After the expulsion of Napoleon from Russia, the Emperor Alexander, with his appeal, invited all the peoples of Europe to rise up against the tyranny of Napoleon. A coalition was already forming around Emperor Alexander. The first to join her was King Bernadotte of Sweden, a former Marshal of Napoleon. He knew Napoleon very well and gave him the following characterization: “Napoleon is not a deep, universal military genius, but only a type of fearless general who always goes forward and never backwards, even when necessary. To fight him you need one talent - waiting - to defeat him, you need endurance and perseverance. Even during Napoleon's stay in Moscow, Bernadotte sent Swedish troops to Livonia to help Wittgenstein, who defended St. Petersburg. Thanks to the assistance of Bernadotte, a peace treaty was signed between Russia and England, and then an alliance was concluded. On February 28, 1813, an agreement was also concluded between Prussia and Russia, according to which Prussia undertook to send an 80-thousandth army against Napoleon. The war continued outside of Russia. The authority of Napoleon, built on military successes, after the defeat in Russia fell among the masses, and his power was losing stability. During his stay in Russia, a rumor spread in Paris that Napoleon died in Russia and a military coup was carried out, which, however, failed. But Napoleon did not lose faith in his star, charisma, genius and the possibility of a successful struggle against the new coalition. He mobilized and then returned to the army to start a new war against Europe that was rising against him. He possessed titanic energy and within 20 days after his return to Paris, 60 thousand people were sent to the Elbe line.
At the end of December 1812, the Russian armies crossed the Neman and headed for Europe in three columns: Chichagov to Konigsberg and Danzig, Miloradovich to Warsaw, Kutuzov to Prussia. Platov with 24 Cossack regiments marched ahead of Chichagov and on January 4 surrounded Danzig. The cavalry corps of Vincengerode with 6 thousand Cossacks marched ahead of Miloradovich and by the beginning of February reached Silesia. Russian troops entered the Oder line. In Bunzlau, Kutuzov fell seriously ill, then died and the emperor began to rule the armies with the help of Wittgenstein and Barclay de Tolly. Napoleon by that time brought the number of the first echelon of the army to 300 thousand people and on April 26 he arrived in the army. He was opposed by a coalition of Russia, Prussia, Sweden and England. Berlin was occupied by Russian troops and Wittgenstein's army moved to Hamburg. Napoleon ordered all corps to move to Leipzig. The Russian-Prussian grouping of Blucher and Vincengerode was also heading there. The battle unfolded at Lützen. Blucher showed incredible efforts to break through the French front, but he did not achieve success and with the onset of evening the Allies decided to retreat. Bautzen had a good defensive position along the river Spree, and the Allies decided to fight here with troops of 100 thousand people. To replenish the army that had suffered the loss, Barclay de Tolly was summoned from the Vistula with units. For the battle of Bautzen, Napoleon had 160,000 troops and had no doubts about the outcome. On the morning of May 20, the battle began, the allies had a setback and decided to retreat. Emperor Alexander decided to withdraw his army to Poland to put it in order. The Prussians remained in Silesia. Strong divisions began among the allies, and the coalition was threatened with disintegration. But Napoleon did not have the strength to continue the offensive. Under these conditions, after many diplomatic delays, an armistice was concluded on June 4 in Pleisnitz from June 8 to July 22. The official aim of the armistice was to find opportunities to prepare the belligerent peoples for a peace congress in order to end the long-term European war. Austria took over the role of mediator. But finding a common ground for negotiations was not easy. Prussia and Austria demanded from Napoleon complete independence and an important role in European affairs. Napoleon, however, did not take them into account at all and was only ready for a deal with the Emperor Alexander, with whose military strength and authority he only considered. The terms of the peace negotiations of both sides were known and could not be acceptable to both sides. Therefore, each side tried to use the time of the truce with the aim of organizing the army and preparing for further struggle. The allies took measures to win over the countries that were under the yoke of Napoleon. The ceasefire was extended until August 10, but negotiations in Prague also stalled, and after the ceasefire ended, hostilities began. Austria has openly declared that it goes over to the side of the Allies. Napoleon, seeing the failure of an attempt to conclude a deal with Emperor Alexander on the division of spheres of influence in Europe, decided to achieve this by victory. He decided, before the troops of Austria join the allies, to defeat the Russian-Prussian troops, to push the Russians across the Niemen, then to deal with Prussia and punish Austria. During the truce, he strengthened the army and outlined a plan for war. The center of military operations, he took the capital of the Saxon kingdom of Dresden and concentrated in Saxony up to 300 thousand troops, including up to 30 thousand cavalry. In addition, units were allocated for the offensive on Berlin, numbering more than 100 thousand people. The rest of the garrisons were located along the Oder and Elba, the total number of Napoleon's army reached 550 thousand people. Allied forces were distributed in 4 armies. The first, consisting of Russians, Prussians and Austrians, numbering 250 thousand people under the command of Barclay de Tolly was located in Bohemia. It consisted of 18 Don Cossack regiments. The second of the Russians and Prussians, under the command of Blucher, was stationed in Silesia and had 13 Don regiments. The northern army under the command of the Swedish king Bernadotte consisted of Swedes, Russians, British and Germans of the northern principalities, had a number of 130 thousand people, including 14 Cossack regiments. The fourth army of General Bennigsen was stationed in Poland, had a strength of 50 thousand, including 9 Cossack regiments, and was in reserve. The Bohemian and Silesian armies of the allies took part in the battle for Saxony, the main blow was from Bohemia. The war began for the French with unsuccessful information from the front of Spain. English General Wellington concentrated up to 30 thousand people in Portugal and launched an offensive on Spain. Thanks to the support of the local population, he defeated the three times superior forces of King Joseph, took Madrid, then cleared all of Spain from the French. Napoleonic Marshal Soult barely stopped the Anglo-Spaniards on the line of the Pyrenees.
The battle of Dresden was extremely stubborn. Everywhere the Allies were pushed back and suffered huge losses. The next day, the onslaught of the French intensified, and the allies began a retreat, which took place under the strong pressure of the enemy. Napoleon was triumphant. But the luck of the French ended there. Reports were received that MacDonald did not succeed in the battle with Blucher and suffered huge losses. Marshal Oudinot also unsuccessfully attacked Berlin and suffered huge losses. The Bohemian army, retreating from Dresden, won, in the mountains, while retreating, an unexpected victory over the corps of General Vandamm, completely capturing him. This encouraged the allies and the retreat to Bohemia ceased. Bernadotte, repelling the French attack on Berlin, went on the offensive himself and defeated Oudinot and Ney. The Bohemian army regrouped and renewed its offensive against Dresden. Consolidated detachments of Cossacks and light cavalry units on all fronts went into deep raids on the rear of the French and intensified the actions of partisans from the local population. Seeing all this, Napoleon sent a secret order to the Minister of War to start organizing a defensive line along the Rhine River. The Allies continued their offensive from Bohemia and Silesia, regrouped their forces and launched an offensive in the direction of Leipzig. Napoleon was forced to leave Dresden, and the king of Saxony went into exile. During this retreat, a report was received that the kingdom of Westphalia had fallen. When the Cossacks appeared at Kassel, the people rose and King Jerome fled. Westphalia was occupied by the Cossacks without a fight.
Rice. 1 The entry of the Cossacks into the European city
Bonaparte's troubles continued. Bavaria signed a convention with the coalition and withdrew from the alliance with France. There was a real threat of blocking the retreat of the French army across the Rhine from Bavaria and Westphalia. Nevertheless, Napoleon decided to fight at Leipzig, chose the terrain and outlined a plan for the deployment of his units. Around Leipzig, Napoleon concentrated up to 190 thousand troops, the allies up to 330 thousand. On October 4, at 9 o'clock, the battle began. The allies, deploying troops in 3 lines, went on the offensive after a strong artillery barrage of 2,000 guns. The artillery of the French was less in number, but in total the fire of the artillery duel reached an unprecedented force. The battle was incredibly fierce, positions changed hands, but the French, however, continued to hold the front. At noon, cannonade was added in the north, which meant the approach and entry into battle of Bernadotte's army, and from the west the Austrians launched an attack on the bridges over the Place River to cut off the French retreat to Lützen. Having received these reports, Napoleon decided to go from defense to offensive in the center and on his left flank. But everywhere, having suffered heavy losses, the French did not achieve their decisive goal. Then Napoleon, in order to achieve victory at all costs, threw all the cavalry into the attack. This blow was a complete success, it was necessary to consolidate it, but this did not happen. Murat's cavalry, which had broken through in the center, rested on a swampy floodplain, beyond which large masses of infantry and an observation post of the allies were located, at which the monarchs of Russia, Austria and Prussia were located. In the case of Murat's cavalry bypassing the swampy floodplain, an immediate threat was created to the reigning persons. Anticipating this, Emperor Alexander sent into battle the Life Guards Cossack regiment, which was in his convoy. The Cossacks unexpectedly jumped into the flank of Murat's cavalry and threw it back. Kellermann's French cavalrymen who had broken through on the other flank were stopped by the Austrian cavalry. To support and develop the efforts of the cavalry, Napoleon wanted to send them the last reserve and parts of the old guard to help them. But the Austrians at this time went over to a decisive attack on the river crossings at the Place and Elster, and Napoleon used the last reserve there to save the situation. Stubborn battles continued until night without a decisive advantage of the sides, the opponents suffered heavy losses. But in the evening, the reserve army of General Bennigsen approached the allies and the arrival of parts of the northern army of the Swedish king Bernadotte continued. No replenishment arrived for the French. At night, having received reports from all sides, Napoleon decided to retreat. Having received reinforcements and regrouping the troops, on the morning of October 6, the Allies began an offensive along the entire front. Troops supported over 2,000 guns. The Saxon corps was located opposite Platov's corps. Seeing the Cossacks and realizing the futility of their position, the Saxons began to go over to the side of the allies and by evening they had already entered the battle on the side of the coalition. The Austrians occupied most of the bridges south of Leipzig. The remaining bridges of the French had incredible congestion, disputes and collisions over the queue. Napoleon himself, with great difficulty, crossed to the other side. He saw that they had lost not only this battle, but that the entire Empire was dying before his eyes. The allies began a decisive battle for Leipzig, Blucher's units broke through the front, occupied the city and began shelling the bridge over which the French were leaving the city. North of Leipzig, due to the threat of the capture of the bridge by the Cossacks, it was blown up and the remnants of the corps of Rainier, MacDonald, Loriston and Poniatowski capitulated.
Rice. 2 Poniatowski's last attack at Leipzig
The French army lost at least 60 thousand people during the crossing. The remnants of the army Napoleon collected near Lutzen. Instead of withdrawing the army to the Rhine line, he decided to resist on the Yunsrut line and took up positions there. The main forces of the allies were in Leipzig, putting themselves in order and preparing for a further offensive. However, the advanced units, among which were all the Cossacks, continuously pressed, pressed on and hung over the retreating enemy, knocked him out of his positions and forced him to retreat. The retreat of the French took place in complete encirclement of the allied cavalry. The Cossacks, who had great experience and skill in this matter, quite successfully this time "plundered" the retreating enemy army. In addition to this, Bavaria finally went over to the side of the coalition on October 8 and, having united with the Austrian units, took the path of the French withdrawal to the Rhine. A new Berezina was created for the French army. After fierce battles for the crossings, no more than 40 thousand people crossed the Rhine. The retreat of Napoleon's army from Leipzig was as disastrous as the retreat from Moscow. In addition, up to 150 thousand troops remained in various garrisons east of the Rhine, which were inevitably forced to surrender. The military warehouses were empty, there were no weapons, the treasury had no money, and the country's morale was in complete decline. The people were tired of heavy military service, terrible losses and strove for inner peace, external victories ceased to worry them, they were too expensive. In foreign policy, setbacks followed one another. The Austrians attacked Italy, the King of Naples Murat and the governor of northern Italy, Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, conducted separate negotiations with the coalition. The English general Wellington advanced from Spain and occupied Navarre. A coup took place in Holland, and the Oran dynasty returned to power. On December 10, Blucher's troops crossed the Rhine.
Rice. 3 Blucher talks to the Cossacks
Napoleon had no more than 150 thousand troops available and could not raise the spirit of the people to continue the war. With the retreating army, only the administration left, but the people not only did not leave, but waited for salvation from the tyranny of Napoleon. The collapse of Napoleon's empire was painful. He used all his titanic energy to prolong the agony and fanatically believed in his star. In early February, he inflicted a strong defeat on Blucher's army, up to 2 thousand soldiers and several generals were taken prisoner. The prisoners were sent to Paris and marched like trophies along the boulevards. The demonstration with the prisoners did not cause a patriotic enthusiasm among the Parisians, and the prisoners themselves did not look defeated, but victors. Other Allied armies advanced successfully, Blucher received reinforcements and also launched an offensive. In one of the battles, a bomb fell near Napoleon, everyone around threw themselves to the ground, but not Napoleon. Seeing the hopelessness of his situation, he sought, like a warrior, death in battle, but fate had something else in store for him. Allied armies were approaching Paris. Napoleon's brother Joseph was appointed head of the defense of the capital, but, seeing the futility of the defense, he left Paris with troops. When the Allies approached, there was no government in Paris. The most prominent figure in Paris was former Foreign Minister Talleyrand. On March 30, according to the new style, Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia entered Paris with troops. After the parade on the Champs Elysees, Alexander arrived at Talleyrand's house, where he stayed. On the same day, a provisional government headed by Talleyrand was formed, and this was not a random choice. This circumstance deserves special mention, for this is one of the brightest pages in the history of Russian intelligence. Talleyrand was recruited by Russian agents long before this event and he served not only Napoleon, but also Emperor Alexander for many years. All these years, the Minister of Police Foucault thoroughly suspected Talleyrand, but could not prove anything.
Rice. 4 The entry of Emperor Alexander into Paris
The provisional government announced that Napoleon had been removed and all power was transferred to the provisional government. Napoleon accepted the news calmly and wrote an act of abdication. The surviving marshals with troops, one after another, began to pass under the authority of the provisional government. By the decision of the allies, Napoleon was given the island of Elba for life with the title of emperor, the right to have 8 thousand troops and the corresponding content. Since the battle at Maloyaroslavets, when Napoleon was attacked by the Cossacks and miraculously escaped captivity, he constantly carried poison with him. By signing the terms of the allies, he took the poison. However, the poison was thrown out by the body, the doctor took the necessary measures and the patient fell asleep. In the morning, Napoleon looked tired, but said that "fate did not want me to end my life in this way, so it keeps me for something else." On April 18, the new king of France, Louis XVIII, entered Paris, he was greeted by the marshals Ney, Marmont, Monceu, Kellermann and Serurier, and on April 20 Napoleon went to Elba.
On July 13, Emperor Alexander returned to St. Petersburg. In August, on the occasion of the end of the war, a manifesto was issued promising an improvement in the life of the lower classes and the relief of the population's most difficult service - military. The manifesto said: "We hope that the continuation of peace and silence will give us a way not only to bring the warriors to a better and more abundant state against the previous one, but to make them settled and add families to them." The manifesto contained the idea - to create the armed forces of Russia on the model of the Cossack troops. The inner life of the Cossacks has always served as a seductive model for the organization of the army for the Russian government. In the Cossack regions, military training and constant combat readiness were combined with the position of a peaceful man in the street - a farmer, and military training did not require any effort or expense from the government. Combat qualities and military training were developed by life itself, passed down from generation to generation over the centuries, and thus the psychology of a natural warrior was formed. Streltsy troops were also an example of permanent troops in the Moscow state, the basis of which was the homeless Horde Cossacks that appeared in the XIV century within the Russian principalities. More details about the formation of the rifle troops were described in the article "Seniority (education) and the formation of the Don Cossack army in the Moscow service." The rifle regiments were organized according to the principle of the Cossack troops. Their maintenance was the land allotted to them, on which they lived with their families. The service was hereditary, the bosses, except for the streltsy head, were elective. For two centuries, the streltsy regiments were the best troops of the Moscow state. At the beginning of the 18th century, the rifle regiments were replaced by the soldiers' regiments, recruited according to the recruitment. The maintenance of these troops demanded large government expenditures, and recruitment of recruits forever detached recruits from their families. The experience of the formation of new Cossack settlements by relocating some of the Cossacks to new places also gave positive results. According to the emperor, the system of military settlements was supposed to improve the lives of soldiers, give them the opportunity to stay among their families and engage in agriculture during the service. The first experiment was made back in 1810. The war with Napoleon stopped this experience. During the Patriotic War, with the best European army, led by a brilliant commander, the Cossacks showed themselves excellently, were highly appreciated by all peoples, attracted attention not only by their military organization, but also by the organization of their inner life. At the end of the war, the emperor returned to carrying out his pre-war idea and a broad plan for the creation of military settlements was outlined. The idea was put into practice in decisive ways and the regiments settled on the allocated land using the administrative command method. Regiments were replenished from their own districts. From the age of seven, the sons of the settlers were enlisted in the cantonist ranks, from eighteen to serve in the regiments. Military settlements were exempted from all types of taxes and duties, all were provided with housing. The settlers donated half of the harvest to general grain stores (warehouses). On such a basis, it was decided to reorganize the Russian armed forces.
On September 13, 1814, Alexander left for a congress in Vienna. At the congress, the policy of all European peoples, except Prussia, was directed against the increased influence of Russia. While there were disputes at the congress, intrigues and allies were approaching a new political conflict, and the mood of everyone was now directed against the emperor Alexander, in Vienna in February 1815 information was received that the emperor Napoleon left Elba and landed in France, then took the throne with the greetings of the army and the people. King Louis XVIII fled Paris and France so hastily that he left on the table a secret Allied treaty against Russia. Napoleon immediately sent this document to Alexander. But the fear of Napoleon changed the mood of the Congress and cooled the ardor of schemers and conspirators. Despite intrigues against Russia, Emperor Alexander remained a loyal ally, and the war against Napoleon was resumed. Russia, Prussia, Austria and England pledged to field 150 thousand people each, England had to pay the costs of the allies in the amount of 5 million pounds. But luck no longer accompanied Napoleon. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the power of Louis XVIII was restored in France. Russian troops again arrived in Paris after this war against Napoleon was already over. Emperor Alexander and Ataman Platov were invited to England, where Cossacks with pikes enjoyed special attention. Everyone was surprised by the Cossack Zhirov, who did not want to part with the pike, even when he accompanied the emperor sitting in a carriage. Ataman Platov presented the Prince Regent with a Don horse with a Cossack saddle. Oxford University presented Platov with a doctorate, and the city of London with a precious saber. In the royal castle, Platov's portrait forever took pride of place. The Cossack commanders acquired pan-European fame and glory. The Cossacks themselves became famous and glorious throughout Europe. But for this glory, they paid a dear price. The third part of the Cossacks who left for the war did not return home, having tired the way from Moscow to Paris with their bodies.
Rice. 5-10 Cossacks in Paris
On August 31, Emperor Alexander inspected the troops in Reims, then arrived in Paris, where the Holy Triple Alliance between Russia, Austria and Prussia was founded. In December 1815, Alexander returned to St. Petersburg and in the new year began to actively increase the number of military settlements. But the "beneficent" military settlers sent requests to the emperor, influential persons, agreeing to bear any duties and pay taxes, but tearfully begging to be relieved of their military service. Discontent was accompanied by riots. However, military officials firmly decided to turn the Slavic inhabitants of the western regions of Russia into Cossacks, not in the least doubting their success, believing that for this it is enough to introduce purely external factors in the life of the Cossacks by decree. This experience continued not only during the reign of Alexander, but also during the next reign and ended, both from the point of view of military and economic, in complete failure and was one of the main reasons for the defeat in the Crimean War. With an army of more than a million on paper, the empire barely managed to deploy several truly combat-ready divisions to the front.
The Cossacks demonstrated a completely different situation. Their experience in the formation of new Cossack settlements, by relocating part of the Cossacks to new places, was also not simple and smooth, but had extremely positive results for the empire and the Cossacks themselves. In a short time, by historical standards, eight new Cossack troops were created along the borders of the empire. But that's a completely different story.
