THE FRENCH SOJOURN IN MOSCOW
For almost a month after Napoleon’s return to Moscow on September 20th,
the main French army lay almost inactive about the city. The Emperor’s
anxieties on the score of supplies had been to some extent relieved
by the quantities of food and ammunition captured. He says himself in
a letter to Lariboissière, the Chief of Artillery, that he has taken
300,000 pounds of powder, and an equal amount of sulphur and saltpetre,
besides an immense number of cannon-balls and 2,000,000 cartridges.
It can scarcely be imagined that, however much the habit of lying had
become ingrained in him, he would wilfully mislead the man whom, most
of all, it was necessary to furnish with correct information.
A number of cannon were captured, but all practically useless. The
Kremlin, in fact, was and is a museum of ancient weapons, mostly
preserved as trophies of Russia’s victories over her enemies. Among
them now are hundreds of the guns of the Napoleonic _Grande Armée_
of 1812. The cannon had no carriages, but about twenty of them were
mounted by the French artillerymen on the walls of the ancient citadel.
The captures of ammunition were of extreme value. Napoleon exultantly
declared that he could fight four battles of the magnitude of Borodino.
Forage, however, was seriously deficient. The cavalry and artillery
of the Guard, which received supplies in advance of the other corps,
remained in fair condition, but that of the rest of the army rapidly
deteriorated. The horses died in great numbers. At the beginning
of October De Chambray estimates that already 4000 troopers were
dismounted. The misery in the advance-guard was great; breadstuffs
could hardly be obtained, and the men lived chiefly upon horse-flesh.
In Moscow matters were by no means satisfactory. The troops had indeed
shelter and food; but these advantages were dearly bought at the
price of a fatal relaxation in discipline. The privileged Guards were
bad offenders, and Napoleon himself had at last to complain of their
misconduct. The 1st Corps was little better. The 3rd and 4th Corps
were mostly outside the city. They lived chiefly from hand to mouth as
before, and though a considerable amount of flour had been warehoused
at Moscow Napoleon would not permit it to be issued, even when Berthier
reported Pino’s division as being completely destitute. No issue was
made of clothing material until October 17th, nor were any preparations
made for rough-shoeing the horses. In the general relaxation of
discipline little was done by the men themselves. In the face of
proven facts such as these the statements as to Napoleon’s unerring
and all-pervading foresight and activity, made even by respectable
witnesses such as Rapp and Fain, make somewhat foolish reading.
In a sense, indeed, Napoleon did provide for much--that is, he issued
orders which had they been at all applicable to the situation might
have effected a great deal. Such an order was that for the provision of
hand-mills for the troops. The need for them had been apparent during
the advance, and had they been provided earlier they would doubtless
have been invaluable. As it was the first convoy of them only came to
hand during the retreat, when they were useless.
[Illustration:
THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW
On the extreme left is the Great Red Staircase--the State entrance to
the Palace. Next is the Uspanski Sabor, or Cathedral of the Assumption,
in which the Tzars are crowned. Behind it appears the Bell Tower of
Ivan Velikii]
Others of the Imperial orders were simply incapable of execution. One
of them, for example, gives directions for exploring the country for
two or three leagues on each side of the highway so as to find
parallel roads passing by villages and cultivated tracts. It would have
been extremely difficult to find such roads in fertile and well-peopled
Germany, and to expect to discover them in Russia was merely absurd. As
a fact, had they existed, the country was laid waste for a breadth of
forty or fifty miles by the destructive passage of two great armies.
The only criticisms that can be made in reading this order is that
Napoleon’s intellect was either failing or so affected by pride and
over-confidence as to be fatally debilitated.
Yet in spite of his fatal optimism Napoleon was growing uneasy.
On his return to Moscow he induced Tutulmin, the director of the
Foundling Hospital, to be the bearer of a letter to Alexander. It
was a diplomatic document after Napoleon’s fashion, compounded of
blandishments and threats; a characteristic touch is the careful
detailing of the war material which has been captured. The Tzar would
not deign to reply. Napoleon waited for a fortnight and then sent
General Lauriston to endeavour to open negotiations with Kutuzov.
However, gloomy as the prospect might appear to intelligent observers,
the bulk of the army was at rest, and, save in the vital matter of
horses, increasing in strength. During the latter half of September
there entered Moscow Laborde’s division, the 1st battalion of
Hesse-Darmstadt Guards, three battalions of the 33rd Léger, and
several _régiments de marche_--in all some 10,000 infantry and over
4000 cavalry. In the first half of October there arrived nearly 17,000
men--_régiments de marche_, mostly infantry, and the battalions
which had been left in garrison at Orsha, Dorogobuzh, Viasma, and
elsewhere. The muster rolls were also swelled by a certain number of
convalescents. The fighting strength of the 5th and 8th Corps, which
were harassed by constant skirmishing, remained stationary or declined;
and the number of mounted horsemen steadily dwindled. But in the
1st and 3rd Corps there was a steady increase in the numbers of the
infantry and artillery. Reinforcements of artillery also arrived; there
were, indeed, more guns in Moscow than the enfeebled teams could draw.
The movements of the French main army during this period of comparative
quiescence were not very important. Eugène early in October pushed
an advance-guard to Dmitrov, some miles north of Moscow, while Ney
moved to Boghorodsk, about 25 miles eastward on the road to Vladimir.
The Russian cavalry screen, under Winzingerode, gave back before the
advance of the French columns, and there was little fighting. Ney
ordered the construction of barracks for winter quarters at Boghorodsk,
but De Fezensac pessimistically remarks that the sham deceived nobody.
Ney and Eugène were soon recalled to Moscow, and the entire army,
except Murat’s advance-guard, was concentrated there on the 15th.
Meanwhile Murat, isolated on the Chernishnia at a distance of nearly 50
miles from the main army, and with a vastly superior army in his front,
was in a position of great danger. The peril was aggravated by the
scantiness of supplies and by the lack of forage, which was steadily
killing the over-worked horses. Skirmishing was continually taking
place, with general ill fortune to the invaders. Foraging parties had
to be pushed farther and farther afield, and needed larger and larger
escorts to protect them against the enterprising regular and irregular
cavalry of the Russians. On one occasion a foraging party of Dragoons
of the Guard, under Major Marthod, accompanied by a detachment of the
33rd Léger, was attacked and cut up. On October 9th Colonel Kudachev
with two regiments of Cossacks made a successful attack upon a large
foraging party, and carried off 200 prisoners. Similar skirmishes
were continually occurring. On October 10th Dorokhov, who had been
reinforced by five battalions and some more cavalry and artillery,
stormed Vereia, killing or capturing its garrison of 500 Westphalians,
and thus establishing himself dangerously near the Moscow-Smolensk road.
It has been seen that on October 4th Kutuzov had begun to entrench
himself at Tarutino. Bennigsen criticises the position severely. The
Nara in its front was everywhere fordable, and on the left there were
some unoccupied heights which might be seized by an assailant. However,
as matters went, there was little fear of an immediate attack, and the
Russians were so strong in cavalry that they could obtain early warning
of any move of the French from Moscow.
Soon after reaching Tarutino Barclay left the army. He had been deeply
wounded by the rancorous attacks made upon him by the ultra Russians,
and his relations with Bennigsen were very strained. Kutuzov had
treated him with great respect, and after Borodino had given him the
chief command of both Russian armies. But when a supreme commander
is present at the head-quarters of an army difficulties are certain
to arise. In 1864 the presence of General Grant with Meade’s army of
the Potomac did not make for unity of command, though both officers
were men of the finest character. Barclay soon found his position
intolerable, and resigned. He was bitterly hurt, and told Clausewitz,
who had just been appointed to a post on Wittgenstein’s staff, that he
might thank heaven that he was well out of it. It is impossible not to
sympathise with him, and at the same time not difficult to see that his
departure made for unity of command. Whether Kutuzov was the right man
for the post of commander-in-chief is another question. Barclay was
abominably ill-treated and insulted by the populace on his way to St.
Petersburg, but Alexander never lost confidence in him, and he emerged
from his retirement in 1813 to take command of the Russian armies in
Germany. His departure occasioned a show at least of regret among the
officers of the army, many of whom perhaps felt conscience-stricken
at the memory of ill-conditioned murmuring and mutiny. Most of the
generals came to bid him farewell; and Yermólov, who had been his worst
and most treacherous enemy, actually wept--an episode to which allusion
has elsewhere been made.
On the 24th of September, at a mansion on the road to Vladimir,
Bagration died. It is probable that travelling on the bad Russian roads
had brought on gangrene. On his death-bed he was visited by Wilson, who
was returning from his visit to Alexander. The Tzar, very wisely, had
judged it best to overlook the insubordination of the generals, and
had sent by Wilson the strongest assurances of his determination to
continue the resistance. He would, he said, sooner let his beard grow
to the waist and eat potatoes in Siberia, than permit any negotiations
so long as an armed Frenchman remained in Russia. The language may
perhaps be thought a little high-flown, but it possesses dignity in
that it was the expression of the firm resolution of the united Russian
nation. To the dying soldier Wilson repeated the brave words of the
Tzar. Bagration pressed his hand convulsively. “Dear general,” he said,
“you have made me die happy, for now Russia will assuredly not be
dishonoured. _Accipio solatium mortis._” So passes from the scene the
fine Georgian soldier whose life had been spent in faithful service to
his adopted country. Wilson eulogises his good qualities, the kindness
and graciousness which his fiery temper perhaps at times concealed,
his generosity and chivalrous courage. Wilson was his devoted
admirer--the two had much in common. But in sober fact Bagration,
whatever his faults, had ever proved himself a worthy descendant of
the warrior-kings of the Bagratid line; and having adopted Russia, the
steady protector of the Caucasian Christians, as his country, he had
served her faithfully to the end. It is difficult not to feel a sense
of decline in passing from Barclay, the simple, devoted servant of
his country, and Bagration, the chivalrous descendant of kings, to the
caution and cunning of the pleasure-loving old aristocrat Kutuzov, and
the hardly disguised self-seeking of the soldier of fortune Bennigsen.
Kutuzov, from the field of Borodino, had sent a first brief and hasty
despatch stating that he had held his own and captured some guns. As
has been seen, the statement was only true in a general sense, since
the Russian troops had certainly been driven back a short distance.
This report was perhaps hurriedly penned in the exultation of finding
that he had fought the terrible conqueror for a long day without
real ill-success. A second despatch told the truth or something
near it, describing the battle as a drawn one--which it tactically
was--estimating Napoleon’s loss as probably the greater, and insisting
upon the necessity of retreating in order to reorganise after the
tremendous losses. A third despatch attributed the chief merit of the
balanced success of the day to Barclay and Bennigsen. Alexander did
not publish the second despatch--whether wisely or not it is difficult
for an Englishman to judge. Kutuzov was promoted Field Marshal, and
received a grant of 100,000 rúbles. Barclay was decorated with the
order of St. George (2nd Class), and Bennigsen with that of St.
Vladimir (1st Class). Bagration, who wore all the Orders of Russia,
received a grant of 50,000 rúbles. Miloradovich, Dokhturov, Ostermann,
and Raievski received the order of St. Alexander Nevski. Each soldier
was awarded a gratuity of 5 rúbles--which, it may be hoped, was paid in
silver, not in the depreciated paper currency.
When in the midst of announcements of victory and of rewards the
news arrived that Moscow had been abandoned, the discouragement was
naturally great. In the army itself Kutuzov certainly felt very
dubious of success. At St. Petersburg the state archives were sent
into the interior, and the fleet was sent to winter in England. The
Empress Dowager, the Grand Duke Constantine, and the Grand Chancellor
Rumiantzev, were strongly in favour of peace; but neither domestic
nor political pressure, nor public alarm, appear to have shaken for a
moment the stern resolution of the commonly yielding, sensitive, and
dreamy Tzar.
Alexander’s reply to the fall of Moscow was a proclamation to his
people calling upon them to rise superior to the loss, and to overwhelm
the invaders, whose position was painted in colours perhaps darker than
the reality. Preparations for continuing the war were energetically
pushed forward. Count Lieven was despatched as ambassador to London,
and with an assurance of Alexander’s immovable determination to
continue the struggle at all hazards. For the present he asked nothing
but munitions of war. Later, when he had saved Russia, he intended
to do his best to free Europe from French domination, when he hoped
that Britain would not be sparing of her wealth. At this moment, be it
remembered, Napoleon was encamped among the ruins of the sacred capital
of Russia.
Meanwhile at Tarutino the reorganisation of the Russian army was being
energetically proceeded with. The man immediately responsible for it,
who justly received the major part of the credit, was Konovnitzin,
who has already been repeatedly met with in his country’s battles.
Konovnitzin was a strong adherent and admirer of Barclay, and seems to
have possessed his chief’s virtues of modesty and devotion to duty.
Borodino and the subsequent actions had grievously shattered all the
regiments, and some had been practically destroyed. These were either
dissolved or sent back into the interior to reform; the combined
Grenadier battalions were broken up and distributed; and the militia
and new recruits then drafted in. The experienced Russian generals did
not make the mistake committed by the leaders of the Spanish uprising
in 1808-1809 and swamp the battalions with raw levies. Only the picked
men who had received some training were sparingly introduced among the
war-seasoned soldiers. Even so Kutuzov was very distrustful of his
infantry.
Horsemen cannot be trained so easily as foot-soldiers, and the
Russian cavalry could not be greatly increased in strength. Such
reinforcements as it received must have consisted of small drafts and
rejoining convalescents. It included the same regiments as had fought
at Borodino, but all were in a greatly reduced condition. The men,
however, were in high heart and the horses in excellent condition. The
artillery was also in admirable order.
Alexander had made an appeal to the loyalty of the Don Cossacks, which
was seconded by the great personal influence of Platov. By the middle
of October there were present in the Moscow theatre of war some fifty
regiments of irregular horsemen.
Reorganisation and steady reinforcement had their effect. The numerical
strength of the Russian army at Tarutino began to rise at once, and
its efficiency steadily increased. The number of battalions had fallen
to 147 by October 18th, but they had all been brought up to an average
strength of over 500 bayonets, except those of the Guard, which, having
no depôts at hand, were rather weaker. By October 23 the strength of
the Russian Grand Army, including its detachments, had risen to 105,000
regulars, including 12,000 cavalry, and nearly 20,000 Cossacks, with an
artillery train of some 650 guns excellently appointed and horsed.
Kutuzov made certain changes in the organisation. The entire regular
cavalry was massed in four unequal “Corps,” one of which consisted
of Cuirassiers. Lieutenant-General Prince Golitzin I received the
command of the Cuirassier Corps, and the 1st and 3rd were given to
Major-Generals Baron Müller Zakomelski and Vassilchikov respectively.
Baron Korff continued to command the 2nd, which was increased to 8
regiments of Dragoons, and 1 or 2 of light cavalry. The various army
corps still retained their old leaders, except the 3rd, which was now
commanded by Strogonov.
At the same time some changes were made in the higher commands.
Miloradovich practically took the place of Bagration--by no means
unworthily--while General Tormazov was called from the west to succeed
Barclay.
Strategically the army was organised by Kutuzov into an advanced
guard, under Miloradovich, a _Corps de Bataille_, under Tormazov,
six Flying Columns, and six Cossack detachments. The advanced guard
included the 2nd and 4th Army Corps, the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry “Corps,”
and 4 regiments of Cossacks. The _Corps de Bataille_ consisted of
the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Army Corps, and Golitzin’s and
Müller-Zakomelski’s cavalry. The Flying Columns were: (1) Platov’s,
comprising 13 regiments of Cossacks, 1 of light infantry, and a
horse battery; (2) Winzingerode’s, of 1 regiment of Hussars, 1 of
Dragoons, 7 of Cossacks, and a battery, observing Moscow on the
north; (3) Dorokhov’s, observing Mozhaïsk, ultimately increased
by detachments to 5 battalions, 16 squadrons, a battery, and some
Cossacks; (4) Orlov-Denisov’s, consisting of 6 regiments of Cossacks
and 6 guns; (5) Karpov’s, comprising 7 regiments of Cossacks; and
(6) that of Major-General Count Ozharovski, composed of 4 regiments
of Cossacks, 1 of Hussars, a regiment of light infantry, and 6 guns.
The Cossack detachments which infested the Moscow-Smolensk road, were
those of Colonel Kaisarov (3 regiments), Colonel Prince Kudachev (2
regiments), Colonel Yefremov (2 regiments), Lieutenant-Colonel Davidov
(2 regiments), Captain Seslavin (1 regiment), and Captain Figner (1
regiment).
The Russian army at Tarutino experienced little or no privation.
Supplies of food were plentiful. Forage after a time grew scarce in
the immediate neighbourhood, and it was necessary to send to some
distance to obtain it, but the horses remained in excellent condition.
Löwenstern says that the army had never fared better; it was even
possible to obtain luxuries from the merchants who visited the camp.
Dry fuel alone was lacking. To obtain it the villages within the
Russian lines were almost entirely demolished.
While making a show of preparations for the fortification and
provisioning of Moscow the French Emperor, on October 4, sent his
aide-de-camp, General Lauriston, who had been Ambassador at St.
Petersburg before the war, on a mission to Kutuzov. Lauriston’s real
object was to ascertain the chances of peace. It was certain that his
mission could have no success. Apart from the firm resolve of the Tzar
the generals at Tarutino were bitterly determined, and kept a close
watch upon their commander-in-chief. Kutuzov consented to receive
Lauriston; and thereupon his subordinates requested Wilson to inform
him that if he conferred privately with Lauriston he would be deposed
from the command. Kutuzov himself, not very confident of the ability of
his army to beat Napoleon’s, persisted in his determination to receive
Lauriston, but consented to do so publicly in the first instance. He
then had a private conversation with the French general, of which he
afterwards gave an account to Count Langeron. He ultimately consented
to pass on a letter brought by Lauriston to St. Petersburg; but
declared that he had no power to conclude an armistice.
The successes of Schwarzenberg and St. Cyr appeared to make the French
line of communications fairly safe, and the calling up of Victor’s
9th Corps to Smolensk was an additional measure of security. The 9th
Corps crossed the frontier on September 3. It was increased by the
addition of four German regiments to a strength of 33,500 men. Victor
left Coutard’s German brigade at Vilna, and with the rest of the corps
marched for Smolensk, where he arrived on September 27. Napoleon had
appointed Comte Baraguay d’Hilliers Governor-General of the province
of Smolensk, but he could do little to collect supplies and keep the
roads clear. The country was infested by small parties of Cossacks and
of armed peasantry on the one hand, and on the other by numbers of
stragglers, disbanded troops and marauders belonging to the invading
army.
Until the arrival of the 9th Corps troops were entirely lacking
wherewith to suppress the disorder, and it will soon be seen that
Victor could make but a brief stay at Smolensk. Baraguay d’Hilliers,
worried and distracted by Napoleon’s angry complaints, gave his
master the facts of the situation in two letters, which enable us to
appreciate the precise state of things in rear of the _Grande Armée_.
The armed peasants and Cossack detachments checked foraging operations
and cut off detachments. At Smolensk, indeed, there was a strong
garrison. A provisional administration had been organised, on paper,
under the superintendence of M. de Villeblanche; but the town was
ruined and nearly deserted. General Charpentier could organise strong
foraging parties, but had no artisans to construct barracks and
bakeries, or to manufacture clothing and equipment. From Smolensk
to Gzhatsk there was hardly any protection for the road. Baraguay
d’Hilliers declared that, after providing for the necessary garrisons
of the posts, he could dispose of only 600 men, in three detachments,
for police and foraging operations on a line of some 200 miles! As to
establishing markets as Napoleon ordered, he frankly exposed the utter
absurdity of the idea. For removing wounded and forwarding supplies
there were not a fifth of the vehicles required.
[Illustration:
MARSHAL VICTOR, DUKE OF BELLUNO
Commander of the 9th French Army Corps
From the painting by Gros at Versailles]
Detachments on the march to Moscow straggled for many miles north
and south of the high-road in order to forage, and it was impossible
to keep them in hand. One officer, in charge of a convoy, reported
that his escorts melted away one after another; and he entered
Moscow alone! The marauders committed nameless atrocities, which amply
explain and to some extent justify the terrible retaliations of the
peasants during the retreat. It is an ungrateful task to allude to
these horrors, but one hideous incident given by Löwenstern must be
mentioned, if only to afford a proper impression of what a state of
warfare in Napoleonic days implied.
Among the Russian leaders of irregulars Captain Figner early acquired
a terrible reputation for blood-thirsty cruelty towards his French
and Polish foes, to whom he gave no quarter in battle, and whom,
when captured, he massacred without pity. His savagery was strongly
reprobated in the Russian army, except in the case of a number of
fierce spirits whom the sufferings of their country had maddened. Even
the wild irregulars looked askance at Figner; and for the execution of
his savage orders he could not always rely upon them.
Figner himself declared that he acted from conscientious motives. While
on one of his expeditions he surprised a marauding party--evidently
consisting of Frenchmen and Poles--in a village which they had sacked.
In the church they had penned a number of women and girls, and outraged
and tortured them with horrible barbarity, crucifying them about the
building--partly in order the more easily to gratify their brutal lust,
partly no doubt from sheer love of cruelty. Into this hideous orgy
burst Figner and his Cossacks. Most of the ravishers were captured. The
unhappy victims--such of them as survived--were rescued; and there and
then, before the desecrated altar, the Russian leader swore a solemn
oath never to spare a Frenchman. He shut his prisoners up in the church
and fired it over them; and thereafter, until he was killed in the
following year, Frenchmen were to him but as vermin to be exterminated.
It is futile to comment upon the moral ethics of his determination.
It is only evident that in Russia, as in Spain, the brutality and
lust of the French conquerors sowed the seeds of a terrible harvest of
vengeance.
In spite of the disorder in Napoleon’s rear there is no doubt that
the French numbers rose steadily during the halt. Presumably the
stragglers therefore--or such of them as survived the Cossacks and
armed peasants--drifted in eventually. But it is hardly necessary to
point out that such a method--or lack of method--of marching was the
worst possible preparation for a retreat in which strict discipline and
careful order would be before everything necessary.
What Napoleon’s own plans were is extremely doubtful. The troops
generally anticipated that they would winter in Moscow--but this of
course implies nothing. Count Daru certainly suggested doing so,
positively stating that to his knowledge the supplies were sufficient
and shelter ample. But on the other hand the lines of communication
were already seriously threatened, and though the army in Moscow might
have been preserved it must have lost most of its horses, and Napoleon
would have been cut off from France for several months.
The Emperor is credited by Fain with the intention of advancing upon
St. Petersburg. This project was a most extraordinary one, and it
passes human comprehension how Napoleon could have imagined it. It is
useless to give it in detail. The essential part is that the army is
to march upon Velikii Luki, about 90 miles north-east of Polotsk, and
300 from Moscow, through a fertile country (it is actually quite the
reverse), and thus threaten St. Petersburg--200 miles farther on, over
barren and sparsely-peopled country. The time allowed for accomplishing
the movement appears to be about fifteen days! Farther comment is
surely unnecessary.
Clausewitz considers that Napoleon must always have intended to retreat
by the direct road to Smolensk, the only one in any sense guarded and
furnished with magazines. On the Kaluga road, he says, the army would
have starved within a week. He therefore infers that in marching upon
Kaluga, as he eventually did, Napoleon merely intended to manoeuvre or
push Kutuzov out of the way.
The facts, of course,--which Clausewitz may not at the time have known
accurately--were that the country along the Smolensk-Viasma-Moscow
road was absolutely devastated, that forage could not be obtained upon
it, while farther south matters were better; and that east of Smolensk
there were practically no magazines.
Jomini is of opinion that Napoleon would have done best to retreat upon
Vitebsk. The country, however, was poor and thinly peopled, and the
roads were very bad; the only advantage of the plan was that the army
would have gained a considerable start of Kutuzov.
Finally, there was the design of retiring by Kaluga on Smolensk. The
roads were bad, but probably better than those on the north, since
there were upon them some considerable towns. The country was tolerably
fertile and--for Russia--fairly well peopled; there were, besides,
magazines at Kaluga and elsewhere which might be captured. Further,
there was the opportunity of destroying the factories of arms and
ammunition at Tula.
How long Napoleon would have remained at Moscow is doubtful. His
orders during October for the evacuation of the hospitals show that he
meditated departure; but he still waited, hoping against hope that the
stubborn Tzar would at length give way, until on October 18th came the
news that Kutuzov had taken the offensive.
Kutuzov himself appears not to have had very much confidence in the
solidity and ability to manoeuvre of his army. Murat’s position,
however, was such as to tempt even a cautious commander; and Kutuzov
gave way to the energetic representations of Bennigsen and Toll. An
attack was fixed for October 17th, but bad staff arrangements compelled
it to be postponed until the 18th. Bennigsen gives no reasons.
Bogdanovich and Löwenstern both blame Yermólov. Löwenstern says that
recalling the horses from their distant foraging grounds caused great
delay and that Yermólov did not inform General Baron Löwenstern, the
artillery commander, in time.
The Nara, flowing from the west, turns sharply to the southward some
5 miles north of Tarutino; and soon after is joined on the left by
the Chernishnia rivulet. Close to Tarutino it again turns abruptly
eastward. The road from Kaluga runs northward through Tarutino for
nearly 5 miles to Vinkovo, a village about 2 miles from the mouth of
the Chernishnia, and then proceeds for 5 miles to Spas-Kuplia, where it
passes between two woods.
Murat’s line stretched from the confluence of the Chernishnia with
the Nara to the hamlet of Teterinka, some 5 miles to the westward,
and about 4 south of Spas-Kuplia. Vinkovo, which lay south of the
Chernishnia, was occupied by Claparède’s Poles, supported by the 3rd
Cavalry Corps, under General St. Germain, and a division of the 1st.
To the left rear of Vinkovo lay Dufour’s division, with the rest of
Nansouty’s cavalry corps on its left. Still farther to the south of the
Chernishnia stood Poniatowski’s corps, with Sebastiani’s cavalry on the
extreme left. Latour-Maubourg was watching the Nara on the right rear.
Murat’s whole strength hardly exceeded 25,000 men; he was encumbered
rather than supported by about 180 miserably horsed guns; and his 9000
or 10,000 cavalry were in a wretched state.
[Illustration: PLAN OF BATTLE OF VINKOVO, OCTOBER 18TH, 1812
General position at moment when Murat’s retreat began]
The Russian plan contemplated a demonstration by part of the bulk
of the army against Murat’s extended front, while Bennigsen, with a
force composed of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Corps, Müller Zakomelski’s
cavalry, and 10 regiments of Cossacks under Orlov-Denisov, turned his
left. Miloradovich was to move towards Vinkovo with Korff’s and
Vassilchikov’s cavalry, while behind him the rest of the army debouched
from Tarutino.
Orlov-Denisov and Müller Zakomelski fell, about 7 a.m. on the 18th,
upon Sebastiani’s bivouacs, while Baggohufwudt attacked the 5th Corps
in front. His advance had been revealed by the growing light and
some premature shots, and the Poles were able to form and oppose a
vigorous resistance. One of the first shots from their artillery killed
Baggohufwudt, and his fall rather dashed some of his young troops,
especially when the remains of the French Carabiniers, led by Murat
himself, gallantly charged the 48th Russian Chasseurs. The Russian
cavalry on the right, however, swept away Sebastiani, capturing most
of his baggage and artillery, and pushed on towards Spas-Kuplia, which
they occupied, thus cutting Murat’s line of retreat. The position would
have been critical had the Russian horsemen been supported by infantry.
The whole of the French line gave back in haste, but the Russian 2nd
Corps, imposed upon by Murat’s bold charge, and shaken by the fall
of its leader, followed very cautiously. Ostermann-Tolstoï failed to
advance with the necessary speed; and Bennigsen thought himself obliged
to hold back the 3rd Corps until the arrival of the 4th. The result was
that the entire French army, in great disorder, indeed, and suffering
considerably from the Russian artillery fire, succeeded in effecting
its retreat. Orlov-Denisov and Müller Zakomelski were obliged to
abandon Spas-Kuplia as infantry came up; and the line of retreat was
clear. Meanwhile Kutuzov was executing his part of the programme very
slowly or not at all. Only Miloradovich’s cavalry, supported by five
infantry regiments, crossed the Chernishnia and pressed the rear of the
retreating columns towards and through Spas-Kuplia, where the pursuit
ceased. Murat retreated to Voronovo, where he rallied his shaken
troops, while the Russian main body tranquilly returned to Tarutino.
Miloradovich with the now formally constituted advance-guard was
stationed at Vinkovo.
The French returns, which are manifestly incomplete, show a loss of
2795 men, of whom 1151 were prisoners or missing. The bulk of the
diminution was in the 5th Corps and Sebastiani’s cavalry; Claparède and
Dufour were scarcely engaged. Two generals were killed and two wounded.
The Russians claim to have lost only 502 killed and wounded. They
captured 37 guns, a standard, and a mass of baggage.
Bennigsen was exasperated at Kutuzov’s tardy and slight support, though
his own conduct had not been too energetic, and the breach between them
widened. It was already great, Kutuzov relying upon the retiring and
hard-working Konovnitzin far more than on Bennigsen.
The Russian success at Vinkovo, incomplete as it was, none the less
dealt a heavy blow to the already shaken _morale_ of the Napoleonic
army.
As the period of Napoleon’s evacuation of Moscow has now been reached,
it appears necessary to survey the positions occupied by the various
sections of the opposing forces.
Dealing first with the invaders--
The Imperial Guard, Grand Head-quarters, the Cavalry Reserve, and the
bulk of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Army Corps were encamped, under
Napoleon’s personal command, in the environs of Moscow. About Mozhaïsk
was the 8th Corps, under Junot, the total combatant strength of this,
the original Grand or Central Army, including engineers, gendarmerie,
etc., being nearly 125,000 men.
At Viasma was a column of drafts under General Evers, which with the
garrisons at Gzhatsk and elsewhere may be estimated at about 5000 men.
About Smolensk there were the 129th and Illyrian regiments from
Ney’s corps, three 3rd battalions of the Vistula Legion, and some
of the Hesse-Darmstadt Guards belonging to the Imperial Guard, a
Mecklenburg regiment and a battalion of the 33rd Léger (1st Corps); a
Polish cavalry regiment (5th Corps); and about 8000 men in _régiments
de marche_--say 16,000 in all, including 1500 cavalry under General
Baraguay d’Hilliers.
In the neighbourhood of Smolensk also was cantoned the 9th Corps, under
Victor, some 26,000 strong.
At Vitebsk and in its neighbourhood were a battalion of the 9th Corps
and a few drafts--say 1000 men.
Between Smolensk and Orsha there were in garrison perhaps 3000
men--drafts, convalescents, engineers, and Polish levies.
At Mohilev were 1 infantry and 1 cavalry regiment of Dombrowski’s
division, about 1500 men. The rest of the division, about 5500 men with
20 guns, was spread to the south-westward.
At Minsk and Borisov and scattered about the neighbourhood there were
2 weak French battalions, some depôt troops of various nations, a
weak Württemberg infantry regiment, and 4 battalions and 4 squadrons
of untrustworthy Lithuanian levies--less than 6000 in all, under
General Bronikowski. At Slonim General Konopka was organising the new
Lithuanian Lancer Regiment of the Guard, which with a few other levies
may be estimated at 1000 men.
Between Minsk and Kovno there were various depôts, _régiments de
marche_, and a number of Polish and Lithuanian levies, totalling
perhaps 14,000 men, and Coutard’s brigade of the 9th Corps, 2500 strong.
In Kurland and before Riga Macdonald’s 10th Corps now numbered perhaps
26,000 men.
In and about Polotsk lay the 2nd Corps, the remains of the infantry
of the 6th, and Doumerc’s Cuirassier Division--about 30,000
combatants--under Marshal St. Cyr.
Schwarzenberg had at Wengrow, Bielostok, and elsewhere about 37,000
men, comprising 22,000 Austrians, nearly 10,000 Saxons, and about 5000
Poles. Marching to join him were 5000 Austrians, and a French division
(Durutte) of the 11th Corps, 13,000 strong.
At Königsberg and in the neighbourhood was Loison’s division of the
11th Corps, 13,000 men, French, German, and Neapolitans.
In addition there were in Poland and Prussia, in garrison or moving up
to the front, about 21,000 men of various arms.
The total force of the Napoleonic army, therefore, on Russian soil or
about to move across the frontier was, in the middle of October, some
351,000 men.
In Germany, for the most part along the line of the Oder, was the
rest of the 11th Corps, under Marshal Augereau. It consisted of
two provisional divisions under Generals Heudelet and Lagrange, a
Neapolitan division in Danzig under General d’Estrées, Cavaignac’s
cavalry brigade, and some detached troops, amounting, with artillery,
to about 40,000 men; besides perhaps 27,000 drafts. Of these troops,
67,000 in all, about 55,000 were on the Vistula at the close of the
campaign. Adding these to the 351,000 troops already beyond that river
the total of Napoleonic troops still bearing on Russia was 406,000. As
the aggregate employed during the campaign has been elsewhere estimated
at 674,000, it results that 268,000 men had already disappeared from
the fighting line. Some, no doubt, had returned home invalided, some
had been taken by the Russians; a certain number had no doubt fallen
into good hands in the country and ultimately recovered from their
injuries. But by far the larger number were already dead.
To these 406,000 actual and prospective enemies Russia opposed the
following forces:--
At and near Tarutino and around Moscow, under Field-Marshal Prince
Golénischev-Kutuzov, were 105,000 regulars and 20,000 irregulars. Under
Wittgenstein, near Polotsk, were 40,000 regulars, irregulars, and
militia. Marching to reinforce Wittgenstein was Count Steingell with
10,000 men, almost all regulars. At Riga, under Essen I, there were
perhaps 15,000 troops.
Admiral Chichagov had under his general command about 70,000 men in
all, including General Lüder’s division coming from Serbia. Ertel at
Mozyr now had about 14,000, while Bobruisk was garrisoned by 6000.
Finally, in small regular detachments, drafts of recruits and militia,
and Cossacks, there were perhaps 30,000 men on the march to reinforce
the various armies. The Russian total therefore was nearly 310,000 men.