Tarutino camp. The camp of the Russian army during the Crimean War was excavated near Sevastopol The fortified camp of the Russian troops

Not to challenge him for new battles, but, on the contrary, to calm him down with his alleged inaction.

But the commander again turned out to be misunderstood by the Emperor Alexander and his henchmen. Alexander saw that Napoleon was quietly sitting in Moscow, the road to St. Petersburg remained open, and the Russian army was “inactive” at Tarutin, and, not understanding the new strategic situation, he insisted that Kutuzov give battle to Napoleon. The tsar would have made peace with Napoleon long ago, to which his brother Constantine, the queen-mother and a small group of nobles, supporters of peace, pushed him. But the king was afraid.

Never since that night, when his father was strangled in the next room, had Alexander experienced such anxiety as he does now.

On the anniversary of his coronation, he was afraid to even ride on horseback to the Kazan Cathedral and went in a closed carriage. Crowds of people greeted the king with stern silence.

“… I will never forget those minutes, - wrote the lady of the court Countess Edling, - when we climbed the steps to the cathedral, following among the crowd. Not a single greeting was heard. It was possible to hear our steps, and I had no doubt that the slightest spark was enough to ignite everything around. And, looking at the sovereign, I understood what was happening in his soul, and it seemed to me that my knees were bending under me ... "

And now, when the thought of concluding peace with Napoleon flashed, the ghost of his strangled father appeared before Alexander again. He drove away the thought of peace, because he perfectly remembered how Paul was killed by Russian nobles, whose interests Paul violated by entering into an alliance with Napoleon.

Alexander was able to abandon his army when Napoleon invaded Russia; he was passive when the enemy occupied one province after another. But when the throne swayed under the king, when personal fate was under attack, Alexander was seized by animal fear. The entire royal family prepared for flight from St. Petersburg. The old tsarina, confident that Napoleon would take Petersburg, forced everyone to deal with the question of where to take one of the princesses, who should give birth.

It was ordered to evacuate everything from St. Petersburg, including the archives and even the monument to Peter I on Senate Square.

The tsar wandered for hours through the Kamennoostrovsky groves, grabbed the Bible and immersed himself in reading. He told those around him that he found his consolation in the Bible, swore that he would grow a beard and leave for Siberia. And the more anxiety grew in Alexander's soul, the more persistently Constantine and the tsarina demanded the conclusion of peace, the more persistently the tsar forced Kutuzov to fight Napoleon and close the road to Petersburg. But Kutuzov did not move his army from its place. Now Alexander had for him not only the envy of the unlucky commander, not only the dislike of the tsar for the general who educates the army, ignoring the royal decrees. He felt a burning hatred for Kutuzov. It seemed to him that by his inaction Kutuzov was jeopardizing the personal well-being of the royal family. The relationship between the tsar and the commander-in-chief became more and more aggravated. Taking advantage of this, the tsarist protege Bennigsen continued to denigrate the old general.

The tsar was afraid to remove Kutuzov from the army this time. He did it easily in 1805 and 1811, when the war was over, but now the most critical moment of the war has come, and he did not dare to drive out Kutuzov, behind whom the army and the people stood. In addition, in the secret military council in St. Petersburg there were people who understood better than the tsar that Kutuzov was not idle, and to Bennigsen's denunciation, a member of the Knorring council replied: "Every day of his 'inaction' is worth a victory!"

Sitting in burned-out Moscow, Napoleon waited for the Russians to offer peace themselves.

However, Russian envoys did not appear. I had to decide something myself. Napoleon decided to be the first to talk about peace. He did this through the director of the educational institution Tutolmin and the Moscow nobleman Yakovlev, father of A. Herzen, who remained in Moscow. Alexander did not answer.

At the same time, Napoleon tried to firmly establish himself in Moscow. From the nobles and merchants who remained in Moscow, the Moscow municipality was created, but it was unable to establish life in burned-out Moscow and played almost no role. In Moscow, not only the population but also the Napoleonic army starved. Attempts were made to establish supplies from the surrounding villages, but the peasantry remained intransigent, and there were cases when peasants killed not only French foragers, but also their fellow villagers if they entered into a deal with the enemy. There were no battles, but there were reports of the defeat of entire detachments sent to forage or heading to Moscow to replenish Napoleon's army. The French army was definitely under siege. Regular units, Cossacks, partisans, in some places the entire population deprived the French army of the opportunity to feed and live at the expense of the people, as it was in Italy, Austria, Prussia, and that was one of the most important foundations of Napoleon's strategy.

The calculating Davout wrote that he was provided with food, and that his troops rested, and the guards rested too. But there were units that were starving, fighting for the right to loot in this or that district of Moscow; soldiers deserted, discipline fell, the army disintegrated.

Daru advised to turn Moscow into a fortified fortress, bring up reserves and start a new campaign in spring.

This is the lion's advice! - Napoleon exclaimed, but nevertheless refused him, realizing that wintering in Moscow, surrounded by armed peasantry, would lead his army to death.

Napoleon conceived a new grandiose plan and announced to the marshals that he had decided to burn the remnants of Moscow and go through Tver to Petersburg.

Think - he encouraged the marshals - with what glory we will cover ourselves and what the whole world will say when he learns that in three months we have conquered two great northern capitals!

The marshals were sullenly silent, and Davout and Daru reminded him of winter, hunger and a devastated road. This plan was as impossible as the wintering plan in Moscow.

Napoleon did not understand Russia and her people, although he knew everything about her that his spies could tell. He did not understand why the capture of Vienna and Berlin brought him peace, and Moscow brought new disasters. Ambition made it difficult to admit that he was defeated.

For long hours, the Emperor of France walked through the halls of the Kremlin palace in search of a way out of the situation.

The immobile silence of the palace was broken by the piercing cry of crows, which swirled in innumerable flocks over the Kremlin.

Outside the windows, autumn rain poured, the wind whirled the ashes of the conflagration, heaps of rubbish, broken household utensils lay in the streets, and heavy, dark autumn clouds floated across the sky, almost clinging to the bell tower of Ivan the Great.

Napoleon felt as if he were in captivity. He is free and at the same time powerless to do anything. Sometimes it seemed to him that he was still the ruler of Europe and from here, from the Kremlin palace, he would dictate his will to the universe. And suddenly it became clear that he was not the emperor of the world, but as if the watchman of burnt Moscow, and the old field marshal Kutuzov forced him to guard the conflagration of him, the emperor of France.

In the evening, after the reports of the marshals and chief of staff Berthier, Napoleon left for the theater he organized. But the performance could not dispel the disturbing thoughts. The gravediggers in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" seemed to him more cheerful than the patrolmen who wandered around Moscow at night, one of whom, illuminating it with a dim lantern, did not even give honor to the emperor. "The emperor sees with condolences," Lefebvre wrote, "that the elite soldiers assigned to guard his person do not obey." But the orders didn’t help.

However, Napoleon continued to play the role of the winner. He ordered provisions for the whole winter, was engaged in theatrical affairs in Paris, and approved the charter of the Comedy Theater.

The enthusiastic naive admirers of Napoleon admired his ability, along with the conduct of the war, to deal with dozens of other things, not realizing that it was a bluff, calculated on the fact that both their own army and the Russian would believe in Napoleon's victory, that the French army remained in Moscow for a long time and firmly. But September passed, October came, and there was no answer to the peace proposal.

Napoleon twice wrote orders to leave Moscow and burned them twice. He ordered to remove the cross from the bell tower of Ivan the Great in order to put it on the roof of an invalid home in Paris, said that Paris would become the capital of the world. He summoned the former ambassador to Russia, Caulaincourt, to send him with a proposal for peace, but he also told him that he was doing this for the sake of saving Petersburg, which would be destroyed if the Russians did not go to peace. Callencourt courageously told the emperor the truth that Russia would not go to peace. Then Napoleon sent Loriston to Kutuzov's headquarters. Saying goodbye to him, Napoleon could not resist. He felt the hopelessness of the situation, was afraid of losing the last chance of salvation, and instead of the usual bravado Loriston heard a helpless plea:

I want peace, I need peace, I need it by all means, save only honor ...

Lauriston hastily left for Tarutino.

But when sending his ambassador, Napoleon “did not think that the Russian nation, and not the tsar, would make peace with him,” wrote Franz Mehring.

Expressing the will of his nation, Kutuzov did not go to peace with Napoleon. He greeted Loriston with exquisite courtesy, took two letters from him - one for Alexander, the other for himself - and, putting them on the table, started a conversation with the ambassador about weather and music, about Parisian women.

Lauriston, interrupting the field marshal, expressed the hope that the courier with the letter for Alexander would move to St. Petersburg today. But Kutuzov looked out the window and replied that there was no point in sending it at night. Then Loriston suggested that, in order to shorten the way for the courier, send him through Moscow, promising a pass, but Kutuzov replied that the Russians themselves knew the way to their northern capital, and resumed the interrupted conversation.

Losing patience, Loriston directly suggested that Kutuzov read a letter addressed to him personally by Napoleon. Kutuzov opened the envelope, read the letter, then again started talking about French women, about Paris, which he had once visited, and Loriston felt that the Russian commander was playing himself and his emperor, and in his old chubby hands now there was not only a letter to which he is free to answer and not answer, but also the fate of the French army, the fate of Europe.

Forgetting the restraint, the French diplomat bluntly stated that Napoleon was proposing to end the war.

End the war? Kutuzov asked again. - Why, we are just starting it ...

And the great Russian commander, diplomat and politician made it clear to Loriston that he knew the state of the French army and the position of France itself, knew that the French were defeated in Spain and that European affairs worried Napoleon, and to Loriston's reproach that the war was being waged And French foragers must not be killed, Kutuzov replied that he could not change the mood of the people who had not seen conquerors on their land for more than two hundred years. Just as calmly, as always, feeling the strength of the people behind him, Kutuzov opposed his will to the will of Napoleon, who was rushing about in Moscow, and Kutuzov's will again turned out to be stronger.

He did not refuse to negotiate, hoping that this would keep the French in Moscow even longer and extend the rest of his army, but he reneged on any promises.

So Lauriston left with nothing. Napoleon realized that he had to retreat. But he speaks to his marshals not of retreat, but of an offensive against the Russian army, not of flight from Russia, but of wintering in Smolensk, somewhere on the Dnieper, in order to resume the war in spring. He was in no hurry to leave Moscow, he organized reviews of the corps of his army. During one of the parades, an adjutant rushed to him with alarming news: Murat, who was nominated to Kutuzov's camp, was defeated at Tarutin and withdrew, having lost 1,500 people.

We will go to Kaluga, and woe to the one who will block our path! - Napoleon said.

It was still a real threat. Napoleon led an army of one hundred thousand, still combat-ready and strong. The cavalry in it thinned, the guns decreased, but the infantry was capable of delivering powerful blows. Many believed that Napoleon's strength was exhausted and the French army was no longer a danger. But Kutuzov knew who he was dealing with, and when some officer joked about Napoleon, Kutuzov sternly cut him off:

Young man, who allowed you to speak so about the greatest commander?

It was necessary to once again face the enemy, and Kutuzov was actively preparing for this. On the very first day of his stay in the Tarutino camp, he demanded for the army sheepskin coats, carts with provisions, and ordered to send a batch of recruits here. He accumulated forces for a decisive blow and defended the troops every day of rest with the greatest risk for himself in the struggle against the tsar and Bennigsen. Having surrendered Moscow, he courageously and simply wrote about this to the tsar and did not enter into any further explanations, confident that every day Napoleon's stay in Moscow weakens the French army, that Napoleon would not sit in Moscow, but would have to flee not only from Moscow , but also from Russia. When he was finally annoyed with advice and reproaches that the inaction of the Russian army worries the tsar and Russia, he sharply and for the last time explained:

The cause must be directed towards saving Russia, not towards appeasing her.

The commander's confidence in the correctness of the path he had chosen was based on a brilliant strategic analysis of the situation in Europe, in Moscow, in St. Petersburg and in the villages. Kutuzov took into account the psychology of the military leader of the hostile army and his experience of fighting him at Braunau, Austerlitz, Borodino.

Kutuzov's confidence in the correctness of the chosen path rested on faith in his army, in his people, who rose to fight. Hundreds of people arrived in the Tarutino camp, but with different goals they went to Kutuzov and participated in the war of 1812 in different ways. Sometimes they just went to make sure that the Russian army existed and could continue the war, because after the surrender of Moscow and the spread of panic rumors from St. Petersburg, many seemed to be dead. Merchants flooded into Tarutino and launched a brisk trade. The clergy arrived to bless the Russian weapons and anathematize Napoleon. The landowners came to demand, if possible, compensation for losses for the estates ravaged by the war, and the peasants came for weapons to fight the enemies of their homeland.

The nobility shouted about patriotism, about love for the fatherland, but in reality “the living rooms were filled with patriots - who poured French tobacco out of their snuffbox and began to sniff Russian; who gave up lafite and started eating Russian cabbage soup; they started talking about Minin and Pozharsky, began to preach the people's war, however, intending to go to distant Saratov villages for a long journey ... They shouted about the people's militia and handed over elderly people with bodily disabilities and bad behavior to the army. "

These "patriots" talked about the victims and demanded compensation for losses for the trampled harvest and for the canaries scattered during the fire in Moscow, for the broken four jugs of cream, for silver frames from icons and stockings and shemizettes that disappeared while fleeing from Moscow.

It was not this nobility that decided the outcome of the battles and not the merchants, who "ripped off 80 rubles instead of 15 for a gun, 40 rubles instead of 6 for a saber." Rostopchin himself wrote that "anyone who escaped from Moscow is a merchant, a fugitive priest and a cowardly nobleman, considers himself a hero." They were not heroes, they were not fighting the people's war. Only a part of the nobles went to heroic attacks on the Borodino field, the best of them became Decembrists.

As a sixteen-year-old boy, the future Decembrist Muravyov disappeared from home to participate in the fight against the French.

"... To go as a parliamentarian in order to thrust a dagger into Napoleon's side," the future Decembrist Lunin aspired. They went with the Russian people, understanding the "spirit of the people." When the tsar asked what "the spirit of the people" is, the Decembrist Volkonsky answered:

Every peasant is a hero devoted to his fatherland and to you.

And the nobility?

I am ashamed that I belong to him, there were many words, but in reality nothing ...

The Russian peasant was not loyal to the tsar. Through the lips of a courtier in the Kursk province, condemned by the synod to pulling out nostrils, hitting with sticks and hard labor for the words: "The Tsar slept through Moscow and all of Russia," the peasant said to whom he was devoted. He was loyal to his homeland, ravaged by the invading conquerors. For his homeland, he rose to fight them, making sure that the long-awaited freedom does not bring Napoleon. On the contrary, he supports the landlords against the peasants by armed force.

Napoleon waged an aggressive, predatory war, he not only supported serfdom with bayonets, but encroached on the national independence of the Russian people, brought disaster and ruin to the Russian people.

V. I. Lenin wrote that “... the wars of the great French revolution began as national and were such. These wars were revolutionary: the defense of the great revolution against a coalition of counter-revolutionary monarchies. And when Napoleon created the French empire with the enslavement of a number of long-established, large, viable, national states of Europe, then from the national French wars imperialist ones turned out, which gave rise to in turnnational liberation wars vsimperialism of Napoleon ”.

It was to this national liberation war of the Patriotic War that the Russian people rose, courageously and selflessly defending their fatherland, voluntarily replenishing the army with thousands of new recruits who poured into the heroic Kutuzov regiments. From the distant Don steppes, 26 Cossack regiments came to Tarutino, more and more new recruits were coming.

Kutuzov could often be seen surrounded by a crowd of thousands of peasants, with whom he conducted conversations, indicated how to conduct partisan warfare.

In those days, Krylov wrote his fable "The Wolf in the Kennel". The famous fabulist portrayed Napoleon as a wolf, and Kutuzov as a hunter.

Once, in front of the gathered peasants, Kutuzov read this fable and, reading the last words: "You are gray, and I, friend, gray ...", took off his cap, revealing his gray hair. A mighty "hurray" echoed over the Tarutino field. Everyone understood what wolf was calling them to poison the old, tried-and-true hunter, and the partisan detachments of the Kutuzov army haunted the French. The reserve parties located in the villages woke up in the houses that were set on fire and, running out, died under the blows of the partisans. Large units ran into dismantled bridges and blocked roads, the convoy almost never saved the convoys from capture. A huge role in the partisan struggle was played by the detachments of Davydov, Figner, Seslavin, Dorokhov, Kudashev and others, separated from the cavalry and Cossack units of the Kutuzov army, but the partisan detachments, which were commanded by the leaders nominated by the peasants, played an equally important role.

Here is Gerasim Kurin, the elected leader of the partisans of the Vokhta volost, who organized a detachment of 6 thousand peasants, who participated with him in serious battles. History has preserved the name of the elder Vasilisa, who fought in the Sychevsky district.

Private of the Kiev dragoon regiment Chetvertakov turned out to be a talented organizer and commander. The serf of the landowner of the Chernigov province, he was commissioned as a soldier in 1804. Unable to withstand the hard labor conditions of a soldier's life, he fled, was caught, severely punished with rods, was going to flee again, but the war of 1805 began, then the war of 1806-1809, in which he showed remarkable courage. In the rearguard battle near Gzhatsk, Chetvertakov was wounded, taken prisoner, recovered, escaped from captivity and began a merciless partisan struggle in the territory occupied by the French.

At first, only one peasant followed him. By cunning they captured two French horsemen. Armed, they killed several more. Soon Chetvertakov's detachment grew to 47, and then to 150 people, and, finally, the entire area rose under his leadership, clearing the villages of the enemy. In all volosts Chetvertakov established a wonderful order, which was maintained by the peasants themselves. All members of his detachment underwent special military training. The cuirasses taken from the prisoners served as targets, on the horses recaptured from the French, he planted partisans, creating a cavalry detachment. At the end of the war, Chetvertakov's detachment united with regular units.

There were many folk heroes like Kurin and Chetvertakov, whose bravery and talent contributed greatly to the success of the war.

Kutuzov on a gigantic scale combined the efforts of the troops with the efforts of the partisans and led them to one goal - to the salvation of Russia.

The strikes of the army and peasant partisan detachments had tremendous strategic weight. Increasing the force of the Borodino strike, they were equal to him in their strategic consequences. The most conservative estimates show that during their stay in Moscow, the French army lost over 30 thousand killed and taken prisoner, while the partisans operating in the forests suffered almost no losses.

Let us imagine what would have happened if Kutuzov had not made a flanking Tarutino maneuver and had not relied on the support of the partisans whom he taught in military affairs, whose actions he directed.

Napoleon would have open communications with Europe, and, sitting in Moscow, he would have the full opportunity to continue to draw manpower and food from the conquered countries. He counted on this by arranging huge stores and warehouses in Danzig, Graudenets, Modlin, Warsaw, Vilno, Kovno, Vitebsk, Minsk, Orsha, Mogilev, Smolensk. In addition to the reserves that France and the countries of Europe subject to her could put up, Napoleon had more than seven corps under arms that were part of his army. They operated in the St. Petersburg and Ukrainian directions, were in Poland, but most of them could be in Moscow. However, Kutuzov's strategy fettered Napoleon and did not give him the opportunity to use either reserves or reserves. According to Clausewitz, while in Moscow, the French army, driven by a sharp wedge 120 miles deep into Russia, which had Kutuzov's army of 110 thousand soldiers on the right, was, moreover, surrounded by armed people and could not hold out in Moscow.

Napoleon did not foresee this, not believing in the power of the Russian people, not understanding the character of the Russian people, not realizing that Russia is invincible when the people rise to its defense.

You are in vain to rely on your soldiers, - he said to the Russian ambassador. “Before Austerlitz, they considered themselves invincible, now they are sure in advance that my troops will beat them. You will not have people, where will you recruit recruits? And what does your recruit mean? How long does it take to make a soldier out of him !!

Napoleon did not know that in the Petersburg militia, the peasants demanded that they be taught to fight not only during the day, but also at night, using the light of the white nights. And this militia crushed excellent Bavarian troops and took Polotsk.

In the hours tragic for Napoleon near Maloyaroslavets, urging him to retreat, Marshal Bessier said:

Haven't we seen the fury with which the Russian militia, barely armed and uniform, went to certain death?

What Napoleon did not foresee, Kutuzov foresaw, and with his flanking maneuver and location at Tarutin and his actions, he deprived the enemy of a supply from Europe, exterminated his manpower. Powerful reserves went to Tarutin from the depths of Russia. The militias of Tula, Ryazan, Kaluga, Vladimir, Smolensk, Moscow made up an army of 200 thousand people, covered the border of the Oka River, surrounded Moscow, and fought wherever the opportunity presented itself.

Kutuzov armed the peasants, despite the resistance of the landlords. The landlords were still against the arming of the peasants, and the class struggle did not stop. This is evidenced by the uprising of recruits in the Penza province, who decided to beat the French and free themselves from serfdom; this is evidenced by the shooting by Benckendorff of the peasants who occupied the estate abandoned by the landowner; the peasants themselves spoke about this, to whom, when they were called upon to join the militia, unofficially, but with the tacit consent of the authorities, they were promised release as a reward for patriotism; "The people who defended Russia must not be treated like slaves ..." - wrote Marx.

The peasants took up arms often against the will of the landowner, and they were punished for leaving the army, as for an escape, as evidenced by the following document: “The courtyard Evtikh Mikheev, who appeared in the presence of this date to be registered as a warrior of landowner Pavel Velsky, as in relation to the provincial leader it is indicated that such people cannot be determined without the will of the landowner, therefore, for admission for an escape according to the laws, he is then sent to you.

Under these conditions, Kutuzov wrote to the tsar that he not only did not keep the population from arming, “but, on the contrary, through General Konovnitsyn, who was on duty with me, he strengthened these desires and supplied them with enemy guns. Thus, the inhabitants received guns from my main duty. "

The peasants united, took a common oath not to betray each other, severely punish cowards and went to Kutuzov's headquarters.

In the forests near Moscow, on the roads leading to the ancient capital of Russia, partisan detachments emerged, whose activities were directed by Kutuzov.

“By the order of his lordship,” read an order from Kutuzov’s headquarters to General Orlov-Denisov, “a detachment of light troops is assigned to your Excellency, with whom you will go to the new Kaluga road, from where, making an attack on Mozhaiskaya and, if possible, on Ryazan roads, trying to cause all kinds of harm to the enemy, most have in mind the burning of the artillery parks that go to him from Mozhaisk. It is not necessary to mention to you how active and decisive a partisan must be, and in order to do so, having in mind any courageous undertaking, you have to act at the appropriate discretion. You have to send your reports as often as possible, the prisoners, if possible, under the cover of some Cossacks and armed men. His Grace will make it a special pleasure to distinguish those whom Your Excellency is presenting. For with your detachment you can do great harm to the enemy. "

Guard Captain Seslavin Kutuzov orders to act on the road from Borovsk to Moscow on the flank and rear of the enemy, interacting with the neighboring detachment of Captain Figner. “With weapons taken from the enemy,” confirms Kutuzov, “to arm the peasants, which makes your detachment very powerful. To cheer the peasants with the deeds that have been performed in other places ... "

Kutuzov, who was surrounded by the partisan Dorokhov, teaches that “the partisan can never come to this situation, because his duty is to stay in one place for as long as it takes to accumulate people and horses; a flying detachment of partisans must make secret marches on small roads. When you came to a village, you did not let anyone out of it, but you could not give news about it. During the day, hide in forests or low-lying places. In a word, the partisan must be decisive, quick and tireless. "

Seeing the tremendous patriotic upsurge among the people, feeling the support of the people, Kutuzov wrote: “But what commander did not defeat enemies like me with this courageous people! I am happy leading the Russians. " And many years after the war, one of Napoleon's associates wrote prophetic words about the Russian people: “Comrades, let us give them their due! They sacrificed everything without hesitation! Their good name has been preserved in all its grandeur and purity. When civilization penetrates into all strata of their society, this great nation will create a great era and take possession of the scepter of glory. "

The brilliant strategic plan of Kutuzov, put into action, paid off. The strength of the Russian army grew. The moment came when from defense it was possible to go over to a decisive offensive. Kutuzov led his army into new battles, which, in addition to partisans and the militia, consisted of 97 thousand soldiers with 622 guns.

Tarutino camp

Strengthening and organization of the army. - Abundance and gaiety in the camp. - Particulars about Prince Kutuzov. - Precautions. - The location of the 1st District militia. - Arrival at Tarutino Don regiments. - The highest rescript on the initiation of offensive actions.

When death feasted all along the enemy communications from Moscow to Smolensk, the Russian army, fenced in by trenches and notification detachments in Tarutino, enjoyed, for the first time since the retreat from the Neman, a three-week rest. In Tarutino she became stronger in number, stronger in device. From the reserves came 20,000 soldiers, uniform and armed, regiments came from the Don and the Urals, cavalry repairs were underway, shells and cloth were brought. The ammunition things were fixed, people were supplied with boots, felt boots, sheepskin coats, for which already from August it was ordered to prepare sheepskins, for the main army in the provinces: Voronezh, Kursk, Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov and Tambov, for the corps of Count Wittgenstein in Livland and Pskov. After the battle of Borodino, the Highest was ordered to complete the divisions, disbanding for that the weakest, of which people had to go to replenish the divisions that suffered less damage. Instead of that, Prince Kutuzov, without destroying the divisions, in each sent one jaeger regiment to staff the other five regiments. The disbanded regiments, after leaving a small number of people in them, he sent to Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky for transformation. In Tarutino, awards for the Battle of Borodino were announced and the awards given to the lower ranks were distributed at 5 rubles per person; officers were given a third salary. In various places in the rear of the army, hospitals have been established, measures have been aggravated for the prompt delivery of the recovered to the regiments, and the following of carts with food has been arranged. A wine portion was dispensed three times a week, and daily in bad weather. Wine, vegetables, fruits were brought in whole carts from merchant societies from different cities. Sending clerks with supplies to Tarutino, the owners ordered to sell the goods at the most reasonable price. The marketers had an abundance of all kinds of goods. Peasants from neighboring provinces came to the camp to learn about the fate of their relatives; wives and mothers came with gifts to look for husbands and sons. There were joyful meetings, or tears were shed for those who fell for their homeland. Simple huts, first sketched hastily, became larger and more beautiful; some even had rooms. To refresh the soldiers, after four months of wandering in bivouacs, baths were arranged in villages and on the banks of rivers. The days were spent in training young soldiers and recruits, especially target shooting. Generals and officers had sumptuous dinners. In the evenings, music thundered in the shelves, songs were played, and bivouac lights were lit among their merry rifts. The incidents from the Neman to Tarutin seemed like a hard dream, the old grief was breaking open, the recent glow of Moscow was dim in the souls: everything revived with new life; the conviction was raised that they had finally reached the extreme point of retreat, that the enemy would not step over Nara, and that the hour of bloody retribution for the insulted honor of the State of Alexander was near!

To pacify Russia, Prince Kutuzov ordered to send out printed news from the army to all provinces. The confidence of the entire State in his mind and foresight, about which there were many sayings and anecdotes, gave rise to the conclusion, which became common everywhere, that he was keeping Napoleon in Moscow like a fierce beast in a trap. Staying in Tarutino was for Kutuzov one of the most brilliant epochs of his glorious life. Since the days of Pozharsky, no one has stood so high in the sight of all of Russia. The spiritual ones sent him images of blessing and informed him of the prayers they sent about the success of his destinies. Money was delivered from the Kazan convent for distribution to the sentries placed at the door of the Field Marshal. The citizens of the city of Kursk, according to the general sentence, presented him with a list of the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Mother of God, which once protected their city from the enemies of the Fatherland. Prince Kutuzov received letters with convincing requests: to notify what is most needed for the army. People from the provinces came to him from the noble and merchant estates, expressing their complete readiness for any donations. “Demand,” they said, “the Most Serene Prince, demand, and you will see with what haste we will execute your orders. Property and life, everything is at the feet of the Tsar! " Receiving the deputies with charming affection, the Field Marshal usually replied that by the Sovereign's orders and general zeal, forces and means were already ready for the security of the Fatherland, “but - he added, - if there is a need, I am sure that your devotion to the Sovereign will put thousands of obstacles to the enemy, which he will not be able to overcome ”. Warriors-peasants often came to him and were awarded them the insignia of the Military Order, for he tried by all means to support and spread the people's war. In his hut, in Letashevka, children, 10-12 years old, also met. Not being able, due to weakness of age, to own a gun, they usually asked the Field Marshal, calling him "grandfather", to supply them with pistols. Several times deputies came from Kaluga to Prince Kutuzov to learn about the state of affairs and were summoned for donations. Reassured by his assurances, they returned to their communities, with letters from the Field Marshal. Here is one of them to the City Chapter, dated September 3 °: “With heartfelt gratitude coupled with full pleasure, I see your zeal for our dear Fatherland and, adding my warm prayers to yours, I ask the Almighty to send help to our weapons to defeat and the final blow to the insidious enemy, to enter the Russian land to the daring one. At the present time we see God's mercy to us in abundance: our evildoers are surrounded on all sides; free departure from the camp, in parties sent from us everywhere, is completely prohibited; people and horses are exhausted by hunger, and every day in all places killed and captured they lose up to 500 people, which can be confirmed by your citizens Gg. Eliseev and Lebedev. After which you see that our prayers have been heard and that the Most High's right hand sends down to us his blessing, which, with our continuous exclamations to the King of Kings, strengthening, will give us new proof of how much our Fatherland is preserved by Him and how little the enemy will find a chance to be proud of long-term the surface above the troops of the God-given All-August Monarch ".

For all the safety of the Tarutino camp, Prince Kutuzov did not neglect the precautions. He wrote to Miloradovich: “On the occasion of the current inaction, one can conclude that the enemy is making some secret preparations, and as our position is surrounded for the most part by vast forests, I would like you to confirm to the Cossack regiments, which contain the forward chain and make patrols to the right and to the left as much as possible do these further, eavesdropping at night, whether the enemy is cut through the forests, making himself through these new roads. " However, Prince Kutuzov did not believe that Napoleon intended to attack the Tarutino fortifications. He said (these are his own words): “Bonaparte will not come here. He is more interested in maneuver than in battle. " Once he added: "Napoleon can break me, but never deceive!" From October to one of his daughters he wrote: “We are standing in one place and with Napoleon we look at each other; everyone is biding their time. Meanwhile, we fight in small units and still successfully everywhere. We take several hundred people every day. "

To tax the enemies in Moscow and the environs more and to ensure the neighboring provinces from the invasion of enemy gangs and robbers, Prince Kutuzov ordered the Militias of the 1st District to march to the borders of their provinces. Tverskoe became between Klin and Tver, and partly strengthened the detachment of Vincegerode; Yaroslavl, at Pereslavl-Zalessky, covered the Yaroslavl road; Vladimirskoe, near the Pokrov, blocked the way to Vladimir; Ryazanskoe, under Kolomna, observed the roads to Ryazan and through Yegoryevsk to Kasimov; Tula was from Kashira to Aleksin, and Kaluga was in the districts bordering Moscow and Smolensk provinces, making patrols to Yelnya and Roslavl, for which two more Cossack regiments were appointed. The five thousandth detachment of the Kaluga militia was sent to guard Bryansk. From all the militias, neti, called cordons, were placed closer to Moscow. The most significant reinforcement of the army was the arrival of 26 Don regiments, made up of the militia, assembled on the Don according to the July 6 Manifesto. When subsequently, by the Manifesto of July 18, the ubiquitous armament was canceled and only 17 provinces were assigned to the militia, the troops prepared on the Don were stopped until called for. Soon the battle of Borodino thundered and it was no longer possible to delay the gathering of new forces, and therefore, on August 29, Platov ordered the reserve army to move. He wrote to the Order Ataman Denisov about the departure at 24 o'clock of all the Cossacks prepared for the militia, except for the decrepit old people and mere cripples. Platov made one change against the provision on the militia held in the Military Chancellery: not to send 17- and 18-year-olds. They were left because of their youth, to correct internal duties and look after property. All the troops dressed up for the campaign were ordered to follow reinforced transitions to Moscow, without resting, making at least 60 miles a day: “I am in complete confidence,” Platov concluded his order, “that the Army Chancellery, with the general assistance of Mr. Ataman, he will use all means for the self-hasty dispatch of officials prepared for this from the army on a campaign, especially since the Don army, using from ancient times the Highly Monarchical mercies of its August Monarchs, especially the now reigning All-Merciful Emperor, is obliged to sacrifice to the Fatherland's duty and given to God by the Sovereign and by all means to protect the beloved Fatherland and the Most August Throne, against the invasion of the evil-making enemy, disturbing the general peace. " Platov's words found a hot answer in the hearts of Dontsov. 26 regiments, including 15,002 people, and 6 cannons of horse artillery, led by Major Generals Ilovaisky 5th and Grekov 1st and 2nd, marched 60 miles a day, without rest, which no European cavalry can able to execute. Order Ataman Denisov, notifying Platov of the appearance of the reserve troops, begins his report with the following words: “The Donskoy militia has already moved on a campaign. To the honor of our family, in fairness, I must convey that all officials and Cossacks go to the defense of the Fatherland with complete jealousy and eagerness, and some, not content with the fact that they act on their own, help as much as they can and their other comrades. I cannot hide my sorrow before you, that I am almost alone deprived of the high honor of being with my brethren on the battlefield; but what to do! If such is fate, I silently submit to it. "

The first 5 Don regiments arrived in Tarutino on September 29th. In other platoons there were grandfathers and their grandchildren nearby; the first - whitened with gray hair, others - in adolescence. Following the 5 regiments, the remaining 21 were to come. Of all 26, Prince Kutuzov intended to form 10 flying detachments and entrust them to the most excellent army headquarters officers and the Don Colonels, and to dispatch Platov with 4000 Cossacks for separate actions on the route of enemy communications. But before all the Cossack troops had time to arrive, in the first days of October, circumstances changed and did not allow Prince Kutuzov to carry out his intention, which, however, did not correspond to the types of the Sovereign. His Majesty was no longer content with only searches and raids, attacks on foragers, tramps and teams and transports passing along the Smolensk road, but commanded a decisive offensive. And could the Russian Monarch tolerate for Napoleon to desecrate Moscow with his presence? How the Tsar thought about military operations at that time can be seen from the following rescript to Prince Kutuzov, dated October 2, that is, from the date to which our description was brought.

“Prince Mikhail Illarionovich! Since September 2, Moscow has been in the hands of the enemy. Your last reports from the 20th, and during all this time, not only has nothing been done to act against the enemy and liberate the capital of the capital, but even according to your latest reports, you have retreated. Serpukhov is already occupied by an enemy detachment, and Tula, with its famous and so necessary for the army its factory, is in danger. According to reports from General Vincengerode, I see that the enemy's 10,000th corps is advancing along the St. Petersburg road. Another, in several thousand, is also served to Dmitrov. The third moved forward along the Vladimir road. The fourth, rather significant, stands between Ruza and Mozhaisk. Napoleon himself was in Moscow on the 25th. According to all this information, when the enemy split his forces with strong detachments, when Napoleon was still in Moscow with his guards, is it possible that the enemy forces in front of you were significant and did not allow you to act offensively? Probably, on the contrary, he should assume that he is preaching you in detachments, or at least in a corps much weaker than the army entrusted to you. It seemed that, taking advantage of these circumstances, you could profitably attack the enemy weaker than you and destroy him or, at least forcing him to retreat, retain in our hands a noble part of the provinces now occupied by the enemy, and thereby avert danger from Tula and others. our inner cities. It will remain your responsibility if the enemy is able to dispatch a significant corps to Petersburg to threaten this capital, in which many troops could not remain, for with the army entrusted to you, acting with determination and activity, you have all the means to avert this new misfortune. Remember that you still owe a response to the offended Fatherland in the loss of Moscow. You have experienced My willingness to reward you. This readiness will not weaken in Me, but I and Russia have the right to expect from you all the zeal, firmness and success that your mind, your military talents and the bravery of the troops you lead, portend to us. "

The strictest command to Prince Kutuzov to act offensively was received by him when the war had already taken a different turn, Napoleon set out from Moscow, and the Russian army moved out of Tarutin. No less than that, this rescript must be preserved in the reverent memory of posterity, as evidence of the then feelings of Emperor Alexander. He wanted not to tire only the enemy and wait for the determination of fate, but with faith in the help of God and hope for Russian power, He demanded a decisive battle!