Russia Against Napoleon

by Dominic Lieven

  14 There is a good description of meeting Blücher at this time in F. von Schubert, Unter dem Doppeladler, Stuttgart, 1962, pp. 345–6.

  15 Friederich, Feldzug, pp. 243–8; Müffling, Memoirs, pp. 167–76.

  16 I. I. Shelengovskii, Istoriia 69-go Riazanskago polka, 3 vols., Lublin, 1911, vol. 2, pp. 251–75. Skobelev was actually an odnodvorets, in other words the descendant of free peasant colonists who had manned the southern frontier regions of Muscovy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By Alexander’s reign the burdens and constraints on odnodvortsy were roughly the same as those of the state peasantry.

  17 Alexander’s correspondence in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, contains a mass of letters expressing these worries: see e.g. fos. 147ii and 151i for letters of 28 Feb. (OS) to Schwarzenberg urging him to press forward more quickly, and of 5 March (OS) to Nikolai Raevsky, who had replaced Wittgenstein, warning him not to become isolated and to expect an attack by Napoleon at any moment. For the scenes at GHQ, see Karl Fürst Schwarzenberg, Feldmarschall Fürst Schwarzenberg: Der Sieger von Leipzig, Vienna, 1964, pp. 306–8, 483–4. Mémoires de Langeron, Général d’Infanterie dans l’Armée Russe: Campagnes de 1812, 1813, 1814, Paris, 1902, p. 423.

  18 Langeron, Mémoires, pp. 434–7, has a good discussion of these two options.

  19 T. von Bernhardi, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des kaiserlichen russischen Generals der Infanterie Carl Friedrich Grafen von Toll, 5 vols., Leipzig, 1858, vol. 4ii, pp. 292–4, cites Napoleon’s own subsequent conversations on this point.

  20 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fo. 154ii, Volkonsky to Gneisenau, 10 March 1814 (OS). The basic narrative of events is the same in Friederich, Feldzug, and in Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1814.

  21 Friederich, Feldzug, pp. 281–2. On previous criticism of Oertel, see RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/120, Sv. 12, Delo 126, fo. 71: Barclay to Oertel, 16 Feb. 1814 (OS). A. Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, Opisanie pokhoda vo Frantsii v 1814 godu, SPB, repr. 1841, pp. 284–5.

  22 The only witness of this discussion to leave a detailed account is Toll: see Bernhardi, Denkwürdigkeiten, vol. 4ii, pp. 310–14. Bernhardi is right to dismiss Austrian claims to authorship of the plan, for which there is no evidence and which make a nonsense of Schwarzenberg’s actions. One cannot rule out Volkonsky’s role so easily, however. According to Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Alexander himself told him of Volkonsky’s advice. If Mikhailovsky had merely recorded Volkonsky’s role in his published history one could easily dismiss it as one of his many efforts to please still-living grandees of Nicholas’s reign by praising their role in the war. But he says the same in a manuscript not intended for publication in which in general he is critical of his former boss: Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, Memuary 1814–1815, SPB, 2001, pp. 33–5. See also, however, Diebitsch’s brief account in a letter to Jomini of 9 May 1817, published in Langeron, Mémoires, pp. 491–3.

  23 Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg, p. 323.

  24 Ibid., pp. 308–9. RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 18, Delo 17, fos. 227–8, 235, 238–9, Kankrin to Barclay: 12, 13, 17 March 1814 (OS).

  25 An interesting letter of 17 March from Count Latour to Radetsky states that the Austrian army had lost prestige because it was generally blamed for twice doing nothing and leaving the Army of Silesia to its fate: Fournier, Congress, no. 17, pp. 281–2. For Barclay’s compliment to Kankrin, see his letter of 10 March 1814 (OS), in RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 210/4, Sv. 17, Delo 17.

  26 For the Russian angle, see the excellent and detailed account by Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1814, vol. 1, pp. 456 ff. For the French view – on this occasion not too dissimilar – see Houssaye, Napoleon, pp. 296–311. Friederich, Feldzug, pp. 287–90, is fair and intelligent as always. There is a recent account in English by Digby Smith, Charge: Great Cavalry Charges of the Napoleonic Wars, London, 2003, pp. 207 ff., but as with most of the English-language literature on 1813–14 it very much underestimates the Russian impact, in this respect following its German-language sources. This chapter, for example, gives the impression that Württemberg’s cavalry played the leading role at Fére-Champenoise, which is far from true.

  27 Langeron, Mémoires, pp. 446–8.

  28 See n. 26 above for the main sources. See Ch. 5, pp. 162–4, for the battle of Krasnyi. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky was present at Fére-Champenoise and gives a good description of the final stages of the battle: Opisanie 1814, pp. 294–313. P. Pototskii, Istoriia gvardeiskoi artillerii, SPB, 1896, pp. 300–310, has interesting details on the role of the Guards horse artillery.

  29 For an excellent and succinct interpretation of Talleyrand’s views and role in 1814, see Philip Dwyer, Talleyrand, Harlow, 2002, pp. 124–40. For Napoleon’s movements and the Council of Regency, Houssaye, Napoleon, pp. 317–70.

  30 Count A. de Nesselrode (ed.), Lettres et papiers du Chancelier Comte du Nesselrode 1760–1850, Paris, n.d., vol. 5, pp. 183–4, 28 March 1814.

  31 Löwenstern, Mémoires, vol. 2, p. 376. I. Burskii, Istoriia 8-go gusarskago Lubenskago polka, Odessa, 1913, pp. 115–17. I. Radozhitskii, Pokhodnyia zapiski artillerista s 1812 po 1816 god, 3 vols., Moscow, 1835, vol. 3, pp. 109–10.

  32 Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, Opisanie 1814, p. 327.

  33 There is a detailed narrative of the battle in Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1814, vol. 1, pp. 506–60, and Friederich, Feldzug, pp. 301–10.

  34 Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1814, vol. 1, pp. 534–7. Eugen, Memoiren, vol. 3, pp. 278–90.

  35 Langeron, Mémoires, pp. 465–73.

  36 See e.g. his orders to Langeron: RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fo. 160ii, 16 March 1814 (OS), and his plea to Wrede, in Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii, Opisanie 1814, p. 324. M. F. Orlov, ‘Kapitulatsiia Parizha 1814 g.’, VS, 37/6, 1864, pp. 287–309.

  37 See e.g. Castlereagh’s comment to the Prince Regent that the Russian Guards were ‘the most splendid that can be imagined’: Castlereagh, vol. 9, 30 Jan. 1814, pp. 210–12.

  38 Burghersh, Operations, pp. 250–52. Baron de Vitrolles, Mémoires et relations politiques, 3 vols., Paris, 1884, vol. 1, p. 316.

  39 Orlov, ‘Kapitulatsiia’, p. 300. Vitrolles, Mémoires, vol. 1, pp. 311–12.

  40 On Talleyrand, see n. 29 above. J. Hanoteau (ed.), Mémoires du Général de Caulaincourt, Duc de Vicenze, 3 vols., Paris, 1933, vol. 3, pp. 207–30. Houssaye, Napoleon, pp. 470–99. For Talleyrand’s own account of these days, see Mémoires du Prince de Talleyrand, Paris, 1891, pp. 156–67.

  41 All the key documents of these days are reproduced between pp. 403 and 416 of SIRIO, 31, 1881: these include the various allied declarations, senatorial resolutions, Marmont’s statements and a short commentary by Nesselrode.

  42 For Alexander’s letter to Louis XVIII of 17 April, see SIRIO, 31, 1881, pp. 411–12. Castlereagh, vol. 9, pp. 450–51, reproduces Charles Stewart’s letter to Bathurst of 7 April denouncing the offer of Elba but there is no mention of his brother’s letter to Bathurst of 13 April: this is published as no. 4, pp. 420–3, in Baron Fain, Manuscrit de Mil Huit Cent Quatorze, Paris, 1825. Since there is nothing that is implausible in the content of the letter and no reason to think that Fain invented it, the likeliest interpretation is that it was not included in the collection by Lord Londonderry because he did not think it reflected well on his brother. He does include many other letters to Bathurst. In Castlereagh’s defence, he was seeking to sustain a fait accompli created by others.

  43 Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg, p. 337.

  44 Löwenstern, Mémoires, vol. 2, pp. 342, 419–23. A. Zaitsev, Vospominaniia o pokhodakh 1812 goda, Moscow, 1853, pp. 29–34. P. Nazarov, ‘Zapiski soldata Pamfila Nazarova’, RS, 9/8, 1878, pp. 539–40. RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fo. 172ii, Volkonsky to Barclay, 2 April 1814 (OS), on the immediate departure of the irregular cavalry. Radozhitskii, Pokhodnyia zapiski, vol. 3, pp. 236–7, on the tremendous reception given to the returning Russian troops in Silesia, thanks partly to the king, who had given 3 million talers for parties and meals in their honour. Dnevnik Pavla Pushchina, Leningr
ad, 1987, pp. 166–73, on the Guards’ journey home.

  Bibliography

  For abbreviations, see list on “Notes” Section.

  Archives

  1. Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi voenno-istoricheskii arkhiv:

  Fond 1: Chancellery of the War Ministry

  Fond 46: A. S. Kologrivov

  Fond 103: M. B. Barclay de Tolly

  Fond 125: D. I. Lobanov-Rostovsky/Reserve Army

  Fond 140: M. G. Titov

  Fond 474: Otechestvennaia voina 1812g + kampaniia 1813 i 1814 gg. (campaigns of 1812–14)

  Fond 489: Formuliarnye spiski (personnel records)

  Fond 846: Military Scientific Archive (voenno-uchenyi)

  Fond 9194: L. L. Bennigsen/Army of Poland

  2. British Library

  Lieven papers: Additional Manuscripts 47410, 47424, 47427

  Published Documents

  Akty, dokumenty i materialy dlia istorii 1812 goda, ed. K. Voenskii, 2 vols., SPB, 1910–11.

  ‘Aperçu des transactions politiques du Cabinet de Russie’, Sbornik imperatorskago russkago istoricheskago obshchestva, 31, 1881.

  Arkhiv grafov Mordvinovykh, ed. V. A. Bilbasov, SPB, 1902, vol. 4.

  Das Befreiungsjahr 1813: Aus den Geheimen Staatsarchivs, ed. J. von Pflugk-Harttung, Berlin, 1913.

  Borodino: Dokumental’naia khronika, ed. A. M. Val’kovich and A. P. Kapitonov, Moscow, 2004.

  Briefwechsel König Friedrich Wilhelm III’s und der Königin Luise mit Kaiser Alexander I, ed: P. Bailleu, Leipzig, 1900.

  ‘Bumagi A. I. Chernysheva za tsarstvovanie Imperatora Aleksandra Igo’, Sbornik imperatorskago russkago istoricheskago obshchestva, 121, 1906.

  Bumagi otnosiashchiasia do otechestvennoi voiny 1812 goda, ed. P. I. Shchukin, 10 vols., Moscow, 1897–1908.

  Chuikevich, P. A., ‘Analiticheskii proekt voennykh deistvii v 1812 P. A. Chuikevicha’, Rossiiskii Arkhiv, 7, 1996.

  Correspondance de l’Empereur Alexandre Ier avec sa sœur la Grande Duchesse Cathérine 1805–1818, ed. Grand Duke Nicolas, SPB, 1910.

  Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, 32 vols., Paris, 1858–70.

  Correspondence, Despatches and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh, ed. Marquess of Londonderry, vol. 9, London, 1853.

  Fel’dmarshal Kutuzov: Dokumenty, dnevniki, vospominaniia, ed. Iu. N. Gulaev and V. T. Soglaev, 2 vols., Moscow, 1995.

  Freiherr vom Stein: Briefwechsel, Denkschriften und Aufzeichnungen, 8 vols., ed. E. Botzenhart, Berlin, 1957–71.

  General Bagration: Sbornik dokumentov i materialov, ed. S. N. Golubeva, Moscow, 1945. L’Imperatrice Elisabeth, épouse d’ Alexandre Ier, ed. Grand Duke Nicolas, 4 vols., SPB, 1908–9.

  ‘Iz zapisok fel’dmarshala Sakena’, RA, 22, 1900.

  Karamzin’s Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia, ed. and trans. R. Pipes, Ann Arbor, 2005.

  Materialy voenno-uchenogo arkhiva: Otechestvennaia voina 1812 goda, vols. 1–21, SPB, 1900–1914.

  Materialy voenno-uchenogo arkhiva: Voina 1813 goda, vols. 1–2, SPB, 1915–16.

  M. I. Kutuzov: Sbornik dokumentov, ed. L. G. Beskrovnyi, vols. 4i, 4ii, 5, Moscow, 1954–6.

  ‘Nakanune Erfurtskago svidaniia 1808 goda’, RS, 98, 1899.

  Narodnoe opolchenie v otechestvennoi voine 1812 goda, ed. L. G. Beskrovnyi, Moscow, 1962.

  Neithardt von Gneisenau: Schriften von und über Gneisenau, ed. F. Lange, Berlin, 1954.

  Nesselrode, Count A de (ed.), Lettres et papiers du Chancelier Comte de Nesselrode 1760–1850, vols. 3, 4, 5, Paris, n.d.

  Otechestvennaia voina v pis’makh sovremennikov, ed. N. Dubrovin, Moscow, 2006.

  Pis’ma glavneishikh deiatelei v tsarstvovanie Imperatora Aleksandra I, ed. N. Dubrovin, Moscow, 2006.

  Pokhod russkoi armii protiv Napoleona v 1813 g i osvobozhdenie Germanii: Sbornik dokumentov, ed. L. G. Beskrovnyi, Moscow, 1964.

  Pol’noe Sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii, 1807–14, vols. 30, 31, 32.

  ‘Posol’stvo Grafa P. A. Tolstago v Parizhe v 1807 i 1808 gg.’, Sbornik imperatorskago russkago istoricheskago obshchestva, 89, 1893.

  Les Relations diplomatiques de la Russie et la France 1808–12, ed. Grand Duke Nicolas, 6 vols., SPB, 1905–6.

  Sbornik istoricheskikh materialov izvlechennykh iz arkhiva Sobstvennoi Ego Imperatorskago velichestva kantseliarii, ed. N. Dubrovin, vols. 1–15, SPB, 1876–1915.

  Shishkov, A. S., Zapiski, mneniia i perepiska A. S. Shishkova, ed. N. Kiselev and I. Iu. Samarin, 2 vols., Berlin, 1870.

  Sobranie traktatov i konventsii zakliuchennykh Rossiei s inostrannymi derzhavami, SPB, 1876 and 1885, editor: F. F. Martens, vols. III and VII

  La Suède et la Russie: Documents et materiaux 1809–1818, Uppsala, 1985.

  Upravlenie General-Intendanta Kankrina: General’nyi sokrashchennyi otchet po armiiam (krome Pol’skoi i Rezervnoi) za pokhody protiv Frantsuzov, 1812, 1813, i 1814 godov, Warsaw, 1815.

  Vneshnaia politika Rossii XIX i nachala XX veka: Dokumenty Rossiiskogo Ministerstva Inostrannykh Del, 1st series, ed. A. L. Narochnitskii, vols. 4, 5, 6, 7, Moscow, 1962–70. Voennyi zhurnal, SPB, 1808–11.

  ‘1807 god: Pis’ma s dorogi ot kniazia A. B. Kurakina k gosudaryne-imperatritse Marii Feodorovne’, RA, 1, 1868.

  Memoirs, Diaries, Private Letters

  Arnol’di, I., ‘Berezinskaia pereprava’, VS, 53/9, 1910.

  Benckendorff, Count A., Zapiski Benkendorfa, Moscow, 2001.

  Bennigsen, L. L., Mémoires du Général Bennigsen, 3 vols., Paris, n.d.

  Bernhardi, T. von, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des kaiserlichen russischen Generals der Infanterie Carl Friedrich Grafen von Toll, 5 vols., Leipzig, 1858.

  Beskrovnyi, L. G. (ed.), Dnevnik Aleksandra Chicherina, 1812–1813, Moscow, 1966.

  Borodino v vospominaniiakh sovremennikov, SPB, 2001.

  Bortnevskii, V. G. (ed.), Dnevnik Pavla Pushchina, Leningrad, 1987.

  Choisseul-Gouffier, Countess, Historical Memoirs of the Emperor Alexander I and the Court of Russia, London, 1904.

  Dushenkovich, S. V. ‘Iz moikh vospominanii ot 1812 goda’, in 1812 god v vospominaniiakh sovremennikov, Moscow, 1995.

  Edling, Countess R., ‘Grafinia Roksandra Skarlatovna Edling: Zapiski’, in A. Libermann (ed.), Derzhavnyi sfinks, Moscow, 1999.

  Eiler, A. A. ‘Zapiski A. A. Eilera’, RS, 1/11, 1880.

  Ermolov, A. P., Zapiski A. P. Ermolova 1798–1826, Moscow, 1991.

  Fezensac, Duc de, Souvenirs militaires, Paris, 1863.

  Gielgud, A. (ed.), The Memoirs of Prince Adam Czartoryski, 2 vols., London, 1888.

  Glinka, S. F. Pis’ma russkogo ofitsera, Moscow, 1987.

  Golitsyn, Prince A., ‘Zapiska o voine 1812 goda A. B. Golitsyna’, VS, 53, 1910.

  Grabbe, P., Iz pamiatnykh zapisok: Otechestvennaia voina, Moscow, 1873.

  Griboedov, A. S. Sochineniia, Moscow, 1953.

  Griois, C.-P.-L., Mémoires du Général Griois, Paris, n.d.

  Hanoteau, J. (ed.) Mémoires du Général de Caulaincourt, Duc de Vicenze, 3 vols., Paris, 1933.

  Kharkevich, V. (ed.), 1812 god v dnevnikakh, zapiskakh, i vospominaniiakh sovremennikov, 4 vols., Vilna, 1900–1907.

  Komarovskii, E. F., Zapiski grafa E. F. Komarovskogo, SPB, 1914. Konshin, N. M., ‘Zapiski o 1812 gode’, IV, 4, 1884.

  Langeron, A de, Mémoires de Langeron, Général d’Infanterie dans l’Armée Russe: Campagnes de 1812, 1813, 1814, Paris, 1902.

  Lazhechnikov, I. I., ‘Neskol’ko zametok i vospominanii po povodu stat’i “materialy dlia biografii A. P. Ermolova”’, Russkii vestnik, 31/6, 1864.

  Lestvitsyn, V. (ed.), ‘Zapiska soldata Pamfila Nazarova’, RS, 9/8, 1878.

  Longinov, N. M., ‘Dvenadtsatyi god: Pis’ma N. M. Longinova k grafu S. R. Vorontsovu’, RA, 4, 1912.

  Löwenstern, V. von, Mémoires du Général-Major Russe Baron de Löwenstern, 2 vols., Paris, 1903.

  Maevskii, S. I., ‘Moi vek ili istoriia generala Maevskago’, RS, 8, 1873.

  Mitarevskii, N. E., Raskazy ob otechestven
noi voine 1812 goda, Moscow, 1878.

  Murav’ev, N., ‘Zapiski Nikolaia Nikolaevich Muraveva’, RA, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 1885–91.

  Muromtsev, M. M. ‘Vospominaniia Matveia Matveevicha Muromtseva’, RA, 27/3, 1890.

  Norov, A. S., Voina i mir 1805–1812 s istoricheskoi tochki zreniia, SPB, 1868.

  Norov, V. S., Zapiski o pokhodakh 1812 i 1813 godakh ot Tarutinskago srazheniia do Kul’mskago boia, SPB, 1834.

  Orlov, M. F., ‘Kapitulatsiia Parizha 1814 g.’, VS, 37/6, 1864.

  Ortenberg, I., ‘Voennyia vospominaniia starykh vremen’, Biblioteka dlia chteniia, 24/6, 1857.

  Radozhitskii, I., Pokhodnyia zapiski artillerista s 1812 po 1816 god, 3 vols., Moscow, 1835.

  Raevskii, A., Vospominaniia o pokhodakh 1813 i 1814 godov, Moscow, 1822.

  Rochechouart, Comte de, Souvenirs de la Révolution, l’Empire at la Restauration, Paris, 1889.

  Saint-Cyr, Gouvion, Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire militaire sous le Directoire, le Consulat et l’Empire, vols. 3, 4, Paris, 1831.

  Schubert, F. von, Unter dem Doppeladler, Stuttgart, 1962.

  Shcherbatov, Prince A. G., Moi vospominaniia, SPB, 2006.

  Simanskii, L., ‘Zhurnal uchastnika voiny 1812 goda’, Voenno-istoricheskii sbornik, 3, 1913.

  Solov’eva, D. V. (ed.), Graf Zhozef de Mestr: Peterburgskie pis’ma, SPB, 1995.

  Tartakovskii, A. G. (ed.), Voennye dnevniki, Moscow, 1990.

  Vitrolles, Baron de, Mémoires et relations politiques, 3 vols., Paris, 1884.

  Volkonskii, S. G., Zapiski Sergeia Grigorovicha Volkonskogo (dekabrista), SPB, 1902.

  Vospominaniia voinov russkoi armii: Iz sobraniia otdela pis’mennykh istochnikov gosudarstvennogo istoricheskogo muzeia, Moscow, 1991.

  Wolzogen, L von, Mémoires d’un Général d’Infanterie au service de la Prusse et de la Russie (1792–1836), Paris, 2002.