“Prince Bagration … Undaunted in battle, indifferent in danger … Mild-tempered, uncommon, generous to the point of extravagance. Not quick to anger, always ready for reconciliation. He does not remember evil, he always remembers good deeds."
A. P. Ermolov
The Bagration dynasty is considered one of the most ancient - in the Armenian and Georgian chronicle tradition, their ancestor was a descendant of the legendary biblical David named Naom, only sixty-two generations distant from the progenitor of all people, Adam. From Naom, the Bagration clan goes back to Bagrat III, who in 978 became the ruler of Western Georgia, and in 1008, having united the warring nations into an independent state, he took the title of the Georgian king. In addition, among the ancestors of the famous Russian commander, it is worth highlighting Tsar David IV the Builder, who defeated a huge Muslim army in August 1121 and liberated his native country from the rule of the Seljuk Turks, the famous Queen Tamara, whose reign is referred to in the history of Georgia as the "Golden Age", King George V the Magnificent, who expelled the Mongol armies from Georgia in 1334.
One of the closest ancestors of Peter Bagration, Tsar Vakhtang VI, in 1723, together with his family and those close to him, was forced to leave his kingdom (Georgia was subjected to another Turkish invasion) and move to Russia. His nephew, Tsarevich Alexander, later joined the Russian army, rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and took part in battles in the North Caucasus. The son of the tsarevich, Ivan Alexandrovich Bagration, also served in the commandant's command located in the Kizlyar fortress. And on July 10, 1765, a son, Peter, was born in his family.
The future great commander spent his childhood years in his parents' house on the God-forsaken outskirts of the empire, far from the capitals, palaces and the brilliance of the guards. This is what explains the almost complete absence of any information about his first years of life. It is only known that Peter for some time studied at the school for children of officers, opened under the commandant's office of Kizlyar. This was the end of his training, and later many famous personalities who knew the prince well noted his rather mediocre general education. In particular, the Russian military leader Alexei Ermolov wrote in his memoirs: “Prince Bagration, from a very young age completely without a state and without a mentor, did not have the means to receive education … military service.
The story of the first visit by Peter Ivanovich to the Northern capital of Russia is curious. Anna Golitsyna (nee Princess Bagration) at a dinner with Grigory Potemkin asked to take her young nephew under her protection. The Most Serene Prince immediately sent a messenger for him. Unfortunately, the young man arrived in the city very recently and has not yet had time to acquire decent clothing. Bagration was saved by the butler of Princess Golitsyna, someone named Karelin, who lent him his own dress. As a result, before the "magnificent prince of Taurida" Bagration appeared in a caftan from someone else's shoulder. After a short conversation with him, Potemkin identified the guy as a musketeer. Thus, the commander's glorious military career began in the Astrakhan infantry regiment, which was later transformed into the Caucasian musketeer regiment. By the way, this story had a continuation. In 1811, Prince Bagration, already a well-known national hero, spent the summer with his friends and relatives at Princess Golitsyna's. Once, looking closely at an old butler who was passing by, the commander recognized his savior. Without saying a word, Pyotr Ivanovich got up and hugged the elderly man, and then solemnly said: “Have you forgotten, good Karelin, how I appeared to Potemkin in your caftan? Without you, maybe I would not be what you see me now. Thank you a thousand times!"
Bagration made his first steps in the army in the warlike Caucasus, where the Russian Empire was arguing with Iran and Turkey for the right to possess a strategically important crossroads of trade routes. After the defeat of the Turks in the 1768-1774 war, North Ossetia and Kabarda were annexed to the Russian Empire, which led to the discontent of the local population. The movement against the Russians was led by an Islamic preacher known as Sheikh Mansour. Mansur's passionate words, clearly and simply explaining the tricky religious messages to the people, earned him fame, as well as power over thousands of fanatic warriors. The February earthquake in the Caucasus in 1785 played into the hands of the sheikh, which was perceived by the locals as a manifestation of the wrath of Allah predicted by the preacher. When the news of the announced rebellious leader and popular unrest reached St. Petersburg, they became seriously worried. Lieutenant-General Pavel Potemkin, who is the commander of the Russian army in the Caucasus, sent a formidable proclamation to the auls, in which he ordered the local residents "not to heed the false prophecies of this deceiver." In addition to words, practical actions followed - in September 1783, a military detachment of Colonel Pieri went to Chechnya, with the goal of capturing the rebellious sheikh. The detachment was reinforced with a battalion of Kabardians, a hundred Cossacks and two companies of the Tomsk regiment. Among others there was a non-commissioned officer Pyotr Bagration, the commander's adjutant. In October, the first battle with the rebels took place, as a result of which Pieri's forces occupied the Khankala Gorge. After some time, by an attack, the family nest of the sheikh, the aul of Aldy, was taken and set on fire. However, the main task could not be completed - Mansur, who was warned in advance of the approach of the Russians, together with his soldiers, managed to dissolve in the mountains.
On the way home, while crossing the Sunzha, the Russian detachment was ambushed and was almost completely destroyed. In this battle, Colonel Pieri found his death, and his young adjutant was first wounded. Collecting trophy weapons, the Chechens found Bagration among the bodies of those killed. Mansur showed nobility, forbidding the soldiers to take revenge for the destruction of the aul, and Peter Ivanovich managed to survive. According to one of the versions, the Chechens returned Bagration without ransom, saying that "the sheikh does not take money for real men." According to another version, the ransom for the non-commissioned officer was paid. Be that as it may, Pyotr Ivanovich returned to the unit and continued his service. As part of the Caucasian Musketeer Regiment, the future commander participated in the campaigns of 1783-1786, showing himself to be a courageous and brave warrior, and the fierce battles of those years became for him a first-class military school. The fate of Sheikh Mansur, who taught Bagration the first lessons of military art, turned out, as expected, sad. At the head of his loyal companions, he continued to resist until 1791, when Russian troops besieged the Turkish fortress of Anapa. Mansur fought along with the rest of the defenders of the stronghold, tried to blow up the powder magazine, but was captured and sent to St. Petersburg, where he very soon died of consumption.
J. Sukhodolsky, 1853 Storm of Ochakov December 6, 1788
Central Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps
In 1787, a new war with the Turks began - the Ottoman Empire demanded the return of the Crimea, as well as the refusal of Russia from the protectorate over Georgia and consent to the inspection of ships passing through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Having received a categorical "no", Sultan Abdul-Hamid began military operations. In 1788, the Caucasian Musketeer Regiment found itself near Ochakovo, where the Yekaterinoslav army of Field Marshal Potemkin-Tavrichesky was preparing for the assault. The commander-in-chief acted, by the way, extremely sluggishly - the assault was repeatedly postponed, and the besieged Turkish garrison managed to make two sorties. Only at the beginning of December 1788 at seven o'clock in the morning, in a 23-degree frost, did the Russian troops launch an assault. It lasted only a couple of hours and was successful. The courage of Bagration, among the first to break into the fortress, was noted by Suvorov himself. After that, the Caucasian regiment returned to the Caucasus and took part in the 1790 campaign against the highlanders and Turks. In this regiment, Peter Ivanovich remained until mid-1792, successively passing all the steps from sergeant to captain. And in the summer of 1792 he was transferred to the Kiev horse-jaeger regiment.
In March 1794, an uprising broke out in Poland, led by a participant in the war for the independence of the United States of America, small-scale gentry Tadeusz Kosciuszko. In May of this year, a large detachment under the leadership of Alexander Suvorov was sent to suppress the rebellion. It also included the Sofia Carabinieri Regiment, which by that time served as Prime Major Bagration. In this campaign, Pyotr Ivanovich showed himself as an outstanding commander, showing not only exceptional courage in battles, but also rare composure, decisiveness and speed of decision-making. Suvorov treated Bagration with trust and undisguised sympathy, affectionately calling him "Prince Peter". In October 1794, twenty-nine-year-old Bagration was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In 1798, Pyotr Ivanovich - already a colonel - led the sixth jaeger regiment. Once Alexei Arakcheev, who loved the external order, descended upon Bagration with a sudden inspection and found the condition of the regiment entrusted to him "excellent." Shortly thereafter, the prince was promoted to major general. In France, meanwhile, events were taking place that echoed throughout Europe. The Great French Revolution, as well as the execution of Louis XVI, forced the European monarchies to immediately forget about their previous differences and rebel against the republic, by its very existence threatening the foundations of autocracy. In 1792, Prussia and Austria, having formed the First Coalition, directed their forces against France. Military operations continued with varying success until 1796, when the young General Bonaparte led the Italian army. The French, inferior in weapons and numbers, expelled the Austrians from Italy in a matter of months, and a little later Switzerland came under their control. In order to stop the steady expansion of the territories occupied by the French, in 1797 the Second Coalition was formed, into which Russia also entered. In November 1798, the forty-thousandth Russian corps moved to Italy, and Alexander Suvorov was appointed commander of the combined Russian-Austrian forces.
Battle of Novi (1799). Painting by A. Kotzebue
In this campaign, Bagration became an indispensable assistant to the legendary field marshal. At the head of the vanguard of the Russian-Austrian army, he forced the defenders of the fortress of Brescia to surrender, captured the cities of Lecco and Bergamo, distinguished himself in a three-day battle on the banks of the Trebbia and Tidone rivers, was wounded twice. In August 1799, the French and allied armies met at the city of Novi. In this battle, Suvorov entrusted Peter Ivanovich to deliver the main blow, which ultimately decided the outcome of the battle. The victories of the Russian genius frightened the allies and, fearing an increase in Russia's influence, the Austrians insisted on sending Russian troops to Switzerland to join the Rimsky-Korsakov corps. At the same time, the Allies withdrew their forces from the country, leaving the Russians alone in front of the superior forces of the enemy. In such conditions, the famous Swiss campaign of Suvorov began in the fall of 1799.
Already on the march it became clear that the path through the St. Gotthard Pass is practically impassable - the road was held by significant enemy forces. During the third attack, the best fighters of Bagration made their way through the rocks to the rear of the defenders and forced them, abandoning their artillery, to hastily retreat. In the future, Peter Ivanovich invariably led the vanguard, the first to take on the enemy's blows and paving the way through the French barriers in the mountains. At Lake Lucerne, it became clear that further advancement is possible only through a snow-covered pass called Kinzig. The decision to lead the soldier along a mountain trail eighteen kilometers long, now called "Suvorov's path", could only be dictated by the commander's absolute confidence in the strength of the spirit of his people. Two days later, the troops entered the Mutenskaya Valley and were surrounded by the enemy in a stone sack with practically no ammunition and food. After some consultation, the generals decided to break through to the east. Major General Bagration, who headed the rearguard, covered the exit from the encirclement. As part of the sixth jaeger regiment, which became the nucleus of his detachment, only sixteen officers remained alive and no more than three hundred soldiers. Peter Ivanovich himself received another wound. The campaign of 1798-1799 put Bagration in the forefront of the Russian military elite. Suvorov did not hesitate to entrust "Prince Peter" with the most responsible and dangerous assignments, calling him "the most excellent general worthy of the highest degrees." Once he gave Pyotr Ivanovich a sword, with which he did not part until the last days of his life. Returning to Russia, the prince became the chief of the Life-Jaeger Battalion, which was later deployed in the Life-Guard Jaeger Regiment.
1799 year. Russian troops under the leadership of A. V. Suvorov pass the Saint-Gotthard pass. Artist A. E. Kotsebue
In 1800, Emperor Paul I, in his characteristic unceremonious manner, got into the personal life of Peter Ivanovich, marrying him an eighteen-year-old maid of honor, Grigory Potemkin's grandniece, Countess Ekaterina Skavronskaya. The wedding took place in September 1800 in the church of the Gatchina Palace. The couple lived together for no more than five years, and then, in 1805, Bagration's wife left under the pretext of treatment for Europe. In the court circles of various countries, the princess enjoyed tremendous success. Away from her husband, she gave birth to a daughter, the father of the child was rumored to be the Austrian Chancellor Metternich. She never returned to Russia.
In 1801, disagreements with Britain and Austria led to Russia's withdrawal from the war with Napoleon and the conclusion of the Paris Peace Treaty. However, this peace did not last long, and four years later Russia, England and Austria founded the Third Coalition, aimed not against the republic, but against the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte who had taken the title. It was assumed that, having united in Bavaria, the allied forces (the Austrian army of Mack and the Russian army of Kutuzov) would invade France across the Rhine. However, nothing came of it - as a result of the brilliant rapid maneuver of the French, the Austrian forces were surrounded near Ulm and preferred to capitulate. Kutuzov with his army of forty thousand was in a difficult situation. Deprived of any support from the allies, having seven enemy corps in front of them, the Russians began to retreat to the east, leading incessant rearguard battles for four hundred miles of retreat. And, as during the Swiss campaign, Bagration's detachment covered the most dangerous areas, alternately turning into a rearguard, then into a vanguard.
In November 1805, the vanguard of the French forces under the command of Marshal Murat took Vienna and went to Znaim, trying to cut off the escape route for Kutuzov. The position of the Russians became critical, and Pyotr Ivanovich received an order to stop Murat at any cost. According to the memoirs of the participants, putting up a 6,000-strong detachment of Russian soldiers against a 30,000-strong enemy vanguard, Mikhail Illarionovich baptized the prince, knowing full well that he was sending him to certain death. For eight hours, Bagration repulsed the fierce attacks of the French near the village of Shengraben. The Russians did not abandon their positions, even when the enemy, bypassing them, struck in the rear. Only after receiving the news that the main troops were out of danger, Pyotr Ivanovich, at the head of the detachment, paved a way through the encirclement with bayonets and soon joined Kutuzov. For the Shengraben affair, the 6th Jaeger Regiment - the first in the Russian army - received silver pipes with St. George ribbons, and its commander was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
Francois Pascal Simon Gerard: The Battle of Austerlitz
In the second half of November 1805, Mikhail Illarionovich, under pressure from the emperor, gave Napoleon a general battle at Austerlitz. The tsar's self-confidence had the most sad consequences. With a swift attack, the French cut in two and surrounded the main forces of the Allies. Already six hours after the start of the battle, the Russian-Austrian army was put to flight. Only individual detachments on the flanks under the command of Dokhturov and Bagration did not succumb to panic and, maintaining their battle formations, withdrew. After the Battle of Austerlitz, the Third Coalition collapsed - Austria concluded a separate peace with Napoleon, and the Russian troops returned home.
In September 1806, the Fourth Coalition was formed against France, consisting of Russia, Sweden, Prussia and England. In October, the Prussian king presented the French emperor with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of the army across the Rhine. In response, Napoleon utterly defeated the Prussians, who had learned mainly the ceremonial step, in the battles of Jena and Auerstadt. Having occupied the country, the French moved towards the Russians, who (for the umpteenth time) were left alone with a formidable enemy. However, now the place of the head of the Russian army was occupied by the elderly and completely incapable of leadership, Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky. Soon Kamensky was replaced by Buxgewden, and he, in turn, was replaced by General Bennigsen. The movement of troops was accompanied by continuous skirmishes, and according to the tradition established since the time of the Swiss campaign, the command of the rearguard or vanguard of the Russian army (depending on whether it advanced or retreated) was almost always entrusted to Bagration. At the end of January 1807, Peter Ivanovich received an order from Bennigsen to drive the French out of the town of Preussisch-Eylau. As usual, the prince personally led his division into battle, the enemy was driven back, and the next day the two armies met in a general duel.
After a bloody battle, in which each side attributed the victory to itself, the Russian troops left in the direction of Konigsberg. Bagration was still in command of the vanguard and was in close contact with the enemy all the time. In early June, he put the enemy to flight at Altkirchen, and four days later he held back the attacks of the French cavalry at Gutshtadt, while the main forces were fortified in the vicinity of Heilsberg. In June 1807, the battle of Friedland took place, in which the Russian troops were defeated. In this battle, Bagration commanded the left flank, on which the enemy's main blow was dealt. Artillery fire, combined with continuous attacks, knocked over the units of Pyotr Ivanovich, who, with sword in hand, commanded in the thick of the battle, encouraging the soldiers by his example. On the right flank, the Russian army found itself in an even worse position - the French attacking from three sides threw Gorchakov's troops into the river. The battle ended late in the evening - the Russian army only partially preserved the battle formations, and that, thanks to the skillful actions of Bagration, who was awarded a golden sword for Friedland with the inscription "For Bravery". After that, the French and Russian emperors proceeded to peace negotiations, which culminated in the conclusion of the Tilsit Peace.
In 1808 Bagration went to the Russian-Swedish war. After being appointed commander of an infantry division, he occupied Vaza, Christianstadt, Abo and the Aland Islands. The plan of a decisive strike against the Swedes, drawn up by Alexander I, included a winter campaign to Stockholm on the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. Most of the generals, including the commander-in-chief, Count Buxgewden, categorically objected to this event, rightly pointing out the enormous risk associated with the movement of a huge number of troops and artillery on the spring ice. When Count Arakcheev, sent by the emperor to organize the campaign, turned to his old acquaintance Bagration for advice, he received a meager answer: "If you give orders, let's go." Becoming at the head of one of the three columns, Peter Ivanovich successfully reached the Swedish coast and took the place of Grisselgam near Stockholm.
In a short period of time between the war with the Swedes and the Patriotic War, Bagration had to visit Moldova. At the end of the summer of 1809, he led the Moldavian army, which for the third year, without any special results, acted against Turkey. It was rumored that the new appointment was an honorable exile. It was a matter of passion for the famous commander, fanned by the glory of military campaigns, the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna. In order to suppress the impermissible romance, Pyotr Ivanovich was promoted to general from infateria and sent to fight the Turks. Arriving at the place, Bagration with Suvorov's decisiveness and speed got down to business. Without lifting the blockade of Ishmael, with an army of only twenty thousand people, he took several cities during August, and in early September completely defeated the corps of selected Turkish troops, then besieged Silistria, and three days later took Ishmael. To help the besieged Turks in Silistria, the troops of the grand vizier moved, the number of which was not inferior to the number of the Russian siege corps. Bagration defeated them in October at the battle of Tataritsa, and then, having learned that the main forces of the grand vizier were approaching Silistria, he prudently ferried the troops across the Danube, which caused the displeasure of the sovereign. In the spring of 1810, Count Nikolai Kamensky replaced Pyotr Ivanovich as commander.
By that time, Pyotr Ivanovich, no doubt, was the favorite of the entire Russian army and enjoyed unlimited trust among soldiers and officers. The prince earned the respect of his people not only for his rare courage on the battlefield, but also for his sensitive attitude to the needs of the soldiers, constantly taking care that his soldiers were healthy, well dressed, shod and fed on time. Bagration built training and education of troops on the basis of the system developed by the great Suvorov. Like his teacher, he perfectly understood that war is dangerous and hard work, first of all, requiring persistent preparation, dedication and professionalism. His contribution to the development of the practice of conducting rearguard and vanguard battles is undeniable. According to the unanimous recognition of military historians, Pyotr Ivanovich was an unsurpassed master of organizing these very complex types of combat. The methods of command and control used by the prince were always distinguished by a careful planning of the forthcoming actions. Attention to detail was also expressed in Bagration's "Manual to infantry officers on the day of battle", which examined in detail the actions in columns and in loose formation, as well as methods of firing, taking into account the terrain. Pyotr Ivanovich paid special attention to maintaining faith in the strength of the Russian bayonet in the soldiers, instilling in them the spirit of courage, courage and perseverance.
In early September 1811 Bagration took the place of the commander of the Podolsk (later second Western) army stationed in Ukraine. In case of Napoleon's invasion, a plan was developed according to which one of the three Russian armies took the blow of the main enemy forces, while the rest acted in the rear and flanks of the French. This project, created by the Prussian military theorist Pful, was initially flawed, since it did not consider the possibility of simultaneously advancing the enemy in several directions. As a result, by the beginning of the war, the Russian forces were fragmented, numbering only 210 thousand against 600 thousand soldiers of the "Great Army", which entered Russia on the night of June 12, 1812 near the city of Kovno. The directives coming to the army did not bring clarity, and Pyotr Ivanovich, at his own peril and risk, decided to withdraw his forces to Minsk, where he intended to unite with the first army. This campaign was a rather complex flanking maneuver carried out in close proximity to the enemy. The French threatened the rear and flank, Davout's corps cut off the second army's escape routes from the north, forcing Bagration to constantly change the direction of movement. Battles with superior forces of the French threatened with huge losses and, accordingly, the loss of the advantage gained from the unification of the Russian armies.
By mid-July, Davout's corps managed to block the path of Bagration's army, which was striving to cross to the opposite bank of the Dnieper. A fierce battle took place in the Saltanovka area, after which the Russians reached Smolensk and successfully united with the main forces. The march of the second army is rightfully included among the outstanding acts of military history. Assessing the significance of the campaign, one military writer of the first half of the nineteenth century noted: “Looking at the map and taking the compasses in hand for checking, it is easy, even with a superficial glance, to see how little Prince Bagration was left with a chance to reach the connection … May I be allowed to ask one question - has any general ever been placed in a more critical position and has any military man come out of such a situation with greater honor?"
N. S. Samokish. The feat of the soldiers of Raevsky near Saltanovka
In mid-August, under pressure from the public, the Russian emperor was forced to appoint the outstanding commander Mikhail Kutuzov to the place of the commander of the Russian army. Contrary to the established military strategy, which is that victory is achieved by defeating the enemy in a general engagement, the field marshal decided to withdraw the Russian forces from the blow and wear out the enemy in rearguard skirmishes. The commander planned the transition to a counteroffensive only after the army was reinforced with reserves and numerical superiority over the enemy. Together with the retreat to the east, a partisan movement spontaneously developed in the lands occupied by the French. Petr Ivanovich was one of the first to realize how powerful the effect of joint actions of the armed people and the regular army is. In the second half of August, Bagration and Denis Davydov met at the Kolotsky monastery, the result of which was the order: “Akhtyrka hussar regiment to Lieutenant Colonel Davydov. Please take fifty hussars of the regiment and from Major General Karpov one hundred and fifty Cossacks. I instruct you to take all measures in order to disturb the enemy and strive to take their foragers not from the flank, but in the rear and in the middle, upset the parks and transports, demolish the crossings and take away all methods. Bagration's reckoning on the effectiveness of sabotage activities in the enemy's rear was fully justified. Very soon, the partisans, with the support of the commander-in-chief, fought throughout the occupied territory. In addition to Davydov's detachment, partisan groups were formed under the leadership of General Dorokhov, Guards Captain Seslavin, Captain Fischer, Colonel Kudashev and many others.
On August 22, 1812, the Russian army found itself in the Borodino area, blocking two roads leading to Moscow (Old and New Smolensk), along which the French were advancing. The plan of Mikhail Illarionovich was to give the enemy a defensive battle, inflict maximum damage on him and change the balance of forces in his favor. The position of the Russians occupied eight kilometers along the front, the left flank adjoined the rugged Utitsky forest, and the right flank, near the village of Maslovo, to the Moscow River. The most vulnerable part of the position was the left flank. Kutuzov wrote in his message to Alexander I: "The weak point of this position, located on the left flank, I will try to correct with art." In this place, the commander-in-chief placed the most reliable troops of the second army of Bagration, ordering to strengthen the flank with earthen structures. Near the village of Semenovskaya, three field fortifications were arranged, which later became known as Bagration flushes. West of the village, a kilometer from the Russian positions, there was an advanced fortification - the Shevardinsky redoubt. The battle for him, played out on August 24, became a bloody and formidable prelude to the battle. Napoleon threw thirty thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry against the twelve thousandth Russian detachment defending the fortification. Fierce grapeshot and rifle fire at close range was replaced by hand-to-hand combat. Under the pressure of the enemy, the Russians withdrew in an organized manner, but at seventeen o'clock in the afternoon Bagration personally led the grenadier division into a counterattack and knocked the French out of the redoubt. The fight lasted until dark and only late in the evening, according to Kutuzov's order, Peter Ivanovich left the position. The battle for the redoubt revealed Napoleon's intention to deliver the main blow to the left wing of the Russian army - it was in this direction that he concentrated his main forces.
Attack on Bagration's flushes. Alexander AVERYANO V
General P. I. Bagration gives the order. Alexander AVERYANOV
Prince P. I. Bagration in the Battle of Borodino. The last counterattack. Alexander AVERYANOV
According to the existing military custom, they prepared for the decisive battle as for a show - all officers carefully shaved, changed into clean linen, put on ceremonial uniforms and orders, sultans on shako and white gloves. Thanks to this tradition, one can almost reliably imagine the prince in his last battle - with three stars of the orders of Saints Vladimir, George and Andrew, with a blue Andreevskaya ribbon. The battle of Borodino began at dawn on the 26th with an artillery cannonade. The French first of all rushed to the village of Borodino, but that was a diversionary blow - the main events unfolded at the Rayevsky battery and at the Bagrationov flushes. The first attack took place at about six in the morning. The troops of the "iron" Marshal Louis Davout were stopped by a hurricane of artillery and rifle fire. An hour later, a new assault followed, during which the French reached the left flush, but were soon knocked out from there by a counterattack. The enemy pulled up the reserves, and at eight o'clock the third attack was organized - several times the flushes passed from hand to hand, but in the end the Russians held them back. Over the next four hours, the corps of Ney, Murat, Davout and Junot made five more desperate attempts to succeed. The most furious was the eighth attack, which the Russian troops met with a bayonet strike. Military historian Dmitry Buturlin, who was a participant in this battle, noted: “A terrible slaughter followed, in which miracles of supernatural courage were exhausted on both sides. The artillerymen, horsemen and footmen of both sides, mingling together, presented a terrible spectacle of the bulk of the soldiers, bickering with a frenzy of despair. " During the eighth attack, a fragment of the nucleus crushed the prince's left leg, but Bagration remained on the battlefield until he made sure that the cuirassiers had driven back the French.
Artist A. I. Vepkhvadze. 1948 g.
The wounded Bagration is carried out of the battlefield. Ivan ZHEREN
With a great delay, foreign bodies, including a fragment of the nucleus, were removed from the commander's wound. The wound was recognized by doctors as extremely dangerous and caused unbearable pain to the prince, but Peter Ivanovich flatly refused amputation. In one of his last letters to the emperor, he said: "I do not regret this injury in the least, I was always ready to donate the last drop of my blood for the defense of the fatherland …" Golitsyn - to the village of Sima in the Vladimir province. On September 12, 1812, seventeen days after being wounded, Peter Bagration died of gangrene.
In 1839, the famous Denis Davydov proposed to Nicholas I to transfer the ashes of the general, whose name became a symbol of Russian military glory, to the site of the Battle of Borodino. The emperor agreed with this, and since then, at the Kurgan Hill, where Raevsky's battery once stood, there was a simple black tombstone - the grave of Bagration. In 1932, the grave of the famous commander was subjected to barbaric devastation, the monument was restored only half a century later, and the remains of Bagration, discovered among the garbage, were solemnly reburied.
