At present, when it comes to domestic military intelligence, it is mainly the twentieth century that appears. Meanwhile, its historical roots are much deeper. Unfortunately, the functioning of intelligence on the eve and during the war of 1812 belongs to the poorly understood topics of Russian military history.
For the first time, a centralized control structure for Russian military intelligence was created two years before the invasion of Napoleonic troops in Russia. This happened in 1810 on the initiative of Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, who was then Minister of War, and with the approval of Emperor Alexander I. agents ". The duties of the "military agents" included the recruitment of agents, the collection of intelligence information abroad, its analysis and the development of recommendations for the Russian leadership.
BEAUTIFUL LEANDR REPORTS FROM PARIS
Why did Barclay de Tolly's initiative find full support from the Russian autocrat? According to historians, for the first time the idea of the usefulness of acquiring paid informants visited Alexander I himself back in September 1808 - during the latter's trip to negotiations with Napoleon in Erfurt. One September day, when the Russian monarch, tired of conversations with the Emperor Napoleon, was resting in the drawing room of Princess Thurn-y-Taxis, the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand entered. After the very first words of greeting, he turned to Alexander I with an unexpected question: “Sovereign, why did you come to Erfurt? You must save Europe, and you will succeed in this only if you resist Napoleon. Alexander I was literally stunned and at first thought it was a provocation. However, the minister immediately shared with the Russian tsar secret information about the plans of the French emperor.
It was with this conversation that the active activity of one of the most valuable informants in the entire history of the Russian special services began - His Highness the Most Serene Prince and Sovereign Duke of Benevent, the great chamberlain of the imperial court, vice-elector of the French Empire, commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor Prince Charles-Maurice Talleyrand-Perigord.
After leaving Erfurt, Alexander I established a regular secret correspondence with Talleyrand, seriously relying on information from him. The tsar treasured this contact very much, protected it from accidental decryption, resorting to the strictest observance of the rules of conspiracy. So, to encrypt the source of information, he used several pseudonyms: Anna Ivanovna, Handsome Leander, Cousin Henri, Legal Counsel.
Talleyrand's desire to provide "informational support" to the Russian tsar was primarily due to the very complex and sometimes scandalous relationship between Napoleon and his foreign minister. An example is one of Napoleon's attacks on Talleyrand, made publicly in the presence of dozens of courtiers in the Tuileries in January 1809. According to eyewitnesses, the emperor of France literally ran up to Talleyrand with clenched fists, throwing insulting accusations in his face. “You are a thief, a scoundrel, a dishonest person! - Napoleon shouted furiously to the whole room.- You do not believe in God, you have betrayed your whole life, there is nothing sacred for you, you would have sold your own father! I showered you with good deeds, and meanwhile you are capable of anything against me … Why haven't I hung you on the grating of the Carousel Square yet? But there is, there is still enough time for this!"
In addition, Talleyrand considered unrealizable the desire of the French emperor to create a world empire through wars of conquest and foresaw the inevitability of his fall. At the same time, in this case, there was not only an element of personal resentment against Napoleon and disbelief in his politics, but also the most vulgar mercantile interest. In particular, the Handsome Leandre always transmitted information about the French army for a large reward. “The main quality of money is its quantity,” a reliable informant reasoned cynically. And the information of the French minister was quite expensive for the Russian treasury.
Talleyrand's messages to the Russian tsar became more and more detailed and … more alarming. At the beginning of 1810, Alexander I sent to Paris as an adviser to the Russian embassy on financial issues, Count Karl Vasilyevich Nesselrode, the future foreign minister in the government of Nicholas I. However, in Paris he was actually a political resident of the Russian tsar and an intermediary between him and Talleyrand, with whom maintained a confidential relationship.
The value of Talleyrand's messages increased many times over when the French Foreign Minister began to use his friend, Police Minister Fouche, in the dark. From him, Handsome Leandre received the most reliable and secret information about the internal political situation in France, fermentation in the provinces, and the balance of political forces.
In December 1810, Nesselrode sent a number of messages to Alexander I, which confirmed the worst fears of Russian diplomacy: Napoleon was indeed preparing to attack Russia. Talleyrand even named a specific date - April 1812 - and recommended to Alexander I "to strengthen the defense, since the war is already on the threshold of the Russian state."
SPECIAL ROLE OF SPECIAL OFFICE
Created by the Minister of War Barclay de Tolly in anticipation of the war with Napoleon, the first special intelligence agency of Russia in 1810-1811 was called the Expedition of Secret Affairs under the Ministry of the Army. At the beginning of 1812, the expedition was reorganized into a Special Chancellery under the Minister of War. The office worked in the strictest secrecy and was subordinate only to Barclay de Tolly. She is not mentioned in the memoirs of contemporaries.
Colonel Alexei Vasilyevich Voeikov was appointed the first head of military intelligence on September 29, 1810. He was born on December 9, 1778. Graduated with honors from the Moscow University Boarding School. He has been in military service since 1793. Was an orderly for Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov during the Swiss campaign. Member of the Russian-Turkish and Russian-Swedish wars. Then, before being appointed director of the expedition, - the parade-major. During World War II - brigade commander of the 27th Infantry Division. Since November 1812 - Major General. Member of the Foreign campaign of 1813-1814.
In March 1812, Colonel Arseny Andreevich Zakrevsky replaced Voeikov as director of the now Special Chancellery. He was born on September 13, 1786. From a noble family of Polish origin. Graduated with honors from the Grodno (Shklov) cadet corps. He served as a regimental adjutant, chief of the regiment commander's office. He distinguished himself in the battle at Austerlitz (November 1805): during the battle he saved the regiment commander from captivity, offering him his horse instead of the killed one. In December 1811, he was appointed adjutant to Barclay de Tolly with enrollment in the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. At the beginning of 1812, he was promoted to colonel, and then appointed head of military intelligence.
With the beginning of the Patriotic War, Count Zakrevsky was in the active army. He distinguished himself in the battles of Vitebsk and Smolensk, as well as in the Battle of Borodino. Then, until 1823, he was the duty general of the General Staff. From 1823 to 1828 - the commander of the Separate Finnish Corps and the Finnish Governor-General. In April 1828 he was appointed Minister of the Interior. In 1829 he received the rank of General from Infantry. In August 1830 he was elevated to the rank of county in the Grand Duchy of Finland. From 1848 to 1859 he was the Moscow governor-general, a member of the State Council.
Russian military intelligence conducted its activities in several directions at once: strategic intelligence (collection of secret political and military information abroad); tactical reconnaissance (collecting information about enemy troops on the territory of neighboring states, which was very important on the eve of the war); counterintelligence (identification and neutralization of agents of the French special services and its allies); military intelligence. Thus, for the first time, the extraction of secret military-political information abroad was put on a regular, professional basis. It should be emphasized that all information received through military intelligence on the eve of 1812 was very carefully considered by Emperor Alexander I and allowed him to take the necessary measures to prepare for the upcoming war.
Creating the first special centralized intelligence agency, Barclay de Tolly understood that he needed permanent representatives - "foreign military agents" - in the Russian embassies of a number of European countries. It was they who were supposed to obtain intelligence information "about the number of troops, about the structure, about their weapons and their spirit, about the state of fortresses and reserves, the abilities and merits of the best generals, as well as about the welfare, character and spirit of the people, about the locations and products of the land, about internal sources of powers or means to continue the war”(from the report of Barclay de Tolly to Alexander I). These military agents were supposed to be on diplomatic missions under the guise of civilian officials and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In embassies and missions, where the heads were "ambassadors of military generals", officers were sent for intelligence work as adjutants of such ambassadors-generals.
BARKLAY'S SECRET MESSENGERS
The minister carefully selected military agents who were to travel to the capitals of a number of European states to work in Russian embassies. Later, having enriched with the experience of diplomatic and intelligence activities and returning to their homeland, these officers successfully promoted in service, made a career.
Artillery lieutenant Pavel Grabbe was one of the first to be included in Barclay de Tolly's list. In September 1810, he arrived in Munich, where he held the modest "rank of clerical officer" at the Russian mission.
The grandson of a Swedish nobleman who switched to the Russian service in the 18th century, Count Pavel Khristoforovich Grabbe was born in 1789. Having successfully graduated from the First Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg in 1805, he began serving as a second lieutenant in the 2nd artillery regiment. Despite his rather young age, in the same year he took part in a campaign to Austria, then fought at Golymin and Preussisch-Eylau. In August 1808 he was transferred to serve in the 27th artillery brigade and soon became a lieutenant. And two years later he was destined to go on exploration in Bavaria.
During the Patriotic War, Pavel Grabbe was an adjutant of Barclay de Tolly, who commanded the 1st Western Army. In the future, Count Grabbe made a brilliant career - he rose to the rank of order chieftain of the Don Army. In 1866 he was awarded the rank of General of the Cavalry. From 1866 to 1875 he was a member of the State Council of the Russian Empire.
Colonel Robert Yegorovich Rennie was sent to Berlin to the Russian ambassador, Lieutenant General Christopher Andreyevich Lieven, as an adjutant.
A descendant of immigrants from Scotland who moved to Russia, Robert Rennie was born on April 12, 1768 in Riga. Graduated from the Riga Lyceum. In military service since 1786. In the rank of ensign in the Yelets infantry regiment, during the Polish campaign of 1794, he fought with the Confederates in Courland. For bravery he was promoted to captain. Participated in an expedition to Holland. Distinguished in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir IV degree with a bow. In 1808 he was promoted to colonel. For valuable intelligence, regularly sent to the Russian command during his work in Berlin, Renny was awarded the Order of St. Anne, II degree. During the Patriotic War of 1812 - Quartermaster General of the 3rd Western Army. In 1813 he was promoted to the rank of major general.
Colonel Fyodor Vasilyevich Teil van Seraskerken was among the first to work in Russian military intelligence. Dutch-born Baron Teil van Seraskerken was born in 1771. In 1803, from the captains of the Dutch service, he was admitted to the Russian army with the same rank. Enlisted in the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty in the quartermaster department. In 1805 he took part in an expedition to the island of Corfu. Then he fought with the French in Prussia in the Cossack detachment of General Platov. During the war with the Swedes, he fought at Idelsalmi, was wounded. In 1810 he was sent on reconnaissance work in Vienna as an adjutant to the Russian envoy, Lieutenant-General Shuvalov, with the task of organizing reconnaissance work and obtaining the necessary information about the movement, the number of Napoleon's troops and their weapons.
Since May 1814, Major General Theil van Seraskerken worked in Russian diplomatic missions at the Neapolitan court and at the Vatican, and was also an envoy to Washington and Rio de Janeiro.
In this short essay, I would also like to talk about an employee of the central military intelligence apparatus, Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Andreevich Chuykevich. He was born in 1783. Descended from the nobility of the Poltava province. After graduating from the Land Gentry Cadet Corps in 1804, he served as a platoon commander of the Kronstadt garrison regiment, and also was in the suite of His Imperial Majesty in the quartermaster unit. Member of military campaigns against the French (1807) and the Turks (1807-1809). Since 1810 he was an analyst at the headquarters of the Secret Affairs Expedition. In fact, he was the deputy director of military intelligence. A military writer and one of the most educated officers of the Russian army, Chuikevich was engaged in the generalization and analysis of all incoming intelligence information. In addition, his duties included sending agents abroad, preparing analytical notes, sending routes for movement to military units on the western border.
In early January 1812, Chuykevich drew up a map of the Napoleonic forces, which was constantly updated. On this map, the Minister of War and Emperor Alexander I followed the movements of the French corps. In April 1812, Pyotr Chuykevich formulated in writing the final recommendations for waging a war against Napoleon: he proposed retreating into the interior of the country and delaying hostilities due to the numerical superiority of the enemy army.
From 1821 to 1829, Pyotr Chuykevich was "on a special assignment" in intelligence work in Laibach (Ljubljana). Since 1823 - Major General.
In addition to the above officers, other military intelligence officers also actively operated abroad on the eve of the Patriotic War. So, a military agent in Saxony (Dresden), where the Russian embassy was headed by Lieutenant General Vasily Vasilyevich Khanykov, was Major of the Kharkov Dragoon Regiment Viktor Antonovich Prendel, who came from the Austrian nobles. In 1811-1812, he made a number of trips to European countries to collect information about the transfer of French troops to the Russian borders. During the Patriotic War, he commanded a partisan detachment. In 1831 he was sent to Galicia and promoted to major general.
The adjutant to the Russian envoy in Spain, Major General Nikolai Repnin, since 1810, was a fairly young officer, Lieutenant Pavel Brozin. Before being sent to work abroad, he was an active participant in the military campaigns of 1805-1809. He showed himself excellently during the Patriotic War of 1812. In 1817 he was promoted to major general.
In 1811, Lieutenant Grigory Orlov replaced Robert Rennie as adjutant to the ambassador in Berlin. He was born in 1790. In military service since 1805. Campaigner with the French in 1807. During the Patriotic War of 1812 he was assigned to Barclay de Tolly. He participated in many battles, received several wounds, and lost his leg near Borodino. He was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir IV degree with a bow. "Dismissed for wounds" with the rank of colonel in 1818.
LUCKY SCOUT CHERNYSHEV
And yet, Colonel Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev can be considered the most successful and active Russian intelligence officer of the pre-war period under consideration. From 1809 to 1812, he carried out important diplomatic assignments in France and Sweden, was "aide-de-camp of Alexander I under Napoleon" (personal representative of the Russian emperor at Napoleon's military headquarters during the French army's military operations against Austria and Prussia). Since 1810, Chernyshev was constantly at the court of the French emperor. It was from him that the most important and valuable information came to the Center from Paris.
His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Chernyshev was born on December 30, 1785 in the family of a senator, lieutenant general, ruler of the Kostroma governorship, who was a representative of an old noble family known since the end of the 15th century. According to the custom that then existed, Alexander from birth was enrolled in military service as a sergeant in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. He was educated at home under the guidance of Abbot Perrin. From 1801 - a chamber-page, then promoted to the cornet of the Cavalry Regiment. In June 1804, he was appointed adjutant to the regiment commander, Adjutant General Fyodor Petrovich Uvarov. In November 1806 he was promoted to staff captain. For his bravery in a number of battles, he was awarded a golden sword with the inscription "For Bravery", the Order of St. George IV degree and the Cross of St. Vladimir IV degree with a bow. In February 1808, combat officer Alexander Chernyshev was sent to Paris.
The name of Chernyshev at that time often appeared in sections of the gossip and local gossip of Parisian newspapers. A tall handsome man with a rebellious curly hair, a wonderful storyteller and witty, he invariably became the soul of any society, especially one where there were beautiful ladies. In the high-society salons, the idea of the messenger of the Russian tsar as a zhuir and a successful conqueror of women's hearts was invariably prevalent.
But it was only a theatrical mask. The reputation of a frivolous rake served as an excellent screen for the clever and clever tsarist envoy, who always managed to receive important information about Napoleon's political and military plans on the eve of the Franco-Russian military conflict of 1812.
Arriving on intelligence work in Paris, Chernyshev quickly gained confidence in the emperor of France, established good relations with many of Napoleon's entourage. In a short time, the Russian colonel managed to acquire informants in the government and military spheres of the French capital, to establish and expand a network of valuable agents.
So, an employee of the Ministry of War, agent Michel, who was part of a small group of French officials who once every two weeks personally compiled a single copy of a secret report on the number and deployment of French troops to Napoleon, gave Chernyshev a copy of this document, which was sent to St. Petersburg. It happened that a copy of the report was placed on the table of a Russian military agent before the original got to Napoleon.
The Russian emperor highly appreciated his representative in France and the information he passed on. Once on the margins of one of Chernyshev's reports, he even wrote: "Why don't I have more ministers like this young man." Colonel Chernyshev was only 26 at that time.
During the Patriotic War, Alexander Chernyshev was the commander of a partisan detachment. The experience of reconnaissance work in Paris and a professional intelligence instinct were very useful to him in organizing the partisan movement in the areas occupied by Napoleonic troops. In November 1812 Chernyshev was promoted to major general and granted adjutant general for “successful actions on the orders entrusted to him and the prudent execution of a brave expedition”. Since 1827 - General of the Cavalry. In 1832-1852 he was the Minister of War. From 1848 to 1856 he served as chairman of the State Council.
In general, Russian military intelligence on the eve and during the Patriotic War of 1812 managed to adequately resist the French.
