Chapter XVII November 22, 1982 Faryab Province. District center Andkhoy Immediately after the October holidays, we began to prepare for the trip to Andkhoy. The outpost, reinforced by a mortar platoon and a squad of mounted anti-tank grenade launchers, was supposed to accompany the secretary

Battle of Maloyaroslavets Napoleon hoped to retreat in places not devastated by the war, retreat to Smolensk through Kaluga, where he hoped to capture large warehouses of food and fodder, intending to subsequently hold on to the border of the Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers, so that

Collection of materials from annual scientific conferences in Maloyaroslavets.

Vasiliev Alexey Anatolievich
historian, scientific editor of the Izograph publishing house, Moscow, until 2001 - employee of the Russian State Historical Archive.

The small Russian town of Maloyaroslavets was destined to play a decisive role during the Patriotic War of 1812. Here in October 1812 the advance of Napoleon's army, en route from Moscow to Kaluga, was stopped. The French emperor, having lost hope of concluding peace with Russia, wanted to leave Moscow and retreat to Smolensk, where an important French rear base was located. But he was going to retreat not along the devastated Mozhaisk road, but through the areas still untouched by the war, lying to the southwest of the ancient Russian capital. With the main forces of his army, he planned to leave Moscow along the Old Kaluga Road, and then switch to the New Kaluga Road and proceed through Borovsk and Maloyaroslavets to Kaluga, where, as Napoleon knew, there were rich warehouses of food collected for the Russian troops. From there, the French commander intended to turn west and go to Smolensk. To implement this plan, Napoleon needed to hide his maneuver from the Russian command in such a way that Kutuzov’s army, located in the Tarutino camp, would remain there as long as possible and would not have time to block the French’s path to Kaluga.

On October 7, 1812, the army of Emperor Napoleon set out from Moscow along the Old Kaluga Road. The 4th Army and 3rd Cavalry Corps of the Great Army were in the vanguard. The head of this vanguard was the Viceroy of Italy, Prince Eugene-Napoleon Beauharnais, stepson of the French emperor. On October 9, 1812, the vanguard of Beauharnais arrived in the village of Fominskoye, and from there on October 10, it advanced to the village of Kotovo.

At this time, not far from Fominsky there were Russian flying detachments under the command of the chief of the Izyum Hussar Regiment, Major General Ivan Semenovich Dorokhov, and artillery captains A.N. Seslavin and A.S. Figner. Not knowing the exact number and purpose of the appearance of French troops here, General Dorokhov left the cavalry of his detachment to observe the enemy, and he and the infantry retreated southwest to the village of Koryakovo.

Reporting on the advance of the vanguard of the French army from Fominsky to the village of Kotovo, Dorokhov told Kutuzov that “this enemy action could be a preliminary movement of his entire army to Borovsk.” Having received Dorokhov’s report, Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov decided to support his detachment with large forces and defeat the French troops located in the Fominsky area. He entrusted the conduct of this expedition to Infantry General Dmitry Sergeevich Dokhturov, commander of the 6th Infantry Corps.

On October 10, 1812, Prince Eugene Beauharnais advanced the vanguard of his corps, led by the commander of the 13th Infantry Division, General Alexis-Joseph Delzon, along the road to Borovsk. Having driven out small Russian detachments from a dense forest, near the village of Mityaevo the French discovered the main forces of General Dorokhov’s cavalry and immediately attacked them. As a result, Dorokhov was forced to hastily retreat. By 6 o'clock in the evening, General Delzon stopped for the night in Borovsk. His main forces camped near the city.

Borovsk, as well as the Pafnutev Monastery located nearby, was plundered by the French. Most of the buildings in the city burned down. Residents left the city in panic and fled partly to the surrounding villages, partly to Maloyaroslavets, where they brought news of the enemy's advance.

Some domestic authors who wrote about the events of 1812 near Maloyaroslavets (in particular V. Glinka and I. Bezsonov) claimed that on the same evening of October 10, the advanced battalions of Delzon’s division reached from Borovsk to Maloyaroslavets and wanted to capture the latter. However, local residents, led by mayor Pyotr Ivanovich Bykov, burned the bridge across Luzha, thereby making it difficult for Delzon’s detachment to cross. According to the existing legend, when the French tried to build a new crossing, the chief of the Maloyaroslavets Lower Zemstvo Court, Savva Ivanovich Belyaev, on his own initiative, released water in the mill dam, as a result of which the French pontoons were carried away by the stream, and the left bank of the Puddle was temporarily flooded.

Alas, this version is not supported by facts. Documents, in particular the report of General Delzon, indicate that on October 10, 1812, the French only reached Borovsk and appeared near Maloyaroslavets only the next day.

Meanwhile, the weather deteriorated and the rain washed out the roads. The movement of French troops and convoys, who also often had to cross narrow and fragile bridges across numerous streams and rivulets, was greatly hampered.

While the vanguard of the French army was moving towards Borovsk, and its main forces were concentrated at Fominsky, Russian troops began the expedition planned the day before. General Dokhturov's detachment set out from the Tarutino camp on the morning of October 10 and, after a difficult march along a bad country road, in light autumn rain, arrived in the evening in the village of Aristovo, where they settled down for the night. Soon after this, news arrived in Aristovo that changed Dokhturov’s intention to attack the French at Fominsky. Captain A.N. galloped to Dorokhov’s vanguard. Seslavin, who reported that his partisans, having taken refuge in the forest, not reaching four miles from Fominsky, discovered large forces of French troops, including Napoleon himself with the guard.

Having let them past his detachment, Seslavin captured several lagging soldiers and brought one of them with him to Dorokhov. The prisoner gave valuable testimony, reporting, in particular, that Moscow had been abandoned by the French, and Napoleon, whose main apartment would be transferred to Borovsk tomorrow, intended to march with his army to Maloyaroslavets. This vital information was immediately transmitted to Aristovo, and at 21:00. 30 minutes later, General Dokhturov sent Kutuzov a corresponding report about this.

Seslavin's discovery had a decisive influence on the entire course of subsequent hostilities. “If the partisan Seslavin, Major General Alexey Petrovich Ermolov wrote in his Notes, could not warn in advance, the 6th Infantry Corps and other troops with it during the attack on the village of Fominskoye would inevitably suffer a strong defeat, and Maloyaroslavets would be unhindered occupied by the enemy." D.S. Dokhturov abandoned the attack on Fominskoye and stayed overnight in Aristov. He did not have time to wait for a response from Kutuzov’s Headquarters to his report, since the French could in this case get ahead of the Russians in Maloyaroslavets. Therefore, he accepted the proposal of Major General Ermolov to move as quickly as possible to Maloyaroslavets at dawn. At the same time, wanting to learn better about the enemy’s forces and intentions, Dokhturov sent the 1st Cavalry Corps of Major General Baron E.I. towards Borovsk. Meller-Zakomelsky.

General Ermolov also went with this cavalry, who subsequently described its actions on October 11 in his “Notes”: “It was a foggy morning, and not too early things began to become clearer. We saw Borovsk, its surroundings, occupied by troops and artillery in large forces; part of the infantry that left the city along the post road; Along the Protva River in many places, horse pickets, which were immediately shot down, but reinforced by reserves hidden in the forest, intensified the firefight. General Baron Meller, although he did not want to start a business for the sake of shortening the day, was nevertheless forced to send part of the troops and half of the artillery company. Having galloped about a mile with a young birch tree, still retaining a leaf, we saw not far away the postal road from Borovsk and on it the bivouac of the army of the Italian Viceroy Eugene and the French corps of Marshal Davout. Without wasting time, we returned to the left bank of the Protva River.”

The vanguard of the 4th Army Corps, led by the French General Delzon, set out at 11 a.m. on October 11 from Borovsk to Maloyaroslavets. Having made a 21-kilometer trek, Delzon's advanced units arrived at Maloyaroslavets at about six o'clock in the evening.

The location of Maloyaroslavets on the steep right bank of the Luzha River, cut by deep ravines, is convenient for defense. The Yaroslavka River, which flows into Luzha, flows along the bottom of one of the ravines, separating the main part of the city from Spasskaya Sloboda. The low-lying left bank of the Puddle with its vast flooded (Bear) meadow is perfectly visible from the city. Bunina Mountain rises about two kilometers north of Maloyaroslavets.

At that time, Maloyaroslavets was a small provincial town with a population of only about 1.5 thousand people. The city had only 232 houses, the vast majority wooden, three stone and two wooden churches and the Nikolaevsky Chernoostrovsky monastery. The population was mainly engaged in vegetable gardening, horticulture and small trade.

The road from Borovsk, descending from Bunina Mountain to the meadow, first approached a mill dam located on the Luzha River, above Maloyaroslavets. Then, going around the marshy area, she walked to the right bank of the Puddle along a wooden bridge below the mouth of the Yaroslavka. Rising past the monastery to the upper part of the city, the road crossed it and went further to the southwest, towards Kaluga. In addition to the postal route connecting Maloyaroslavets with Moscow and Kaluga, several country roads branched off from it, including the roads to Medyn, Serpukhov and Letashevka (now Litashevka).

When the advanced French units approached Maloyaroslavets, they found the bridge over Luzha destroyed. Residents of the city had been informed the day before by refugees about the occupation of Borovsk by the enemy. City authorities (including mayor P.I. Bykov, district zemstvo police officer P.N. Radishchev and leader of the district nobility A.I. Belkin) left Maloyaroslavets after 9 a.m. on October 11. Previously, by order of the mayor, the decking of the bridge over the Luzha was dismantled (or burned) in order to make it difficult for the French to cross to its right bank. The panic-stricken population hastily left the city.

The destruction of the bridge over Luzha did not prevent the French from crossing the river and occupying Maloyaroslavets. By order of General Delzon, the soldiers began to restore the dismantled bridge, and two battalions crossed a narrow mill dam to the right bank of the Luzha and entered the empty city. These battalions settled down for the night in the upper part of Maloyaroslavets, occupying the Kaluga outpost and setting up posts on the roads leaving the city. General Delzon left six other battalions of the 2nd (head) brigade of his division to spend the night on the left bank of the Puddle, in a meadow. Eight battalions of the 1st Brigade of the 13th Infantry Division stopped two kilometers behind the forward units, setting up their bivouac on Bunina Mountain, near the Borovskaya road.

The cavalry of the French vanguard was also positioned at the rear to maintain contact between Delzon's detachment and the rest of Beauharnais' troops. Prince Eugene himself, with his headquarters and the Italian guard, spent the night in the village of Uvarovskoye. This dislocation of the vanguard of Napoleon's army was explained not only by the lack of a good crossing of the Luzha, but also by the uncertainty of the situation.

Meanwhile, M.I. Kutuzov, having received Dokhturov’s report sent from Aristov, as well as the report of Infantry General M.A. Miloradovich, who commanded the Russian vanguard on the Old Kaluga Road, became convinced that Napoleon had left Moscow and went to Kaluga through Maloyaroslavets. The commander-in-chief sent Dokhturov an order to go to Maloyaroslavets (which, however, was already belated, since the 6th Infantry Corps had moved to this point even earlier), and he himself began to prepare the army for the march. Already on the evening of October 11, Kutuzov’s main forces left the Tarutino camp and headed to Spas-Zagorye, and further to Maloyaroslavets.

The Cossack regiments of the Don Ataman M.I. were the first to be sent to help Dokhturov’s detachment. Platova. Late in the evening of the same day, arriving in Spas-Zagorye, they forded the Protva (the bridge over the river was destroyed by local residents) and, ahead of the rest of the troops, approached Maloyaroslavets at night. On the morning of October 12, Dokhturov's corps was joined by the 1st Cavalry Corps of General Meller-Zakomelsky, the detachments of Dorokhov and Seslavin, who arrived from Borovsk.

The French battalions, who spent the night in Maloyaroslavets, abandoned by the residents, were still sleeping when Cossack regiments under the command of the Don Ataman Matvey Ivanovich Platov marched past the city in the dark. Then these Cossacks settled along the right bank of the Puddle north-west of Maloyaroslavets, between the village of Karizha and the village of Pansky.

General Dokhturov, whose troops crossed the Protva at Spas-Zagorye at 2 a.m. on October 12 and marched at maximum speed to Maloyaroslavets, learned that the French occupied the city with insignificant forces. Having stopped his column three kilometers from the city, he sent rangers from the detachment of General I. S. Dorokhov to capture it.

To attack the city, occupied, as already mentioned, by two battalions of French infantry (probably from the 92nd line regiment of the 2nd brigade of the 13th infantry division), Dokhturov appointed the 33rd Jaeger Regiment of Colonel A.I. Bistrom of the 2nd, supported by the 6th Chasseurs. The 33rd regiment numbered, together with officers, 1012 people. In the predawn twilight, Colonel Bistrom, whom the soldiers called Bystrov in the Russian manner, rushed with his regiment to Maloyaroslavets.

The French sentries, having discovered the advance of the Russian rangers, raised the alarm, and both battalions located in the city managed to prepare for battle. They had only 500-600 bayonets in service, that is, one and a half to two times less than the Russian regiment that attacked them. At about 5 o'clock in the morning, a battalion of the 33rd Chasseurs regiment burst into the city and, with a swift blow with bayonets, overturned a column of French infantry. Bistrom's rangers pushed the enemy back to the lower part of Maloyaroslavets, but were unable to completely capture the city. Having stopped the Russians at the gates of the monastery, the French retained an important bridgehead in their hands and ensured the passage of reinforcements. Six more battalions of French infantry crossed over the masonry thrown onto the bridge to the right bank of the Puddle, and two guns were transported. Now the entire 2nd brigade of the Delzon division, led by Brigadier General L. Bertrand de Sivray, had gathered in the city. Having gained a numerical superiority, the French pushed Colonel Bistrom's rangers to the outskirts of Maloyaroslavets. However, the 6th Jaeger Regiment under the command of Colonel A.S. came to the aid of the 33rd Regiment. Glebov 1st. This regiment attacked the French with such courage that it forced them to retreat all the way to the Settlement. But the enemy again retained the ability to send troops into the city.

At this time, Dokhturov’s main forces approached Maloyaroslavets. The 6th Infantry Corps formed the center and left wing, positioned on both sides of the Kaluga road (on the Maryinsky and Terentyevsky fields). On the right flank, separated from the center by almost one and a half kilometers, there was the infantry of General I. S. Dorokhov’s detachment, part of which (two Jaeger regiments) was already fighting in the city. The command of the infantry units fighting in Maloyaroslavets was entrusted to Major General A.P. Ermolov. Understanding the importance of holding Maloyaroslavets until the main forces of Kutuzov’s army arrived, at 6 o’clock in the morning General Dokhturov sent the 19th Jaeger Regiment, led by Colonel N.V., to the city. Vuich 1st.

Together with the officers and soldiers of the 19th Jaeger Regiment, its regimental priest, Father Vasily Vasilkovsky, took an active part in the battle for Maloyaroslavets, who, with a cross in his hand, inspired the Jaegers going into the attack. For his distinction in battle, on October 12, 1812, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, becoming the first priest to receive such an award. In his submission to this order it is said that Father Vasily “walked ahead of the regiment and, by example of his courage, encouraged the soldiers to quickly defeat the enemy, and he received a wound to the head.”

Russian horse artillery provided great assistance to the city’s defenders. On the right flank there are eight guns of the 1st Horse Guards Battery under the command of Colonel P.A. The Cozens advanced to the heights of the right bank of the Puddle, from where they opened accurate fire on the bridge, which had not yet been fully restored by the French. At the same time, the 7th Cavalry Company, operating under its brave commander, Colonel A.P. Nikitin, took a favorable position at the city (Besnovskoye) cemetery. From this location, her guns could also fire at the bridge over the Puddle, causing great damage to the French troops stationed there.

At dawn on October 12, Prince Eugene Beauharnais left Uvarovsky for Maloyaroslavets, escorted by five cavalry companies of the Guard of Honor, as well as Italian dragoons of the Guards and Queen's regiments. The troops of the 4th Corps of the Great Army were preparing to set off along the Borovsk road to Maloyaroslavets when the sounds of cannonade were heard ahead. Then the 14th and 15th Infantry Divisions, the Royal Italian Guard and Ornano's cavalry were ordered to proceed as quickly as possible to the aid of Delzon's division.

When Beauharnais descended from Bunina Mountain to the Luzha River, General Delzon approached him with a report. At this time, only the 2nd brigade of Delzon’s division operated on the right bank of the Luzha, which retained in its hands the Settlement, the Nikolaevsky Chernoostrovsky monastery and the post house located opposite it. However, the 92nd and 106th linear infantry regiments were already bleeding, suffering heavy losses from Russian artillery fire, which occupied an advantageous position on the heights. General Delzon wanted to support these infantry regiments with battalions of his 1st Brigade, but Prince Eugene Beauharnais considered this decision premature, since fresh divisions rushing to help were still too far away.

Meanwhile, a battalion of the Wilmanstrand Infantry Regiment came to the aid of the Russian rangers fighting in Maloyaroslavets. The number of Russian infantry fighting in Maloyaroslavets now exceeded 4 thousand people. The French brigade of General Bertrand de Sivray, which had half as many fighters, found it increasingly difficult to withstand the onslaught of Colonel Vuich's rangers and the fire of Russian artillery, which fired from elevated positions.

Finally, Prince Eugene Beauharnais decided that the time had come to support the units in the city. At about 8 o'clock in the morning, he allowed General Delzon to transport the 1st Brigade of the 13th Infantry Division to the right side of Puddle. This brigade, commanded by General J. Serran, spent the night two kilometers from Maloyaroslavets and with the beginning of the battle moved closer to the city, but did not cross the river, remaining in reserve. Now it's her turn. The brigade, along with the 8th light and 1st Croatian infantry regiments, included the famous 84th line regiment - the only one in the French army that had a special plate with the inscription "Un contre" on the staff of its banner (below the eagle stand). dix" ("one against ten"). The regiment received this motto from Emperor Napoleon for the defense of St. Leonard (a suburb of the city of Graz) in June 1809, when two of its battalions (about 1.3 thousand bayonets) successfully fought against 10 thousand Austrians.

Division General Delzon personally led the 1st Brigade of his division into battle. Crossing the bridge over Luzha, its battalions rose to the Nikolaevsky Monastery, advanced along Borovskaya Street to Cathedral Square, and then went to the Kaluga Outpost and captured the entire western part of Maloyaroslavets.

At the same time, the 2nd brigade of Delzon's division, having climbed the deep ravine that separated Spasskaya Sloboda from the rest of the city, knocked out Colonel Bistrom's rangers from this settlement.

After this, the 11th Jaeger Regiment from the 7th Infantry Division was sent to reinforce the Russian units fighting in the city. To the sound of the Jaeger horns, with a unanimous cry of “hurray,” the Russians attacked the French.

A stubborn battle took place on the western outskirts of the city and at the Kaluga outpost. General A.-J. Delzon, waving his sword, inspired his soldiers. At this time, Russian riflemen, hiding behind the wall of the cemetery, rained down a hail of bullets on the French. Three bullets hit Delzon, and one of them killed him outright. The chief of the battalion, Jean-Baptiste Delzon, the 25-year-old brother of the general, who had been his adjutant since 1808, rushed to the dead man to lift his body, but at the same time was himself hit by a Russian bullet that pierced his chest. He died from this wound on October 18, 1812.

The death of General Delzon shook the ranks of the French. Trembling, they retreated from the Kaluga outpost and the central square to the Chernoostrovsky monastery. Groups of French soldiers, unable to withstand the fire and bayonet strike of the Russian infantry, fled all the way to the river. However, Gorodishche and part of Spasskaya Sloboda remained in the hands of the enemy.

Eugene Beauharnais, upon learning of Delzon's death, instructed the chief of staff of the 4th Corps, Brigadier General A.-S. Guillemino to lead the 13th Infantry Division, bring its disorganized units into order and restore the situation. Guillemino, who enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a brave warrior, carried out the viceroy's orders with honor. To hold out until other divisions of Beauharnais's corps arrived, he ordered several grenadier companies to gain a foothold in the monastery, as well as in two stone houses located near the monastery gates. In addition, the French riflemen occupied a wooden church that stood on Spasskaya Mountain.

These buildings, dominating the ravines, were put into a defensive state. According to the plan of General Guillemino, the French selected companies, hiding behind their strong walls, were to remain there even if the entire 13th division retreated to the river and fired from the rear at the Russian troops who would try to pursue it. “Events soon showed,” wrote the Italian officer Cesare de Laugier, “the reasonableness and usefulness of this order. Every time the Russians crossed these forward posts, they were fired upon from behind, fled in disarray, and ours again resumed the offensive in order to push them back completely.”

The fire from the Russian batteries greatly annoyed the French infantry, causing them heavy damage. To counter these guns, two field batteries of the 13th Infantry Division were placed on the left low bank of the Luzha. In turn, General Ermolov received from Dokhturov another company of heavy artillery (the 32nd battery company of Lieutenant Colonel F.I. Bellingshausen), most of which was located west of Maloyaroslavets on Ivanovskaya Mountain, from which the bridge over Luzha, as well as the mill dam, had good fire .

While all the above actions were taking place, Emperor Napoleon, who spent the night in Borovsk, left this city on the morning of October 12 along with the Headquarters of the Great Army and headed to Maloyaroslavets, not yet suspecting that the battle had begun. Hearing the roar of artillery cannonade, Napoleon jumped on his horse and galloped towards Maloyaroslavets. On the way, he met an officer sent by the Viceroy with a message about the Russian attack on this city. Having learned that the Prince of Beauharnais considered the matter serious, the emperor sent his orderly Captain G. Gourgaud to him. The latter was supposed to convey to the viceroy the order to hold Maloyaroslavets and notify him that other French troops were coming to reinforce him. At the same time, Napoleon ordered the columns of the 1st Army Corps (Marshal Davout), marching along the Borovskaya road ahead of the rest, to speed up their movement towards Maloyaroslavets. Leaving his main apartment and carriages in the village of Gorodnya (10 kilometers from Maloyaroslavets), the emperor drove forward and at 11 o’clock arrived at Bunina Mountain, from which he had a view of the city. From here Napoleon watched the progress of the battle through a telescope. By his order, strong batteries were placed on both sides of the road, not far from the hill on which he himself was located.

At this time, the entire Beauharnais corps had already approached Maloyaroslavets. The Viceroy ordered General Jean-Baptiste Broussier's 14th Infantry Division to support the 13th Division, which had long been fighting in the city. At about 10:30 a.m., Broussier transferred the 1st brigade of his division (18th light and 53rd line regiments) to the right bank of the Puddle.

Under the rhythmic roar of drums, merging with the roar of artillery cannonade and the crackle of rifle fire, fresh battalions of French infantry entered the city. General Guillemino, taking advantage of the arrival of these reinforcements, gathered both brigades of the 13th Infantry Division under his command and launched a decisive offensive. After a stubborn battle that unfolded on the streets of the city, in houses, gardens and vegetable gardens, the French again captured Maloyaroslavets and moved beyond its outskirts.

When Russian troops were driven out of Maloyaroslavets for the third time, Major General Ermolov asked Dokhturov for reinforcements. The brigade of Major General F.I. Talyzin, 1st of the 7th Infantry Division, was immediately sent to his aid. The Libavsky regiment of this brigade was the first to take action. The soldiers were ordered not to load their guns and not to shout the usual Russian “hurray.” The batteries stationed near the city increased their fire on the French, after which the Libavian column moved forward in threatening silence. With drums beating and banners fluttering, the soldiers struck the nearest French column without firing a shot and, “having destroyed it,” drove the enemy riflemen all the way to the river.

Between 11 and 12 o'clock Maloyaroslavets was once again lost to the French, who, however, managed to once again retain the monastery and the Settlement. Hit by the bullets of French riflemen, prudently placed by Guillemino in the stone houses near the monastery and outside its walls, the Russians could not pursue the enemy fleeing to the river.

Prince Eugene Beauharnais, after a short conference with generals Guillemino and Broussier, ordered them to recapture the city. Around noon, he sent the 2nd Brigade of the 14th Infantry Division (9th and 35th Line Regiments) to reinforce the troops in action. This brigade greeted the Viceroy's orders with enthusiasm. The soldiers entered the city, many of whose houses were engulfed in flames. There, in the narrow streets, amid smoke, fire and gunpowder smoke, a fierce battle began again. The French columns, preceded by a mass of riflemen, moved forward, regardless of losses. Met by rifle volleys and grapeshot, they nevertheless burst into Cathedral Square and captured Maloyaroslavets for the fourth time.

A.P. Ermolov wrote about this attack later: “...Our regiments scattered throughout the city, batteries attacked by the enemy, could not resist his aspirations. Neither the personal example of Major General Dorokhov, who rushed forward, where he received a severe wound, nor the efforts of Colonels Vuich and Nikitin could stop those overcome...”

To support the fighters, Ermolov immediately brought into action the Sofia Infantry Regiment, which he had previously held in reserve. Like the Libavsky regiment, the Sofians also received orders to attack the enemy without firing shots or shouting “hurray,” using only edged weapons. Thanks to this bold counterattack, the remaining Jaeger regiments fighting in the city were able to launch a new offensive. In this episode of the battle, which was successful for Russian weapons, the Tomsk and Polotsk infantry regiments also distinguished themselves. The total number of Russian infantry operating in Maloyaroslavets around noon on October 12 reached 9.2 thousand people. The French brought in up to 9 thousand infantry, so that both sides had approximately equality in manpower.

The French troops, driven out of Maloyaroslavets, fell into great disarray as a result of the losses they suffered. The losses of command personnel were especially sensitive. In the 13th Infantry Division, both brigadier generals, Bertrand de Sivray and Serran, were wounded, and in the 14th Division, Colonel of the 18th Light Regiment L.-M. Gossard. Among those killed was Colonel of the 35th Line Regiment J.-B. Penan (who was replaced by Major P. Figier).

But failure did not shake the resolve of the French troops. Their commanders, who were still in the ranks, as well as officers from the headquarters of the 4th Corps, stopped the fleeing, again formed them into columns and led them to storm the city. All battalions of the Guillemino and Broussier divisions were now thrown into battle, and at 13 o'clock in the afternoon the French captured most of Maloyaroslavets, including Cathedral Square, for the fifth time. The riflemen of the 13th and 14th divisions advanced in places outside the city, but were met there by artillery and rifle fire, as well as bayonet counterattacks by Russian riflemen, and retreated under the cover of city buildings. During this period of the battle, Russian light artillery performed well, in particular, the 12th light company of the 7th artillery brigade.

Taking advantage of the fact that on the outskirts of Maloyaroslavets there was still the Vilmanstrand Infantry Regiment, which held in its hands the street adjacent to Cathedral Square, Major General A.P. Ermolov ordered him to recapture the city center from the enemy. Fulfilling this order, the Wilmanstrand regiment, which was then joined by the rest of Yermolov’s infantry, decisively attacked the French and cleared of them not only Cathedral Square, but also the entire upper part of Maloyaroslavets. At the same time, other Russian battalions drove the enemy out of Spasskaya Sloboda, throwing him back to the river.

The Viceroy, who was with his headquarters near the bridge over the Puddle, saw crowds of French soldiers retreating in disorder from the upper part of the city towards the river, and hundreds of wounded leaving the battlefield. Realizing that his troops, waging a difficult battle for Maloyaroslavets, needed reinforcements, E. Beauharnais decided to bring into the city the 15th (Italian) infantry division of General Domenico Pino, which had never had to take part in battles from the very beginning of the Russian campaign.

“Pino’s division, which throughout the campaign was eager for battle, wanting to show its bravery and courage,” wrote an eyewitness of the battle, Eugene Labeaume, “seized on this opportunity and enthusiastically obeyed the order of the prince.” Columns of Italian line and light infantry soldiers rushed one after another to the right side of the river. The regiments, which gathered the bravest youths of Northern Italy under their red, white and green banners, crossed the bridge without firing a shot, but with the beating of drums and shouts of “Long live the Emperor!” On the right bank of the Luzha the 15th Infantry Division was divided. Its 1st Brigade (4th Battalion, 1st Light Regiment, 2nd Line and Dalmatian Regiments), commanded by Brigadier General Giacomo Fontana, advanced to the St. Nicholas Monastery to support elements of the 13th Division there. The 2nd Brigade (3rd Light and 3rd Line Regiments), led by Brigadier General Joseph-Marie Levier, stood at the mouth of the ravine separating Maloyaroslavets and Spasskaya Sloboda, ready to reinforce the 14th Division and go behind the Russian columns. who drove the latter out of the suburbs.

After a short respite, both brigades of the 15th division moved forward again to completely capture Maloyaroslavets. General D. Pino personally led the 1st brigade of his division into the attack, following it along Borovskaya Street to the central square of the city. Here, on Cathedral Square and the adjacent streets, the battle became especially fierce. “A terrible battle,” Laugier wrote about this moment in the battle, ensues amid the flames consuming the buildings. Most of the falling wounded were burned alive on the spot, and their mutilated corpses present a terrible sight.” Despite the fierce resistance of the Russian infantry, Fontana's brigade captured the square and advanced to the Kaluga outpost. At the same time, the 2nd brigade of the 15th division, climbing the ravine under deadly rifle and grapeshot fire, captured Spasskaya Sloboda. This success, however, cost the brave Italians dearly. Brigadier General J.-M. Levier was mortally wounded (he died four days after the battle). Both regimental commanders of his brigade, as well as five out of eight battalion commanders, were also wounded. Another battalion chief was killed.

The losses of the command staff of the 1st brigade of the Italian division were equally great. Its commander, Brigadier General Fontana, and most of the senior officers were wounded. Divisional General Pino was wounded and dropped out of action, after which the 15th Infantry Division was led by its chief of staff, Colonel Livio Galimberti.

To support the actions of the French and Italian infantry fighting in Maloyaroslavets, by order of the Viceroy, several artillery batteries were transferred to the right bank of the Luzha. Now the Napoleonic battalions fighting there received fairly strong fire support. Maloyaroslavets again, for the sixth time, was captured by the troops of Prince Eugene Beauharnais.

The Italian Royal Guard, left in reserve, was located on the left bank of the Puddle. Being under fire from Russian guns firing from the heights of the right bank of the river, the Italian guards suffered serious losses and were forced to constantly change their position. The Italians were especially annoyed by the fire of the battery, which fired from the crest of a hill located to the west of the city, near the road to Karizha. In order to somehow weaken its effect, the Viceroy ordered six guns of the Italian Guards Horse Artillery Company to be placed opposite it, on the left side of the river. The gunners serving these guns here showed not only high skill, but also amazing courage: “Completely open, exposed to enemy attacks, forced to respond from the bottom up, they maneuver with such composure, with such calculated accuracy that they first silence the enemy battery, and then retreat,” wrote Cesare de Laugier.

The entry of the Italian division into Maloyaroslavets gave the troops of Eugene Beauharnais a numerical superiority over the units of D.S. Dokhturov, who fought in the city and on its outskirts. Now, against 9 thousand Russian infantrymen, the Viceroy had about 15 thousand soldiers (excluding losses incurred since the beginning of the battle). At this time, not far from Maloyaroslavets, on the road from Spas-Zagorye, there was the 7th Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General N.N. Raevsky, who approached the battlefield at noon, but did not enter into action, awaiting Kutuzov’s orders.

Only around 2 p.m. did this corps enter the battle. By order of General Dokhturov, Raevsky took under his command the right wing and the center of the battle formation of the Russian troops, sending the Nizhny Novgorod and Oryol regiments of the 26th Infantry Division of Major General I. F. Paskevich to the left flank. By that time, Pino’s Italian division had already captured Maloyaroslavets, driving out the Russian rangers from the city, tired of hours of fighting and weakened by the losses they had suffered.

The Ladoga and Poltava infantry regiments of the 7th Corps, lined up parallel to the road from Churikov, attacked the Italians advancing from Spasskaya Sloboda with bayonets. The offensive was crowned with complete success: Russian troops captured not only this settlement, but also the entire upper part of Maloyaroslavets.

After Maloyaroslavets was recaptured from the French for the sixth time, Lieutenant General Raevsky strengthened his right wing by placing a strong battery of guns from the 12th Artillery Brigade east of the city, near the Nechaika River ravine.

To help his infantry, against which two Russian corps were already operating, the Viceroy ordered a regiment of guards foot rangers to cross the bridge to the right bank of the Puddle. These were excellent soldiers - the elite of the Italian army. Led by Colonel Olivier Peraldi, the columns of rangers crossed the Puddle and took up a position near the Church of the Savior. The commander of the Jaeger Regiment of the Royal Guard saw that the Russian battalions were moving towards the bridge in order to, having captured it, cut off the Franco-Italian troops located in Maloyaroslavets. Then Peraldi led the 1st battalion of his rangers in a bayonet attack. This part of the guards, followed by the remnants of the 2nd brigade of the 15th division, rushed forward and overturned everything in its path. Spasskaya Sloboda was recaptured, and the Italian guards rangers drove the Russians out of the city. At the same time, other French and Italian units launched a new general offensive and captured all of Maloyaroslavets. At the same time, by order of Beauharnais, a regiment of grenadiers and carabinieri of the Italian Royal Guard crossed the bridge to the right bank of the river to serve as a reserve for the troops operating in the city.

Colonel Peraldi, inspired by his previous success, advanced with both battalions of the Italian Guards Chasseurs east of Spasskaya Sloboda and attacked the right wing of the Russian battle formation. The line of Russian riflemen was broken and put to flight. But then the Russian right-flank battery from the 12th Artillery Brigade immediately unleashed a deadly hail of grapeshot on the Italians. Having suffered terrible losses, Colonel Peraldi's battalions wavered. Taking advantage of their frustration, the Russian infantry, supported by cavalry, immediately launched a counterattack. Italian troops were again driven out of the entire settlement.

In the battle against the rangers of Colonel Peraldi and eight battalions of the 2nd brigade of the Italian division, riflemen and separate battalions of the Ladoga and Poltava regiments of the 26th infantry division, as well as the Smolensk, Narva, Aleksopol and New Ingermanland regiments of the 12th division took part. The guns of the 12th Artillery Brigade played a major role in repelling many enemy attacks, and its commanders showed their excellent qualities.

Colonel Peraldi, despite the heavy losses suffered by his regiment, did not want to accept failure. While the Italian army infantry was settling in and building barricades, preparing to defend the coastal part of Spasskaya Sloboda, the Guards Jaegers again went on the offensive. According to Laugier’s figurative expression, the guards rangers emerged from the Spassky gardens “like a pack of lions.” Above their black shakos, plumes green as grass swayed, and the steel needles of bayonets sparkled. Moving forward uncontrollably, they again overthrew the Russian riflemen and drove them back to the ravine (probably Nechaevsky), lying east of the city.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the 8th Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General M.M. approached Maloyaroslavets from Spas-Zagorye. Borozdin 1st, followed by the main forces of M.I. Kutuzova. Arriving at the battlefield, they positioned themselves on the heights on both sides of the Kaluga road, two and a half kilometers from the city. By order of Kutuzov, the construction of four earthen fortifications armed with cannons began on the heights near Maloyaroslavets. Two such batteries were placed on both sides of the city (at a distance of a cannon shot from it), and the other two - in front of the village of Nemtsovo. During their construction, which took place under enemy fire, Russian military engineers distinguished themselves.

Arriving at Maloyaroslavets along with the main forces of his army, Kutuzov went to the fighting troops and remained under fire, despite the fact that the cavalry general A.P. who was with him. Tormasov and “Chief Manager for Army Food” V.S. Lanskoy begged him not to take risks and move to a safer place. Carefully observing the progress of the battle, the field marshal decided to replace Dokhturov’s regiments, which had been fighting since the early morning, with the 8th Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General M.M. Borozdin 1st.

This corps included the 2nd Grenadier and 27th Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major Generals Prince Karl of Mecklenburg and D.P. Neverovsky. Having received Kutuzov's order, General Borozdin advanced his units to Maloyaroslavets. Neverovsky sent the Odessa and Simbirsk infantry regiments under the command of Colonel Kologrivov and Major Poloskov to reinforce the right wing, where the 12th division of Raevsky’s corps was located. Another part of the 27th Infantry Division - the Tarnopol and Vilna infantry regiments, commanded by Majors Kosmachevsky and Bezobrazov, was sent to the left wing of the battle formation, replacing Dokhturov's bloodless units there. In the battle for Maloyaroslavets, along with the infantry of the 27th division, the artillery attached to it, namely the 54th light company of the 27th artillery brigade, actively participated.

The sun was already setting towards the horizon, illuminating the battlefield with its sunset rays. At this time, the troops of Eugene Beauharnais once again tried to advance south of Maloyaroslavets. But the columns of Napoleonic infantry leaving the city were met with grapeshot volleys from Russian batteries and rifle fire from riflemen. The Russian infantry battalions, which formed the battle line within a cannon shot of Maloyaroslavets, rushed forward to reinforce their riflemen and overthrow the French with a bayonet strike.

In this episode, the Nizhny Novgorod and Oryol infantry regiments of the 26th division distinguished themselves under the command of Major General I.F. Paskevich, who were then located in the center of the Russian position. Their actions were observed by Field Marshal Kutuzov himself, who, surrounded by a large retinue, was located near the Kaluga road. Before his eyes, General Paskevich boldly attacked the enemy and, driving him back to Maloyaroslavets, captured most of the city.

When repelling the French who were trying to reach the Kaluga road, Russian artillerymen acted magnificently. Colonel P.A. Kozen drove up with several guns of his battery loaded with grapeshot straight to the barrier of the Kaluga outpost, where, according to his recollections, “he could barely line up in a place strewn with dead and wounded.” The dense columns of French infantry were already very close to the guns when Cozen “fired deadly fire on the enemy” and “stopped a further attempt on him in the same place until the very end of the battle.”

Prince Eugene Beauharnais had already brought into the battle, which was thundering on the right side of the Puddle, almost the entire infantry of his corps. Despite the breakdown of his divisions, exhausted by frontal attacks against the strongest Russian position, the viceroy firmly held the crossing and the part of the city adjacent to the river in his hands. It was already evening when the French finally received reinforcements, which Beauharnais had long asked the emperor for. This was the 5th Infantry Division of General J.-D. Company from the 1st Corps of the Grand Army.

At 5 o'clock in the evening, Compan's division approached the Luzha River and crossed the bridge to its right bank. Leaving part of her forces in the lower city, she moved to the left, crossed the ravine located east of Spasskaya Sloboda, and deployed into a battle line parallel to the road to Churikovo. Having scattered many riflemen in front of the front of his division, General Kompana directed them to bypass the Russian right wing. For this purpose, the French tried to use one of the ravines stretching from the shore of the Puddle east of the city, but they were prevented by Russian riflemen, supported by the artillery of Raevsky’s corps. The batteries, composed of guns from the 12th Artillery Brigade, met the enemy with well-aimed fire, and the infantry with rifle fire and bayonet counterattacks.

With the arrival of the 5th Infantry Division of Davout's Corps, the number of Napoleonic troops fighting on the right bank of the Luga reached 20 thousand people, against whom about 30 thousand infantrymen and artillerymen acted on the Russian side (the number of French and Russian troops is indicated without taking into account the losses they suffered from start of the battle). In addition, near Maloyaroslavets there were two more Russian infantry corps, consisting of over 22 thousand people with 162 guns, as well as quite a large cavalry (more than 6 thousand regular cavalry riders and at least 10 thousand Cossacks).

The 1st and 2nd cavalry corps had already approached the French, after which almost the entire reserve cavalry of the Great Army gathered near Maloyaroslavets under the command of Marshal Joachim Murat, King of Naples (more than 4 thousand people with 43 guns). Together with the cavalry from the Beauharnais corps, there were now more than 5.5 thousand Napoleonic cavalrymen on Bunina Mountain and near the village of Malechkino (now Milichkino). Napoleon's guard was concentrated in the distant reserve near the village of Gorodnya under the command of Marshals F.-J. Lefebvre and J.-B. Bessier.

The Viceroy's troops, located on the right bank of the Puddle, encouraged by the arrival of Kompan's division, again made a decisive effort and with a united onslaught drove the Russians out of Maloyaroslavets. Moving literally over corpses, columns of French and Italian infantry advanced to the outskirts of the city. The regiments of Raevsky and Borozdin, driven back with great damage, were forced to retreat to a cannon shot from the city, under the protection of their artillery and the earthen fortifications being built.

M.I. Kutuzov, concerned about this circumstance, sent the 3rd Infantry Division, taken from the 3rd Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General Count P.A., to reinforce Borozdin’s corps. Stroganov. This division, led by Major General Prince I.L. Shakhovsky, was considered one of the best in the Russian army.

At the same time, the Russian commander-in-chief ordered Lieutenant General P.P. Konovnitsyn to take control of Maloyaroslavets again. “You know,” he said, “how I take care of you and always ask you not to throw yourself into the fire, but now I ask you to cleanse the city.” Fulfilling the field marshal's order, Konovnitsyn personally led units of the 2nd Grenadier Division of the 8th Infantry Corps to Maloyaroslavets. By order of the head of this division, the Astrakhan Grenadier Regiment was sent to the western part of the city. With a decisive attack by the Astrakhan people, the enemy was driven out of the city.

The Siberian and Little Russian grenadier regiments, which made up the 3rd brigade of the Prince of Mecklenburg division, were sent to the eastern part of Maloyaroslavets. Entering the city, the grenadiers showed themselves to be experienced, skillful fighters. There were no recent recruits or militiamen in their ranks, but they were dominated by old, tall mustaches who had gone through more than one campaign and were good with the bayonet. With a strong blow they knocked the enemy out of Spasskaya Sloboda and drove him to the river.

Of the 3rd Infantry Division of Major General Shakhovsky, which entered the battle line late in the evening, only one Revel infantry regiment, which had been sent to the right wing at the disposal of General Raevsky, took an active part in the battle.

It was already dark when the French and Italian troops operating on the right bank of the Luzha were joined by another division from Marshal Davout’s corps, which approached Maloyaroslavets after Kompan’s division. This was the 3rd Infantry Division of General M.-E. Gerard, who crossed the Puddle at the mill dam. Gerard's division advanced beyond the road to Carizha and deployed into a battle line parallel to it, on the edge of the forest. With its right flank it adjoined the ravine, behind which the troops of the Russian left flank were forced to retreat. Having taken this position, Gerard's division forced the Russians to withdraw back the battery, which stood on the edge of the forest and caused heavy losses to the French.

General Dokhturov's corps was within a cannon shot of Maloyaroslavets, but to the north-west of the city, on the left bank of the Puddle, fearing the French would bypass its left flank, it maintained a line of riflemen. Thanks to this D.S. Dokhturov was notified in time about the French crossing in that area and immediately ordered to strengthen the units operating there. Already in the dark, the Moscow infantry regiment was sent to the left flank to drive out the French who had crossed the river from the forest they occupied. Together with the Ufa Regiment and the 3rd Battalion of the Polotsk Regiment, which were already in this sector, they secured the left flank of the Russian battle formation from a possible encirclement, but could not prevent the crossing and deployment of the entire division of General Gerard.

Meanwhile, in Maloyaroslavets, Napoleonic troops finally achieved a turning point. In the light of the fires, the Beauharnais divisions finally drove the Russian infantry out of the city and established themselves on its outskirts. The artillery of the 4th Corps of the Great Army, having driven through the streets of Maloyaroslavets littered with bodies, advanced to positions ahead of the city limits. From here its guns could support their own infantry and conduct a fire duel with Russian batteries.

Russian infantry units, meanwhile, left Maloyaroslavets and joined their comrades, who stood within cannon shot of the city. Only the artillery continued to support the cannonade, and the riflemen who were in front of the battle line engaged in an intense firefight with the enemy. The last to leave the city were the grenadier regiments from the division of Prince Charles of Mecklenburg, with which was the duty general of Kutuzov’s army, Lieutenant General P.P. Konovnitsyn. On this day, he personally led troops into battle several times. French bullets and cannonballs missed this brave general, however, the field postal inspector F.O., who accompanied him. Doliva-Dobrovolsky was wounded. The “correcting post” of the Quartermaster General of the Russian Army, Colonel K.F., behaved no less bravely. Tol, who visited Maloyaroslavets three times during the battle.

When retreating from the city, Russian troops deliberately set fire to houses and other buildings of Maloyaroslavets. They did this even in the midst of battle, but only in cases where it was dictated by the combat situation. The arson played into the hands of the Russians, since the fire, brightly illuminating the area, made it possible to monitor all the movements of the French when leaving the city. Russian artillery directed its shots to where the French were gathering to extinguish burning houses and barns.

By 10 o'clock in the evening, both sides stopped the artillery cannonade, although the rifle fire continued until eleven o'clock. At night, however, the Astrakhan Grenadier Regiment, located on the left wing, again entered the western part of Maloyaroslavets. He managed to penetrate the city, set fire to the surviving houses and retreat almost without any damage.

“Night and fatigue put an end to this fierce battle...” wrote E. Labeaume.

Napoleon's troops, gathered on the right side of Puddle, were then located as follows. The 3rd and 5th infantry divisions of Generals Gerard and Compan from Davout's corps stood on both sides of the city, forming the right and left flanks of the battle formation, respectively. The 13th Infantry Division of the Beauharnais Corps, led by Brigadier General Guillemino, occupied the city center and its western part (including Cathedral Square and Kaluga Outpost). General Broussier's 14th Infantry Division deployed its brigades ahead of the eastern part of the city. The Italian 15th Infantry Division, commanded by Colonel L. Galimberti, was placed in reserve and located in a ravine between the city and Spasskaya Sloboda. The foot rangers of the royal guard retreated in the evening closer to Maloyaroslavets and united with the grenadiers and carabinieri, who left their position at the Church of the Savior.

The number of French and Italian troops located in Maloyaroslavets and on the sides of it was about 26 thousand soldiers (excluding losses incurred in the battle). On the left bank of the Luzha and on the Borovskaya road (between Maloyaroslavets and Gorodnya) the remaining divisions of the 1st Corps, Murat's reserve cavalry and the Napoleonic Guard were located. On the approach to Gorodnya there was also the 3rd Corps of the Great Army, led by Marshal M. Ney. These troops numbered about 44 thousand people, so in total Napoleon had about 70 thousand officers and soldiers at his disposal. At the end of the battle, the emperor himself left for Gorodnya, where he stopped for the night in a simple peasant hut.

By 10 o'clock in the evening, Russian troops were located in a semi-circle around Maloyaroslavets, covering all roads leading from it to the south and southwest, including Kaluga. In the first line, about a kilometer from the city, the infantry corps of Dokhturov, Raevsky and Borozdin, as well as the 3rd infantry division from the corps of Lieutenant General Stroganov, were built. They relied on redoubts built by order of Kutuzov. On the right flank (against the French division of Compan) were the 3rd Infantry Division of Major General Shakhovsky and part of the 27th Division, somewhat to the left were the 12th Infantry Division of Major General Kolyubakin and two regiments of the 26th Division.

Further, covering the roads to Serpukhov and Maryino (now Maklino), the 2nd Grenadier Division of the Prince of Mecklenburg (without the Astrakhan Regiment) was located. In the center, two regiments of the 26th Infantry Division under the command of Major General Paskevich occupied a position, and on the left wing - the 6th Infantry Corps of Dokhturov and part of the 8th Corps (Astrakhan Regiment of the 2nd Grenadier Division and two regiments of the 27th Infantry Division of Major General Neverovsky). Here, east of the village of Terentyevo, the 1st Cavalry Corps of General Meller-Zakomelsky was stationed, covering the road to Medyn.

Further, near the village of Karizha (behind the river of the same name), there was the cavalry of Dorokhov’s detachment, and even further to the left, extending its line to the village of Pansky, was Platov’s Cossack corps. In the second line, at a distance of 2.5 kilometers from Maloyaroslavets, reserves were located. On the right, between the roads to Maryino and Serpukhov, is the 1st Grenadier Division of the 3rd Infantry Corps. In the center, to the right of the Kaluga road, in front of the village of Nemtsovo, is the Guards Infantry Division of the 5th Corps. To the left of the road to Kaluga are the 1st and 2nd cuirassier divisions under the command of Lieutenant General Prince D.V. Golitsyn.

Towards the end of the battle, the troops of General M.A. approached Maloyaroslavets. Miloradovich: 2nd and 4th infantry, 2nd, 3rd and 4th cavalry corps. Turning off the road from Spas-Zagorye, these corps formed the left wing of the second line, standing on both sides of the Serpukhov road. The entire Russian army, taking into account the losses suffered and the reserves that arrived at the city in the evening, had about 90 thousand people in its ranks.

As night fell, Kutuzov's main forces moved even further from Maloyaroslavets. Having crossed to the left bank of the Karizhka River, which had a very deep and gully bed, they took up an advantageous defensive position on the Nemtsov heights. Here the Russian army hoped to stop the French if they continued to move along the Kaluga road. The redoubts built near Maloyaroslavets were abandoned, and the guns were taken from them. However, a strong Russian rearguard remained under the city under the command of Miloradovich. M.I. himself Kutuzov located his apartment in the village of Nemtsovo. Here a dispute arose between him and Colonel K.F. Tol regarding the further actions of the Russian army. The latter suggested that the field marshal attack the French with all Russian forces, push them back beyond Puddle, and then pursue Napoleon if he retreats further. Kutuzov considered this proposal too risky.

What were the results of the battle of Maloyaroslavets? Tactically, it ended in victory for Napoleon's troops, since Eugene Beauharnais' corps, reinforced only in the evening by two divisions of Davout's corps, completed the task assigned to it by Napoleon. French and Italian troops, fighting with the greatest tenacity for eighteen hours, managed to retain Maloyaroslavets in their hands and firmly establish themselves on the right bank of the Luzha River. However, the city itself no longer existed: in its place were charred ruins, littered with the bodies of killed and burned alive soldiers of both sides. “The streets could be distinguished only by the numerous corpses with which they were strewn,” E. Labom described the internal view of Maloyaroslavets the day after the battle, “at every step one came across severed arms and legs, and heads crushed by passing artillery pieces lay lying around. All that was left of the houses were smoking ruins, under the burning ashes of which half-collapsed skeletons could be seen.”

The French and Italians considered themselves winners, as evidenced by all their communications, memoirs and other sources. “Yesterday was a magnificent day for my army corps,” Prince Eugene Beauharnais wrote to his wife after the battle, “I dealt from morning to evening with eight enemy divisions, and I finished it maintaining my position. The French and Italians covered themselves with glory." Throughout the battle, Beauharnais's troops had to act against constantly strengthening Russian troops, who had more numerous and advantageously located artillery. “Your Majesty could judge for yourself,” the Viceroy of Italy noted in his report to Napoleon, “about the efforts that the 4th Army Corps had to make to take away such a grandiose position as Maloyaroslavets from superior (enemy) forces.” This tactical success was achieved, however, at a very high price.

Prince Eugene Beauharnais, in his report sent to the French Emperor two days after the battle, estimated the total losses of Napoleon's troops at approximately 3.5 thousand people (including 400 killed), while Laugier in his diary reports that this damage amounted to more than 4 thousand people . The above figures should obviously be considered underestimated. It is known that in the battle of Maloyaroslavets, Napoleon’s army lost two generals (Delzon and Levier) and 88 officers killed. Six generals and 241 officers were wounded. On average, officer and soldier losses of the French army in the battles of that era were correlated as 1:20. In this case, for 8 generals and 329 officers who were out of action at Maloyaroslavets, there should be about 6.7 thousand non-commissioned officers and privates. Thus, the total loss of Napoleonic troops in the battle on October 12, 1812 could reach 7 thousand people. Half of these losses were suffered by the Italians, who lost 4 generals and 152 officers.

It should be noted that almost all the losses of Napoleonic troops in the battle of Maloyaroslavets were killed and wounded. The number of French prisoners, according to one of the Russian sources, “did not exceed 200 people, because our fierce soldiers gave no quarter to the enemy during repeated assaults on the city.”

The most difficult loss for the French was the death of Delzon, one of the best divisional generals of Napoleonic army. “The entire 4th Army Corps deeply regrets the loss of General Delzon,” Beauharnais reported to Napoleon in his report on the battle of Maloyaroslavets. “To tell Your Majesty that he left his wife, four children and twelve brothers without means means to ensure their fate.” Indeed, the French emperor adequately appreciated the qualities of the deceased general, awarding his relatives a large pension.

The total losses of Russian regular troops in the battle of Maloyaroslavets were: 19 officers, 45 non-combatant officers, 1294 privates and 6 non-combatants killed, 1 general, 136 officers, 153 non-combatant officers, 2924 privates and 17 non-combatant wounded, 31 non-combatant officers, 2248 privates and 13 non-combatants missing, for a total of 6,887 people.

The above figures, however, cannot be considered final. Apparently, the damage suffered by the Russian army on October 12 and 13, 1812 reached 7 thousand people, since the estimated losses of Platov’s Cossacks, as well as the cavalry of Dorokhov’s and Seslavin’s detachments, should be added to the number of people who were out of action already given by us. Noteworthy is the significant number of missing lower ranks of the Russian army (2292 people). The vast majority of them should be considered dead. The unidentified, often completely burnt corpses of these soldiers remained in Maloyaroslavets, occupied by the French. The exact number of Russian soldiers who fell on October 12 is difficult to determine. It probably numbered 3–4 thousand people. In three mass graves on the territory of the city after the battle, only 1.3 thousand people were buried. The number of soldiers buried in two unsurvived mass graves in the vicinity of Maloyaroslavets is unknown.

The losses of the Russian regiments fighting at Maloyaroslavets were no less than those of the French and Italians. This was largely due to the inexperience of the recruits and militia, who made up more than half of all Russian infantry fighting in the city. These raw fighters showed tenacity when under the tight control of their officers and veteran non-commissioned officers. Left without commanders, they immediately fell into disarray and became easy prey for the enemy. “Soldiers, among whom there were many recruits,” one of the Russian participants in the battle, A.A., openly testified. Sherbinin - they fought badly at Maloyaroslavets. The officers alone sacrificed themselves.” Such a harsh verdict, however, cannot be considered completely objective - the lists of hundreds of lower ranks of the Russian army awarded for this battle testify to the courage and dedication they showed.

The very nature of the battle speaks about the courage and tenacity of the Russian troops. As is known, during the eighteen-hour battle Maloyaroslavets changed hands many times, and sources provide conflicting data about how many times this happened. “The subject of the battle was the city,” Kutuzov reported in his first report to the Tsar, drawn up at one o’clock in the morning on October 13, “which was occupied by us eight times and was succumbed to the strong desire of the enemy for the same number of times.”

The testimony of the French and Italian participants in the battle coincides with Kutuzov's report of October 13, claiming that Russian troops attacked the city eight times. Some domestic sources believe, however, that Maloyaroslavets changed hands even more often. Isn't this a confirmation of their courage and will to win? Particularly distinguished at Maloyaroslavets were the infantry and ranger regiments of the 6th Corps and Dorokhov’s detachment, which fought bravely from the very morning under the command of Infantry General D.S. Dokhturova. With their many hours of struggle for the city, they gave time to Kutuzov’s main forces to arrive at Maloyaroslavets and block the enemy’s path to Kaluga.

Now, in order to continue moving towards Kaluga, Napoleon’s troops had to fight the entire Russian army, which consistently occupied advantageous defensive positions on the Nemtsov heights, and then near the villages of Goncharovo and Detchino. Early in the morning of October 13, the bivouacs of the French troops located north of Maloyaroslavets (on the Borovskaya road) were attacked by six Don Cossack regiments of Major General A.V. Ilovaisky 3rd, exiled across the Luzha River by Ataman Platov. Having caused a stir behind enemy lines, they almost captured Napoleon himself near Gorodnya and, attacked by the cavalry of the Imperial Guard, returned to their original position with 11 captured cannons. On the same day, three Cossack regiments under the command of Colonel G.D. Ilovaisky on the 9th near Medyn defeated the advance detachment of the 5th (Polish) Corps of the Great Army, moving from Vereya.

The French emperor hesitated for a long time, listening to the opinions of his marshals, but did not dare to give the Russians a new battle. Abandoning his previous plan, he preferred to return to the old Smolensk road, which was the main communication of the Great Army. After standing at Maloyaroslavets for two more days, Napoleonic troops on the night of October 15 moved through Borovsk and Vereya to Mozhaisk to unite with the detachment of Marshal A.-E. Mortier, who moved there from Moscow.

Thus, Napoleon’s plan was thwarted: the French were unable to reach Kaluga and seize the rich food supplies collected there. Instead, they were forced to retreat west along the Smolensk road, the surrounding area of ​​which had been ravaged and devastated in the summer. Thus, the Russian army won a strategic victory near Maloyaroslavets.

The Battle of Maloyaroslavets became one of the significant events that influenced the outcome of the confrontation between the two largest European powers of that time. This battle, along with Borodinsky, is inscribed in the heroic history of Russia, and its participants, led by Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov covered themselves with unfading glory and remained forever in the memory of their descendants.

NOTES

Wounded by a bullet in the leg, General Dorokhov was forced to leave service because of this wound. He died at the beginning of 1815 in Tula and was buried, according to his own will, in the city of Vereya, which he liberated from the enemy in 1812.

SOURCES AND LITERATURE.

1. RGVIA. F. 103. Op. 208a. St. 0. D. 7, D. 10. Part 1, D. 107. Part 43; Op. 209a. St. 17. D. 2; F. 846. Op. 16. D. 3652; F. 489. Op. 1. D. 2270; F. 806. Op. 1. D. 2442.
2. Patriotic War of 1812. Materials of the Military Scientist Archive. Section 1. Correspondence of Russian government officials and institutions. T. 19. St. Petersburg, 1912.
3. M.I. Kutuzov. Collection of documents T.4. Part 2. M., 1955.
4. Russian Archive. Book 1. M., 1874.
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(From Tarutino to Maloyaroslavets. To the 190th anniversary of the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. / Collection of articles. - Kaluga: “Golden Alley”, 2002.)

The movement of the French towards Kaluga
When Napoleon left Moscow, he already clearly understood that the course of the campaign was completely out of his control. However, he still had a plan to end the war victoriously. Realizing that there was no point in staying in Moscow any longer, the French emperor ordered the city to be abandoned. The hasty abandonment of Moscow was caused, first of all, by the results of the Tarutino battle. And although from a purely tactical point of view this was another victory for French weapons, the moral victory was still Kutuzov’s. Russian troops not only retained their combat effectiveness and replenished their ranks, they now went on the offensive. Until the evening of October 18, Napoleon hesitated; he wanted to delay leaving the city as much as possible, expecting that news of peace would arrive from Alexander I any minute.

The French stayed in Moscow for a little over a month, and immediately after the fires broke out it became clear that they could not stay in the city for a long time. The hope of starting peace negotiations was the only reason why Napoleon could not leave the cities. Now that it became clear that Alexander would not make any concessions, and the Russian army had launched an offensive, a decision had to be made. When the French left the city, Napoleon, in order to somehow justify the retreat, said: “Moscow is no more.” By this, the French emperor wanted to say that the city was completely destroyed and there was no point in staying in it any longer. In the end, his troops entered as victors and emerged victorious. The Russian troops came out on their own and did not try to knock them out. In this situation, the marshals, greatly puzzled by recent events, had the impression that Napoleon had a new plan.

Such a plan was actually born in the head of the French emperor. Napoleon intended to advance on Kaluga in order to go to the southern Russian provinces, untouched by the war. There he wanted to replenish supplies of food and fodder, and then retreat to Smolensk, where he intended to wait out the Russian winter, gather new reinforcements and resume the campaign in the spring of next year. The French emperor understood that there were many flaws and hopes for luck in this plan, but this was the only opportunity to preserve the already greatly thinned Great Army.

To achieve success, Napoleon had to act very clearly after leaving Moscow. It was necessary to act secretly, to disguise the movement towards Kaluga as much as possible. For this purpose, the French emperor sent Colonel Bertemi to Tarutino, supposedly to negotiate with Kutuzov regarding the “rules of war.” In fact, the colonel's task was to find out whether the Russians knew about the movements of the French. Berthemy informed Napoleon that the Russians were still in Tarutino and did not know about the French movement to Kaluga. However, Napoleon was able to win only a day. The next day, the partisan party A.N. Seslavina discovered the movement of the French, which the commander-in-chief immediately learned about. The outcome of the campaign was to be decided in the coming days in the battle of the small town of Maloyaroslavets.

General Delzon's vanguard occupied Maloyaroslavets on October 23. In the evening of the same day, the corps of General D.S. approached the city. Dokhturov and began to build bridges across the Protva River. On the morning of October 12 (24), Dokhturov, as well as Seslavin and Dorokhov who joined him, crossed the river and took up a position 3 km from the city.

Progress of the battle
At about 5 a.m. the Russians began their attack. Jaegers from Dokhturov's corps, with the support of artillery, attacked the enemy and drove him back to the Luzha River, the bridge over which was destroyed. Gradually, more and more units were drawn into the battles on both sides. Dokhturov’s rangers were successful at the beginning of the battle; they were even able to break into the city and engage in bloody street battles, but Delzon’s brigades managed to drive the Russian rangers out of the western part of the city. During bloody street battles, General Delzon was killed, after which Russian troops launched a counter-offensive and pushed the French back to the Luzha River. The bloody battle continued in the suburbs and near the walls of the Chernoostrovsky monastery.

By 10 o'clock, the corps of E. Beauharnais arrived at the battle site, whose infantry, supported by artillery, successfully counterattacked the Russians and again captured the city.

Battle of Maloyaroslavets. French attack. 19th century drawing

At this moment D.S. Dokhturov to help the troops of A.P. Ermolov threw the brigade of General F.I. into battle. Talyzin, after which the city was again in the hands of the Russians. By noon the battle had reached its peak of ferocity. Maloyaroslavets was engulfed in fire and changed hands several times. At the decisive moment, Beauharnais threw into battle the division of General B. Pinault, which had never participated in battles. The onslaught of the division of recruits was desperate and drove the Russians out of the city. The French launched an offensive, the scales began to tip significantly in their favor, but in the afternoon the 7th Corps of General N.N. arrived on the battlefield. Raevsky, who positioned himself in the center of the Russian position and stopped the French advance. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the battle broke out with renewed vigor, Russian troops launched a general offensive and reoccupied the city, but Beauharnais brought the Italian Guard into the battle, which pushed the Russians back to the outskirts.

By 4 pm the battle was still going on with varying degrees of success. Dokhturov’s bloodless troops were replaced by the division of General M.M. Borozdina, who managed to briefly take possession of the city. However, at about 5 p.m., the Zh.D. division. The company drove the Russians out of the city and even from the outskirts, while all of I. Murat’s cavalry was concentrated south of the city.

In response to this, Kutuzov threw P.P.’s troops into battle. Konovnitsyn, who again broke into the city and took possession of the upper part of Maloyaroslavets. The battle continued until darkness. In the light of the fires, Beauharnais's troops managed to finally drive the Russians out of the city, push Kutuzov's line of defense beyond the suburbs and consolidate their success with artillery shelling. At 10 o'clock in the evening the artillery fire stopped, and by 11 o'clock the last rifle salvoes died down.

Peter von Hess. Battle of Maloyaroslavets (1812)

Results of the battle
During the battle, each side lost about 7 thousand people killed. On the Russian side, 31 thousand people took part in the battle for the city, on the French side - 24 thousand. In total, Maloyaroslavets had about 90 thousand Russian troops and 70 thousand French.

By the end of the battle, the city remained with the French, but Russian troops entrenched themselves on the heights around the city, cutting off the French’s path to Kaluga. The next day the French began to retreat. They never managed to break through to Kaluga, which meant that the 1812 campaign was now definitely lost for them. The question now was about the cost of this defeat.

A fierce battle took place with French troops trying to break through to Kaluga. As a result, Napoleon, having failed to achieve success, gave the order to retreat along the devastated Smolensk road.

After the defeat of the French vanguard of Marshal I. Murat in the Battle of Tarutino, the main forces of the French army began to retreat to Smolensk through Kaluga, where Napoleon expected to capture large warehouses of food and fodder. The movement of Napoleonic troops was discovered by a detachment of General I. S. Dorokhov, who reported this to the commander-in-chief of the Russian army M. I. Kutuzov.

On October 10 (22), Kutuzov sent the 6th Infantry Corps of General D.S. Dokhturov to Maloyaroslavets to block the path of Napoleon’s troops to Kaluga, where at that time the strategic warehouses of the Russian army were concentrated. On the evening of October 11 (23), the main forces of the Russian army set out from the Tarutino camp. On the morning of the next day, the advanced units of the 6th Corps entered into battle with 2 French battalions that had occupied Maloyaroslavets the night before and drove the enemy out of the city. However, with the arrival of the 4th Corps of General E. Beauharnais, the French again captured Maloyaroslavets. Gradually, new forces began to approach from both sides, and the battle began to become fierce. During the eighteen-hour battle, Maloyaroslavets changed hands many times. “The subject of the battle was the city,” Kutuzov reported in his first report to the Tsar, drawn up at one o’clock in the morning on October 13 (25), “which was occupied by us eight times and was succumbed to the strong desire of the enemy for the same number of times.” The testimony of the French and Italian participants in the battle coincided with the field marshal's report.

With the approach of the main forces of the Russian army, Kutuzov's troops took up an advantageous position south of Maloyaroslavets on the heights along the road to Kaluga. When at the end of the day Napoleon realized that his path to the south was blocked, he gave the order to his troops to retreat to Mozhaisk.

The battle of Maloyaroslavets was a strategic victory for the Russian army, which seized the initiative and prevented the enemy from entering the southern provinces. Thus, Napoleon’s plan was thwarted: the French were unable to reach Kaluga and seize the rich food supplies collected there. Instead, they were forced to retreat west along the Smolensk road, the surrounding area of ​​which had been ravaged and devastated in the summer.

M.I. Kutuzov wrote to Emperor Alexander I regarding the battle of Maloyaroslavets: “This day is one of the most remarkable in the bloody war, for the lost battle of Maloyaroslavets would have entailed the most disastrous consequences and would have opened the way for the enemy through our most grain-producing provinces.”