The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov

by Alexander Mikaberidze

  387. Brandt, 220.

  388. Wiedemann, 106–107; Flotow, 194; Preysing, 13. French sources, among them Vaudoncourt and Laugier, misspell the name of Zakharino and often mislead author to refer to Lacharisi, which then found its way into some modern accounts of the battle (Austin Britten, 293).

  389. Platov to Kutuzov [n.d. September 1812] RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3465/2, l. 113.

  390. Clausewitz, 158.

  391. Bennigsen, 139 (1909): 497–498.

  392. Lowernstern, 366–367.

  393. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, 255.

  394. Bennigsen, 139 (1909): 498; Wolzogen, 145; General kvartimeister K.F. Toll v otechestvennuyu voinu (St Petersburg, 1912), 214–215.

  395. Liprandi (1861): 40–49. Liprandi’s claim that Platov was not given command is a bit misleading. The Cossack ataman’s report indicated that, as a senior officer, he did enjoy some authority, and some participants noted in their memoirs that Platov initially held the command and later transferred it to Uvarov. Muravyev, 249–250.

  396. Beskrovny (1951): 63; Tarle (1962): 47–49; Garnich, 167; Beskrovny (1968): 37.

  397. Kutuzov to Alexander, 4 December 1812, M.I. Kutuzov: sbornik dokumentov, IV, 219.

  398. The strength of the I Cavalry Corps is based on the 6 September returns of the 1st Western Army, Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 90. Bogdanovich referred to 28 squadrons and 12 horse guns in the I Cavalry Corps. Bogdanovich, II, 206. Nafziger estimates the Russian cavalry at 8,000 men (Uvarov) and 5,000 Cossacks (Platov), Smith and Duffy cited 5,500 Cossacks and 2,500 men of the I Cavalry Corps. These authors, however, cite the strength of the entire Cossack force under Platov’s command when only part of it was committed to the raid. Nafziger, 244; Smith, 112; Duffy, 119.

  399. Löwenstern, 367.

  400. Hailbronner, 106.

  401. Platov to Kutuzov [n.d. September 1812] RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3465/2, l. 113.

  402. Eugéne, Correspondance, VIII, 7–8; Laugier, 81; Anthouard, 341.

  403. Clausewitz, 162–163.

  404. Flotow, 195; Wiedemann, 107; Preysing, 13; Boppe, P, La Croatie militaire, 126; Chambray, 70; Vaudoncourt, 184.

  405. Mitarevsky, 67.

  406. Glinka, 359.

  407. Eugéne to Berthier, 10 September 1812, in Markham, Imperial Glory, 294.

  408. Griois, 35; Anthouard, 341; Combe, 83; Cerrini, 434. Laugier, 83; Capello, 160–161; Langlois, 5; Saint-Hilaire, II, 21; Pinelli, 225

  409. Laugier, 83–84.

  410. Clausewitz, 163.

  411. Uvarov to Barclay de Tolly, 15 September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, l. 1–2; Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, 255; Bogdanovich, II, 207.

  412. Bogdanovich, II, 207.

  413. P. Bobrovsky, Istoriya leib-gvardii Ulanskogo Polka (St Petersburg, 1903), I, 153.

  414. Heilmann, 195; Bobrovsky, 153; Preysing, 13-14.

  415. Roth von Schreckenstein, 41–42.

  416. Clausewitz, 161–162, 164.

  417. Clausewitz, 164.

  418. Toll, 217.

  419. Clausewitz, 163.

  420. Platov to Kutuzov [n.d. September 1812], RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3465/2, l. 113.

  421. Flotow, 195.

  422. Wiedemann, 107.

  423. Clausewitz, 165.

  424. Liprandi (1861): 60.

  425. Mikhailovsky–Danilevsky, II, 258; Tarle (1962), 48–49; Garnich, 167; Beskrovny (1968): 37.

  426. Bieber, 105.

  427. Wiedemann, 107–108.

  428. Laugier, 84.

  429. Dautancourt, 124–125.

  430. Platov to Kutuzov [n.d. September 1812] RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3465/2, l. 113.

  431. Liprandi (1861): 61.

  432. Report on Casualties of the 1st Western Army, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 197.

  433. Clausewitz, 161–162, 164.

  434. Golitsyn, 343.

  435. Kutuzov to Alexander, 4 December 1812, M.I. Kutuzov: sbornik dokumentov, IV, 219.

  436. Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 340–343; Kharkevich, 30–31.

  437. Brandt, 219.

  438. Dedem, 236.

  439. Holzhauzen, 92–93.

  440. Borozdin to Barclay de Tolly, 19 September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 14–19b.

  441. Konovnitsyn, 358; Kutuzov to Lavrov, 13 September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, l. 34–35; Udom to Lavrov, 12 September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 147.

  442. Chuquet, 50, 127–128, 345–346; Lejeune, II, 181; Schreckenstein, 53; Pelet, 80; Chambray, 63.

  443. Chuquet, 50, 345–346; Dedem, 238; Friant, 234–235

  444. Udom to Lavrov, 12 September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 147.

  445. Dedem, 238–239; Friant, 234–235; Chuquet, 51; Rivolet, 252; Lubenkov, 49–50; St Priest, 168–170.

  446. Bausset, II, 81–82

  447. Dumas, Souvenirs, III, 440

  448. Malachowski, 106; Griois, 36; Combe, 81; Pawly, 18.

  449. Brandt, 219.

  450. Pajol, 43.

  451. Thirion, 185–187.

  452. Biot, 35–37.

  453. Roth von Schreckenstein, 85–86.

  454. Barclay de Tolly, ‘Izobrazhenye …’ RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3571, l. 48; Paskevich, 103; Rayevsky to Dokhturov, 23 September 1812, No. 280, General Staff Archives, XVIII, 59–60; Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, II, 260.

  455. Muravyev-Apostol 2(1886): 226. A slightly different version is in Muravyev, ‘Zapiski,’ Russkii arkhiv, 10(1885), 261.

  456. General Staff Archives, XVI, 117; 139; Skugarevsky, 56–57, 71–72.

  457. Larionov, 129.

  458. Vasiliev, ‘Frantsuzskie karabinery …’ 8; Popov, ‘Mezh dvukh ‘vulkanov’,’ 44, 49; Roth von Schreckenstein, 84–85; Meerheim, 94, 96, Minckwitz, 10; Ditfurth, 95; Dumonceau, 139–140; Chlapowski, 268.

  459. Eugène to Berthier, 10 September 1812, in Markham, Imperial Glory, 294.

  460. Grunwald, 150; Griois, 36–37; Holzhausen, 98; Heckens, 128.

  461. Pajol, 44; Biot, 36.

  462. Korf to Barclay de Tolly, 21 September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 3b–4.

  463. Creitz, 360.

  464. Schubert, 235–236; Wolzogen, 142–143.

  465. Ségur, IV, 391–392; Saint–Hilaire, 22.

  466. Griois, II, 37; Murat to Berthier, 9 September 1812, in Markha, Imperial Glory, 291; Caulaincourt, I, 425–426; Derrécagaix, 503; Bausset, II, 79; Ségur, IV, 392; Coignet, 318–319; Vaudoncourt, 185; Roth von Schreckenstein, 93; Saint–Hilaire, 22–23.

  467. Holzhausen, 98; Bertin, 73; Labaume, 144; Radozhitsky, I, 142.

  468. Murat to Berthier, 9 September 1812, in Markham, Imperial Glory, 291; Griois, II, 38.

  469. Griois, II, 38.

  470. Brandt, 221–222; Caulaincourt, II, 429–430; Castellane, I, 150; Coignet, 319; Ségur, IV, 392.

  471. Grunwald, 150.

  472. Roth von Schreckenstein, 97–98; Minckwitz, 12–13.

  473. Eugène to Berthier, 10 September 1812, in Markham, Imperial Glory, 291; Vaudoncourt, 185.

  474. Labaume, 146; Laugier, 85.

  475. Petrov, 184.

  476. Karpenko, 340–341.

  477. Meshetich, 47.

  478. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, II, 261; Vyazemsky,84.

  479. Barclay de Tolly, ‘Izobrazhenye …’ RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3571, l. 49–50.

  480. Roth von Schreckenstein, 94–96; Dutfurth, 109.

  481. Kutuzov to Alexander, [n.d.] September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 56b–57; ‘Opisaniye srazheniya pri sele Borodine,’ General Staff Archives, XVI, 117.

  482. Bogdanovich, II, 212.

  483. Barclay de Tolly to Kutuzov, 8 October 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 11–11b.

  484. Barclay de Tolly to Kutuzov, 8 October 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 11b–12.

  485. Pawly, 18.

  486. Vasiliev, ‘Frantsuzkie karabinery,’ 8–10; Holzhausen, 102.

  487. Barclay de Tolly, ‘Izobrazhenye
…’ RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3571, l. 50–51.

  488. Löwenstern, I, 262–265.

  489. Barclay de Tolly, ‘Izobrazhenye …’ RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3571, l. 51.

  490. Grunwald, 150–151.

  491. Eugène to Berthier, 10 September 1812, in Markham, Imperial Glory, 291.

  492. Griois, 38–39

  493. Bogdanovich, II, 214.

  494. Borozdin to Barclay de Tolly, 19 September 1812, No. 8, General Staff Archives, XVIII, 28–29.

  495. Korf to Barclay de Tolly, 21 September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 4–5.

  496. Korf to Barclay de Tolly, 21 September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 4–5; Kutuzov to Alexander, [n.d.] September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, ll. 56b–57.

  497. Cited in Larionov, 129.

  498. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, II, 260.

  499. Radozhitsky, I, 152–154.

  500. Meshetich, 49.

  501. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Imperator Aleksandr I i ego spodvizhniki, vol. 1.

  502. Ségur, IV, 395–396.

  503. Ségur, IV, 396.

  504. Brandt, 221–222; Ségur, IV, 393–394.

  505. Brandt, 222; Labaume, 152; Paskevich, 104.

  506. Sievers to Kutuzov, [n.d.] September 1812, in Bogdanovich, II, 575–576.

  507. Baggovut to Barclay de Tolly, [n.d] September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 184–185.

  508. Sievers to Kutuzov, [n.d.] September 1812, Bogdanovich, II, 574–576.

  509. Report cited in Larionov, 128.

  510. Sievers to Kutuzov, [n.d.] September 1812, in Bogdanovich, II, 577

  511. Baggovut to Barclay de Tolly, [n.d] September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 186.

  512. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, II, 265.

  513. Bogdanovich, II, 217–218.

  514. Wolzogen, 145–146.

  515. Rayevsky, 382; Kutuzov to Barclay de Tolly and Dokhturov, 7 September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 96–97.

  516. Löwenstern, 368–369.

  517. Timiryazev, Russkii arkhiv, 22/1 (1884): 167.

  518. Izobrazhenie voyennykh deistvii 1-oi armii v 1812 g, RGVIA, f. VUA, op. 16, d. 3571, ll. 27–28.

  519. Petrov, 1806–1807. Meshetich also wrote that ‘the enemy retreated … 7 versts from the battlefield.’ Meshetich, 49.

  520. Bennigsen, ‘Memoirs,’ Russkaya starina, 139 (1909): 499; Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, II, 283; Sherbinin, 399.

  521. Kutuzov to Rostopchin, 7 September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 97.

  522. Kutuzov to Alexander, 8 September 1812; ‘Ofitsialnye izevstiya,’ [n.d.] September 1812, Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 101–102, 112; Kutuzov to Ekaterina Kutuzova, 9 September 1812, M.I. Kutuzov: Sbornik dokumentov, IV, 181.

  523. Bumagi Shukina, 8 (1904): 109–110.

  524. Petrov, 185–186.

  525. Ségur, IV, 398.

  526. Fantin des Odoards, 318–319

  527. Caulaincourt, 103–104; Bausset, II, 87; Ségur, IV, 401–403; VI, 11

  528. Dedem, 240; Kurz, 90; Brandt, 223–224; Boulart, 255; Labaume, 153–154; Dumonceau, II, 142–143; Griois, 41–42.

  529. Bertin, 87–88.

  530. Ségur, IV, 404.

  531. Bellot de Kergorre, 59–64.

  532. Kutuzov to Alexander I, 9 September 1812, No. 105, in M.I. Kutuzov: sbornik dokumentov, IV, 175–176.

  533; Smith, 132.

  534. Napoleon to Francis, 9 September 1812, Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, No.19183, XXIV, 241; The 18th Bulletin, 10 September 1812, in Markham, Imperial Glory, 297; Kutuzov to Alexander, 10 September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 117; Kutuzov to Alexander I, [n.d.] September 1812, RGVIA, f. VUA, d. 3561, l. 58.

  535. Montesquiou de Fezensac, Journal, 51.

  536. Report of Voltigeurs Réunis, 6 September 1812; Report of the 61st Line, 6 September 1812; Report of the 111th Line, 6 September 1812; Report of the 111th Line, 30 September 1812; Report of the 111th Line, 1 October 1812, Ternaux-Compans, 353, 355–356, 359.

  537. ‘Iz spiskov ubitykh, ranenykh I nagrazhdennikh voinsikh chinov v voinu 1812–1814 gg,’ in M.I. Kutuzov: Sbornik dokumentov, IV, 208–209.

  538. Tselorungo (2003), 33–38; Lvov (2003), 52–66.

  539. ‘Vedomost nizhnim voinskim chinam byvshei 2–I Zapadnoi armii …’ [n.d.] September 1812; ‘Vedomost 8-go korpusa …’ 18 September 1812; ‘Vedomost […] artilleriiskhikh nizhnikh chinov…’ [n.d.] September 1812; ‘Vedomost o poteryakh 1-i Zapadnoi Armii…’ [n.d.] September 1812; ‘Vedomost […] artillerrii 1-i Zapadnoi Armii,’ 26 Septemebr 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 189–212.

  540. Lvov (2003): 52–66.

  541. ‘Vedomost ob ubitykh, ranenykh, bez vestu propavshikh i o protchem artillerii 1-i Zapadnoi armii,’ 26 September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 202–212.

  542. ‘Vedomost nizhnim chinam byvshei 2-i Zapadnoi armii…’ [n.d.] September 1812, in Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, 191–192.

  543. Quintin, 27; Aleksey Vasiliev, ‘Poteri frantsuzskoi armii pri Borodino,’ Rodina, 6/7(1992): 68–71.

  544. Tselorungo, 194.

  545. Joseph Marie de Maistre, Correspondence diplomatique, 177

  546. Bogdanovich, II, 230.

  547. Writings of John Quincy Adams, IV, 395; Ker Porter, 101

  548. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky (1839), II, 289–290.

  549. Panchulidzev, Istoriya Kavalergardov, III, 219; Bogdanovich, II, 239.

  550. Order to the Armies, No. 12, 9 September 1812, General Staff Archives, XVI, 139–140

  551. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky (1839), II, 321.

  552. Vasili Perovsky, ‘Iz zapisok Grafa Vasilia Aleksandrovicha Perovskogo,’ in Russkii arkhiv (1865): 1033.

  553. Served as escort of parks of the I Corps and did not participate in battle.

  Select Bibliography

  A complete bibliography is available at www.napoleon-series.org. Entries are organized based on the language of publication. Thus, memoirs by French participants that were consulted in their Russian editions are included in the Russian section. Dozens of Napoleonic titles are available through the Gallica project of La Bibliothèque Nationale de France (http://gallica.bnf.fr) and the Google Book Project (http://books.google.com).

  Abbreviations

  Beskrovny 1962 – Beskrovny, Liubomir and G. Mesheryakov, eds, Borodino: dokumenty, pisma, vospominaniya, Moscow, 1962.

  Kharkevich, 1900–Kharkevich V, 1812 god v dnevnikakh, zapiskakh i vospominaniyakh sovremennikov Vilna, 1900

  RUSSIAN SOURCES

  Archival

  Rossiiskii Gosudarstvennii Voenno-Istoricheskii arkhiv (RGVIA)

  [Russian State Military Historical Archive]

  Cartons (delo) 3465, 3467, 3561, 3562, 3563, 3571, 3572, 3638, 3651, 3655 and 3690.

  Primary

  Afanasiyev, V, Podlinnye dokumenti o Borodinskom srazhenii, Moscow, 1912.

  Andreyev, N, ‘Iz vospominanii,’ Russkii arkhiv, 1879, N10.

  Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail, Opravdanie v deistviyakh ego vo vremia Otechestvennoi voini s frantsuzami v 1812 godu,’ in Zhurnal Imperatorskogo Russkogo voenno-istoricheskogo obshestva, St Petersburg, 1911.

  Bennigsen, Levin, ‘Zapiski o kampanii 1812 g.,’ Russkaya starina, Nos. 138–139 (1909).

  Beskrovny, Liubomir, ed, M.I. Kutuzov: Sbornik Dokumentov, Moscow: Voenizdat, 1954.

  Bieber, E, ‘Zapiski mayora Z.F. Biebera,’ in Popov, 1995 (b): 105.

  Bogdanov, Dementii, ‘Iz vospominanii D. Bogdanova,’ in Beskrovny, 1962: 336–339.

  Bolgovsky, D, ‘Iz vospominanii D.N. Bolgovskogo,’ in Kharkevich, 1900: 226–243.

  Bumagi, otnosiashiesia do Otechestvennoi voini 1812 g., sobrannye i izdannye P.I. Shukinim. Moscow, 1904.

  Divov, N, ‘Vospominaniya.’ Russkii arkhiv, 1 (1873): 1333–1340.

  Dreyling, Johann Reinhold von, ‘Vospominaniya …’ in 1812 god:
Vospominaniya voinov russkoi armii, Moscow, 1991, 356–400.

  Dubrovin, Nikolai, Otechestvennaya voina v pismakh sovremennikov, (1812–1815) , St Petersburg, 1882.

  Durnovo, Nikolai, ‘Dnevnik 1812 g’ in 1812 god: voyennie dnevniki, Moscow, 1990.

  Dushenkevich, Dmitri, ‘Iz moikh vospominanii’ in 1812 god v vospominaniyakh sovremennikov, Moscow, 1985, 105–136.

  Eugène of Wurttemberg, ‘Vospominania’ in Voennyi zhurnal, 4 (1847); 1 (1848).

  Eyler, A, ‘Iz zapisok A. Kh. Eyler,’ in Russkii arkhiv, 2(1880): 359–360.

  Feldmarshal Kutuzov: sbornikdokumentov i materialov, Moscow, 1947.

  Glinka, Fedor, Ocherki Borodinskogo srazhenia (vospominaniya o 1812 gode), Moscow, 1839.

  Glinka, Fedor, Pisma Russkogo ofitsera, Moscow, 1985.

  Golitsyn, A, ‘Iz vospominanii A.B. Golitsyna,’ in Beskrovny, 1962: 343–344.

  Golitsyn, Nikolai, Oftserskiye zapiski ili vospominaniya o pokhodakh 1812, 1813, 1814 godov, Moscow, 1838.

  Golitsyn, Nikolai, Perenesenie tela kniazya Bagrationa na Borodinskoye pole, Moscow, 1839.

  Gorchakov, Andrey, ‘Iz vospominanii knyazya Gorchakova,’ in Kharkevich, 1900: 196–198.

  Grabbe, Paul, Iz Pamiatnikh Zapisok Moscow, 1873.

  Heilbronner, K, ‘Zapiski o perezhitom leitenanta K. Heilbronnera,’ in Popov, 1995(b): 105–106.

  Kallash V, Dvenadtsatii god v vospominaniyakh i perepiske sovremennikov, Moscow, 1912.

  Karpenko, Moses, ‘Pismo starogo voina’ in 1812 god: vospominaniya voinov russkoi armii, Moscow, 1991, 340–341.

  Konovnitsyn, Peter, ‘Iz vospominanii’ in Kharkevich, 1900: 121–134.

  Creitz K, ‘Iz zapisok’ in Beskrovny, 1962: 359–360

  Liprandi, Ivan, Borodinskoye srazheniye, zaklucheniya s nekotorymi primiechaniyami na istoriyu etoi voiny, St Petersburg, 1861.

  Liprandi, Ivan, Materialy dlya Otechestvennoi voiny 1812 goda, St Petersburg, 1867.

  Liprandi, Ivan, ‘Zamechaniya I.P. Liprandi na ‘Opisaniye Otechestvennoi voiny 1812 goda’ Mikhailovskago Danilevskago,’ in Kharkevich, 1900: 1–36.

  Lubenkov, N, Rasskaz artillerista o dele Borodinskom, St Petersburg, 1837.

  Löwenstern, Waldemar Hermann, ‘Iz zapisok …’ Russkaya statina, 12 (1900): 572–582.

  Mayevsky, Sergey, ‘Moi vek ili istoria generala S.I. Mayevskogo.’ Russkaya statina, 8(1873): 136–141. Excerpts in Beskrovny, 1962: 370–373.