Russia Against Napoleon

by Lieven, Dominic

  22 The best angle on this is the two volumes of the Austrian staff history, which discuss the planning and execution of Schwarzenberg’s initial advance to Dresden in August and subsequent move on Leipzig. See Horstenau, Dresden, pp. 63–106; Geschichte der Kämpfe Österreichs: Befreiungskrieg 1813 und 1814, vol. 5: Max von Hoen, Feldzug von Leipzig, Vienna, 1913, especially pp. 127–34.

  23 F. von Schubert, Unter dem Doppeladler, Stuttgart, 1962, pp. 336–7.

  24 Baron von Odeleben, A Circumstantial Narrative of the Campaign in Saxony in the Year 1813, 2 vols., London, 1820, vol. 1, p. 140.

  25 The quotation is from Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, p. 22.

  26 On the French emigration in Russia in general, see A. Ratchinski, Napoléon et AlexandreIer, Paris, 2002; on Langeron and Richelieu, see L. de Crousaz-Cretet, Le Duc de Richelieu en Russie et en France, Paris, 1897, especially pp. 18–20. Langeron’s personality and career are summarized by Emmanuel de Waresquiel in J. Tulard (ed.), Dictionnaire Napoléon, Paris, 1999 edn., 2 vols., vol. 2, pp. 144–6.

  27 On Langeron, see especially Schubert, Doppeladler, pp. 163–7. For the quotation, see Langeron, Mémoires de Langeron, Général d’Infanterie dans l’Armée Russe: Campagnes de 1812, 1813, 1814, Paris, 1902, p. 205.

  28 On the action at Bunzlau, see in particular E. Nikolaev, Istoriia 50 pekhotnago Belostokskago, Ego Vysochestva Gertsoga Saksen-Al’tenburgskago polka, SPB, 1907, pp. 71–3. Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, p. 122, notes the poor quality of Sebastiani’s regiments.

  29 Langeron, Mémoires, p. 220; J. von Pflugk-Harttung, Das Befreiungsjahr 1813: Aus dem Geheimen Staatsarchivs, Berlin, 1913, no. 196, Gneisenau to Hardenberg, 25 Aug. 1813, pp. 276–8.

  30 Yorck’s letter is quoted by Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, p. 42. Bennigsen also complained about Blücher’s strategy: see his letter to Alexander of 14/26 Aug., written from Kalicz: RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3385, fos. 191–2.

  31 Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire militaire sous le Directoire, le Consulat et l’Empire, Paris, 1831, vol 4, no. 8, Protocole de la conférence de Trachenberg: no. 9, Instructions pour S. Ex. M. de Blücher, pp. 347–53.

  32 Alexander’s letter to Blücher is in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fos. 7ii–8i.

  33 Blücher’s letter to Alexander, undated but received on 27 Aug., is in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3911, fos. 215i–ii.

  34 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3911, fo. 247ii: Venançon to Volkonsky, 16/28 Aug. 1813, on MacDonald’s failure to reconnoitre the allied position.

  35 The best source on the movements of Third Corps is the journal compiled by Captain Koch: Journal des opérations du IIIe Corps en 1813, Paris, 1999. The description of the corps’s role at the Katzbach is on pp. 54–60.

  36 Müffling’s description of the battle comes in two sections of his memoirs, which were written and published years apart because some of his comments would have caused offence if published earlier: see Baron Karl von Müffling, The Memoirs of Baron von Müffling: A Prussian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars, London, 1997, pp. 58–75 and 317–24. The quotation is on p. 60.

  37 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3911, fos. 246ii–247i: Venançon to Volkonsky, 16/28 Aug. 1813. Venançon’s long report is much the best account of the battle from the perspective of Osten-Sacken’s corps. Koch gives the best French eyewitness account and Müffling is the best Prussian source. Bogdanovich provides an excellent detailed account too, which Friederich confirms.

  38 Apart from the general works and Koch, the history of the Odessa Regiment, which was part of Neverovsky’s 27th Division, is useful on this little-remarked last episode in the battle: Popov, Istoriia 48-go, pp. 139–41.

  39 Prince A. G. Shcherbatov, Moi vospominaniia, SPB, 2006, p. 87.

  40 Müffling, Memoirs, pp. 67–8. I. Radozhitskii, Pokhodnyia zapiski artillerista s 1812 po 1816 god, 3 vols., Moscow, 1835, vol. 2, p. 202.

  41 Captain Geniev, Istoriia Pskovskago pekhotnago general-fel’dmarshala kniazia Kutuzova-Smolenskago polka: 1700–1831, Moscow, 1883, pp. 216–17; Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, p. 65.

  42 Pflugk-Harttung, Befreiungsjahr, no. 219: Silesian military government to the military governor of Berlin, 28 Aug. 1813, pp. 283–4.

  43 Koch, Journal, p. 64; RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3403, fos. 24i–25i: Sacken to Volkonsky, 3 Sept. 1813.

  44 Schubert, Doppeladler, p. 321.

  45 Beskrovnyi (ed.), Pokhod, no. 216, Journal of Military Operations, 23 Aug./4 Sept. 1813, pp. 245–7. Apart from Bogdanovich, there is a good account of the pursuit in Prince N. B. Golitsyn, Zhizneopisanie generala ot kavalerii Emmanuelia, Moscow, 1844, pp. 97–104.

  46 The statistics are drawn from George Nafziger, Napoleon at Dresden, Chicago, 1994, pp. 77, 301.

  47 Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, p. 78.

  48 Horstenau, Dresden, pp. 1–11.

  49 The key sources on Austrian organization and preparations are the first three volumes of Befreiungskrieg 1813 und 1814 authored by O. Criste (Österreichs Beitritt zur Koalition, Vienna, 1913), Wlaschutz (Österreichs entscheidendes Machtaufgebot, Vienna, 1913) and Glaise von Horstenau. See e.g. Horstenau’s comment in Dresden, p. 78. See also, however, a very interesting conversation with Radetsky recorded in Wilson’s diary: A. Brett-James (ed.), General Wilson’s Journal 1812–1814, London, 1964, 20 Aug. 1813, p. 63.

  50 See e.g. an indignant protest from Vorontsov to Barclay on hearing that he was being subordinated to Bülow, who had become a lieutenant-general one month after Vorontsov himself. Barclay accepted the protest and subordinated him to Winzengerode. RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 53, Delo 18, fos. 15–16: Vorontsov to Barclay, 9 July 1813 (OS).

  51 See e.g. Barclay’s letter to Sacken of 10 Sept. 1813 (OS), one of many such examples: MVUA 1813, 1, p. 202; Eugen, Memoiren, vol. 3, pp. 145–6.

  52 Saint-Cyr, Mémoires, vol. 4, no. 15, Napoleon to Saint-Cyr, 17 Aug. 1813, pp. 365–8.

  53 Horstenau, Dresden, pp. 78–117. Brett-James, Wilson’s Journal, p. 165.

  54 Horstenau, Dresden, pp. 103, 106–7, 123–4.

  55 Hon. George Cathcart, Commentaries on the War in Russia and Germany in 1812 and 1813, London, 1850, p. 29. Langeron, Mémoires, p. 256.

  56 Horstenau, Dresden, p. 159; Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, p. 69; Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, p. 127. Saint-Cyr, Mémoires, vol. 4, no. 26, Saint-Cyr to Napoleon, 25 Aug. 1813, pp. 383–4.

  57 A quick guide to Napoleon’s initial plan is conveyed in a letter to the Duc de Bassano of 24 August: Saint-Cyr, Mémoires, vol. 4, no. 21, 24 Aug. 1813, pp. 377–8.

  58 Cathcart, Commentaries, pp. 231–2. Horstenau, Dresden, p. 270.

  59 Cathcart, Commentaries, p. 228. On Constantine’s views, see e.g. RA, 1, 1882, pp. 142–54.

  60 These points are all made by Horstenau, Dresden, pp. 257–68, 277–86: since he was the official Austrian historian of the campaign he had no reason to exaggerate the failings of Austrian leadership, so one can assume that his judgements are fair. See also Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, pp. 76–8.

  61 Brett-James, Wilson’s Journal, 30 August 1813, p. 169.

  62 All the general histories of the campaign go into detail about the crucial events of 26–30 August on the allied right. Apart from Friederich and Bogdanovich, there is a full description in Geschichte der Kämpfe Österreichs: Befreiungskrieg 1813 und 1814, vol. 4: Maximilian Ehnl, Schlacht bei Kulm, Vienna, 1913. Apart from Eugen’s own memoirs, it is also important to read the memoirs of his chief of staff, General von Helldorff: Zur Geschichte der Schlacht bei Kulm, Berlin, 1856. All subsequent histories draw heavily on the three volumes written between 1844 and 1852 by Colonel Aster of the Saxon army about the autumn 1813 campaign. Nevertheless one must go back to Aster himself because his works contain significant details omitted from the later histories: on the events on the right wing, see H. Aster, Die Kriegsereignisse zwischen Peterswalde, Pirna, Königstein und Priesten im August 1813 und die Schlacht bei K
ulm, Dresden, 1845. For obvious reasons it is far harder to find detailed French coverage of these events: Rousset, Grande Armée, for example, says little on the debacle though he does cite important correspondence of Vandamme. Saint-Cyr also publishes useful documents but like all the other French participants is anxious to exonerate himself from blame. Fezensac puts most of the blame on Vandamme though he is also critical of Saint-Cyr and Napoleon. His is the best-informed account from the French side: Souvenirs militaires, Paris, 1863, pp. 403–29.

  63 The clearest and most detailed description of the intended march-routes is in Horstenau, Dresden, pp. 293–6.

  64 There is a useful discussion of this decision in T. von Bernhardi, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des kaiserlichen russischen Generals der Infanterie Carl Friedrich Grafen von Toll, 5 vols., Leipzig, 1858, vol. 3, book 6, pp. 175–83.

  65 Saint-Cyr, Mémoires, vol. 4, no. 30, Saint-Cyr to Berthier, 29 Aug. 1813, pp. 386–7; Brett-James, Wilson’s Journal, 30 Aug. 1813, p. 172; the best description of the road is in P. Pototskii, Istoriia gvardeiskoi artillerii, SPB, 1896, pp. 261–3.

  66 P. Nazarov, ‘Zapiski soldata Pamfila Nazarova’, RS, 9/8, 1878, p. 535.

  67 The key order to Vandamme, issued at 4 p.m. on 28 August by Berthier in Napoleon’s name, is reprinted as no. 5, p. 204, in the appendices of Ehnl, Kulm.

  68 The memoirs of Eugen and of Colonel von Helldorff who served on his staff might be seen as biased against Ostermann-Tolstoy, though Aleksei Ermolov also remarked that at the battle of Kulm Ostermann-Tolstoy was more trouble than the French. Helldorff writes that the whole army knew that Ostermann-Tolstoy had mental problems in 1813 after returning from sick leave: Helldorff, Kulm, p. 17. Many other memoirs confirm that Ostermann-Tolstoy was in no fit state to command troops in August 1813. In his defence, see I. I. Lazhechnikov, ‘Neskol’ko zametok i vospominanii po povodu stat’i “materialy dlia biografii A. P. Ermolova”’, Russkii vestnik, 31/6, 1864, pp. 783–819.

  69 Eugen, Memoiren, vol. 3, pp. 131–3; L. von Wolzogen, Mémoires d’un Général d’Infanterie au service de la Prusse et de la Russie (1792–1836), Paris, 2002, p. 169; Pototskii, Istoriia, p. 250. Helldorff says that Ermolov initially supported Ostermann but then backed down for fear of annoying Eugen and therefore bringing Alexander’s wrath down on his own head: Kulm, pp. 29–30.

  70 The best description of the highway and the terrain is in Istoriia leib-gvardii egerskago polka za sto let 1796–1896, SPB, 1896, pp. 125–30.

  71 Apart, as always, from Bogdanovich, some of the regimental histories offer excellent descriptions of the events of 28 August. The history of the Guards Jaegers, cited in the previous note, is probably the best, but see also e.g. S. A. Gulevich, Istoriia 8-go pekhotnago Estliandskago polka, SPB, 1911, pp. 178–81.

  72 Helldorff’s description of these events, of which he was an eyewitness, is on pp. 35–8 of Kulm.

  73 Eugen, Memoiren, vol. 3, p. 149.

  74 All the general histories describe the terrain well, but Bogdanovich, Friederich and Ehnl presumably take it for granted that a reader will know that Bohemian villages were built of wood and say nothing about buildings. It is because he provides small but crucial details of this sort that Aster is so important: on houses, for example, see Aster: Kriegsereignisse…Kulm, pp. 14–15.

  75 Helldorff, Kulm, p. 45.

  76 Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, p. 88; Brett-James, Wilson’s Journal, p. 173; Londonderrry, Narrative, p. 124. Istoriia leib-gvardii egerskago polka, p. 135.

  77 For Kovalsky’s account, see ‘Iz zapisok pokoinago general-maiora N. P. Koval’skago’, Russkii vestnik, 91/1, 1871, pp. 78–117, especially p. 102; ‘Zapiski N. N. Murav’eva-Karskago’, RA, 24/1, 1886, pp. 5–55, especially pp. 22–6; P. Bobrovskii, Istoriia leibgvardii ulanskago E.I.V. gosudarynyi Imperatritsy Aleksandry Fedorovny polka, SPB, 1903, p. 231.

  78 On French losses, see Muravev’s conversation with Vandamme’s chief of staff: ‘Zapiski’, p. 25; Brett-James, Wilson’s Journal, p. 173; Bobrovskii, Istoriia leib-gvardii ulanskago…polka, p. 230.

  79 L. G. Beskrovnyi (ed.), Dnevnik Aleksandra Chicherina, 1812–1813, Moscow, 1966, pp. 252 ff.; ‘Zapiski N. N. Murav’eva’, 24/1, 1885, p. 26.

  80 This point is well documented by Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, pp. 90–92, and Ehnl, Kulm, pp. 112–18, so there is no reason why the fable still exists.

  81 Bernhardi, Denkwürdigkeiten, p. 454.

  82 Ehnl, Kulm, p. 132, writes that 41,000 allied infantry and 10,000 cavalry faced 39,000 French infantry and 3,000 cavalry. Given Vandamme’s casualties on 28 and 29 August, the figure for his infantry seems too high.

  83 P. A. Kolzakov, ‘Vziatie v plen marshala Vandama 1813 g.’, RS, 1, 1870, pp. 137–44. Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, p. 704; SIM, no. 254, Alexander to Rostopchin, 22 Dec. 1813, p. 164.

  84 Tartakovskii, Voennye dnevniki: Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky’s journal for 1813, p. 360.

  85 This does not count members of the Romanov family or foreigners.

  86 Hoen, Feldzug von Leipzig, p. 274: neutral in the sense that Hoen was an Austrian.

  87 Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, pp. 144–8; Leggiere, Napoleon and Berlin, ch. 7 and especially pp. 137–41.

  88 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3911, fos. 213–4, Thuyl to Volkonsky, 21 Aug./2 Sept. 1813.

  89 VPR, no. 141, Alexander’s instructions to Pozzo, 31 July/10 Aug. 1813, p. 345; Botzenhart, Stein, vol. 4, Stein to Munster, 7 and 10 Aug. 1813, pp. 390–92; Londonderry, Narrative, p. 179.

  90 V. von Löwenstern, Mémoires du Général-Major Russe Baron de Löwenstern, 2 vols., Paris, 1903, vol. 2, pp. 136–7, 184–5; S. G. Volkonskii, Zapiski Sergeia Grigorovicha Volkonskago (dekabrista), SPB, 1902, pp. 264–5, 306–7.

  91 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3911, Winzengerode to Alexander, 7/19 Aug. 1813, fos. 148–9; 22 Aug./3 Sept. 1813, fos. 289–91; RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 53, Delo 18, fo. 7: Kankrin to Lotthum, 1/19 July 1813.

  92 RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/120, Sv. 18, Delo 57, fos. 5–6: Barclay to Lanskoy, 28 July 1813 (OS): Sv. 53, Delo 18, fo. 25, Barclay to Kankrin, 8 Aug. 1813 (OS).

  93 Löwenstern, Mémoires, vol. 2, pp. 100, 146–78; Volkonskii, Zapiski, pp. 258–9; V. M. Bezotosnyi, Donskoi generalitet i ataman Platov v 1812 godu, Moscow, 1899, pp. 109–18.

  94 Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, pp. 139–73, provides an excellent analysis and description.

  95 A recent full account in English of both the battle and some of the disputes that surrounded it is in Leggiere, Napoleon and Berlin, ch. 11. Leggiere is more hostile to Bernadotte than is Friederich, Herbstfeldzug, pp. 177–91.

  96 V. Kharkevich (ed.), 1812 god v dnevnikakh, zapiskakh i vospominaniiakh sovremennikov, 4 vols., Vilna, 1900–1907, vol. 2, p. 28.

  97 Major-General E. S. Kamenskii, Istoriia 2-go dragunskago S-Peterburgskago generalafel’dmarshala kniazia Menshikova polka 1707–1898, Moscow, 1900, pp. 225–37. Volkonskii, Zapiski, p. 266.

  98 Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, pp. 275, 281.

  Chapter 12: The Battle of Leipzig

  1 The treaty is in F. Martens (ed.), Sobranie traktatov i konventsii, zakliuchennykh Rossiei s inostrannymi derzhavami, vol. 3: Traktaty s Avsrtieiu, SPB, 1876, no. 71, pp. 126–38. Kankrin’s comments are in Upravlenie General-Intendanta Kankrina: General’nyi sokrashchennyi otchet po armiiam…za pokhody protiv Frantsuzov, 1812, 1813 i 1814 godov, Warsaw, 1815, pp. 72–6.

  2 L. G. Beskrovnyi (ed.), Pokhod russkoi armii protiv Napoleona v 1813 g. i osvobozhdenie Germanii: Sbornik dokumentov, Moscow, 1964, no. 214, Jomini to Alexander, 21 Aug./

  2 Sept. 1813, pp. 241–2.

  3 The letter to Knesebeck is quoted by Rudolph von Friederich, Die Befreiungskriege 1813– 1815, vol. 2: Der Herbstfeldzug 1813, Berlin, 1912, pp. 214–15; the letter to Alexander is printed in Beskrovnyi (ed.), Pokhod, no. 232, Blücher to Alexander, 30 Aug./11 Sept. 1813, pp. 268–9.

  4 Rühle’s words are quoted by Friederich in Herbstfeldzug, p. 215: VPR, no. 162, Nesselrode to Pozzo, 21 Sept./3 O
ct. 1813, pp. 393–4.

  5 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, nos. 50 and 51, Volkonsky to Blücher, Volkonsky to Bennigsen, 1/13 Sept. 1813, fos. 21ii–22ii; Delo 3416, ‘Zhurnal voennykh deistvii Pol’skoi armii’, fos. 12i–14i.

  6 M. I. Bogdanovich, Istoriia voiny 1813 g. za nezavisimost’ Germanii, 2 vols., SPB, 1863, vol. 2, pp. 336–41; RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, Volkonsky to Platov, 4 Sept. 1813 (OS), fos. 24ii–25i.

  7 Chernyshev’s journal covers the raid in fos. 26–31 of RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3386. Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1813, vol. 2, pp. 342–55, provides a narrative, though my conclusions are very different from his.

  8 A. Raevskii, Vospominaniia o pokhodakh 1813 i 1814 godov, Moscow, 1822, pp. 1–77.