, leaving in it (according to Barclay's clever idea) nothing really valuable for the war. And while the French emperor was waiting for the “keys of the old Kremlin”, Kutuzov used the Tula potential for his needs, received reinforcements, equipped the saved army, misled the enemy about his plans with the cunning Tarutinsky maneuver ... He now had everything he needed for a successful offensive, and Napoleon had no supplies, no reinforcements ... So the Russian campaign of the brilliant Frenchman, who had already beaten a Russian field marshal with a bad character, but who could not cope with the Russians in his homeland, ended ingloriously.

Later, Napoleon said that the Russian campaign was his only, but fatal mistake. But Kutuzov did not live to see the final defeat of the Napoleonic troops. He died on a campaign and bequeathed to take his body to his homeland, and to bury his heart in the town of Holbau - on the way of the passing army ...

War party leader

Was included in the list of heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 and P. I. Bagration (1765-1812). He was among those who most zealously defended the idea of an offensive and active opposition to the enemy. A distant relative of the Georgian kings, this general began military service as a private. P. I. Bagration participated in military operations in the Caucasus, the wars with Turkey, the Italian and Swiss Suvorov campaigns, the war with Sweden. At the beginning of the war, he commanded the 2nd Western Army stationed in Podolia.

Being a supporter of active actions, Bagration, nevertheless, in the first days of the war, withdrew his army with battles. His successful defense significantly slowed down the advance of the enemy. The battle near Saltanovka turned out to be especially productive. Further, the general joined forces with Barclay near Smolensk. Napoleon expected that the battle for this city would be the general battle he needed so much, but this did not happen. Two generals (who could not stand each other) once again proved that all unwanted guests of Russia were destined to die near Smolensk, but Napoleon did not take the city, but occupied it - Bagration agreed to another retreat to save the army.

The finest hour and the last battle of the general was the Battle of Borodino, where he was entrusted with the defense of fortifications on the heights of the left flank (the so-called Bagration flushes). The troops never surrendered to the enemy, but the commander himself was seriously wounded and died of gangrene a few days later.

A squadron of flying hussars

The war of 1812 is rightfully considered the era of the emergence of a scientifically organized partisan movement. Its difference from past cases is that now partisan detachments were created not spontaneously, but purposefully, they received tasks from the army command, support, and supplies. The predecessor of Kovpak and Medvedev was Denis Vasilyevich Davydov (1784-1839).

We can safely say that he had a Napoleonic complex - Davydov was small in stature, frail in build and had an unsightly appearance. But he decided to prove that all this does not interfere with being a hero, and became one. There is a legend that in November 1806, Field Marshal Kamensky lost his mind after the hussar Davydov broke into his room at night, demanding to be sent to the front. And he achieved his goal by becoming an adjutant to P.I. Bagration.

He created his partisan detachment a few days before the battle of Borodino (by the way, Borodino was Davydov's family estate, and the dashing hussar suffered significant losses due to the destruction of both the village and the estate). During September - December 1812, the "flying hussars" in collaboration with other detachments (both army and peasant) captured several dozen carts, a lot of military property and fodder, thousands of prisoners (only on November 3 they took three generals and 900 Frenchmen with a lower rank) , liberated Belynichi and Grodno. Until the end of his days, Davydov regretted that he did not have enough strength to capture Napoleon himself, although he somehow encountered the imperial dormez.

Then he happened to participate in the "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig, in the wars in Persia and the Caucasus, in battles with the Polish rebels of 1830. The hero of the war of 1812, Davydov, never enjoyed special favor with his superiors, he was known as a freethinker and impudent, he was the author of many satirical poems directed against the most respectable persons, a member of the Arzamas literary circle (Pushkin began with him), a friend of such "sovereign traitors", like Odoevsky, Kuchelbecker, Bestuzhev.

Hussar bard

With full right, D.V. Davydov can also be considered the initiator of the Russian bard movement. As a poet, he did not reach the level of Pushkin (although his friends were two whole representatives of this family, Vasily Lvovich and Alexander Sergeevich, uncle and nephew), but he was known as the author of poetic epigrams, romantic and drinking ballads and poems, which he himself performed with guitar. He also wrote a lot of prose, mostly memoirs of the guerrilla war.

Acquaintance with Davydov was proud of such pillars of literature as Zagoskin, Griboyedov, Zhukovsky and Walter Scott. Pushkin also belonged to the number of his admirers.

General from the Cossacks

Similar in character to Davydov was M. I. Platov (1753-1818), the ataman of the Don Cossacks, the founder of the city of Novocherkassk, a participant in all wars at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. Near Borodino, the Platov Cossacks managed to protect the flanks of the Russian army and did not allow the enemy to bypass it, and for the entire campaign they managed to capture 548 guns from the enemy, which is approximately equal to the forces of French artillery in the Battle of Borodino.

Platov also participated in the foreign campaign, the battles near Leipzig and Dresden. It is believed that it was his Cossacks who enriched the French language with the word "bistro", requiring the Parisian garcons to pour them "quickly".

Raevsky battery

But General N. N. Raevsky (1771-1829), although he was Davydov's cousin, did not look like him at all. He was an exemplary soldier, a representative of an ancient noble family, who believed in "faith, king and fatherland." He served in the guards, fought under the command of Potemkin, participated in the battles in the Caucasus. At the initial stage of World War II, Raevsky's corps turned out to be the main force in the battle of Saltanovka.

And on the Borodino field, the “Raevsky battery” turned out to be the most famous position. It was very beneficial for artillery. The French were determined to capture it. In the end they succeeded. But before that, the battery managed to become the "grave of the French cavalry."

What was it like for a law-abiding general when three Decembrists suddenly appeared in his family - a brother and two sons-in-law, and daughter Maria became one of 12 women who went to Siberia for their Decembrist husbands! By the way, Raevsky, who forcibly married his daughter to his comrade-in-arms, General S. G. Volkonsky (the groom was 20 years older than the bride, and she actually did not know him), was then categorically against her trip to Siberia!

Monuments to the heroes of the war of 1812

The war of 1812 received a high moral assessment when it had not yet been completed - for a long time Christmas (coinciding with the expulsion of Napoleon from Russia) was revered in the state as a kind of Victory Day. How many people know which temple is dedicated to the heroes of the war of 1812? In memory of its heroes, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built in Moscow. In St. Petersburg there is Alexander Square with a column. The monument to Kutuzov and Barclay was erected in the same place. There were memorials in Smolensk, a large complex was built near Borodino. In Nizhny Novgorod, there is now a monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia", which is decorated with the figures of many heroes of 1812.

But there is also a more original memory. So, near Alushta there is a monument to Kutuzov - the Kutuzovsky fountain, which is just a spring. According to legend, its water was used in 1774 to provide first aid to Colonel Kutuzov, who was wounded in the head in a fight with the Turks. And the capital's Kutuzovsky Prospekt, with its super-active traffic and eternal traffic jams, is one of the most famous streets in the world.

The Second Patriotic War erected a monument to Bagration - the operation to liberate Belarus from the Nazis was named after the general.

As already mentioned, the word "bistro" can be considered a French monument to Ataman Platov.

And near Borodino there is a monument to ... the French. It was put by Russia, agreeing (and rightly!) with the opinion of Napoleon that in 1812 the French showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians - worthy of remaining invincible. So all of them are heroes of the war of 1812, and their exploits will forever remain on the pages of history ...

Pravoslavie.fm is an Orthodox, patriotic, family-oriented portal and therefore brings to the attention of readers the top 10 amazing feats of the Russian army. The top does not include […]

Pravoslavie.fm is an Orthodox, patriotic, family-oriented portal and therefore brings to the attention of readers the top 10 amazing feats of the Russian army.

The top does not include single feats of Russian soldiers like Captain Nikolai Gastello, sailor Pyotr Koshka, warrior Mercury Smolensky or staff captain Pyotr Nesterov, because with the level of mass heroism that the Russian army has always been distinguished for, it is absolutely impossible to determine the top ten warriors. They are all equally great.

Places in the top are not distributed, since the described feats belong to different eras and it is not entirely correct to compare them with each other, but they all have one thing in common - a vivid example of the triumph of the spirit of the Russian army.

The feat of the squad of Evpaty Kolovrat (1238).

Evpaty Kolovrat is a native of Ryazan, there is not much information about him, and they are contradictory. Some sources say that he was a local governor, others - a boyar.

News came from the steppe that the Tatars were marching against Russia. Ryazan was the first on their way. Realizing that the Ryazans did not have enough of their own forces for the successful defense of the city, the prince sent Evpaty Kolovrat to seek help in neighboring principalities.

Kolovrat left for Chernigov, where he was overtaken by the news of the devastation of his native land by the Mongols. Without a moment's hesitation, Kolovrat with a small retinue hastily moved towards Ryazan.

Unfortunately, he found the city already devastated and burned. Seeing the ruins, he gathered those who could fight with an army, numbering about 1,700 people, rushed in pursuit of the entire Batu horde (about 300,000 soldiers).

Having overtaken the Tatars in the vicinity of Suzdal, he gave battle to the enemy. Despite the small size of the detachment, the Russians managed to crush the rearguard of the Tatars with a surprise attack.

Batu was very stunned by this violent attack. Khan had to throw his best parts into battle. Batu asked that Kolovrat be brought to him alive, but Yevpaty did not give up and fought bravely with the enemy outnumbered.

Then Batu sent an envoy to Evpaty to ask what the Russian soldiers wanted? Evpatiy answered - "only die"! The fight continued. As a result, the Mongols, who were afraid to approach the Russians, had to use catapults and, only in this way, they were able to defeat the Kolovrat squad.

Khan Batu, amazed by the courage and heroism of the Russian warrior, gave the body of Evpatiy to his squad. The rest of the soldiers, for their courage, Batu ordered to be released without harming them.

The feat of Evpatiy Kolovrat is described in the Old Russian “The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”.

Suvorov crossing the Alps (1799).

In 1799, the Russian troops that fought the French in Northern Italy as part of the Second Anti-French Coalition were recalled home. However, on the way home, the Russian troops were to assist Rimsky-Korsakov's corps and defeat the French in Switzerland.

To do this, the army led by Generalissimo Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. together with the convoy, artillery and the wounded, she made an unprecedented transition through the alpine passes.

On the campaign, Suvorov's army fought through St. Gotthard and the Devil's Bridge and made the transition from the Reuss Valley to the Muten Valley, where it was surrounded. However, in the battle in the Muten Valley, where she defeated the French army and left the encirclement, after which she made the transition through the snow-covered, inaccessible Ringenkopf (Paniks) pass and headed towards Russia through the city of Chur.

During the battle for the Devil's Bridge, the French managed to damage the span and to overcome the abyss. Under fire, the Russian soldiers tied the boards of a barn that turned out to be nearby with scarves and went into battle along them. And while overcoming one of the passes, in order to knock the French down from a height, several dozen volunteers without any climbing equipment climbed a sheer cliff to the top of the pass and hit the French in the rear.

In this campaign, under the command of Suvorov, the son of Emperor Paul I, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, participated as an ordinary soldier.

Defense of the Brest Fortress (1941).

The Brest Fortress was built by the Russian military in 1836-42 and consisted of a citadel and three fortifications that protected it. Later, it was modernized several times, passed into the ownership of Poland and again returned to Russia.

By the beginning of June 1941, units of two rifle divisions of the Red Army were stationed on the territory of the fortress: the 6th Oryol Red Banner and 42nd rifle divisions and several small units. In total, by the morning of June 22, there were about 9,000 people in the fortress.

The Germans decided in advance that the Brest Fortress, standing on the border with the USSR and therefore chosen as one of the objects of the first strike, would have to be taken only by infantry - without tanks. Their use was hindered by forests, swamps, river channels and canals that surrounded the fortress. The German strategists gave the 45th division (17,000 men) no more than eight hours to capture the fortress.

Despite the surprise attack, the garrison gave the Germans a hard rebuff. The report said: “The Russians are fiercely resisting, especially behind our attacking companies. In the Citadel, the enemy organized defense with infantry units supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles. The fire of Russian snipers led to heavy losses among officers and non-commissioned officers. During one day on June 22, 1941, the 45th Infantry Division only lost 21 officers and 290 lower ranks in killed.

On June 23, at 05:00, the Germans began shelling the Citadel, while trying not to hit their soldiers blockaded in the church. On the same day, for the first time, tanks were used against the defenders of the Brest Fortress.

On June 26, on the North Island, German sappers blew up the wall of the building of the political staff school. 450 prisoners were taken there. The East Fort remained the main center of resistance on the North Island. On June 27, 20 commanders and 370 fighters from the 393rd anti-aircraft battalion of the 42nd rifle division, led by the commander of the 44th infantry regiment, Major Pyotr Gavrilov, defended themselves there.

On June 28, two German tanks and several self-propelled guns returning from repairs to the front continued to bombard the Eastern Fort on the North Island. However, this did not bring visible results, and the commander of the 45th division turned to the Luftwaffe for support.

June 29 at 08:00 a German bomber dropped a 500-kilogram bomb on the Eastern Fort. Then another 500-kilogram and finally 1800-kilogram bomb was dropped. The fort was practically destroyed.

Nevertheless, a small group of fighters led by Gavrilov continued to fight in the Eastern Fort. The major was captured only on July 23. The inhabitants of Brest said that until the end of July or even until the first days of August, shooting was heard from the fortress and the Nazis brought their wounded officers and soldiers from there to the city, where the German army hospital was located.

However, the official date for the end of the defense of the Brest Fortress is July 20, based on the inscription that was found in the barracks of the 132nd separate battalion of the NKVD escort troops: “I am dying, but I do not give up. Farewell, Motherland. 20/VII-41”.

Campaigns of the detachments of Kotlyarevsky during the Russian-Persian wars of 1799-1813.

All the exploits of the detachments of General Pyotr Kotlyarevsky are so amazing that it is difficult to choose the best one, so we will present them all:

In 1804, with 600 soldiers and 2 guns, Kotlyarevsky fought off 20,000 Abbas-Mirza soldiers in the old cemetery for 2 days. 257 soldiers and almost all of Kotlyarevsky's officers died. There were many wounded.

Then Kotlyarevsky, wrapping the wheels of the cannons with rags, made his way through the camp of the besiegers at night, stormed the nearby fortress of Shah-Bulakh, knocking out the Persian garrison of 400 people from there, and sat down in it.

For 13 days he fought back from the corps besieging the fortress of 8000 Persians, and then at night he lowered the guns along the wall and left with a detachment to the Mukhrat fortress, which he also took by attack, knocking out the Persians from there, and again prepared for defense.

In order to drag the cannons through the deep ditch during the second crossing, four soldiers volunteered to fill it with their bodies. Two were crushed to death, and two continued their march.

In Mukhrat, the Russian army came to the rescue of Kotlyarevsky's battalion. In this operation and during the capture of the Ganzha fortress a little earlier, Kotlyarevsky was wounded four times, but remained in the ranks.

In 1806, in the field battle at Khonashin, 1644 fighters of Major Kotlyarevsky defeated the 20,000-strong army of Abbas Mirza. In 1810, Abbas-Mirza again marched with troops against Russia. Kotlyarevsky took 400 rangers and 40 cavalry and came out to meet them.

"On the way" he stormed the fortress of Migri, defeating the 2,000th garrison, and captured 5 artillery batteries. Having waited for 2 companies of reinforcements, the colonel accepted the battle with 10,000 of the Shah's Persians and forced him to retreat to the Araks River. Taking 460 infantry and 20 cavalry Cossacks, the colonel destroyed the 10,000-strong detachment of Abbas Mirza, losing 4 Russian soldiers killed.

In 1811, Kotlyarevsky became a major general, having crossed the impregnable mountain range with 2 battalions and a hundred Cossacks and captured the Akhalkalak fortress by storm. The British sent the Persians money and weapons for 12,000 soldiers. Then Kotlyarevsky went on a campaign and stormed the Kara-Kakh fortress, where military depots were located.

In 1812, in a field battle near Aslanduz, 2000 soldiers of Kotlyarevsky with 6 guns defeated the entire army of Abbas-Mirza in 30,000 people.

By 1813, the British rebuilt the Lankaran fortress for the Persians according to advanced European models. Kotlyarevsky took the fortress by storm, having only 1759 people against the 4,000th garrison, and during the attack almost completely destroyed the defenders. Thanks to this victory, Persia sued for peace.

Capture of Ishmael by Suvorov (1790).

The Turkish fortress of Izmail, which covered the Danube crossings, was built by the Ottomans by French and English engineers. Suvorov himself believed that it was "a fortress without weak points."

However, having arrived near Izmail on December 13, Suvorov spent six days actively preparing for the assault, including training troops to storm mock-ups of the high fortress walls of Izmail.

Near Izmail, in the area of the current village of Safyany, earthen and wooden analogues of the moat and walls of Ishmael were built as soon as possible - the soldiers trained to throw a ditch with a fascist, quickly put up stairs, after climbing the wall they quickly pricked and chopped the stuffed animals installed there imitating the defenders.

For two days, Suvorov conducted artillery preparation with field guns and cannons of the ships of the rowing flotilla, on December 22 at 5:30 in the morning the assault on the fortress began. Resistance on the streets of the city lasted until 16:00.

The attacking troops were divided into 3 detachments (wings) of 3 columns each. The detachment of Major General de Ribas (9,000 men) attacked from the river side; the right wing under the command of Lieutenant General P. S. Potemkin (7,500 people) was to strike from the western part of the fortress; the left wing of Lieutenant General A. N. Samoilov (12,000 people) - from the east. Brigadier Westfalen's cavalry reserves (2,500 men) were on the land side. In total, Suvorov's army numbered 31,000 people.

Turkish losses amounted to 29,000 killed. 9,000 were taken prisoner. Of the entire garrison, only one man escaped. Slightly wounded, he fell into the water and swam across the Danube on a log.

The losses of the Russian army amounted to 4 thousand people killed and 6 thousand wounded. All 265 guns, 400 banners, huge stocks of provisions and jewelry worth 10 million piastres were captured. The commandant of the fortress was M. I. Kutuzov, in the future the famous commander, the winner of Napoleon.

The conquest of Ishmael was of great political importance. It influenced the further course of the war and the conclusion in 1792 of the Iasi Peace between Russia and Turkey, which confirmed the annexation of Crimea to Russia and established the Russian-Turkish border along the Dniester River. Thus, the entire northern Black Sea region from the Dniester to the Kuban was assigned to Russia.

Andrey Segeda

In contact with

Do we now slumber in peace,

Russian faithful sons?

Let's go, let's close in military formation,

Let's go and in the horrors of war

Friends, Fatherland, people

Find glory and freedom...

F. Glinka 1812

The events of 1812 have a special place in our history. More than once, the Russian people rose to defend their land from invaders who came both from the west and from the east. But never before had the threat of enslavement generated such a rallying of forces, such a spiritual awakening of the nation, as happened during the days of Napoleon's invasion.

200 years have passed, but the topic of the Patriotic War of 1812 is relevant today: firstly, knowledge of history makes it possible for future generations to navigate the present and look to the future with optimism; secondly, the year 1812 was marked by the highest rise in the spirit of the Russian people, the growth of national self-consciousness, strength, talents, courage, courage, selfless service to the Fatherland of people of all classes, nationalities, religions in the face of danger, and this should not and cannot be forgotten ; thirdly, the generation of great-grandfathers who defended our land, saved it at the cost of their lives, by their feat instills in the younger generation love for the Motherland, freedom, independence and calls to firmly and resolutely guard the integrity and security of the Fatherland.

Download:

Preview:

Svetlograd branch of the Institute of Friendship of the Peoples of the Caucasus

Conference "Actual problems of modern youth".

The work "Mass heroism of the Russian people in the war of 1812"

8th grade student MBOU secondary school No. 4

Svetlograd

Scientific adviser: Muskhazhieva Lyudmila Vagarshakovna

History teacher MBOU secondary school №4, Svetlograd

year 2012

The feat of the Russian people in the war of 1812

Do we now slumber in peace,

Russian faithful sons?

Let's go, let's close in military formation,

Let's go and in the horrors of war

Friends, Fatherland, people

Find glory and freedom...

F. Glinka 1812

200 years have passed, but the topic of the Patriotic War of 1812 is relevant today: firstly, knowledge of history enables subsequent generations to navigate the present and look to the future with optimism; secondly, the year 1812 was marked by the highest rise in the spirit of the Russian people, the growth of national self-consciousness, strength, talents, courage, courage, selfless service to the Fatherland of people of all classes, nationalities, religions in the face of danger, and this should not and cannot be forgotten ; thirdly, the generation of great-grandfathers who defended our land, saved it at the cost of their lives, by their feat instills in the younger generation love for the Motherland, freedom, independence and calls to firmly and resolutely guard the integrity and security of the Fatherland.

History is not made by itself, it is made by people.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Emperor Napoleon openly sought dominance in Europe. His main enemy was England. In 1807, in Tilsit, a peace was concluded between Alexander I and Napoleon, according to which Russia was forced to participate in a continental blockade against England. But Alexander I himself wanted to influence European politics. And in 1810, Russia actually no longer complied with the terms of the Tilsit peace.

In August 1811, at a diplomatic reception in Paris, a meeting took place between Napoleon and the Russian ambassador A. B. Kurakin. “Napoleon said: “I don’t want war, I don’t want to restore Poland, but you yourself want the Duchy of Warsaw and Danzig to join Russia ... until the secret intentions of your court become open, I will not stop increasing the army stationed in Germany.” (Anisimov E.V., Kamensky A.B. Russia in the XVIII-first half of the XIX century. M., 1994. P. 265)

After this scene in Europe, no one doubted that the war between France and Russia was inevitable.

The next steps of France and Russia: France concludes alliances with Austria and Prussia, and Russia signs peace with Turkey and an alliance with Sweden.

At dawn on June 12, 1812, Napoleon's "great army" crossed the Neman River and invaded Russia.

For almost 200 years, since the Time of Troubles, no foreign conqueror has set foot on Russian soil.

Napoleon's army, unprecedented in power, numbered over 600 thousand people, of which about 450 thousand took part immediately at the beginning of the war. In the invading army, the French made up half, the other half included the Belgians, Dutch, Hanoverians, Piedmontese and Romanians, Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Saxons, Thuringians, Mecklenburgers, Poles. It was really an army of "twelve languages", as it was called in Russia. (Rambaud A. Picturesque History of Ancient and Modern History of Russia. Moscow "Sovremennik" 1994. P. 357)

The quality of the French armament was better than the Russian one: the guns were better repairable, the parts of the guns were interchangeable. The carriage in artillery pieces was based on metal axles, which allowed the French to move them at high speed. Experienced marshals commanded the "great army": Beauharnais, Oudinot, Davout, Ney, Murat and others.

All of Europe, led by its idol, moved to Russia in order to conquer it.

By the beginning of the war, 3 armies were located on the western border of Russia. The largest of them - the First - under the command of M.B. Barclay de Tolly, covered a front about 200 km long with a center in Vilna and numbered about 120 thousand people; The second - under the command of Prince P.I.Bagration, occupied a front of less than 100 km between the Neman and the Bug, there were about 40 thousand people in it. The Third Army under the command of A.P. was of the same size. Tormasov, located in Polissya. Unlike the French, the Russian army was recruited on the basis of recruitment kits. Russian industry produced more ammunition and weapons than the French. But in quality it was inferior to French weapons. Having a significant superiority in artillery, Russian soldiers experienced many difficulties in moving guns on wooden axles, which often broke. Russian soldiers were distinguished by military training, valor and stamina. The command staff was no less experienced than the French. Among the talented military leaders, one should name M.B. Barclay de Tolly, N.N. Raevsky, P.I. Bagration, D.S. Dokhturova and others.

The war that went down in our history as the Patriotic War of 1812 did not last long: from June to December 1812. On the part of Russia, it was a war of liberation, so the morale of the Russian army from the first to the last day remained consistently high. A patriotic upsurge swept over all of Russia. People from different localities and classes accomplished a feat that shocked contemporaries both in Russia and in Europe. The symbols of this war cause pride: Borodino, the Moscow fire, the "small war" and, of course, Kutuzov, Bagration, Raevsky ...

On August 26, a general battle took place - the Battle of Borodino. Napoleon's goal is to defeat the Russian army and force Russia to conclude a peace favorable to him. Kutuzov's goal is to stop the French advance and defend Moscow.

The forces of the opponents were to some extent equal: 150 thousand from the Russians, 134 thousand from the French.

And to this day there are disputes: who won the victory in this battle. We can say with confidence that both sides did everything they could and suffered heavy losses: from 20 to 40 thousand from the French; from 30 to 50 thousand for Russians.

Obviously, neither Napoleon nor Kutuzov achieved the main goals in this “battle of the giants”. And if we consider the strategic side, then the French after the battle went ahead and took Moscow, and the Russians retreated. So, the victory of Napoleon in the battle, which led to the death of the army and the defeat in the war, and the defeat of Kutuzov, which saved the Russian army and led to the complete expulsion of the conquerors.

Borodino is a legend. The following will forever remain in the history and memory of the people: 1) Shevardinsky redoubt, which was captured by the enemy during the day of August 24, recaptured and recaptured; 2) Semyonov's flushes, covered by Bagration's army; 3) Kurgan battery under the command of General Raevsky.

Shoulder to shoulder in this battle stood the soldiers, officers and generals of the Russian army and died for Russia.

The Napoleonic army marched victoriously into Moscow. Here, Napoleon intended to “stand in winter quarters”, make peace with Russia, and in the spring either return to his homeland or go to India with the Russians. But Moscow met him differently than Rome, Milan, Vienna, Madrid, Berlin, Warsaw once met their idol.

The huge city was almost empty: out of 200 thousand inhabitants, no more than 10 thousand remained in it. On the same day, fires broke out in different parts of the city.

The question "Who set fire to Moscow?" worried both contemporaries of events and historians. And today there is no consensus on this matter. The French claimed that the arson was organized by the governor of Moscow, Count F.V. Rostopchin, the Russian military command was also accused. Historians write about the carelessness of the French marauders who robbed Moscow, and about the burning of military and food depots by the Russians themselves.

The Moscow fire is evidence of the greatest heroism and self-sacrifice of the Russian people: nobles, merchants, and philistines who are ready to go to the end in the fight against the enemy. The fires raged for a whole week, from 2 to 9 September. Kitay-Gorod, Zamoskvorechye, Nemetskaya Sloboda, Vozdvizhenka, Prechistenka, Tverskaya were completely burnt out. Among the monuments of history and culture - Gostiny Dvor, Moscow University, the manuscript "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". There was nothing to extinguish the fire, because the devices for extinguishing fires were taken out by Count Rostopchin.

On September 5, the fire took on a monstrous scale. Napoleon moved from the Kremlin to the luxurious Petrovsky Palace on the outskirts of Moscow. Realizing that the victory was slipping out of his hands, Napoleon made 3 attempts to negotiate peace with Alexander 1. But the Russian side rejected this.

The "small war" became disastrous for the invaders. Under the "small war" Kutuzov understood the military actions of the militia, army and peasant partisan detachments. For the first time, Alexander 1 himself announced the creation of a people's militia in 1812 (Decree "On the creation of a temporary internal militia" of July 18, 1812). Serfs were recruited into warriors in agreement with the landowners; students, philistines, merchant sons joined the militia voluntarily. The people's militia took part in the battles, starting from Smolensk and ending with the territory of France.

The initiative in organizing army partisan detachments belonged to M.B. Barclay de Tolly. He became the author of the first instruction on the actions of partisans behind enemy lines. Kutuzov supported and developed this idea. The first and legendary army partisans were Denis Vasilyevich Davydov and Ferdinand Fedorovich Vintsengerode. Peasant partisans acted from the moment the enemy entered Russian soil. They burned the villages, took away the cattle, leaving the enemy a scorched desert. The serf peasant Gerasim Kurin, the elder Vasilisa Kozhina and their people terrified the French.

Militias and partisans, supporting the army, beat the enemy, inflicting great damage on him. In this struggle, a feeling and understanding of the community of representatives of different classes, all from young to old, arose. The war was truly Patriotic, i.e. for the Fatherland.

Also, the battle of Maloyaroslavets, the retreat of the French along the old Smolensk road, the crossing of the remnants of the French army across the Berezina and the Neman will remain forever in the memory of the people.

The end of the Patriotic War of 1812 was marked by the Order of M.I. Kutuzov in the army on December 21 and the Manifesto of Alexander 1 of December 25, 1812.

The feat of the people, who defended the independence of their homeland, entailed not only the collapse of the "idol" that subjugated almost all of Europe. It awakened the desire to take a fresh look at what is happening inside Russia, the determination to fight against autocratic oppression, serfdom. It is known that the Decembrists said about themselves: "We were children of 12 years old." The mass heroism of the peasants in the struggle against the conquerors became one of the most weighty arguments in favor of the abolition of serfdom. It is no coincidence that Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, in an effort to reveal to his contemporaries the richness and depth of the character of the Russian man and the Russian people, to comprehend the hidden springs of social processes and spiritual quests, turned to this era, he drew material from it for his brilliant epic "War and Peace".

It is no coincidence that during the years of the Great Patriotic War the lines from the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "Borodino", recognized as the most significant work about the glorious sons of the Fatherland, the heroes of 1812.

"Guys! Isn't Moscow behind us?

Let's die near Moscow

How our brothers died!” -

this was remembered by the defenders of our Fatherland in the fight against the Nazi invaders. We must remember this today as well.

The campaign of 1812 is well known from large books in which professional historians recount the course of events in detail, describe the battles and talk about the plans of the parties. But in addition to the "big" history, there has always been a "small" one. The story of an individual who does not have high ranks, but is involved in the maelstrom of events of that war.

Such people occupied different positions in society, but they all had one thing in common: courage and readiness to fight for their Fatherland.

Pavel Pushchin, who served in 1812 in the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment, told a happily ending story about a patriotic deserter. It happened immediately after the start of the Patriotic War of 1812.

“One artilleryman, who wanted to serve in the cavalry, deserted and enlisted in the Ulan regiment; here he was caught cutting his hair and tried in Vilna. Having been taken prisoner just after the enemy entered the city, this fellow, despite the impending death penalty, escaped from captivity, appeared to General Yermolov and frankly told him everything. For such devotion, he was forgiven and enlisted in the cavalry regiment, as he wished.

When he was the head of the St. Petersburg militia, Kutuzov conducts a reception of warriors. Artist S. Gerasimov

Rafail Zotov, who soon became a famous novelist and playwright, enlisted in the St. Petersburg militia. This is how he described the first days of the preparation of the new army.

“Then everything was seething with some kind of speed in actions, in words, in deeds. Who would believe now that 14,000 people who had just been torn off the plow and had no idea about military service were taught all the methods of exercise in five days? Maybe they will say: “Well, they already knew everything!” - Not! I swear that not only did everyone march at a fast pace very evenly (the ceremonial was postponed for a while), not only did all the rifle techniques and fired on command and without a command, but even built columns for different platoons and squares. And all this in five days, or, better, in five days, because on long summer days we almost never left the Izmailovsky parade parade at night. … Only with the Russian people can such miracles be done.”

The feat of the gunners of the Rayevsky battery. Studio of military artists named after S. N. Troshin

Nikolai Andreev, a young officer of the 50th Jaeger Regiment, who had just entered the service, spoke about the Battle of Borodino, in which he became a participant.

“At noon on the 26th, I went with our captain Shubin to a hillock, where an unusual noise was heard, and what happened? We see: two cuirassier regiments, Novorossiysk and Little Russian, under the command of Lieutenant General Duka, went to the enemy battery. The picture was great! The cuirassiers showed their courage: no matter how the buckshot fell, they reached the goal with at least half their strength, and the battery was theirs. But what a fire they endured, it was hell!

I saw when they removed our unforgettable Prince Bagration from the horse, wounded in the leg, and how patient and cold-blooded he was: he got off his horse for the last time and encouraged the soldiers to avenge themselves.

The feat of Raevsky's soldiers near Saltanovka. Artist N. Samokish

Alexander Chicherin, an officer of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, went through the entire campaign of 1812 and kept a diary throughout it. According to the records in it, one can understand how the moods of the officers differed after the Battle of Borodino:

“We lost Smolensk and Dorogobuzh, His Serene Highness (Mikhail Kutuzov, who had the title of His Serene Highness Prince) arrived at the army, accompanied by the good wishes of the entire empire. But immediately new conspiracies arose, new parties appeared. He had just been praised for the victory at Borodino, and the next day they began to reproach him for indecision.

After the surrender of Moscow, he was accused of weakness, equal to betrayal, and a few days later those who accused found him an excuse. The recent deadly - for no reason - enemy now praised him, because the most illustrious in passing threw him a kind word; an enthusiastic supporter became an enemy, because the brightest one passed by and did not say hello. Everyone knows the traitors, they are pointed with fingers, and no one dares to expose them. Everyone admires good generals inwardly, and no one dares to praise them; our successes are downplayed, our losses are exaggerated.”

Moscow militia in the battles on the Old Smolensk road. Artist V. Kelerman

Ivan Lazhechnikov, the future famous writer, served in the militia in 1812, where he signed up against the will of his parents, having run away from home. Here is his story about the entry of Russian troops into Moscow, abandoned by the French:

“We entered Moscow late in the evening. The enemy had already left the city: the Izyum hussars were on guard at the outpost; they warmed themselves around the lit fires. Russian soldiers, the Russian camp were for us a gratifying phenomenon. We reverently crossed ourselves as we entered the outpost, and were ready to kiss the guards, as if on the matins of the bright Resurrection of Christ. And there was something to rejoice at: Russia was saved!

Moscow represented complete destruction; almost all the houses are charred, without roofs; some were still smoking; only chimneys towered ugly above them. The torn iron sheets groaned plaintively; here and there in the basement lights flickered. We drove the whole city to the Kaluga outpost without meeting a single living creature. We only saw two or three corpses of French soldiers lying on the banks of the Yauza.

The mortal wound of General Bagration on the Borodino field. Artist A. Vepkhvadze

Most memoirs about the war of 1812 belonged to officers and nobles, but the stories of ordinary soldiers have survived. Here is what non-commissioned officer Tikhonov recalled about his commanders in 1830.

“The authorities near Borodino were such that we will not wait again soon. A little someone is injured, you look, and two will jump out in his place. Our company commander was wounded, we carried him for dressing, met him behind the second line of warriors. "Stop!" - the company commander shouts to us (and he himself is pale as a sheet, his lips turned blue). “The warriors will demolish me, but you have nothing to indulge in, go to the battalion! Petrov! Lead them to your place!" We said goodbye to him, and never saw him again. They said that in Mozhaisk the French threw him out of the window, and he died from that.

And then the lieutenant was wounded by buckshot. We took him to the front, we roll out his overcoat to carry it to the dressing. He lay with his eyes closed: he woke up, saw us and said: “What are you, brothers, like crows gathered near the carrion. Step into your seat! I can die without you! As we crossed the ravine, after Bagration, we began to build. We had a cadet, young, frail, like a girl. He should have been in the 8th platoon, and he, take it, and join the banner ranks and become. The battalion commander saw this and ordered him to take his place. “I won’t go, says Your Highness, to the tail, I don’t want to be a scoundrel: I want to die for Faith and Fatherland.”

Bivouac. Artist A. Averyanov

All these stories invariably prove that the heroism of Russian soldiers has not changed over the years. Memories of the fantastic victories of 1812 make us think about the terrible world wars of the 20th century.

Ordinary people - not generals, not commanders in the rear - performed amazing feats every day. After all, it was not in vain that the memoirist wrote: “Only with the Russian people can such miracles be done!”