And even then, who called them to us? Serves them right, face it... and to hell.
in Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace"Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov
Kutuzov to Alexander I after the expulsion of the French from Russia. Schilder 1904, 3:137. The end of this phrase was probably “added” by contemporaries; the beginning goes back to Kutuzov’s report dated December 7. 1812: “The words of Your Imperial Majesty have been fulfilled: the road is strewn with enemy bones!” Kutuzov, 4(2):549.Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov
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“After all, we are not in Tsarina’s Meadow, where the parade does not begin until all the regiments arrive.” “Sovereign! That’s why I don’t start, because we are not in Tsarina’s Meadow.”
Dialogue between Kutuzov and Alexander I before the Battle of Austerlitz, November 20. (Dec. 2) 1807, according to the story of the duty general of the United Army, Prince P. M. Volkonsky. Mikhailovsky Danilevsky A.I. Description of the first war between Emperor Alexander and Napoleon in 1805. – St. Petersburg, 1844, p. 181-182.Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov
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“The key to Moscow has been taken!”
After the first unsuccessful attempts to repel Napoleonic troops that invaded Russia on June 12, 1812, Mikhail Kutuzov was immediately talked about as the only person capable of taking the post of commander-in-chief. But Alexander I did not like Kutuzov. Only after the election of the commander as the head of the Moscow and St. Petersburg militias and urgent advice from those close to him to rely on an experienced military leader, Emperor Alexander relented. Meanwhile, French troops were already near Smolensk. Appointed commander-in-chief, on the way to the army Kutuzov repeated: “If only I find Smolensk in our hands, then the enemy will not be in Moscow.” Beyond Torzhok he learned that Smolensk had been surrendered. “The key to Moscow has been taken!”- Kutuzov exclaimed in despair. The abandonment of Moscow by Russian troops was predetermined.
“We will not defeat Napoleon. We will deceive him"
The appointment of Kutuzov to replace the foreigner Barclay de Tolly as commander-in-chief of the retreating Russian army was supposed to cause a patriotic upsurge among the troops and people. But the field marshal himself, having lost the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, was not in the mood for an open and decisive battle against Napoleon. According to eyewitnesses, he expressed himself this way about the methods he would use against the French: “We will not defeat Napoleon. We will deceive him."
Already on August 17, Kutuzov arrived in the army as commander-in-chief. The troops greeted him with general rejoicing, hoping that the end of military failures had come. Officers and soldiers joked: “Kutuzov came to beat the French!” At the review, in order to raise the spirit of his army, the commander-in-chief exclaimed: “With such good fellows - and retreat?”. But these words were only an expression of Kutuzov’s gratitude for the love of the soldiers. The commander again gave the order to retreat - the great superiority of the French forces forced him to do so. The Russian retreat lasted for more than two months and stopped only at Moscow...
“This day will remain an eternal monument to the courage and excellent bravery of Russian soldiers”
The surrender of Moscow was inevitable, but it seemed politically and morally impossible to surrender the ancient Russian capital without a fight. Kutuzov decides to give a general battle to Napoleon. The first and only thing in this war. The Battle of Borodino on August 26, 1812 became one of the bloodiest in the 19th century. On the Borodino field, 46 thousand Russian soldiers and officers died in one day of battle, the French lost about 50 thousand people. Despite the losses, our troops won a moral victory over the enemy, which turned the tide of the war.
“This day will remain an eternal monument to the courage and excellent bravery of Russian soldiers, where all the infantry, cavalry and artillery fought desperately. Everyone’s desire was to die on the spot and not yield to the enemy. The French army did not overcome the fortitude of the Russian soldier, who cheerfully sacrificed his life for his fatherland,” this is how Mikhail Kutuzov reported to Emperor Alexander I about the Battle of Borodino. For the battle of Borodino on August 30, 1812, Kutuzov was promoted to field marshal general by the Russian emperor.
“To save Russia, we must burn Moscow”
After the Battle of Borodino, the balance of power did not shift in favor of the Russian army. Kutuzov spoke in one of his letters about a difficult choice: “The question has not yet been decided: should we lose the army or lose Moscow?” In Fili, a decision was made to surrender the ancient capital to the enemy. And although rumor stubbornly attributes the words: “To save Russia, we must burn Moscow,” Kutuzov, the commander did not give the order to burn the city after the retreat.
However, the fire of Moscow, which began on September 2, 1812, during its occupation by the French, was another blow to the enemy and delayed his advance. Meanwhile, Kutuzov's troops undertook the famous Tarutino maneuver, which cut off Napoleon's road to southern Russia on the eve of the coming winter. Realizing the critical situation, Napoleon sent an adjutant to Kutuzov with a proposal for peace negotiations, but the Russian commander replied that “the war is just beginning...”
“The war ended with the complete extermination of the enemy”
Napoleon had no choice but to begin the withdrawal of troops from Moscow on October 7, which then escalated into a stampede. During the retreat, the French emperor lost his army in Russia - more than 500 thousand people killed, wounded and prisoners, almost all the artillery and cavalry. On December 21, Kutuzov, in an army order, congratulated the Russian troops on expelling the enemy from Russia, proclaiming: “The war ended with the complete extermination of the enemy.”
For his skillful leadership of the army in 1812, Mikhail Kutuzov was awarded the title of Prince of Smolensk. He also received the Order of St. George, 1st degree, as a reward, becoming its first full holder in the history of Russia.
The victorious liberation of Europe from the French was led by Emperor Alexander I, who decided to continue the war with Napoleon outside of Russia. With the arrival of the Tsar to the troops, Kutuzov gradually stepped away from command. On April 5, the field marshal came down with a severe cold in the small Prussian town of Bunzlau; there was no hope for the elderly military leader to recover. The Russian Tsar arrived to say goodbye to his commander. Their dialogue was passed on like a legend. “Forgive me, Mikhail Illarionovich!” said Alexander I to the dying Kutuzov. “I forgive, sir, but Russia will never forgive you”, - answered the field marshal.
The unsuccessful war with Turkey in the Balkans, which had lasted since 1806, began to worry the Russian leadership by 1811: the invasion of Napoleon (by the way, an ally of the Porte) was looming, and our country might not be able to pull off operations on two fronts. Kutuzov was sent to solve the Turkish problem. Having inspected the army, weakened by the sending of part of the troops to the western borders, the commander decided to act with particular caution (“keep modest behavior”).
Having pulled his troops to the Bulgarian city of Rushchuk (modern Ruse), he froze in anticipation. The Turks, mistaking inaction for the weakness of the enemy, attacked first on June 22, 1811: 60,000 people to our 15,000. And Kutuzov countered the enemy’s arrogance with a well-thought-out battle plan: the Turks were completely defeated, losing 5,000 soldiers (our losses were 500 people). In May 1812, the Turks signed a peace treaty on Russia's terms and ceased to be a threat. And in June, Napoleon and his army crossed the Neman - the Patriotic War began.
2. “...Everything comes on time for those who know how to wait...”
This phrase, of course, does not fit with the popular Russian proverb: “Strike while the iron is hot.” But the commander-in-chief knew what he was saying.
You yourself know: in 1812, Kutuzov gave Moscow to the French without a fight and withdrew his troops inland. Waited to later force the exhausted (and cut off from its supply systems) army to flee. According to the recollections of those close to him, after making the decision to surrender Moscow, Kutuzov said: “Well, I’ll bring the damned French... they will eat horse meat.” And so it happened.
3. “...I don’t believe in sinlessness, I myself am a sinner...”
Leaving Moscow in early September 1812, the Russian army stood near the village of Tarutino in the Kaluga region. Until the beginning of October 1812, the troops accumulated forces; 67-year-old Mikhail Illarionovich, apparently, did the same. General Fyodor Rostopchin wrote to Alexander I with annoyance: “Kutuzov... no one sees. He lies down and sleeps a lot. A young girl dressed as a Cossack keeps him busy.” Another general, Leonty Bennigsen, confirmed in his messages: “The commander-in-chief... brought with him a Moldavian woman, dressed as a Cossack, who warms his bed.”
Having warmed up, the commander-in-chief went on the offensive. On October 18, during the Tarutino battle, 2,500 enemy soldiers were killed, 1,500 prisoners were taken (and our troops lost 1,200 people). From that moment on, the initiative in the war passed to the Russian army.
Who leads into battle
The future His Serene Highness Prince and Field Marshal General Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky was born on September 5, 1745 in St. Petersburg. He studied at the Artillery and Engineering Noble School, successfully led troops in many wars waged by Russia at that time: for example, with Turkey (1768–1774, 1811–1812), with Poland (1782), with France (in 1805 and in 1812). He died in the Polish city of Bunzlau (modern Boleslawiec) in 1813.
