Causes of the tragedy
As already mentioned in the first part, on September 7, 1812, Prince Pyotr Bagration received a shrapnel wound to his left shin on the Borodino field with damage to the tibia or fibula, which led to blood loss and traumatic shock. For the next few days, the circumstances did not develop in the best way for the wounded - he had to constantly retreat in front of the enemy. Of the 17 days lived after the injury, the prince spent 10 on the road. This did not allow to carry out all the medical procedures in a timely manner, and the constant shaking along the way exhausted Bagration a lot. However, in the historical environment, there is an opinion that doctors with their unprofessional actions are the main culprits.
Here it is worth moving back to February 1944 to the 1st Belorussian Front, where General of the Army Nikolai Fedorovich Vatutin received a gunshot wound to his right thigh with bone damage. In principle, this was not a fatal wound for the middle of the 20th century, the victim could well have been returned to duty in case of a favorable coincidence. In addition, the arsenal of military doctors of the Red Army already had antiseptics, methods of blood transfusion, coupled with local and general anesthesia. But, despite the fact that Stalin himself followed the treatment, and the chief surgeon Nikolai Burdenko carried out medical supervision, Vatutin died on April 15, 10 days after the amputation. In this case, would the reproaches against the healers of the early 19th century, who could not convince Bagration in time of the need for amputation and even just surgery, be fair?
Serious psycho-emotional experiences were superimposed on the general physical condition of the prince, connected not only with the forced abandonment of Moscow by the Russian army. Bagration grieved the fact that his 2nd army was actually saved by his enemy Mikhail Barclay de Tolly. In addition, after being wounded, General Miloradovich was appointed commander of the army first, and later Tormasov. At the same time, the order included the definition “until the highest decree”, that is, no one really expected Bagration after his recovery. As it turned out, the prince was not on the best terms with Emperor Alexander I, and as a result of the Battle of Borodino, the ruler grants him only fifty thousand rubles. For comparison: after the battle, Kutuzov became a general-field marshal and received one hundred thousand rubles. And Prince Bagration did not even receive the money due, with his death the emperor's decree was abolished. Moreover, Alexander I behaved inappropriately when he actually banned the burial of the military leader in St. Petersburg - his relatives had to perform a modest burial in the village of Sima.
Way east
Let's return to the moment when the wounded Prince Bagration was taken from the battlefield and, under the attacks of the advancing French, was evacuated to Mozhaisk. However, it was dangerous to stay here too. The prince summons the senior physician of the Life Guards of the Lithuanian Regiment, Yakov Govorov, who provided him with first aid on the battlefield and who will be destined to remain with Bagration until the end of his days. A couple of years later, Govorov will publish the book "The Last Days of the Life of Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration" based on the events of those days. It is noteworthy that in it the most characteristic moments will be blotted out by the censor. Already on September 9-10, doctors who use the prince during the Mozhaisk-Moscow passage reveal unpleasant signs of the development of the inflammatory process. At the same time, Yakov Govorov could not fully investigate the prince's wound - the carriage had to move quickly, the stops were short-lived. The main danger was that such a high-ranking soldier was captured by the French. What would happen under such circumstances? Napoleon would have made every effort to save the wounded prince and would have enlisted his best military doctor, Dominic Larrey. This adherent of amputation of everything and everyone would certainly have deprived Bagration of his leg. In such a state, Bagration would have ended up at some festive reception at Napoleon's, where he would have been awarded an honorary sword or saber. This, by the way, has already happened - in the case of the capture of Major General Pyotr Gavrilovich Likhachev. But do we know now who the general of the Russian army Likhachev is?
On September 12, a cart with Bagration enters Moscow, where the prince is met by the Governor-General Rostopchin himself, at whose request the wounded is examined by another luminary of Russian medicine, Count Fyodor Andreevich Gildenbrandt. He was a very experienced doctor who had completed the school of military medicine in the infantry battalions, and then served as the chief surgeon at the Moscow military hospital. At the time of World War II, Fyodor Andreevich was simultaneously a professor at Moscow University and a surgeon-operator at the Main Military Hospital. After examining the wound, Hildenbrandt told the prince that "Your Excellency's wound and health are ordinary," and conveyed to those accompanying him: "… although the tibia of his leg was broken, but in Moscow the wound was very good and promised the salvation of a military leader, invaluable to us."
At that time, for reasons beyond the control of doctors, 48 hours had already been missed, during which it was necessary to deeply clean the wound. It is from this moment that the infection of the damage begins, and in this case it was rash to hope for the internal resources of the body.
In total, three doctors at once (there was also the chief physician of the 2nd Army I. I.
“I have no doubt in the art of my gentlemen, doctors, but I would like you all to use me together. In my present state, I wish I had better rely on three skillful doctors than on two."
At the same time, Bagration did not leave his service and managed to receive many people, handing out instructions to them. Governor-General Rostopchin, who visited the prince in those difficult days, recalled that one of the reasons for refusing amputation could be Bagration's age - 50 years. It was believed in those days that the blood was already spoiled by this age, the risks of surgery are very high. In addition, during the two days that the wounded general spent in Moscow, the flow of visitors was great and this did not allow choosing the time to prepare for the operation. When did they learn about the surrender of Moscow, "His wound in the dressing presented a very quantitative suppuration and a deep cavity hiding under it, from which stinking pus was squeezed out."
But, by and large, such a state of affairs should not have caused any particular concern among doctors - during the period "before antiseptic" all wounds healed through intense suppuration. As history has shown, not in this case …
Last days in Sims
Bagration with his retinue and doctors leaves Moscow on carts on September 14 and heads for the Vladimir province to the village of Simy. This paradoxical fact still does not find an unambiguous explanation. The entire army, together with Mikhail Kutuzov, retreated to the planned lines in the Ryazan province, where there were hospitals, and the seriously wounded prince decided to go the other way. Is he afraid of being captured? Severe depression and excruciating pain clouded his mind? Be that as it may, the next day the wound acquires signs that frighten doctors: a strong stench of separating pus or, as they said then, "rotten fever." In accordance with the rules adopted at that time, doctors once again and with great zeal began to insist on amputation. Govorov was entrusted with this, who spoke:
"Until now, all the methods of treatment we have used have been of little use to Your Lordship, and therefore, in our general judgment about your illness, we decided to take such a remedy that would in the shortest possible time eliminate your suffering."
Bagration refused. He was offered at least to give the go-ahead for widening the wound for sanitation, but even then they heard:
"Operation? I know very well this remedy, which you resort to when you do not know how to overcome the disease with drugs."
As a result, General Bagration ordered medication to treat rapidly developing sepsis. In fact, this was limited only to the ingestion of an etheric tincture of maun with a Hoffman anodine for sedation. Everything led to the fact that on September 16-17 the unfortunate man passed the "point of no return". Now the intoxication and infection of the body could not be stopped even by amputation. Only on September 20, Bagration was persuaded to expand the wound, which, however, was already useless and only added suffering. At that time, the delay in surgery caused osteomyelitis, sepsis and the development of the anaerobic process. Over the next days, "Antonov-fiery spots with a large amount of stinking pus" appeared on the leg, and two days before his death, Govorov observed worms in the wound.
“I noticed during this state, - wrote about the last days of the hero Yakov Govorov, - a gloomy melancholy spreading over his face. Eyes gradually lost their last vitality, lips were covered with blue, and sunken and withered cheeks - deadly pallor … By evening, increased nervous seizures with heavy breathing, wheezing and occasionally hiccups foreshadowed the death of this great man.
Surgeon Gangart was also with Prince Bagration, leaving his memories:
“Throughout my illness, until the last hour, day and night, I was at his bedside. He felt severe pain from the wound, terrible melancholy and suffered from other painful fits, but he did not utter the slightest complaint about his fate and his sufferings, enduring them like a true hero; not terrified of death, he waited for her approach with the same calmness of spirit with which he was ready to meet her in the midst of the fury of battle"
On September 24, 1812, General Pyotr Bagration died, forever inscribing his name in the immortal regiment of the Fatherland.
