"And only the sky lit up …"
At dawn on August 26 (September 7, new style), 1812, Russian troops were waiting for an enemy attack on the Borodino field. They were divided into two unequal parts: 98 thousand soldiers of the 1st Army occupied the center and the right flank, where the French offensive was less likely; it was commanded by Barclay de Tolly; 34 thousand soldiers of the 2nd army stood on the left flank - the direction of the main attack of Napoleon - this army was commanded by General Bagration. His soldiers were convinced that Prince Pyotr Ivanovich, Suvorov's favorite disciple, was leading the troops to victory. "Whoever fears God is not afraid of the enemy," Suvorov's words were repeated after the morning prayer service.
Napoleon was sure that in the Russian army he had one strong opponent - General Bagration. Both of them were military geniuses and did not know defeat. But one was anticipating massive bloodshed - the emperor loved to go around the battlefield, looking at the corpses. Another grieved and sympathized with those who were about to fall. One was sovereign. Another, with a handful of troops, was under attack.
Prince Peter Bagration was sent to death many times, but with God's help he always won!
The science of winning
Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was born in 1765 in Kizlyar, which was then a stronghold of the Caucasian fortified line. His father, Prince Ivan Alexandrovich, served there. Peter's great-grandfather was the Georgian king Jesse, and his grandfather came to Russia and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
His mother, a princess from an ancient Georgian family, was engaged in the primary education of Peter. “With my mother’s milk,” recalled Bagration, “I poured into myself the spirit to warlike deeds” …
For ten years of service in the Caucasus, where the young prince fought bravely against the warlike mountaineers, he earned the rank of second lieutenant. There he met with Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. Bagration dreamed of getting into a big war in order to learn the art of war from the great commander. And in October 1794, Prince Peter, already a lieutenant colonel, gallops at the head of a squadron to Poland, where Suvorov is fighting the rebellious gentry.
The exploits of Bagration are known from the reports of Suvorov. The great commander believed that one Russian soldier against five enemy soldiers was enough to win. Bagration has surpassed this "norm" more than once. His well-trained friendly cavalrymen, with the hope of God's help and with firm faith in the commander, beat the enemy ten times outnumbered.
The prince did not achieve anything for himself, did not belong to "parties", did not make a career - his spirit was serene, his personal needs were modest. Several servants from the freed serfs, simple food, no more than two glasses of wine at dinner, four hours of sleep, the first half of the day - military service, in the evenings - society. On major holidays - the "church parade" prescribed by Suvorov, when Bagration led the soldiers to the prayer service in formation.
In 1799, Emperor Paul I sent Suvorov, and with him Bagration, to Italy, to recapture the captured country from the French. The vanguard of Bagration and the allied Austrians captured the fortress of Brescia under fierce cannon shots. 1265 French were taken prisoner. "There are no killed or wounded on our side," the official Journal of Combined Armies in Italy reported.
Unbelievable but true! Even Bagration's ill-wishers were forced to admit that the prince surpassed everyone in reducing combat losses
Soon a new report followed: "The active Major General Prince Bagration" took the fortress Sorvala: "The garrison surrendered, the enemy was killed and wounded up to 40, at Bagration only seven privates were wounded and one was killed." Suvorov told Paul I about the merits of Prince Peter in a decisive victory at Novi and without waiting for the Russian and Austrian emperors to reward "the most excellent general and worthy of the highest degrees", presented Bagration with his sword, which the prince did not part with until the end of his life.
But at the peak of their victories, the Russians were betrayed by the allied Austria. They had to go not to Paris, but to certain death in the Alps.
The fighting began on the way to the Saint Gotthard Pass. Prince Peter commanded the vanguard. In a strong wind, in the pouring rain, Russian troops climbed the mountains and attacked the enemy. The main forces of Bagration went head-on to an "almost impregnable position." The staff officers volunteered to be in the forefront. Two commanders of the forward detachment fell, the third broke into enemy positions in front of the soldiers.
Then the vanguard of Bagration paved the way for the army through the Rossstock ridge. Descending into the Mutten Valley, the prince, according to Suvorov, imperceptibly approached the French garrison and took him prisoner with a swift attack. In this valley, a council of generals of the trapped army took place.
Suvorov, describing the terrible situation of the troops, called for the salvation of "the honor and property of Russia." "Lead us where you think, do what you know, we are yours, father, we are Russians!" - answered for all the oldest General Derfelden. “God have mercy, we are Russians! - exclaimed Suvorov. - Victory! With God!"
“I will not forget this minute until my death! - recalled Bagration. - I was having an extraordinary, never had excitement in my blood. I was in a state of ecstasy, in such a way that if darkness appeared, oppressive enemies, I would be ready to fight them. It was the same with everyone …
Bagration was the last to descend to the green foothills of Austria. “The Russian bayonet broke through the Alps! - exclaimed Suvorov. - The Alps are behind us and God is in front of us. Russian eagles flew around the Roman eagles!"
Meanwhile, the confrontation between Russia and France continued. In alliance with other countries, the empire entered the war again. The Russian commander was appointed Kutuzov, the head of the vanguard - his old colleague and St. Petersburg friend Bagration. Alas, while the 50 thousandth Russian army was going to join with the Austrian allies, they managed to get surrounded and capitulate to the 200 thousandth army of Napoleon. Kutuzov and Bagration found themselves face to face with a much superior enemy …
Kutuzov decided to sacrifice part of the troops to save the entire army. Bagration had to fight until the main forces had withdrawn a sufficient distance.
On November 4, 1805, near Shengraben, the columns of Murat, Soult, Oudinot and Lanna moved from different sides to attack the troops of Prince Peter. However, time was won: Kutuzov managed to withdraw his troops for two day marches. The Russians no longer needed to fight to the death. Bagration's task now was to break through the six times superior enemy forces. This has never happened in history. But - "we are Russians, God is with us!" Bagration believed in the superiority of spirit over matter.
Kutuzov wrote to the emperor: “… Prince Bagration with a corps of six thousand people made his retreat, fighting with the enemy, which consisted of 30 thousand people under the command of various generals of field marshals, and this number (November 7) joined the army, bringing with him prisoners of one lieutenant colonel, two officers, fifty privates and one French banner. Major General Prince Bagration, in my opinion, deserves the rank of lieutenant general for various cases in which he acted, and for the last (case) at the village of Shengraben, it seems, he has the right to the military order of St. George, 2nd class. The awards were made by the emperor.
And after such feats to save the army, the Russian and Austrian emperors forced Kutuzov to accept the ridiculous plan for the general battle at Austerlitz, developed by the mediocre Austrian Colonel Weyrother!
Prince Peter, who commanded the right flank at the Battle of Austerlitz, could do only one thing. According to Kutuzov, he "kept the enemy's strong aspirations and brought his corps out of the battle in order, closing the army's retreat the next night."
It is not known whether Alexander I himself understood the motives of his decisions. But after Austerlitz, he diligently divided the command of the Russian army between foreign generals, crossing out Suvorov's principle: Orthodox soldiers must be led into battle by an Orthodox officer. However, the foreigners loved by the emperor did not possess the science of winning …
Reluctantly, the tsar was nevertheless forced to sign a rescript about "excellent courage and prudent orders" of General Bagration, who was not defeated by the French. In the capitals, many balls were given in honor of Prince Peter.
In the new alliance against Napoleon, Prussia played a shameful role. In October 1806, Napoleon destroyed her army in one day and conquered the country in two weeks. 150 thousand Frenchmen went to the Russian border. Alexander I divided the army into two: 60 thousand at Bennigsen and 40 thousand at Buxgewden. According to Yermolov, the rival generals, "not being friends before, met with perfect enemies." After a series of intrigues, Bennigsen seized the high command. Bagration arrived in the army when the opportunity to break separately the corps of Ney and Bernadotte was missed.
Bennigsen retreated. Appointing Bagration to command the rearguard, he asked the prince to withdraw as slowly as possible in order to give the army the opportunity to unite with the remnants of the Prussian troops.
Prince Peter with a tremendous effort of will concealed his shame: to retreat, seeking help from the Prussians beaten by Napoleon!
The Russian army retreated to Friedland. On June 2, 1807, Bagration commanded the left wing of an army divided in half by a deep ravine, with a river in the rear (Bennigsen's gross mistake!). The French were more than half the number of the Russians, but Bennigsen did not attack. The thought of the possibility of victory did not fit in his head. Then the French threw almost all their forces against Bagration. Having pressed the Russians to the river, the French marshals waited for Napoleon. By 17 o'clock the emperor pulled 80 thousand people to the place of the battle and attacked the troops of Prince Peter. Bagration, who fought for 16 hours, left the rearguard for cover and managed to retreat across the river. The regiments of Bennigsen, who watched this beating, were thrown back. The losses of the French amounted to 7-8 thousand, Russians up to 15 thousand.
In June, the tsar asked Bagration to negotiate an armistice with the French. He was the only Russian general whom Napoleon respected. On June 25, 1807, the Peace of Tilsit was signed between Russia and France …
“All of us, who served under the command of Prince Bagration,” recalled General Ermolov, “saw off our beloved chief with expressions of sincere commitment. In addition to the perfect trust in his talents and experience, we felt the difference between him and the other generals. No one reminded less of the fact that he was the boss, and no one knew better how to make subordinates not remember about that. He was extremely loved by the soldiers."
With little blood, a mighty blow
In the summer of 1811, Prince Pyotr Ivanovich was appointed commander-in-chief of the Podolsk army. She started the war with Napoleon as the 2nd Western.
This happy appointment for Russia remains a mystery. The tsar did not appreciate any of the Russian generals. Minister of War Barclay de Tolly, he considered only "less bad than Bagration, in the matter of strategy of which he has no idea." In the winter of 1812, Napoleon's military preparations against Russia became apparent. The commander sent the emperor a plan to start a war, aimed at preventing the enemy from invading the territory of the empire. The philosophy of Suvorov, followed by Bagration, was based on the conviction that the task of the army is to save the population from war, both its own and foreign. The task was solved by a swift blow to the main forces of the enemy, until he managed to concentrate, completely defeating him and depriving him of the means to wage an inhuman war.
Bagration demanded to go on the offensive until the enemy troops were completely concentrated at our borders
“The first strong blows,” Prince Peter expounded on Suvorov’s science, “are the most expedient to instill a good spirit in our troops and, on the contrary, to strike fear into the enemy. The main benefit from such a sudden and quick movement is that the theater of war will move away from the borders of the empire … In all cases, I prefer an offensive war to a defensive one!"
Historians, justifying Alexander I and his advisers, point to the numerical superiority of Napoleon's forces. But Bagration knew that against 200 thousand French soldiers of the Great Army, Russia could put more than 150 thousand people in the direction of the main attack - much more than was necessary to "completely defeat the enemy" according to Suvorov's rules.
The passivity of the tsarist government led to the fact that Napoleon prepared for the invasion of the Germans, Italians, Dutch and Poles, conquered by him. Austria, Prussia and Poland, whom Bagration wanted to save from war, in the summer of 1812 gave Napoleon 200 thousand soldiers for a campaign in Russia!
It was not for nothing that Bagration considered the main army of 100 thousand soldiers sufficient. Acting offensively, such an army could break the "spread fingers" of Napoleon's corps coming from all over the West. The almost triple superiority of the enemy (about 450 thousand against 153x) gave him an advantage in one case: if the Russians, having forgotten the precepts of Suvorov, became on the defensive. Then they can be "overwhelmed"!
Meanwhile, a defensive plan was adopted in St. Petersburg, which was not reported to Bagration. Rumors reached him that the government favored the "dastardly defense" characteristic of the "lazy and dull-eyed," as Suvorov put it.
Defense, Bagration argued, is not only unprofitable, but impossible under existing conditions. "Any retreat encourages the enemy and gives him great ways in this land, but it will take our spirit away from us."
The fighting spirit of the Russian army, with which it always won under the command of Suvorov, was not familiar to Alexander and his non-faithful advisers. They did not understand that the army is an "animate organism", that the slogan "we are Russians, God is with us!" - not empty words, but the cornerstone of the military spirit and the guarantee of victory.
Alexander I, brought up by the Swiss Laharpe, a follower of Rousseau, was Orthodox only outwardly. He was alien to the philanthropy that lay at the basis of the Orthodox military philosophy of Suvorov. He did not believe that the army was capable of defending the country. The Russians for him were "Scythians", to whom the enemy should have been lured and killed on the scorched earth. The fact that the land was Russian, that it was inhabited by the Orthodox, that they had to be left without food and shelter, in the power of the enemy, the emperor did not care.
On June 10, two days before Napoleon's invasion, Bagration angrily rejected Barclay's proposal to destroy food during the retreat. The prince did not take food from the population abroad either - he bought them. How to destroy the people's property in your country? This will lead to a "special insult among the people"! Moreover, "the most terrible measures will be negligible before the space for which such an operation will be required." The prince was horrified, referring to the hostilities within the Belarusian lands. He could not imagine that the command was ready to burn the Russian soil all the way to Moscow!
"It's a shame to wear a uniform"
After the passage of Napoleon's Great Army across the Neman, having already begun to retreat, Prince Peter nevertheless issued an order to attack the enemy, briefly outlining the section of Suvorov's "Science of Victory". He added on his own behalf: “I am confident in the courage of the army entrusted to me. To the gentlemen of the commanders of the troops to instill in the soldiers that all the enemy troops are nothing but a bastard from all over the world, we are Russians and of the same faith. They cannot fight bravely, they are especially afraid of our bayonet."
Escaping from the sack prepared by Napoleon, Bagration gave the army a rest, and ordered the Cossack chieftain Platov to stop the annoying French at the town of Mir. On June 27, 1812, three regiments of Polish uhlans under the command of General Turno burst into Mir on the shoulders of the Cossacks, who lured the enemies into the Cossack "Venter". As a result, - Bagration reported to the emperor, - “Brigadier General Turno barely escaped with a very small number of lancers, from the three regiments remaining; on our side, no more than 25 people were killed or wounded”.
The next day, Russian Cossacks, dragoons, hussars and gamekeepers attacked, according to Platov, "for four hours on the chest." The wounded did not leave the battle; “Major General Ilovaisky received two saber wounds in his right arm and in his right leg with a bullet, but he finished his job. Of the six enemy regiments, hardly one soul will remain. " By order of the army, Bagration expressed "the most sensitive gratitude" to the winners: "Their bravery is proved by the complete extermination of nine enemy regiments."
The inaction of Barclay de Tolly, retreating without a single shot, was incomprehensible to Bagration: "If the First Army went decisively to attack, we would have crushed the enemy forces into parts." Otherwise, the enemy will invade "inside Russia."
Bagration suspected that the country had already been mentally brought by Alexander I in. sacrifice. The prince was sick with anger. “You cannot assure anyone, either in the army or in Russia, that we have not been sold,” he wrote to Arakcheev. “I alone cannot defend the whole of Russia. I’m all surrounded, and where I’m going, I can’t say in advance what God will give, but I won’t doze, unless my health will change me. And the Russians shouldn't run … I told you everything like a Russian to a Russian."
“It’s a shame to wear a uniform,” wrote Bagration to Ermolov, “by God, I’m sick … I confess, I was so disgusted with everything that I’m losing my mind. Farewell, Christ is with you, and I will put on a zipun. (Zipun is the clothing of the people's militia, which began to gather to defend the Fatherland.)
Finally, Arakcheev, Secretary of State Shishkov and Adjutant General of Tsar Balashov, with the support of the Tsar's sister Ekaterina Pavlovna, an admirer of Bagration, did the Fatherland a favor: they forced Alexander I to free the army from his presence. But Barclay, like a machine following the instructions of the king, continued to retreat …
Bagration again warned Barclay that "if the enemy breaks through to Smolensk and further into Russia, then the tears of his beloved Fatherland will not wash away the stain that will remain for centuries on the First Army."
Prince Peter was right in the worst assumptions. On July 7, he received an order to cross the Dnieper and forestall the French in Smolensk. On July 18, Bagration wrote to Barclay: "I am going to Smolensk and, although I have no more than 40 thousand people under arms, I will hold out."
"War is not ordinary, but national"
Prince Peter told Barclay that he could not find any justification for his accelerated retreat: "I have always had the thought that no retreat can be beneficial for us, and now every step inside Russia will be a new and more urgent disaster for the Fatherland." Barclay's promise to give battle was enough for Bagration to forget his anger. He himself proposed to the tsar to put Barclay at the head of the united army, although he had more rights to this by seniority of rank, not to mention the merits. And Barclay became commander-in-chief to … calmly ponder how to retreat further without battles.
Even the "obvious German" Colonel Clausewitz understood that Barclay began to "lose his head", considering Napoleon invincible. Meanwhile, General Wittgenstein, who was covering Petersburg, defeated Marshal Oudinot's corps and took about three thousand prisoners. But the main Russian forces, shackled by Barclay's orders, stupidly awaited Napoleon's blow. And they waited.
On August 1, 1812, the main forces of the French began to cross the Dnieper. Barclay decided to attack, Bagration moved to his aid. However, time was lost, the division of Neverovsky was retreating in battle under the terrible pressure of the corps of Ney and Murat. The French were amazed at the resilience of the Russian soldiers. The attacks of a fivefold superior enemy could not turn them to flight: "The Russians would suddenly turn to face us every time and throw us back."
The Raevsky corps sent by Bagration to the rescue, "having passed 40 miles without a halt," supported Neverovsky, who killed five out of six soldiers. Raevsky entered the battle with the main forces of the French a few versts from Smolensk.
"My dear," wrote Bagration to Raevsky, "I am not walking, but running, I would like to have wings to unite with you!" He arrived with the vanguard and sent a grenadier division into battle. The Russians needed no encouragement. Soldiers in regiments rushed with bayonets, so that the commanders could not stop them. “The war is now not ordinary, but national,” wrote Bagration. Not the soldiers, but the command and the sovereign "must maintain their honor." "Our troops fought so hard and are fighting as never before." Napoleon, having 182 thousand people, "continued attacks and intensified attacks from 6 am to 8 pm and not only did not receive any superiority, but with considerable harm for him was completely stopped this day."
In the evening, Barclay's army began to pull up to the city. On the morning of August 5, he accepted the defense of Smolensk, vowing not to surrender the city, but he sent Bagration to defend the Dorogobuzh road to Moscow. And when Prince Peter left, the commander-in-chief ordered the army to leave the city and blow up the powder depots …
At dawn on August 6, the French entered the flaming Smolensk, where detachments and individual rearguard soldiers were still fighting, not wanting to retreat.
As news of the surrender of the city arrived, Bagration turned from "bewilderment" to fury. The prince's concern for the soldiers is the main fact of his military biography. Throughout the war, he worried about the treatment and evacuation of the sick and wounded, issued strict orders about this and monitored their implementation. In Smolensk, the wounded from near Mogilev, Vitebsk and Krasny were concentrated, many wounded from the units of Neverovsky, Raevsky and Dokhturov defending the city. And now, in some incredible way, these wounded were not provided with medical assistance, and many were abandoned and burned down in the fire.
According to Bagration's calculations, more than 15 thousand people were lost during the retreat, for "the scoundrel, the scoundrel, the creature Barclay gave a glorious position for nothing."
“This,” Bagration considered, “is a shame and a stain on our army, but he himself, it seems, should not even live in the world”. Barclay was declared unworthy of life as a "coward" by the general, who first evacuated the wounded and then withdrew the troops. Surrounded by convoys with the wounded, Bagration placed them in the center of the troops.
At this time, Kutuzov was already on his way to the army as commander-in-chief, hitherto vegetating in the post of chief of the Petersburg militia. By his arrival, Bagration managed to win two victories: tactical and strategic.
The first occurred in the battle at the village of Senyavin, where the corps of General Junot, sent by Napoleon to cut the Moscow road, was thrown into the swamps. Napoleon was furious.
The second victory was that Bagration understood the popular character of the war, the role of "men" who "show patriotism" and "beat the French like pigs." This allowed him to appreciate Denis Davydov's plan for partisan actions against Napoleon "not from his flank, but in the middle and in the rear", when the brave adjutant of Prince Peter, and now Colonel of the Akhtyr hussar regiment, Davydov told Bagration about his plan.
Partisan detachments became a threat to the French after Bagration was mortally wounded in the battle of Borodino.
"It is not for nothing that all of Russia remembers"
The battle of Borodino was not conceived as a frontal slaughter of concentrated armies; Prince Peter tried to avoid this all his life. Kutuzov planned sweeping maneuvers “when the enemy would use his last reserves on the left flank of Bagration” (there was no doubt that Prince Peter would not retreat). Undefeated and capable of an offensive maneuver, the prince's 2nd army was deployed with minimal reserves in the direction of Napoleon's main attack. It is possible that Barclay's troops would have withstood this blow, and the opposite alignment of forces would have changed the outcome of the battle. However, could the cautious Kutuzov have acted differently?
Russian soldiers and officers, having defended matins, were ready to die without taking a step back. There was nowhere to retreat - Moscow was behind. An icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria" was carried in front of the regiments, rescued by soldiers of Konovnitsyn's 3rd Infantry Division in blazing Smolensk.
The forces were almost equal in number. The Russians outnumbered the enemy in spirit. But the enemy was commanded by a great commander, while the Russian army was deprived of leadership. From his headquarters near the village of Gorki, Kutuzov did not see the battlefield. As with Austerlitz, he was removed from command. Barclay did the same. Becoming in full view of the enemy, he simply waited for death.
On August 26, from 5 am, 25 thousand Frenchmen with 102 guns attacked the Bagrationovs' flashes, defended by 8 thousand Russians with 50 guns. The enemy was repulsed. At 7 o'clock, Marshal Davout himself led the corps to the attack and captured the left flush. However, General Neverovsky counterattacked the French on the flank. Flash was repulsed, Davout was wounded, Bagration's cavalry completed the defeat of the French corps and took 12 guns.
The French attacked again at 8 o'clock, then at 10 o'clock, again at 10.30, again at 11 o'clock. With the help of artillery, infantry and cavalry corps that came up from the reserve, Bagration repulsed the attack.
At about noon, at a front one and a half kilometers, Napoleon moved 45 thousand soldiers into battle with the support of 400 guns. At the head of them rode Marshals Davout, Ney and Murat. They were opposed by 18 thousand Russian soldiers with 300 cannons.
“Having comprehended the intention of the marshals and seeing the formidable movement of the French forces,” Fyodor Glinka recalled, “Prince Bagration conceived a great deed. All our left wing along its entire length moved from its place and went with a rapid step with bayonets. " According to another participant in the battle, Dmitry Buturlin, "a terrible slaughter followed, in which miracles of almost supernatural courage were exhausted on both sides."
The troops were mixed. “Bravo!” - exclaimed Bagration, seeing how the grenadiers of the 57th regiment of Davout, without firing back, go to the flushes with bayonets, despite the deadly fire. At that moment, a fragment of the nucleus shattered Prince Peter's tibia. At the same moment it became clear what Bagration meant for the army. Even during the joining of the 1st and 2nd armies, a participant in the events of Grabbe noted: "There was a moral difference between the two armies that the First relied on itself and on the Russian God, the Second, on top of that, on Prince Bagration."
And now the man who “ignited the soldier by his presence” fell from his horse. “In an instant, a rumor spread about his death,” wrote Ermolov, “and the army cannot be kept from confusion. One common feeling is despair! " "A terrible news spread along the line," Glinka recalled, "and the soldiers' hands dropped." This was also reported in the reports of Kutuzov and other generals.
Napoleon at that moment thought that he had won the battle. He was convinced that "there are no good generals in Russia, except for Bagration alone," and was ready, in response to the requests of Davout, Ney and Murat, to move the last reserve into battle - the Guard. According to the marshals, this was necessary in order to break through the formation of the 2nd army, which retreated behind the flushes and the village of Semyonovskoye, but survived under the command of General Konovnitsyn, and then Dokhturov. Another student of Bagration, General Raevsky, from 10 am repelled the French from the Kurgan battery and knocked them out of there with counterattacks.
Napoleon's doubts were finally resolved by Bagration's old friends, generals Platov and Uvarov. Their cavalry corps stood idle behind Barclay's right flank, virtually outside the battle zone. At a critical moment, at their own peril and risk, they rushed into the attack and, bypassing Napoleon's left flank, sowed panic in his rear. This forced the emperor to postpone the offensive against the 2nd army for two hours. Then the fierce battle for the Raevsky battery, which was defended by Miloradovich's troops, prompted Napoleon to refuse to introduce the guard into battle until dusk. The Russians, as before the battle, stood, blocking the enemy's path to Moscow.
"I will not die from my wound …"
By this time Bagration, who watched as his soldiers, retreating behind the ravine and "with incomprehensible speed" setting up artillery, beat off the attacks of the French, began to rave and was carried away from the battlefield. He has done his duty. The Russian army, having finally entered the battle with the enemy and having lost 44 thousand people, withstood. Napoleon lost 58 thousand soldiers, hundreds of senior officers and generals, but he did not achieve anything but a terrifying bloodshed, not seen either by himself, or by Kutuzov, or by other contemporaries.
Bagration died on the Golitsyn estate of Sima on September 12, on the 17th day after the battle. Alexander I found it necessary to write to his sister Catherine (who idolized Bagration) about his "major mistakes" and the lack of a concept of strategy. The tsar mentioned the death of the general only a month and a half later. Meanwhile, Napoleon's aide-de-camp, Count de Segur, wrote about the prince: "It was an old Suvorov soldier, terrible in battles."
Contemporaries linked the death of the commander with the news of the abandonment of Moscow. They said that the prince began to get up on crutches, but, having learned the news hidden from him, fell on his sore leg, which led to gangrene. This was not surprising. And the chief of staff of the 6th corps, Colonel Monakhtin, upon the news of the surrender of the capital, died, tearing off the bandages from his wounds.
Bagration left Moscow conscious, sending reports on awarding those who distinguished themselves and a note to Governor Rostopchin: "I will not die from my wound, but from Moscow." Historians reasoned that gangrene could have been avoided. Bagration refused the only salvation - leg amputation, for he did not want to lead an "idle and inactive life." The prince confessed and received communion, distributed all the property, set free the serfs, awarded doctors, orderlies and servants. According to the inventory, his orders were handed over to the state.
Bagration left nothing on earth except immortal glory, friends and disciples who, no matter what, drove the enemy out of Russia. The ashes of the "lion of the Russian army" were reburied in the Borodino field, from where the Russians began the expulsion of "twelve languages" and a victorious march to Paris.
