First week of the Patriotic War of 1812

D-3 21 JUNE (9 JUNE) 1812

Diagram of the crossing of the Niemen at Kovno

Quick summary of preparations for the war on the diplomatic field

The freeing of hands and especially of armies in Finland and Serbia was absolutely crucial for Russian diplomacy. And indeed, with both the Swedes and the Ottomans, the Russians came to an agreement. On 5 April, Alexander I and the Swedish successor and former French marshal Karl Johann (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) agreed on peace terms at Örebro, ending the previous hostilities. For Napoleon, this move came as a complete surprise. Russia undertook to help Sweden annex Norway by a joint landing of Swedish and Russian Finnish corps under the command of General Fabian Gotthard von Steinheil (Фадде́й Фёдорович Ште́йнгель). This will not happen yet, as the French are multiplying in Poland.

Mikhail Illarionovich, Prince Golanishchev-Kutuzov (not yet surnamed Smolensky, that will come soon) then signs the Treaty of Bucharest on 28 May, ending the war between the Russian and Ottoman Empires, but Alexander I does not ratify it until 5 July. The Danube Army, by then already under the command of Admiral Chichagov, immediately sets off north. 

This brings us to something quite crazy, and that is troop movements, i.e. how much the soldiers have trampled. 

It is often mentioned that the French travelled incredible distances, many of them coming all the way from Spain. However, the Danube army walked through much more backward territory than Central Europe on its way to Berezina, about 1,300 kilometres, which is the distance between Duisburg and Kaunas, or between Lodz and Moscow. The Finnish army had it to the battlefield at Polotsk "only" 500 kilometers through the swamps and deep forests around Riga.

Soldiers conscripted from Siberia had it further to the battlefield at Borodino than the soldiers who set out from Paris. The Kalmyks, or Bashkirs, were as far from Borodino as the Grandee Armee from Berlin, and after two years of war, 4,000 km from their home on the Caspian Sea, they watered their horses from the Seine.

On June 21, 1812, Emperor Napoleon ordered the army to move to the Niemen River in the area of present-day Kaunas (Kovno) in three columns - the center was occupied by the 4th and 6th Infantry Corps and the 3rd Cavalry Corps under the command of the Italian Viceroy Eugene de Beauharnais. The right column was led by King Jerome Bonaparte of Westphalia. It consisted of the 5th, 7th and 8th Infantry Corps and the 4th Cavalry Corps. Under the command of the Emperor of the Republic, Napoleon I Bonaparte, the left column was marched by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Corps, along with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Corps. The right flank was protected by General Schwarzenberg's Austrian Auxiliary Corps, while the left flank was protected by Marshal MacDonald's 10th Corps. The corps of Marshals Davout, Oudinot and Ney march at the head of the column. 

Eugene's corps, namely the Italian Guard, crosses the Niemen

D-2 TO D-DAY 22.6.-24.6.1812

Soldiers! The Second Polish War has begun; the first ended at Friedland and Tilsit. At Tilsit, Russia swore eternal alliance to France and war to England. Today she is trampling on her oaths. He leaves without explanation the strange demands that the French eagles should withdraw beyond the Rhine and put their allies at their mercy. Russia has taken a fatal course, her doom must be fulfilled. Does she think us lazy? That we are no longer the soldiers of Austerlitz? He is forcing us to choose between shame and war. Let's go forward, let's cross the Niemen, let's bring war into its territory. The second Polish war will be as victorious as the first, but the peace concluded will contain guarantees. Let us put an end to the unfortunate influence which Russia has had on European affairs for fifty years. 

This proclamation to the Grand Army was written by Napoleon at a time when the columns of the Grand Army, together with their Emperor, were moving to their embarkation positions. That is, at the time covered by today's post, when Napoleon was moving from Vilkaviskis (Wyłkowyszki) to the banks of the border river Niemen, when, disguised as a Polish officer, he and his suite were patrolling the other side of the river. 

On 22 June, General Lauriston, ambassador in St Petersburg, handed Count Nikolai Ivanovich Saltikov a note with a formal declaration of war. The pretext was the April demarche of Prince Kurakin, the ambassador in Paris, to issue passports to go back to Russia (В. M. Безотосный Россия в napoleоновских войнах 1805-1815 г.). However, the versions are different - Zamoysky writes that Lauriston was not allowed to go to the Tsar and that, on the contrary, passports were confiscated from Allied diplomats, while Mikaberidze quotes Count Speransky as saying that there was no formal declaration of war. The truth is that Alexander, did not receive a formal note of declaration of war because he was in Vilna and not in St. Petersburg, and that was certainly more than two days' journey from St. Petersburg. 

23.6. the French propaganda is in full swing. apart from the bulletin, the mentioned proclamation is read to the soldiers and in the evening under the supervision of General Eblé they start to build bridges over the Niemen. Three pontoon bridges are built at Kovno, Jerome's column was to cross downstream at Grodno, while Eugene's corps was to bridge the river fifteen kilometres further north. Already at night, columns of conquistadors began to flow into the Russian interior. 

Napoleon himself crossed the Niemen on the morning of the 24th. 

What about the Russians? Tsar Alexander I had been staying in Vilnius since April, causing chaos in the Russian command. The Minister of War commanded only the First Army, Bagration commanding the Second Army of the West, but he did not report to de Tolly at all, hence when de Tolly learned of the start of the war, he could only advise the Georgian Lion and the Cossack ataman Platov to begin manoeuvring according to the stated objective, that is, retreat to the fortified camp at Drissy. Alexander, meanwhile, was enjoying himself at a ball which General Benningsen had arranged at his country dacha in Zakrete. When Prince Balashov informed the Tsar that the troops were crossing the Niemen, Alexander I did not bat an eyelash. And Kovno is only 90 kilometres from the ball...

D+1 25.6.1812

The troops crossed the Niemen and continued further inland, while minor skirmishes occurred, either with Cossacks or stragglers. Near the town of Popartsy, a detachment from the 2nd and 3rd Corps of Gen. Tuchkov III, tasked with destroying the bridge over the Vilja River (now the Neris), with French scouts. 

Alexander Dmitrievich Balashov

Alexander Dmitrievich Balashov is sent as a personal messenger of the Tsar of All Russia to Napoleon. 

„Monsieur Mon Frere,“ wrotes Alexander, „I learned yesterday that, despite the loyalty with which I have observed my obligations toward Your Majesty, your troops have crossed the Russian boundary, and only now have I received from St Petersburg a note, in which [the French ambassador to Russia Count de] Lauriston informs me, in reference to this aggression, that Your Majesty has regarded yourself as being in a state of war with me ever since Prince Kurakin asked for his passports. The motives on which the duke of Bassano3 based his refusal to deliver them to him could never have made me suppose that this incident would serve as a pretext for aggression. In fact, this ambassador had never had my authorisation, as he himself declared; the moment I was informed of his action, I showed him my disapproval by commanding him to stay at his post. If Your Majesty is not inclined to shed the blood of our peoples on account of such a trifling misunderstanding, and if Your Majesty consents to withdraw the troops from Russian territory, I will regard what has happened as though it had not taken place, and an agreement between us will be possible. Otherwise, Your Majesty, I shall be forced to ward off an attack which has not been provoked by anything on my part. It still depends on your Majesty to save humanity from the calamities of a new war.“

At the same time the Gosudar dictated an order to the armies about the beginning of the war: „We had long observed on the part of the emperor of the French the most hostile proceedings towards Russia, but we had always hoped to avert them by conciliatory and pacific measures. At length, experiencing a continued renewal of direct and evident aggression, notwithstanding our earnest desire to maintain tranquillity, we were compelled to complete and assemble our armies. But even then we flattered ourselves that reconciliation might be effected while we remained on the frontiers of our empire and, without violating one principle of peace, were prepared only to act in our own defence: all these conciliatory and pacific measures could not preserve the tranquillity which we so desired. The emperor of the French, by suddenly attacking our army at Kovno, has been the first to declare war. Since no measures could convince him to maintain peace, we are left with no other choice but to appeal to the Almighty, the Witness and the Defender of the Truth. It is unnecessary for me to remind our leaders, commanders and soldiers of their duty and their bravery. The ancient blood of the valiant Slavs flows in their veins. Warriors! You defend your Faith, your Country, and your Liberty! I shall be with you and the Lord will be against the aggressor! 

We, by the grace of God, Alexander the First, Emperor and autocrat of all Russia'

(translated byAlexander Mikaberidze: Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the Campaign 1812)

D+3 28.6.1812 

The French entered Vilnius. The 1st Western Army retreated to Svjencany (Lithuanian Švenčionys). Jerome Bonaparte's column fought for Grodno. 

BATTLE AT GRODNA

Map of Grodno area with troop movements

Skirmish between the vanguard of the right wing of the Grand Army under Brigadier General Jacques Alexandre Allix de Vaux and the Cossack detachment of General Ataman Platov

Platov and 14 regiments of his corps arrived in Grodno to protect the border on 20 June. On 24 June, Jerome Bonaparte set out on the right wing from Lomza to cross the Niemen at Grodno, 130km south of Kovno. Platov will organise the evacuation of everything that must not fall into enemy hands in Grodno. The evacuation takes place via Novogrudok to Minsk. He orders the Cossack regiments to retreat from the border via Lida to Svjancan (probably to the Lithuanian Švenčionys).

On 27 June, four kilometres from Grodno on the banks of the Lososyanka River (now in Grodno), several of Platov's regiments open fire on three of General Dambrowski's regiments advancing on Grodno. 

On 28 June the Cossacks withdrew to the Zanemanski suburb of Grodno, while the French (or Poles) received reinforcements in the form of General Tyskiewicz's 19th Light Brigade. Command of the advance to the bridge on the Niemen fell to General deVaux of the artillery. 

The attacking Uhlans quickly drove off the Cossack troops and the Polish infantry moved forward. Platov took up a defensive position behind the bridge, placing 12 guns of the 2nd Battery Company of the Don Cossack Artillery on the heights, while the Grodno Garrison Battalion of the Internal Service helped repel the attacks. When Platov decided that he was no longer able to hold the bridge with the Cossacks and the three-rank infantry against attacks by regular infantry, he had the bridge set on fire in the evening. The Cossacks then marched across the Shuchin to the Lida.  

OrBat

Grande Armee

3rd Cavalry Brigade of the Duchy of Warsaw (1st Mounted Hunting Regiment and 12th Hulan Regiment)

1st Infantry Regiment of the Duchy of Warsaw

Two companies of sappers

Russian Army

Grodno Garrison Battalion of the Internal Service

Don Ataman Regiment Balabin 2

Don Cossack regiments of Vlasov 3, Grjekov 18, Denisov 7, Ilovajsky 5, Melnikov 3, Charitonov 7. Chunkalov‘s and Balatukov‘s Cavalry Tatar Regiments, Captain Diomidija's Kalmyk Regiment and the 1st Bashkir Regiment. 2 Don Cavalry Artillery Company (12 barrels) of Suvorov 2

D+4 29.6.1812

Having built two bridges, the Allies entered Grodno at about 3 o'clock in the morning. The rearguard of the 1st Western Army skirmished at Ashmiany.

BATTLE OF ASHMIANY

The rearguard of General Dochturov's 6th Infantry Corps column of the 1st Western Army, under the command of Colonel Baron Kreutz, head of the Siberian Dragoons, struck at the French, who seized the town of Ashmiany (Ошмяны) and drove them out of the town. Colonel Kreutz then took up a position with the dragoons outside the town on the road to Smarhon (Смаргонь) while two squadrons of the Mariupol Hussars took up an advanced position on the road to Vilna. 

The French cavalry hit the hussars so hard that they had no choice but to retreat to the village of Narbutovshina (today probably Narbuty, halfway between Ashmiany and Smarhon). At the same moment, the infantry and the 9th Hulan Regiment of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw struck the dragoons and, despite stubborn resistance, pushed them into Narbutovshina. Here they were joined by two pursuing squadrons of hussars and the Polish Hulan Regiment. The detachment crossed a small river, dismantled a local bridge, and skirmished with the French riflemen until evening. At night it retreated to Smarhonja, where it joined up with the army rearguard under Major-General Count Pahlen. 

The rearguard consisted of 2 squadrons of the Mariupol Hussars and the Irkutsk and Siberian Dragoons and the regiment of Polish Hulans. 

Colonel, Baron Belzig von Kreutz

Cyprian Gualbert Heinrich, Baron Belzig von Kreutz (Kрейц, Киприан Антонович); 1777-1850; at that time still a colonel and baron, from 8 March 1810 chief of the Sibirsk Dragoons is promoted to major general on 15 July for his actions in the retreat. By then he had already done extensive service in Poland 1801, during the Polish campaign, when he was wounded three times and captured in the night battle of Mohrungen. On his return from captivity he took command of the Sumas Hussars, with whom he guarded the Baltic coast of Lithuania during the Swedish campaign of 1808. At Borodino he was wounded four times, but as a brigade commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. He was promoted to major-general for the battle of Vitebsk by order of 16 December 1812, but with effect from 15 July 1812. He rose to the rank of general of cavalry. He remained in the army until his death, although he is removed from all posts except chief of the Sibirsk Dragoons on 17 May. He died on his estate in Kuronsk, near Libava, on July 13, 1850.

D+5 30.6. 1812

Situation: the Russian armies continue to retreat from the border. Clashes at Velikiye Solečniki (Большие Солечники now Šalčininkai in Lithuania) and at the village of Davigony (Довигоны, unfortunately I couldn't find it on the 1821 map of Vilna Governorate, I assume it's somewhere around Švenčionis) 

SKIRMISH AT DAVIGONY 

In the skirmish at Davigony, Colonel Mezentsev's Hulan bodyguard regiment distinguished itself by holding its ground against a stronger opponent, equipped with mounted artillery as well. This allowed the retreat of his own infantry units and the trench. Colonel Gundius was ordered to attack the enemy in the flank. The successful attack caused confusion and heavy casualties to the enemy troops, and greatly helped the regiment to hold a difficult position

Russian forces: 1st Western Army, rearguard of the 3rd Infantry Corps, commanded by Major General Prince Ivan Leontiyevich Shakhovskoy. Leifguard Uhlan Regiment, Lifeguard Cossack Regiment, Major Timirov's 1st Tyeptyark Cossack Regiment 1, Black Sea Leifguard Sotnia

Location of Dorokhov's columns

SKIRMISH AT GREAT SOLECHNIKI

The French Chasseur a Cheval Brigade struck sharply at the rearguard of the 4th Infantry Corps under the command of the chief of the Izjum Hussars Regiment, Major-General Ivan Semyonovich Dorokhov, who was forced to retreat towards Ashmiany under French pressure. Only two companies of the 18th Hunting Regiment, the Izjum Hussar Regiment and the Don Cossack regiments of Major-General Denisov 7 and Lieutenant-Colonel Vlasov 3 took part in this skirmish. As all the troops of Dorokhov's rearguard were cut off by strong enemy detachments, they had no choice but to follow General Prince Bagration's 2nd Western Army. Dorokhov retreated along the Dzevenišky (Дзевенишки, now Dieveniškės, Lithuania), Alšany (Ольшаны, now Halshany - Гальшаны), and Valožin (Волжин) roads, joined Platov's corps on 5 July, and joined Bagration in the town of Nový Sverženy on 7 July.

Russian forces: 1st Western Army, rearguard of the 4th Infantry Corps, commanded by Major General Dorokhov.

1st and 18th Hunting Regiments, Izjum Hussars, Major General Vasil Denisov's Don Cossack Regiments 7 and Lieutenant Colonel Vlasov's 3, a light artillery company of unknown number. 

D+6 1.7.1812

Balashev, who had set out from Vilna a week before to meet the French Emperor, returned to Vilna, where he was received by Napoleon. He was Alexander's last messenger to Napoleon. The Cossack regiments of Dorokhov's detachment encountered the enemy at Alshany (Ольшаны, now Halshany - Гальшаны) but the details are unknown to me. The French troops encountered the 3rd Cavalry Corps of Gen. P.P. Palen, whereupon they fought at Kozjany. 

Bagration concentrated his army at Slonim (Слоним), the rearguard consisted of cavalry under the command of General Ilarion Vasilievich Vasilchikov. Neverovsky's 27th Division arrived at  Novogrudek (now Novogrudek, Навагрудак in Belarus), to meet Bagration and immortality. Davout's corps has advanced  so it was within two days' march of Vilna, while the right wing troops are still in Grodno. 

Murat's troops have clashed with Pahlen. Dochturov's exhausting march south of Vilna allowed his troops to escape towards the 2nd Army of the West. At the end of the day Barclay's army is concentrated at Svyancany. Oudinot's 2nd Corps is at Velkomir, Ney's 3rd Corps at Gedroic (Гедройц; now Giedraičiai). Murat is marching to Boyreno (Бойренo).

Inostrantsev Mikhail Aleksandrovich - The position of the parties by the evening of 19 June 1812

SKIRMISH AT KOZYANY

Peter Ludwig Count von der Pahlen (Pyotr Alekseyevich Palen) retreating through Kozjany towards Drissa left six squadrons of the Mariupol Hussars Regiment of Adjutant-General Ferdinand Karl Friedrich, freiherr von Wintzingerode (Ferdinand Fyodorovich von Wincengerode) in forward positions, along with a detachment of the 2nd Bugis Cossack Regiment. 

At night, 28 French squadrons and a light cavalry battery with six barrels attacked these advanced patrols and scattered them. Witzengerode, with the regimental commander, Colonel Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Vadbolsky, two squadrons of hussars and a detachment of Cossacks, did not rejoin Pahlen's corps until three days later. Colonel Baron Kreutz with the Sibirsk Dragoon Regiment and two other squadrons of Mariupol Hussars went to the aid of the Hussars. He managed to stop the enemy onslaught and stop the fleeing hussars. Lieutenant Figner, the brother of a well-known partisan commanding two squadrons of hussars, discovered a ford across the river where he held back the French advance at the cost of heavy losses, saving the rest of the troops. Lieutenant Figner was seriously wounded, while the losses of the Hussars amounted to 40 men. 

At five o'clock in the afternoon the rearguard of the 1st Army of the West was attacked by a French vanguard of 7 squadrons and 2 cavalry guns, but the enemy was repulsed. The 2nd Reserve Cavalry Corps of General Friedrich Nikolai Georg, Free Lord von Korff (Baron Fyodor Karlovich Korff) relieved the exhausted rearguard of the army. 

D+7 2.7.1812

Bagration's second western army withdrew from Slonim and marched towards Novogrudok. To speed up the movement of the troops and increase their maneuverability, only a staff coach was left with the troops, while a heavy coach was sent from Slonim via Nesvezh to Bobruisk.

Napoleon decided to suspend action against Barclay's First Army of the West and confine himself to the task of encircling Bagration's army. To this end, Napoleon reinforced Marshal Davout's group with Clapared's division, which was part of the Young Guard. On that day Napoleon for the first time received a request from the corps commanders to give the soldiers a rest.