The Patriotic War of 1812 gave birth to a new phenomenon in history - mass partisan movement. During the war with Napoleon, Russian peasants began to unite into small detachments to defend their villages from foreign invaders. The brightest figure among the partisans of that time was Vasilisa Kozhina, a woman who became a legend of the War of 1812.
Partisan
At the time of the invasion French troops Vasilisa Kozhina, according to historians, was about 35 years old. She was the wife of the headman of the Gorshkov farm in the Smolensk province. According to one version, to participate in peasant resistance She was motivated by the fact that the French killed her husband, who refused to provide food and fodder for Napoleonic troops. Another version says that Kozhina’s husband was alive and himself led a partisan detachment, and his wife decided to follow the example of her husband.
In any case, to fight the French, Kozhina organized her own detachment of women and teenagers. The partisans used what they had in their peasant farm: pitchforks, scythes, shovels and axes. Kozhina's detachment collaborated with Russian troops, often handing over captured enemy soldiers to them.
Recognition
In November 1812, the magazine “Son of the Fatherland” wrote about Vasilisa Kozhina. The article was devoted to how Kozhina escorted prisoners to the location Russian army. One day, when the peasants brought several captured Frenchmen, she gathered her detachment, mounted her horse and ordered the prisoners to follow her. One of the captured officers, not wanting to obey “some peasant woman,” began to resist. Kozhina immediately killed the officer with a blow to the head with her scythe. Kozhina shouted to the remaining prisoners that they should not dare to be insolent, because she had already cut off the heads of 27 “such mischievous people.” This episode, by the way, was immortalized in a popular print by artist Alexei Venetsianov about “Elder Vasilisa.” In the first months after the war, such pictures were sold throughout the country as a memory of the people's feat.
It is believed that for his role in liberation war the peasant woman was awarded a medal, and also cash bonus personally from Tsar Alexander I. In the State historical museum A portrait of Vasilisa Kozhina, painted by the artist Alexander Smirnov in 1813, is kept in Moscow. A medal on the St. George's ribbon is visible on Kozhina's chest.
And the name of the brave partisan is immortalized in the names of many streets. So, on a map of Moscow, near the Park Pobedy metro station, you can find Vasilisa Kozhina Street.
Popular rumor
Vasilisa Kozhina died around 1840. Almost nothing is known about her life after the end of the war, but the fame of Kozhina’s military exploits spread throughout the country, overgrown with rumors and inventions. According to such folk legends, Kozhina once lured 18 Frenchmen into a hut by cunning and then set it on fire. There are also stories about Vasilisa’s mercy: according to one of them, the partisan once took pity on a captured Frenchman, fed him and even gave him warm clothes. Unfortunately, it is unknown whether at least one of these stories is true - there is no documentary evidence.
It is not surprising that over time, many tales began to appear around the brave partisan - Vasilisa Kozhina turned into collective image Russian peasantry who fought against the invaders. A folk heroes often become characters in legends. Modern Russian directors also could not resist myth-making. In 2013, the mini-series “Vasilisa” was released, which was later remade into a full-length film. The title character was played by Svetlana Khodchenkova. And although the fair-haired actress does not at all look like the woman depicted in the portrait by Smirnov, and the historical assumptions in the film sometimes look completely grotesque (for example, the fact that the simple peasant woman Kozhina speaks French fluently), still such films speak of that the memory of the brave partisan is alive even two centuries after her death.
The partisan movement of 1812 (partisan war) was an armed conflict between Napoleon's army and detachments of Russian partisans that broke out during the times with the French.
The partisan troops consisted mainly of Cossacks and detachments regular army who were in the rear. Gradually they were joined by released prisoners of war, as well as volunteers from civilian population(peasants). Partisan detachments were one of the main military forces of Russia in this war and offered significant resistance.
Creation of partisan units
Napoleon's army moved very quickly into the country, pursuing Russian troops, who were forced to retreat. As a result of this, Napoleon's soldiers soon spread out over a large territory of Russia and created communication networks with the border through which weapons, food and prisoners of war were delivered. To defeat Napoleon, it was necessary to interrupt these networks. The leadership of the Russian army decided to create numerous partisan detachments throughout the country, which were supposed to deal with subversive work and interfere French army get everything you need.
The first detachment was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel D. Davydov.
Cossack partisan detachments
Davydov presented to the leadership a plan for a partisan attack on the French, which was quickly approved. To implement the plan, the army leadership gave Davydov 50 Cossacks and 50 officers.
In September 1812, Davydov’s detachment attacked a French detachment that was secretly transporting additional human forces and food to the camp of the main army. Thanks to the effect of surprise, the French were captured, some were killed, and the entire cargo was destroyed. This attack was followed by several more of the same kind, which turned out to be extremely successful.
Davydov’s detachment began to gradually be replenished with released prisoners of war and volunteers from the peasants. At the very beginning of the guerrilla war, peasants were wary of soldiers carrying out subversive activities, but soon they began to actively help and even participated in attacks on the French.
However, the height of the partisan war began after Kutuzov was forced to leave Moscow. He gave the order to begin active partisan activities in all directions. By that time partisan detachments were already formed throughout the country and numbered from 200 to 1,500 people. The main force consisted of Cossacks and soldiers, but peasants also actively participated in the resistance.
Several factors contributed to the success of guerrilla warfare. Firstly, the detachments always attacked suddenly and acted secretly - the French could not predict where and when the next attack would occur and could not prepare. Secondly, after the capture of Moscow, discord began in the ranks of the French.
In the middle of the war the guerrilla attack was at its most acute stage. The French were exhausted by military operations, and the number of partisans had increased so much that they could already form their own army, not inferior to the troops of the emperor.
Peasant partisan units
Peasants also play an important role in the resistance. Although they did not actively join the detachments, they actively helped the partisans. The French, deprived of food supplies from their own, in the rear constantly tried to get food from the peasants, but they did not surrender and did not conduct any trade with the enemy. Moreover, peasants burned their own warehouses and houses so that the grain would not go to their enemies.
As the partisan war grew, the peasants began to participate more actively in it and often attacked the enemy themselves, armed with whatever they could. The first peasant partisan detachments appeared.
Results of the partisan war of 1812
The role of the partisan war of 1812 in the victory over the French is difficult to overestimate - it was the partisans who were able to undermine the enemy’s forces, weaken him and allow the regular army to drive Napoleon out of Russia.
After the victory, the heroes of the partisan war were duly rewarded.
Denis Davydov is the most famous commander of a partisan detachment in the Patriotic War of 1812. He himself drew up a mobile action plan partisan formations against Napoleonic army and offered it to Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration. The plan was simple: to annoy the enemy in his rear, capture or destroy enemy warehouses with food and fodder, and beat small groups of the enemy.
Under the command of Davydov there were over one and a half hundred hussars and Cossacks. Already in September 1812, in the area of the Smolensk village of Tsarevo-Zaymishche, they captured a French caravan of three dozen carts. Davydov’s cavalrymen killed more than 100 Frenchmen from the accompanying detachment, and captured another 100. This operation was followed by others, also successful.
Davydov and his team did not immediately find support from local population: the peasants at first mistook them for the French. The commander of the flying detachment even had to put on a peasant caftan, hang an icon of St. Nicholas on his chest, grow a beard and switch to the language of the Russian common people - otherwise the peasants would not believe him.
Over time, Denis Davydov’s detachment increased to 300 people. The cavalrymen attacked French units, which sometimes had a fivefold numerical superiority, and defeated them, taking convoys and freeing prisoners, sometimes even capturing enemy artillery.
After leaving Moscow, on the orders of Kutuzov, flying partisan detachments were created everywhere. These were mainly Cossack formations, each numbering up to 500 sabers. At the end of September, Major General Ivan Dorokhov, who commanded such a formation, captured the town of Vereya near Moscow. United partisan groups could withstand large military formations Napoleon's army. Thus, at the end of October, during a battle in the area of the Smolensk village of Lyakhovo, four partisan detachments completely defeated the more than one and a half thousand brigade of General Jean-Pierre Augereau, capturing him himself. For the French, this defeat turned out to be a terrible blow. This success, on the contrary, encouraged the Russian troops and set them up for further victories.
While Napoleonic troops are relaxing with drunkenness and looting in Moscow, and the regular Russian army is retreating, making clever maneuvers that will then allow it to rest, gather strength, significantly replenish its strength and win victories over the enemy, let's talk about club people's war
, as we like to call the partisan movement of 1812 with the light hand of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
Partisans of the Denisov detachment
Illustration for Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace
Andrey NIKOLAEV
Firstly, I would like to say that this club has a very distant relationship with guerrilla warfare in the form in which it existed. Namely, army partisan detachments from military personnel regular units and Cossacks, created in the Russian army to operate in the rear and on enemy communications. Secondly, reading even in lately various materials, not to mention Soviet sources, you often come across the idea that their ideological inspirer and organizer was solely Denis Davydov, famous poet and the partisans of that time, who were the first to propose the creation of detachments, like the Spanish guerrilla, through Prince Bagration to Field Marshal Kutuzov before the Battle of Borodino. It must be said that the dashing hussar himself put a lot of effort into this legend. Happens...
Portrait of Denis Davydov
Yuri IVANOV
In fact, the first partisan detachment in this war was created near Smolensk by order of the same Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, even before Kutuzov’s appointment as commander-in-chief. By the time Davydov turned to Bagration with a request to allow the creation of an army partisan detachment, Major General Ferdinand Fedorovich Wintzingerode (commander of the first partisan detachment) was already in full swing and successfully smashing the rear of the French. The detachment occupied the cities of Surazh, Velezh, Usvyat, and constantly threatened the outskirts of Vitebsk, which was the reason that Napoleon was forced to send the Italian division of General Pino to help the Vitebsk garrison. As usual, we have forgotten the deeds of these “Germans”...
Portrait of General Baron Ferdinand Fedorovich Wintzingerode
Unknown artist
After Borodino, in addition to Davydov’s (by the way, the smallest detachment), several more were created that began active fighting after leaving Moscow. Some units consisted of several regiments and could independently solve large combat missions, for example, the detachment of Major General Ivan Semenovich Dorokhov, which included dragoon, hussar and 3 cavalry regiments. Large detachments were commanded by colonels Vadbolsky, Efremov, Kudashev, captains Seslavin, Figner and others. Many glorious officers fought in the partisan detachments, including future satraps(as they were previously introduced to us) Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev.
Portraits of Ivan Semenovich Dorokhov and Ivan Efremovich Efremov
George DOW Unknown artist
At the beginning of October 1812, it was decided to surround Napoleonic army with a ring of army partisan detachments, with a clear plan of action and a specific area of deployment for each of them. Thus, Davydov’s detachment was ordered to operate between Smolensk and Gzhatsk, Major General Dorokhov – between Gzhatsk and Mozhaisk, Staff Captain Figner – between Mozhaisk and Moscow. In the Mozhaisk area there were also detachments of Colonel Vadbolsky and Colonel Chernozubov.
Portraits of Nikolai Danilovich Kudashev and Ivan Mikhailovich Vadbolsky
George DOW
Between Borovsk and Moscow, attacks on enemy communications were carried out by detachments of Captain Seslavin and Lieutenant Fonvizin. North of Moscow, a group of detachments under the overall command of General Wintzingerode waged an armed struggle. Colonel Efremov’s detachment operated on the Ryazan road, Colonel Kudashev’s on Serpukhovskaya, and Major Lesovsky’s on Kashirskaya. The main advantage of partisan detachments was their mobility, surprise and swiftness. They never stood in one place, they constantly moved, and no one except the commander knew in advance when and where the detachment would go. If necessary, several detachments were temporarily united to conduct large operations.
Portraits of Alexander Samoilovich Figner and Alexander Nikitich Seslavin
Yuri IVANOV
Without in any way detracting from the exploits of Denis Davydov’s detachment and himself, it must be said that many commanders were offended by the memoirist after the publication of his military notes, in which he often exaggerated his own merits and forgot to mention his comrades. To which Davydov replied innocently: Fortunately, I have something to say about myself, why not say it? And it’s true, the organizers, generals Barclay de Tolly and Wintzingerode, passed away one after another in 1818, so what to remember about them... And written in a fascinating, rich language, the works of Denis Vasilyevich were very popular in Russia. True, Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky wrote to Xenophon Polevoy in 1832: Let it be said between us, he wrote out more than he knocked out his reputation as a brave man.
A memoirist, and even more so a poet, and even a hussar, well, how can we do without fantasies :) So let’s forgive him these little pranks?..
Denis Davydov at the head of the partisans in the vicinity of Lyakhovo
A. TELENIK
Portrait of Denis Davydov
Alexander ORLOVSKY
In addition to partisan detachments, there was also a so-called people's war, which was waged by spontaneously created self-defense units of villagers and the importance of which, in my opinion, is greatly exaggerated. And it’s already teeming with myths... Now, they say, a film has been made about the elder Vasilisa Kozhina, whose very existence is still disputed, and we can’t even say anything about her exploits.
But strangely enough, the same “German” Barclay de Tolly had a hand in this movement, who back in July, without waiting for instructions from above, appealed through the Smolensk governor Baron Kazimir Asch to the residents of Pskov, Smolensk and Kaluga regions with an appeal:
The inhabitants of Pskov, Smolensk and Kaluga! Hear the voice calling you to your own peace, to your own safety. Our irreconcilable enemy, having undertaken a greedy intention against us, has hitherto nourished himself with the hope that his impudence alone will be enough to frighten us, to triumph over us. But our two brave armies, stopping the daring flight of his violence, confronted him with their breasts on our ancient borders... Avoiding a decisive battle, ... his bandits of bandits, attacking unarmed villagers, tyrannized over them with all the cruelty of barbarian times: they rob and burn their houses; they desecrate the temples of God... But many of the inhabitants of the Smolensk province have already awakened from their fear. They, armed in their homes, with courage, worthy of the name Russian, they punish villains without any mercy. Imitate them, all who love themselves, the fatherland and the sovereign!
Of course, ordinary people and peasants behaved differently in the territories abandoned by the Russians. When the French army approached, they moved away from home or into the forests. But often, some first of all destroyed the estates of their tyrant landowners (we must not forget that the peasants were serfs), robbed, set fire, ran away in the hope that the French would come now and liberate them (the earth was full of rumors about Napoleon’s intentions to rid the peasants of serfdom ).
The destruction of the landowner's estate. Patriotic War of 1812
Looting of a landowner's estate by peasants after the retreat of Russian troops before Napoleon's army
V.N. KURDIUMOV
During the retreat of our troops and the entry of the French into Russia, landowner peasants often rose up against their masters, divided the master's estate, even tore up and burned houses, killed landowners and managers- in a word, they destroyed the estates. The passing troops joined the peasants and, in turn, carried out plunder. Our picture depicts an episode of such a joint robbery of civilians with the military. The action takes place in one of the rich landowners' estates. The owner himself was no longer there, and the remaining clerk was captured so that he would not interfere. The furniture was taken out into the garden and broken. The statues that decorated the garden were broken; the flowers are wrinkled. There is a wine barrel lying around with its bottom knocked out. The wine spilled. Everyone takes whatever they can for themselves. And unnecessary things are thrown away and destroyed. A cavalryman on a horse stands and calmly looks at this picture of destruction.(original caption for illustration)
Partisans of 1812.
Boris ZVORYKIN
Where the landowners behaved humanely, the peasants and courtyard people armed themselves with whatever they could, sometimes under the leadership of the owners themselves, attacked the French troops, convoys and repulsed them. Some detachments were led by Russian soldiers who lagged behind their units due to illness, injury, captivity and subsequent escape from it. So the audience was varied.
Defenders of the homeland
Alexander APSIT
Scouts Plastun
Alexander APSIT
It should also be said that these detachments acted on on an ongoing basis it is forbidden. They were organized for as long as the enemy was on their territory, and then disbanded, all for the same reason that the peasants were serfs. After all, even from the militias created at the behest of the emperor, fugitive peasants were escorted home and put on trial. So Kurin’s detachment, whose exploits were sung by Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, lasted 10 days - from October 5 to October 14, until the French were in Bogorodsky district, and then was disbanded. And not the entire Russian people participated in the people's war, but only residents of several provinces where the fighting took place, or adjacent to them.
French guards under the escort of grandmother Spiridonovna
Alexey VENETSIANOV, 1813
I started this whole conversation in order, firstly, to understand that our club of people's war could not stand any comparison with the Spanish-Portuguese guerrillas (you can read a little about this), which we supposedly looked up to, and, secondly, to show once again that the Patriotic War was won primarily thanks to the actions of our commanders, generals, officers , soldier. And the emperor. And not by the forces of the Gerasimov Kurins, the mythical lieutenants Rzhevskys, Vasilis Kozhins and other entertaining characters... Although it could not have happened without them... And we will talk more specifically about partisan warfare in the future...
And finally, a picture from today:
Archpriest of the Cavalry Regiment Gratinsky, serving a prayer service in the parish church of St. Euplaus, in Moscow, in the presence of the French on September 27, 1812.
Engraving from a drawing by an unknown artist
...Wanting to create a more favorable attitude towards himself among the population, Napoleon ordered not to interfere with the performance of divine services in churches; but this was possible only in a few temples that were not touched by the enemy. From September 15, services were properly performed in the Church of Archdeacon Euplaus (on Myasnitskaya); Divine services were held daily in the Charitonia Church in Ogorodniki. The first gospel message in the Church of Peter and Paul on Yakimanka made a particularly deep impression in Zamoskorechye...(w-l Excursionist's companion No. 3, published for the centenary of the War of 1812)
Most mass form The struggle of the Russian people against the invaders was a struggle for food. From the first days of the invasion, the French demanded from the population large quantity bread and fodder to supply the army. But the peasants did not want to give their grain to the enemy. Despite the good harvest, most fields in Lithuania, Belarus and the Smolensk region remained unharvested. On October 4, the chief of police of the Berezinsky subprefecture, Dombrovsky, wrote: “I am ordered to deliver everything, but there is nowhere to take it from... There is a lot of grain in the fields that was not harvested due to the disobedience of the peasants.”
From passive forms resistance, peasants are increasingly beginning to become active and armed. Everywhere - from western border to Moscow - peasant partisan detachments begin to emerge. In the occupied territory there were even areas where there was no French or Russian administration and which were controlled by partisan detachments: Borisov district in the Minsk province, Gzhatsky and Sychevsky districts in Smolensk, Vokhonskaya volost and the surrounding area of the Kolotsky monastery in Moscow. Typically, such detachments were led by wounded or lagged personnel soldiers or non-commissioned officers due to illness. One of these large partisan detachments (up to 4 thousand people) was led in the Gzhatsk region by soldier Eremey Chetvertakov.
Eremey Vasilyevich Chetvertakov was an ordinary soldier of the dragoon cavalry regiment, which was part of the rearguard of the Russian army under the command of General Konovnitsyn in August 1812. In one of these skirmishes on August 31 with the vanguard of the French troops rushing to Moscow, near the village of Tsarevo-Zaymishche, the squadron in which Chetvertakov was located found itself in a difficult situation: it was surrounded by French dragoons. A bloody battle ensued. Making its way with sabers and pistol fire, the small Russian squadron escaped from the encirclement, but at the very last moment a horse was killed near Chetvertakov. Having fallen, she crushed the rider, and he was taken prisoner by the enemy dragoons who surrounded him. Chetvertakov was sent to a prisoner of war camp near Gzhatsk.
But the Russian soldier was not the type to accept captivity. Guard duty in the camp was carried out by forcibly 172 Dalmatian Slavs mobilized into the “great army”, who only became “French” in 1811 after the inclusion of the so-called Illyrian provinces on the Adriatic coast - Dalmatia French Empire. Chetvertakov quickly found a common language with them and on the fourth day of captivity, with the help of one of the guard soldiers, he escaped.
At first, Eremey Vasilyevich tried to break through to his own people. But this turned out to be a difficult matter - enemy horse and foot patrols loomed everywhere. Then the savvy soldier made his way along forest paths from the Smolensk road to the south and reached the village of Zadkovo. Without waiting for any order, Chetvertakov, at his own peril and risk, began to create a partisan detachment from the residents of this village. The serf peasants all responded as one to the call of the experienced soldier, but Chetvertakov understood that to fight a strong and well-trained enemy, impulse alone is not enough. After all, none of these patriots knew how to wield a weapon, and for them a horse was only a draft force to plow, mow, and pull a cart or sleigh.
Almost no one knew how to ride a horse, and speed of movement and maneuverability were the key to success partisans. Chetvertakov began by creating a “partisan school.” To begin with, he taught his charges the elements of cavalry riding and simple commands. Then, under his supervision, the village blacksmith forged several homemade Cossack pikes. But it was necessary to get a firearm. Of course he was not in the village. Where can I get it? Only the enemy.
And so 50 of the best-trained partisans on horseback, armed with homemade pikes and axes, made their first raid under the cover of darkness. By Smolensk road Napoleon's troops marched in a continuous stream towards the Borodino field. To attack such an armada would be suicide, although everyone was eager and eager to fight. Not far from the road, in the forest, Chetvertakov decided to set up an ambush, expecting that some small group of the enemy would deviate from the route in search of food and feed for the horses. And so it happened. About 12 French cuirassiers left the road and went deeper into the forest, heading towards the nearest village of Kravna. And suddenly trees fell in the path of the cavalrymen. With a cry of "Ambush! Ambush!" The cuirassiers turned back, but even here, on their way, centuries-old fir trees fell right onto the road. Trap! Before the French had time to come to their senses, bearded men with pikes and axes flew at them from all sides. The fight was short. All 12 died on a remote forest road. The partisans received ten excellent cavalry horses, 12 carbines and 24 pistols with a supply of charges for them.
But the Russian dragoon was in no hurry - after all, none of his army had ever held a cavalry carbine or pistol in their hands. First we had to learn how to wield a weapon. Chetvertakov himself went through this science for two whole years as recruits of the reserve dragoon regiment: he learned to load, shoot from a horse, from the ground, standing and lying down, and not just shoot at God's light like a pretty penny, but right on target. Eremey led his detachment back to the partisan base in Zadkovo. Here he opened the “second class” of his “partisan school” - he taught peasants how to own firearms. Time was running out, and there were few gunpowder charges. Therefore, the course is accelerated.
They hung armor on the trees and started shooting at them as if at targets. Before the peasants had time to practice shooting a couple of times, a patrolman galloped up on a lathered horse: “The French are coming to the village!” Indeed, a large detachment of French foragers, led by an officer and a whole column of food trucks, was moving through the forest towards Zadkovo.
Eremey Chetvertakov gave the first military command - “Get to the gun!” There are twice as many French, but the partisans have ingenuity and knowledge of the area on their side. Again an ambush, again a short battle, this time with shooting not at targets, and again success: 15 invaders remain lying on the road, the rest hastily flee, abandoning ammunition and weapons. Now we could fight in earnest!
Rumors about the successes of the Zadkov partisans under the command of a dashing dragoon who escaped from captivity spread widely throughout the district. Less than two weeks have passed since last fight, as peasants from all the surrounding villages flocked to Chetvertakov: “Take him under your leadership, father.” Soon Chetvertakov’s partisan detachment reached three hundred people. A simple soldier showed remarkable leadership thinking and ingenuity. He divided his squad into two parts. One carried out patrol duty on the border of the partisan area, not allowing small groups foragers and marauders.
The other became a “flying detachment” that carried out raids behind enemy lines, in the vicinity of Gzhatsk, to the Kolotsky monastery, and to the city of Medyn.
The partisan detachment grew continuously. By October 1812, he had already reached a strength of almost 4 thousand people (an entire partisan regiment!), This allowed Chetvertakov not to limit himself to the destruction of small gangs of marauders, but to smash large ones military units. So, at the end of October, he completely defeated a battalion of French infantry with two cannons, captured food looted by the invaders and a whole herd of cattle taken from the peasants.
During the French occupation of the Smolensk province most Gzhatsky district was free from invaders - the partisans vigilantly guarded the borders of their “partisan land”. Chetvertakov himself turned out to be extremely a modest person. When the army Napoleon hastily fled from Moscow along the Old Smolensk Road, the dragoon gathered his army, bowed low to them “for their service to the Tsar and the Fatherland,” dismissed the partisans to their homes, and he himself rushed to catch up with the Russian army. In Mogilev, where General A.S. Kologrivov formed reserve cavalry units, Chetvertakov was assigned to the Kyiv Dragoon Regiment, as an experienced soldier, and promoted to non-commissioned officer. But no one knew that he was one of the partisan heroes Patriotic War 1812. Only in 1813, after the peasant partisans of the Gzhatsk district themselves turned to the authorities with a request to note the merits of “Chetvertak” (this was his partisan nickname) as the “savior of the Gzhatsk district”, who again became commander-in-chief after the death of M.I. . Kutuzova M. B. Barclay de Tolly awarded "the Kyiv Dragoon Regiment non-commissioned officer Chetvertakov for his exploits against the enemy in 1812, with the insignia of the Military Order" (the Cross of St. George, the highest award for soldiers of the Russian army). Chetvertakov fought bravely during foreign trip Russian army in 1813-1814. and ended the war in Paris. The partisan detachment of Eremey Chetvertakov was not the only one. In the same Smolensk province in Sychevsky district, a partisan detachment of 400 people was led by a retired Suvorov soldier S. Emelyanov. The detachment fought 15 battles, destroyed 572 enemy soldiers and captured 325 people. But often ordinary peasants also became the leaders of partisan detachments. For example, a large detachment of the peasant Gerasim Kurin operated in the Moscow province. What especially amazed the occupiers was the participation of women in the partisan movement. History has preserved to this day the exploits of the village elder of Gorshkov, Sychevsky district, Smolensk province, Vasilisa Kozhina. “Praskoveya the lacemaker” (her last name remained unknown) from the village of Sokolovo in the same Smolensk province was also a match for her.
Especially many partisan detachments arose in the Moscow province after the French occupied Moscow. The partisans were no longer limited to ambushing individual foragers, but fought real battles with the invaders. For example, Gerasim Kurin’s detachment fought such continuous battles from September 25 to October 1, 1812. On October 1, partisans (500 horsemen and 5 thousand foot soldiers) defeated a large detachment of French foragers in a battle near the village of Pavlov Posad. 20 carts, 40 horses, 85 rifles, 120 pistols, etc. were captured. The enemy was missing more than two hundred soldiers.
For your selfless actions Gerasim Kurin received St. George's Cross from the hands of M.I. Kutuzov himself.
This was a rare case of awarding a non-military person, and even a serf. Along with peasant partisan detachments, on the initiative of Barclay de Tolly and Kutuzov, in August 1812, so-called military (flying) partisan detachments from regular and irregular (Cossacks, Tatars, Bashkirs, Kalmyks) troops began to be created.
Military partisan detachments. Seeing the stretched nature of the enemy's communications, the absence of a continuous line of defense, and roads not protected by the enemy, the Russian military command decided to use this to strike with small flying cavalry detachments sent to the rear." great army"The first such detachments were created even before the Battle of Smolensk by Barclay de Tolly (August 4 - the military partisan detachment of F.F. Wintzengerode). The Wintzengerode detachment initially operated in the rear of the French troops in the area of \u200b\u200bVitebsk and Polotsk, and with the abandonment of Moscow it urgently moved on the St. Petersburg road directly in the vicinity of the “second capital.” Then a detachment of military partisans of I. I. Dibich 1 was created, operating in the Smolensk province. These were large detachments, uniting from six, like Wintzingerode, to two, like Wintsengerode. at Dibich, cavalry regiments. Along with them, small (150-250 people) mobile mounted military partisan teams acted. The initiator of their creation was the famous partisan poet. Denis Davydov, received support Bagration And Kutuzova. Davydov led the first such maneuverable detachment of 200 hussars and Cossacks shortly before the Battle of Borodino.
Davydov's detachment acted first against small 180 enemy groups (foraging teams, small convoys, etc.). Gradually, Davydov’s team grew in size due to the repulsed Russian prisoners. “In the absence of Russian uniforms, I dressed them in French uniforms and armed them with French guns, leaving them Russian caps instead of shakos for identification,” he later wrote D. Davydov. “Soon Davydov already had 500 people. This allowed him to increase the scope of operations. On September 12, 1812, Davydov’s detachment defeated a large enemy convoy in the Vyazma area. 276 soldiers, 32 carts, two wagons with cartridges and 340 guns were captured, which Davydov handed it over to the militia.
The French were seriously alarmed when they saw the successful actions of Davydov’s detachment in the Vyazma area. To defeat him, a 2,000-strong punitive detachment was allocated, but all efforts were in vain - local peasants warned Davydov in time, and he escaped from the punitive forces, continuing to destroy the enemy’s convoys and repelling Russian prisoners of war. Subsequently, D.V. Davydov generalized and systematized the military results of the actions of military partisans in two of his works of 1821: “An Experience in the Theory of Partisan Actions” and “Diary of Partisan Actions in 1812,” where he rightly emphasized the significant effect of this new for the 19th century. forms of war to defeat the enemy.
The successes of the military partisans prompted Kutuzov to actively use this form of fighting the enemy during the retreat from Borodino to Moscow. This is how a large detachment of military partisans arose (4 cavalry regiments) under the command of another famous partisan, General I. S. Dorokhov.
Dorokhov's detachment successfully destroyed enemy transports on the Smolensk road from September to 14, capturing more than 1.4 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. Major squad operation Dorokhova The defeat of the French garrison in the city of Vereya occurred on September 19, 1812. The Westphalian regiment from Junot's corps guarding the city was completely defeated. It is characteristic that the peasant partisan detachment of Borovsky district also participated in the assault along with the military partisans.
The obvious successes of the detachments of Davydov and Dorokhov, and the rumor about their victories quickly spread throughout all the central provinces of Russia and in the Russian army, stimulated the creation of new detachments of military partisans. During his stay at the Tarutino position, Kutuzov created several more such detachments: captains A. N. Seslavin and A. S. Figner, colonels I. M. Vadbolsky, I. F. Chernozubov, V. I. Prendel, N. D. Kudashev and others. All of them operated on the roads leading to Moscow.
Figner's detachment acted especially boldly. The commander of this detachment himself was distinguished by his unbridled courage. Even during the retreat from Moscow, Figner obtained permission from Kutuzov to remain in the capital to commit an assassination attempt on Napoleon. Disguised as a merchant, he spied on Napoleon's headquarters in Moscow day after day, simultaneously creating a small detachment of urban partisans. The detachment smashed the occupiers' guards at night. Figner failed to assassinate Napoleon, but he successfully applied his experience as a military intelligence officer by leading the partisans. Having hidden his small team in the forest, the commander himself is in uniform French officer went to the Mozhaisk road, collecting intelligence data. It could never have occurred to Napoleon's soldiers that the brilliantly French-speaking officer was a partisan in disguise. After all, many of them (Germans, Italians, Poles, Dutch, etc.) understood only commands in French, explaining themselves to each other in that unimaginable jargon that could only conditionally be called French.
Figner and his squad more than once found themselves in difficult troubles. One day they were surrounded on three sides by punitive forces. It seemed like there was no way out, we had to give up. But Figner came up with a brilliant military trick: he dressed half of the detachment in French uniforms and staged a battle with the other part. The real French stopped, waiting for the end and preparing carts for trophies and prisoners. Meanwhile, the “French” pushed the Russians back to the forest, and then they disappeared together.
Kutuzov praised Figner's actions and placed him in charge of a larger detachment of 800 people. In a letter to his wife, sent with Figner, Kutuzov wrote: “Look at him closely, he is an extraordinary man. I have never seen such a height of soul, he is a fanatic in courage and patriotism...”
Serving clear example patriotism, M.I. Kutuzov sent his son-in-law and adjutant, Colonel Prince N.D. Kudashev, to join the military partisans. | Like Davydov, Kudashev led a small mobile detachment of 300 Don Cossacks and, leaving Tarutino at the beginning of October 1812, began to actively operate in the area of the Serpukhov road.
On October 10, at night, with a sudden blow, the Donets defeated the French garrison in the village of Nikolskoye: out of more than 2 thousand, 100 were killed, 200 were captured, the rest fled in panic. On October 16, Kudashev’s detachment near the village of Lopasni scattered a large detachment of French cuirassiers, captured their convoy and 16 prisoners. On October 17, near the village of Alferovo, the Donets of Kudashev again ambushed another Napoleonic cavalry detachment stretched along the Serpukhov road and again captured 70 people.
Kutuzov closely followed the partisan combat successes of his beloved son-in-law (he called him “my eyes”) and wrote with pleasure to his wife - his daughter: “Kudashev is also a partisan and does a good job.”
On October 19, Kutuzov ordered the expansion of this “small war.” In his letter to his eldest daughter in St. Petersburg on October 13, he explained his intention as follows: “We have been standing in one place for more than a week (in Tarutino - V.S.) and Napoleon and I are looking at each other, each is biding its time. Meanwhile, in small parts We fight every day and to this day we win everywhere. Every day we take almost three hundred people in full and we lose so little that it’s almost nothing..."
But if Napoleon really waited (and in vain) for peace with Alexander I, then Kutuzov acted - he expanded around Moscow" small war". The detachments of Figner, Seslavin and Kudashev operating near Tarutin were ordered from October 20 to 27, 1812 to walk along the rear of the Napoleonic army - from Serpukhov to Vyazma - with small maneuverable detachments, no more than 100 people each. Main task- reconnaissance, but combat should not be neglected. The commanders of the military partisans did just that: smashing individual military units and foraging teams of the enemy along the road (Kudashev’s detachment alone captured 400 people and recaptured 100 food carts), they collected valuable information about the deployment of enemy troops. By the way, it was Kudashev, looking through the papers found on one of the murdered French staff officers, who discovered a secret order from the chief of staff of the “grand army,” Marshal Berthier, to send “all the burdens” (i.e., property looted in Moscow - V.S.) to Mozhaisk road and further to Smolensk, to the west. This meant that the French intended to leave Moscow soon. Kudashev immediately forwarded this letter to Kutuzov.
It confirmed the strategic calculation of the great Russian commander. Even on September 27, almost a month before the French left the “first throne,” he wrote to his eldest daughter (not without intent - she was a lady of state at court and was well known to the Tsar’s wife): “I won the battle before Moscow (on Borodino. - V . C), but it is necessary to save the army, and it is intact. Soon all our armies, that is, Tormasov, Chichagov, Wittgenstein and others will act towards the same goal, and Napoleon will not stay in Moscow for long..."
Military partisans caused a lot of trouble and anxiety to Napoleon. He had to divert significant forces from Moscow to guard the roads. Thus, units of Victor’s reserve corps were deployed to guard the section from Smolensk to Mozhaisk. Junot And Murat received orders to strengthen security at Borovskaya and Podolsk roads. But all efforts were in vain. Kutuzov had every reason to inform the tsar that “my partisans instilled fear and terror in the enemy, taking away all means of food.”
