The Burning of Moscow
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136. William Howe to Lord George Germaine, 23 September 1776, in The Parliamentary Register (London, 1802), X, 346–347.
137. Governor Tryon to Lord George Germain, 24 September 1776, in Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York, ed. John Brodhead (Albany NY, 1857), VIII, 686.
138. For details see Barnet Schecter, The Battle for New York (New York, 2002); Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life (New York, 2010).
Chapter 9: In Search of Peace
1. Popov, Frantsuzy v Moskve, 149.
2. D. Dufour de Pradt, Histoire de l’Ambassade dans le Grand Duché de Varsovie en 1812 (Paris, 1815), 52–54, 64–65.
3. Dumas, III, 454–455.
4. Tutolmin to Emperor Alexander, 19 September 1812, in Gorshkov, Moskva i Otechestvennaya voina 1812 g., II, 64; Tutolmin to Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, 23 November 1812, in Russkii arkhiv 11 (1900), 462.
5. French contemporaries and Western studies refer to Napoleon’s interpreter Lelorgne’s visit to Tutolmin. However, Tutolmin’s own letters (dated 19 September and 23 November) make it clear that Dumas’s visit preceded Lelorgne’s and Western accounts simply confused them. Daria Olivier’s account of this meeting contains considerable deviations from Tutolmin’s letters.
6. Dumas, III, 446–447; Tutolmin to Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, 23 November 1812, in Chteniya v Imperatorskom obschestve istorii i drevnostei rossiiskikh 2 (1860), 165.
7. Tutolmin to Emperor Alexander, 19 September 1812, RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3586, ll.3b; Tutolmin to Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, 23 November 1812, in Russkii arkhiv 11 (1900), 465; Chteniya v Imperatorskom obschestve istorii i drevnostei rossiiskikh 2 (1860), 168–169.
8. Tutolmin to Emperor Alexander, 19 September 1812, RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3586, ll.3b.
9. The roster showed 275 children, 207 healthy children aged 1 to 12 years, and 104 sick children aged 1 to 18 years.
10. Tutolmin to Emperor Alexander, 19 September 1812, RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3586, ll.4; Tutolmin to Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, 19 September 1812, in Gorshkov, Moskva i Otechetsvennaya voina 1812 g., II, 67–68; Tutolmin to Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, 23 November 1812, in Russkii arkhiv 11 (1900), 465.
11. Britten Austin cites some passages from this letter but they do not appear in Tutolmin’s original document. Britten Austin, 56.
12. Passeport, 20 September 1812, RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3586, l.8. The passport was signed by Alexander Berthier but Rukhin’s name was misspelled as RouKine.
13. Tutolmin’s certificate to Rukhin, 19 September 1812, RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3586, l. 7; Winzegerode to Alexander Balashov, 22 September 1812, RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3586, ll.5–6.
14. Yakovlev was also the father of Alexander Herzen, one of the founders of Russian socialism and a leading proponent of agrarian populism. Herzen was the result of an affair Yakovlev had with Henriette Wilhelmina Luisa Haag, a young German woman from Stuttgart; he gave the boy the last name Herzen because he was a ‘child of his heart [herz]’. Young Herzen was just five months old when his father met Napoleon.
15. In Western accounts Yakovlev is sometimes accused of being ‘an almost pathological procrastinator’ (Britten Austin, 56), and it was said that he ‘dithered and talked too much’ (Olivier, 106). These claims are largely based on Alexander Herzen’s memoirs but Yakovlev’s letters reveal that he was in fact prepared to depart with his family but could not convince his brother to follow him and refused to leave him behind. See Yakovlev to Golokhvastova, 13 November 1812, in Russkii arkhiv (1874), 1060–1061.
16. Yakovlev, 1066. Yakovlev wrote his recollections after finding certain inaccuracies in the memoirs of Baron Fain. However, this document remained unpublished for many years. In 1872 Yakovlev’s experience, including his meeting with Napoleon, was recounted in the memoirs of Madame Passeck, who, however, exaggerated or invented many elements in the story. This prompted Dmitri Golokhvastov, Yakovlev’s relative, to publish Yakovlev’s private letters and his memoir to refute Passeck’s claims. Adolphe Thiers’ account of Yakovlev’s meeting with Napoleon is also erroneous.
17. Napoleon did note, however, that ‘in all of my life, I burned only one city – it was in Italy – and only because its residents continued to resist us in the streets’.
18. Yakovlev, 1066–1067. Yakovlev’s memoir, written in French, is also available in N. Stchoupak, ‘L’entrevue de I. Iakovlev avec Napoléon,’ in Revue des Études Napoléoniennes 33 (1931), 45–48.
19. Yakovlev described Napoleon’s speech as filled with intermittent ‘bragging’ and ‘dishonesty’.
20. Yakovlev, 1067; Fain, 105–106.
21. Napoleon to Alexander, 20 September 1812, Correspondance de Napoléon, XXIV, No. 19213, 221–222; Correspondance générale, XII, 1103.
22. Western accounts claim that Yakovlev met Napoleon on at least two occasions, but Yakovlev’s letters and memoirs refute such claims and show that there was only one meeting.
23. Mortier’s order of 19 September, published in Correspondance de Napoléon (XXIV, No. 19212, 221) contains no name but might have been intended for Yakovlev.
24. Wintzingerode’s letter of 25 September reveals that he was suspicious of Yakovlev, whom ‘I could not consider as a normal man and could not conceive how he had the audacity to take such a mission upon himself.’ The general initially dispatched Yakovlev under escort to Minister of Police Balashov. However, Yakovlev is silent about Wintzingerode’s suspicions and simply remarks that the general ‘immediately sent me, accompanied by an officer, to St Petersburg’. Arriving there, Yakovlev received orders to go directly to Count Alexei Arakcheyev, who then delivered Napoleon’s letter to Alexander. Yakovlev, 1066–1068; Wintzingerode to Emperor Alxander, 25 September 1812, in Dubrovin, 140. Fain is usually the main source for Western accounts but Fain and Yakovlev differ in a number of points. I gave preference to Yakovlev, who wrote his memoir in response to Fain’s account. In her The Burning of Moscow 1812, Daria Olivier offers a very stylized and literary version of this meeting, including quotes that neither memoir contains. Britten Austin’s version is based on Olivier’s.
25. Choiseul-Gouffier, 130.
26. Napoleon to Berthier, 24 September 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1111.
27. Hogendorp, 324.
28. Berthier argued that the Austrians were teetering on the verge of defection and begged Napoleon to give the order for the move back to winter in Poland. ‘You want to get to Grosbois to see [your lover] Madame Visconti,’ mocked the emperor. Caulaincourt, II, 51.
29. Rapp, 185.
30. Hochberg, 69.
31. Merville to Napoleon, 23 September 1812, in Chuquet, La guerre de Russie (1er Sér), 80–81.
32. Ségur (1825), 40.
33. Caulaincourt, II, 49.
34. Villemain, I, 175–180.
35. Dominic Lieven, Russia against Napoleon (London: Penguin, 2010), 251.
36. Ségur (1825), 77.
37. Muravyev (1955), 170–171.
38. Volkonskii, 147.
39. Grand Duchess Catherine to Emperor Alexander, 18 September 1812, in Correspondance de l’empereur Alexandre 1er avec sa soeur, Letter, XXXIII.
40. Grand Duchess Catherine to Emperor Alexander; Emperor Alexander to Grand Duchess Catherine, 15–18 September 1812, Correspondance de l’empereur Alexandre Ier avec sa soeur, Letters Nos. XXXII, XXXIII, LXXII.
41. Bogdanovich, II, 288–289.
42. Edling, 79–80.
43. Peter Hicks, Beyond Smolensk,
44. Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti, 29 September 1812.
45. See Itinéraire des Archives de Caulaincourt in Caulaincourt, II, 37–38.
46. Constant, III, Chapter XXV,
47. Ségur (1825), 79–80.
48. Ségur (1825), 79–80.
49. Popov, Frantsuzy v Moskve, 154.
5
0. Caulaincourt, II, 46.
51. Caulaincourt, II, 46–47; Ségur (1825), 81–83. Also see Souvenirs du Duc de Vicence (Paris, 1837), I, 92–93.
52. Fain, II, 106–107.
53. Ségur (1825), 83.
54. Napoleon to Kutuzov, 3 October 1812, Correspondance générale, XII, 1126; Berthier to Murat, 4 October 1812, in Fain, II, 192–193; Gourgaud, 531–532.
55. Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, III, 82.
56. Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, III, 83 (based on a conversation with Volkonskii).
57. Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, III, 82–84. In the morning of 5 October Robert Wilson received a message from Bennigsen asking him ‘to return instantly to headquarters, as the Field Marshal had agreed, not merely proposed, but actually agreed in a written note, to meet Lauriston at midnight beyond the Russian advanced posts’.
58. Wilson, Narrative, 182–183.
59. Wilson, Narratives, 185–186.
60. Wilson, Narratives, 182.
61. Wilson, Narratives, 187.
62. Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, III, 84–85. In his classic Histoire du Consulat et de l’Empire (XIV, 419–420), Adolphe Thiers included a very different version of Lauriston’s arrival at the Russian camp; his version can be found unchanged in the works of subsequent generations of historians. Thiers described how, upon reaching the Russian outposts, Lauriston was greeted by Prince Volkonskii, who intended to entertain the French envoy at Bennigsen’s quarters. But Lauriston, offended at this reception, refused to confer with Volkonskii and returned to Murat’s headquarters, declaring that he would only speak with Kutuzov himself. ‘This sudden rupture of relations somewhat disturbed the Russian staff,’ wrote Thiers. ‘For the vehement national hatred against the French began to subside amidst the higher ranks of the army, and they were unwilling to render peace quite impossible. And even the persons opposed to peace regretted the manner in which M. de Lauriston had been treated, although for a different motive – their fear that this offensive treatment might induce the French army to advance against them full of anger and determination before the Russian army had been reinforced or reorganised.’ Consequently, Thiers argued, Russians agreed to receive Lauriston at the main headquarters.
63. Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, III, 76–77.
64. Sherbinin, 36.
65. Kutuzov to Alexander, 5 October 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3697, l. 2; Wilson, Narrative, 187–190; Langeron, 31–32. Also see Vestnik Evropy, No. 21–22, November 1812, 155–158.
66. Alexander to Kutuzov, 16 October 1812, in Wilson, Narrative, 203–204.
67. Puybusque (1817), 141–48.
68. Cate, 318.
69. Dumas, III, 455.
70. Muralt, 78.
71. Caulaincourt, II, 42; Castellane, I, 166.
72. See Napoleon to Cambacérès; Napoleon to Marie-Louise, 23–24 September 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1109–1110, 1114.
73. Napoleon to Marie-Louise, 4–6 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1133, 1161.
74. When the grand equerry continued to raise his concerns about the protracted sojourn in Moscow and the onset of winter, Napoleon again ridiculed him, telling Berthier and Michel Duroc that ‘Caulaincourt is already half-frozen’.
75. Dumas, III, 455.
76. Caulaincourt, II, 25–26.
77. Vincent Cronin, Napoleon (London, 1990), 321.
78. Thiers, XIV, 426.
79. Among those who received awards was the Dutch officer Aart Kool, who noted: ‘You can well imagine the pride and joy with which we walked back home. You would need to understand the culture of the French army, the way they strove to wear the French Legion of Honour on their chest, to see what this meant. The joy was immediately diminished by the way our fellow officers, who had not been honoured, greeted us, their eyes heavy with distaste. Still, it was an honour rather than an indictment. On the day of my investiture I purchased a small cross and a ribbon for the Legion of Honour, which cost me 100 francs, although I suspect I might have paid 500 to be able to wear the cross straightaway.’ Kool, 55–56.
80. Thus, on 5 October he rejected all nominations for promotions of the Portuguese officers from the 3rd Corps, drawing a large cross over their names. Dossier 3604 at the Russian State Military Historical Archive alone contains over 500 pages of promotion lists reviewed and signed by Napoleon between June and November 1812. His load varied but on 14–15 October he reviewed and approved more than thirty pages of promotional lists. All documents are in RGVIA, f. 846, op. 16, d. 3604.
81. Napoleon to Maret, 6 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1159.
82. Caulaincourt, II, 62–64.
83. Villemain, 230.
84. Napoleon to Berthier, 23 September 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1107–1108.
85. Napoleon to Berthier, 24 September 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1111.
86. Villemain, I, 230.
87. Ryazanov, 205–220.
88. Kicheev, 43.
89. Semen Klimych, 424.
90. Radozhitskii, 107–108.
91. Ségur (1825), I, 80.
92. Caulaincourt, II, 25–26.
93. On 1–2 October twelve cannon (howitzers, 12pdr and 3 pdr guns) were deployed in the Kremlin towers, taking control of all approaches to the complex. Another eighteen cannon were kept inside the Kremlin. The emperor also undertook major repair works designed to strengthen the Kremlin’s defences. He demolished some buildings adjacent to towers and strengthened defences around four gates by building palisades and earthworks. Inside the complex he had several walls demolished to allow for greater manoeuvrability. Outside the Kremlin walls French engineers were ordered to rebuild three major lunettes that were connected by a series of palisades. They also repaired covered ways and glacis and began demolishing all buildings on Red Square to clear up the approaches to the fortress. Napoleon to Berthier, 1 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1123–1124.
94. Napoleon to Berthier, 8 October 1812, Ibid., 1167. Aart Kool, the Dutch engineer in the 1st Corps, was tasked with fortifying the Novodevichii Monastery in the southwestern suburb of Moscow. ‘In front of the gates we built earthen walls and palisades. We installed light cannon in the stone towers. Close to the cloister, at around 30 to 40 paces, stood a large church, its highest part just taller than the 50–foot walls of the cloister. I was ordered to destroy that building and learned a lot about military destruction from this job. We created sixty points in the walls and pillars of the building in which to install mines and explosives. These points were connected by wooden ducts to carry fast fuses to each explosive. Once this was in place, we went to light the fuse from behind the stone tower. Marshal Davout came to see it with his entire entourage. The collapse was completely successful, almost like an earthquake. The tip of the church tower, with the St Andrew’s cross, stood on the ruins, still upright, about 150 feet lower than before, a message that the cross of Christ lasts for ever even amidst destruction and devastation.’ Kool, 54.
95. One thousand men from Marchand’s 25th Division were thus committed to building a strong redoubt and fortified observation post on the bank of the Moscow river. Napoleon to Berthier, 4 October 1812, Ibid., 1130.
96. Napoleon to Berthier, 11 October 1812, Ibid., 1177–1178. The brigade, commanded by General Charrière, consisted of two regiments. The 1st Regiment included light cavalrymen while the 2nd Regiment consisted of cuirassiers, carabiniers and dragoons.
97. For details see Caulaincourt II, 23f.
98. Napoleon seems to have allowed the designing of new ovens. According to Aart Kool, ‘In early October I was asked to design a transportable iron bread oven, and to build it in the engineers’ workshop, so I lodged for eight days with the colonel in charge of the workshop. I made model drawings of the design and took it to the headquarters of the engineers, at General Haxo’s request. These drawings received the high honour of being reviewed by the emperor. There was no time to make more of these ovens, but th
e oven I built was used during the eventual retreat.’ Kool, 54.
99. Napoleon to Berthier, 6 October 1812, in Chuquet, Ordres et apostilles de Napoléon, II, 451.
100. Berthier to Davout, 7 October 1812, RGVIA f. 846, op. 16, d. 3587, l. 11.
101. Napoleon to Berthier, 6–7 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1146, 1161–1162.
102. Montesquiou-Fezensac, Journal de la Campagne de Russie, 65.
103. Caulaincourt, II, 26.
104. Notes, [n.d] October 1812, Correspondance de Napoléon, XXIV, No. 19,237, 235–236.
105. To guard Smolensk and the lines of communication, Napoleon ordered the formation of a ‘division of twelve thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry’. In addition, he agreed to form a strong corps – un gros corps – at Vyazma, Gzharsk and Dorogobuzh from stragglers passing through these towns. Napoleon to Berthier, 6 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1147–1148; Napoleon to Berthier, 10 October 1812, in Chambray (1839), III, 429.
106. Notes, [n.d] October 1812, Correspondance de Napoléon, XXIV, No. 19,237, 237–238.
107. Napoleon to Maret, 9 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1176, No. 31882.
108. According to Meneval, the emperor often criticized Berthier for his carelessness. ‘‘Berthier,’ he used to say to him, ‘I would give an arm to have you at Grosbois [the chateau that Napoleon gave to Berthier]. Not only are you no good, but you are actually in my way.’ After these little quarrels Berthier would sulk, and refuse to come to dinner (he was Napoleon’s habitual table-fellow). The emperor would then send for him, and would not sit down to dinner until he had come; he would put his arms round his neck, tell him that they were inseparable, etc., would chaff him about Madame Visconti, and in the end would seat him at the table opposite him.’ Meneval, III, 42.
109. Napoleon to Maret, 9 October 1812, in Chuquet, Ordres et apostilles de Napoléon, II, 456.
110. Napoleon to Maret, 14 October 1812, in Correspondance générale, XII, 1184.