Partisan movement during the war of 1812. The partisan movement is “the cudgel of the people's war. Commander-in-Chief of the Armies Field Marshal

The Patriotic War of 1812 gave birth to a new phenomenon in history - the mass partisan movement. During the war with Napoleon, Russian peasants began to unite in small detachments to defend their villages from foreign invaders. The brightest figure among the partisans of that time was Vasilisa Kozhina, a woman who became a legend in the war of 1812.
partisan
At the time of the invasion of French troops into Russia, Vasilisa Kozhina, according to historians, was about 35 years old. She was the wife of the headman of the Gorshkov farm in the Smolensk province. According to one version, she was inspired to participate in the peasant resistance by the fact that the French killed her husband, who refused to provide food and fodder for the Napoleonic troops. Another version says that Kozhina's husband was alive and led a partisan detachment himself, and his wife decided to follow her husband's example.
In any case, to fight the French, Kozhina organized her own detachment of women and teenagers. The partisans wielded what was available in the peasant economy: pitchforks, scythes, shovels and axes. The Kozhina detachment cooperated with the Russian troops, often handing over captured enemy soldiers to them.
Merit recognition
In November 1812, the Son of the Fatherland magazine wrote about Vasilisa Kozhina. The note was devoted to how Kozhina escorted prisoners to the location of the Russian army. One day, when the peasants brought in some captured Frenchmen, she gathered her detachment, mounted her horse, and ordered the prisoners to follow her. One of the captured officers, not wanting to obey "some peasant woman", began to resist. Kozhina immediately killed the officer with a scythe on the head. Kozhina shouted to the remaining prisoners that they should not dare to be impudent, because she had already cut off the heads of 27 “such mischievous people”. This episode, by the way, was immortalized in a lubok picture by the artist Alexei Venetsianov about the “old man Vasilisa”. In the first months after the war, such pictures were sold throughout the country as a memory of a national feat.

It is believed that for her role in the liberation war, the peasant woman was awarded a medal, as well as a cash prize personally from Tsar Alexander I. The State Historical Museum in Moscow has a portrait of Vasilisa Kozhina, painted by the artist Alexander Smirnov in 1813. A medal on the St. George ribbon is visible on Kozhina's chest.

And the name of the brave partisan is immortalized in the names of many streets. So, on the map of Moscow, not far from the Park Pobedy metro station, you can find Vasilisa Kozhina Street.
folk rumor
Vasilisa Kozhina died around 1840. Almost nothing is known about her life after the end of the war, but the fame of Kozhina's military exploits spread throughout the country, acquiring rumors and fictions. According to such folk legends, Kozhina once lured 18 Frenchmen into a hut by cunning, and then set it on fire. There are also stories about Vasilisa's mercy: according to one of them, a partisan once took pity on a captured Frenchman, fed him and even gave him warm clothes. Whether at least one of these stories is true, unfortunately, is not known - there is no documentary evidence.
It is not surprising that over time, many tales began to appear around the brave partisan - Vasilisa Kozhina turned into a collective image of the Russian peasantry who fought against the invaders. And folk heroes often become characters in legends. Modern Russian directors could not resist myth-making either. In 2013, the mini-series "Vasilisa" was released, later remade into a full-length film. The title character in it was played by Svetlana Khodchenkova. And although the fair-haired actress does not at all look like the woman depicted in the portrait by Smirnov, and the historical assumptions in the film sometimes look completely grotesque (for example, the fact that the simple peasant woman Kozhina speaks fluent French), nevertheless, such films say that that the memory of the brave partisan is alive even two centuries after her death.

Partisan movement
was a vivid expression of the national character of the Patriotic wars of 1812

Having flared up after the invasion of the Napoleonic troops, it developed every day, took on more and more active forms and became a formidable force.

At first, the partisan movement was spontaneous, represented by performances of small, scattered partisan detachments, then it captured entire regions. Large detachments began to be created, thousands of folk heroes appeared, talented organizers of the partisan struggle came to the fore.

Napoleon, who advanced deep into Russia, did not see a close victory. In the settlements where the Russians left, the French did not find
food. In the army, the death of horses began, there was no one to drag the guns.

Peasants' War

The peasants voluntarily brought everything they had to the retreating Russian army: food, oats and hay. And the enemy could not get bread and fodder from them either for money or by force. Napoleon's war of conquest evoked, in the words of Pushkin, A.S. "the frenzy of the people." Many burned their houses, stocks of bread and feed for livestock - if only they did not fall into the hands of the enemy. Heroism has become commonplace.

The Russian people behaved by no means passively: “when the enemy appeared, the villages rose voluntarily, and the peasants everywhere waged a guerrilla war, fought with amazing courage,” wrote Turgenev I.S.

In Smolensk, on July 6, Emperor Alexander I met with the local nobility, who asked for permission to arm themselves and arm the peasants. Having approved this petition, Alexander turned to the Bishop of Smolensk Iriney with a rescript in which he charged him with the duty to encourage and convince the peasants. So that they arm themselves with whatever they can, do not give shelter to the enemies and inflict "great harm and horror" on them.

The Rescript legalized guerrilla warfare.

Army partisan detachments

Partisan detachments were led by regular military men: Colonel D.V. Davydov, Captain A.N. Seslavin wine, General I.S. Dorokhov and other officers. Each unit had its own tactics.Davydov preferred raids behind enemy lines, A.N. Seslavin liked open combat, A.S. Finger, known not only for his desperate courage, but also for his cruelty, there were ambushes and sabotage.

A.N. Seslavin I.S. DorokhovD.V. Davydov

Like a formidable cloud, a huge enemy army shrouded our homeland. From the banks of the Neman to the white-stone mother Moscow, a wave of enemy invasion has reached. The ancient capital of the Russian Tsars blazed with a bright flame, and the glow of the Moscow fire illuminated the entire Russian land.

The Russian people rose from all sides to defend their homeland. Then the enemies of the people's anger were frightened and pulled out of the burning Moscow back to the west, and Russian soldiers rushed at them from all sides to punish the Moscow fire. And then the great conqueror realized what a formidable force the Russian land conceals. This great power is hidden in the hearts of the Russian people. Nothing speaks of this power in the ordinary years of a peaceful life: then this great power is dormant. But if a careless enemy dares to touch Rus', to look deep into our vast country, to laugh, to desecrate our shrines, then woe to the enemy.

The secret power of the Russian people will wake up and cruelly punish the impudent enemy...

State educational institution

Education Center No. 000

Heroes - partisans of the Patriotic War of 1812 D. Davydov, A. Seslavin, A. Figner, their role in the victory of Russia and the reflection of their names in the names of the streets of Moscow.

Students of 6 "A" class

Degtyareva Anastasia

Grishchenko Valeria

Markosova Karina

Project leaders:

a history teacher

a history teacher

Ph.D. head Scientific and Information Department of the State Institution of Culture “Museum-panorama “Battle of Borodino””

Moscow

Introduction

The Patriotic War of 1812 is one of the brightest events in the history of Russia. As the famous publicist and literary critic of the XIX century wrote. : "Every nation has its own history, and in history there are critical moments by which one can judge the strength and greatness of his spirit ...". [Zaichenko [In 1812, Russia showed the whole world the strength and greatness of its spirit and proved that it was impossible to defeat it , even striking in the heart, capturing Moscow. From the first days of the war, the people rose to war with the invaders, all classes of Russian society were united: nobles, peasants, raznochintsy, clergymen.

Having visited the Museum-panorama "Battle of Borodino" we wanted to learn more about the heroes-partisans of the Patriotic War of 1812. From the guide we learned that for the first time the partisan movement arose during the Patriotic War of 1812. Kutuzov connected the partisan struggle with the actions of the regular army, D. Davydov, A. Seslavin, A. Figner played a big role in this.

Therefore, the choice of the theme of our project is not accidental. We turned to the head of the scientific information department, Ph.D. GUK "Museum-Panorama" Battle of Borodino" with a request to tell us about the heroes of the partisans and provide us with materials on the activities of partisan detachments.

The aim of our study- to show the need to create partisan detachments, the activities of their leaders D. Davydov, A. Seslavin, A. Figner, to note their personal qualities and fully appreciate their contribution to the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.

In 2012 we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812. It became interesting to us how the descendants paid tribute to the memory and honor, the courage of the heroes who saved Russia in that terrible time.

Hence the theme of our project "Heroes - partisans of the Patriotic War of 1812 D. Davydov, A. Seslavin, A. Figner, their role in the victory of Russia and the reflection of their names in the names of the streets of Moscow."

Object of study are the activities of partisans in the Patriotic War.

Subject of study are the personalities of D. Davydov, A. Seslavin, A. Figner and their activities in the Patriotic War of 1812.

We assume that without the action of the partisans, without their courage, heroism and dedication, the defeat of the Napoleonic army, its expulsion from Russia, is not possible.

Having studied the literature, diaries, memoirs, letters and poems on this topic, we developed a research strategy and defined research objectives.

Tasks

1. Analyze literature (essays, poems, stories, memoirs) and find out how partisan detachments acquired mass character and became widespread.

2. To study in what ways and means the partisans acted to achieve their goals and victories in the war of 1812.

3. To study the biography and activities of D. Davydov, A. Seslavin, A. Figner.

4. Name the character traits of the partisan heroes (D. Davydova, A. Seslavin, A. Figner), provide for discussion the appearance of partisans, partisan detachments, show how necessary, difficult and heroic their work was.

5. To study and visit the memorable places in Moscow associated with the war of 1812.

6. Collect material for the school - military museum and speak to the students of the education center.

To solve the tasks we used the following methods: definition of concepts, theoretical - analysis, synthesis, generalization, free interviewing, application of toponymic knowledge in the search for memorable places in Moscow.

The work was carried out in several stages:

First stage, organizational, visit to the Museum - panorama "Battle of Borodino". Research planning. Finding sources of information (interviews, reading printed sources, viewing a map, finding Internet resources) for study. Determination in what form the result of the work can be presented. Distribution of responsibilities among team members.

Second phase stating the selection of the necessary material. Interviewing (Head of the Scientific Information Department, Candidate of Historical Sciences, GUK "Panorama Museum" Battle of Borodino ""). Studying the map of Moscow. Reading and analysis of sources of information.

Third stage, forming, selection of the necessary material, finding memorable places in Moscow associated with the Patriotic War of 1812.

Fourth stage, control, report of each team member on the work done.

Fifth stage, promotional, creating a presentation, collecting material for the school - military museum and speaking to the students of the education center

Chapter 1

1.1 Basic concepts used in the work.

What is Guerrilla Warfare? How is it different from ordinary war? When and where did it appear? What are the goals and significance of the Guerrilla War? What is the difference between the Guerrilla War from the Small War and from the People's War? These questions appeared in our study of the literature. In order to correctly understand and use these terms, we need to give their concepts. Using the encyclopedia "Patriotic War of 1812": Encyclopedia. M., 2004., we learned that:

guerrilla war

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. guerrilla warfare was understood as independent actions of small mobile army detachments on the flanks, in the rear and on enemy communications. The purpose of the Guerrilla War was to disrupt the communication of enemy troops with each other and with the rear, with convoys, destroy stocks (stores) and rear military establishments, transports, reinforcements, as well as attacks on milestone posts, release of their prisoners, interception of couriers. The partisan detachments were entrusted with establishing communication between the divided parts of their army, initiating people's war behind enemy lines, obtaining information about the movement and strength of the enemy army, as well as the constant anxiety of the enemy in order to deprive him of the necessary rest and thereby lead "to exhaustion and frustration." Guerrilla warfare was seen as part of small war, since the actions of the partisans did not lead to the defeat of the enemy, but only contributed to the achievement of this goal.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. the concept of a small war denoted the actions of troops in small detachments, as opposed to the actions of large units and formations. The Small War included guarding own troops (service at outposts, guards, patrols, pickets, patrols, etc.) and actions by detachments (simple and enhanced reconnaissance, ambushes, attacks). Guerrilla warfare was carried out in the form of short-term raids by relatively strong "flying corps" or in the form of long-term "search" for small partisan parties behind enemy lines.

Partisan actions were first used by the commander-in-chief of the 3rd Western Army, General. By permission, on August 25 (September 6), the party of the lieutenant colonel was sent to the "search".

The partisan war intensified in the autumn of 1812, when the army stood near Tarutino. In September, a “flying corps” was sent to the raid on the Mozhaisk road. In September, a colonel’s party was sent to the rear of the enemy. September 23 (October 5) - the party of the captain. September 26 (Oct. 8) - the party of the colonel, September 30 (12 Oct.) - the party of the captain.

Temporary army mobile detachments, created by the Russian command for short raids ("raids", "expeditions"), were also called "small corps", "detachments of light troops". The "light corps" consisted of regular (light cavalry, dragoons, rangers, horse artillery) and irregular (Cossacks, Bashkirs, Kalmyks) troops. Average number: 2-3 thousand people. The actions of the "light corps" were one of the forms of guerrilla warfare.

We learned that guerrilla warfare is understood as the independent actions of small mobile army detachments on the flanks, in the rear and on enemy communications. We also learned the goals of the Guerrilla War, that the Guerrilla War is part of a small war, that “flying corps” are temporary mobile units.

1.2 Davydov (1784 - 1839)

Nevstruev, 1998
Shmurzdyuk, 1998

1.3 Hero of the partisans - A. Seslavin

Along with Denis Davydov, he is one of the most famous partisans of 1812. His name is inextricably linked with the events immediately preceding the transition of the Russian troops to the offensive, which led to the death of the Napoleonic army.

Only shortly before World War II, Seslavin was promoted to captain. Such a modest advance on the "ladder of ranks" was the result of a two-time break in military service. After graduating from the Artillery and Engineering Cadet Corps in 1798, the best military educational institution of that time, Seslavin was released as a second lieutenant in the guards artillery, in which he served for 7 years, being promoted to the next rank for this, and at the beginning of 1805 "at the request he resigned from service." In the autumn of the same year, after the declaration of war with Napoleonic France, Seslavin returned to service and was assigned to the horse artillery.

For the first time he took part in hostilities in the campaign of 1807 in East Prussia. In the battle of Heilsberg, he was seriously wounded and awarded a golden weapon for his bravery. Soon after the end of the war, he left the service for the second time and spent 3 years in retirement, being treated for the consequences of a wound.

In 1810, Seslavin again returned to the army and fought against the Turks on the Danube. During the assault on Ruschuk, he walked in the head of one of the columns and, having already climbed the earthen rampart, was seriously wounded in his right hand. For differences in battles with the Turks, Seslavin was promoted to staff captain and soon after to captain.

At the beginning of World War II, Seslavin was Barclay de Tolly's adjutant. Possessing a good theoretical background, a broad military outlook and combat experience, he served in the headquarters of Barclay de Tolly as a "quartermaster", that is, an officer of the general staff. With units of the 1st Army, Seslavin took part in almost all the battles of the first period of the war - near Ostrovnaya, Smolensk, Valutina Gora and others. In the battle near Shevardino he was wounded, but remained in the ranks, participated in the Battle of Borodino and was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree among the most distinguished officers.

Soon after leaving Moscow, Seslavin received a "flying detachment" and began partisan searches, in which he fully showed his brilliant military talents. His detachment, like other partisan detachments, attacked enemy transports, destroyed or captured parties of foragers and marauders. But Seslavin considered his main task to be the tireless monitoring of the movement of large formations of the enemy army, believing that this reconnaissance activity could most of all contribute to the success of the operations of the main forces of the Russian army. It was these actions that glorified his name.

Having decided in Tarutino to unleash a "small war" and surround the Napoleonic army with a ring of army partisan detachments, Kutuzov clearly organized their actions, assigning a certain area to each detachment. So, Denis Davydov was ordered to act between Mozhaisk and Vyazma, Dorokhov - in the Vereya - Gzhatsk region, Efremov - on the Ryazan road, Kudashev - on Tulskaya, Seslavin and Fonvizin (the future Decembrist) - between the Smolensk and Kaluga roads.

On October 7, the day after the battle of Murat's corps near Tarutin, Napoleon gave the order to leave Moscow, intending to go to Smolensk through Kaluga and Yelnya. However, in an effort to maintain the morale of his army and at the same time mislead Kutuzov, Napoleon set out from Moscow along the old Kaluga road in the direction of Tarutino, thus giving his movement an “offensive character”. Halfway to Tarutin, he unexpectedly ordered his army to turn right at Krasnaya Pakhra, went by country roads to the New Kaluga road and moved along it south, to Maloyaroslavets, trying to bypass the main forces of the Russian army. Ney's corps at first continued to move along the Old Kaluga road to Tarutino and united with Murat's troops. According to Napoleon's calculation, this was to disorient Kutuzov and give him the impression that the entire Napoleonic army was marching towards Tarutino with the intention of imposing a general battle on the Russian army.

On October 10, Seslavin discovered the main forces of the French army near the village of Fominskoye and, having notified the command about this, gave the Russian troops the opportunity to preempt the enemy at Maloyaroslavets and block his path to Kaluga. Seslavin himself described this most important episode of his military activity as follows: “I was standing on a tree when I opened the movement of the French army, which stretched at my feet, where Napoleon himself was in a carriage. Several people (French) separated from the edge of the forest and the road, were captured and delivered to the Most Serene, as evidence of such an important discovery for Russia, deciding the fate of the Fatherland, Europe and Napoleon himself ... I found General Dokhturov in Aristov by chance, not at all knowing about his stay there; I rushed to Kutuzov in Tarutino. Having handed over the prisoners for presentation to the most illustrious, I went back to the detachment in order to observe Napoleon's movement more closely.

On the night of October 11, the messenger informed Kutuzov about the "discovery" of Seslavin. Everyone remembers from War and Peace the meeting between Kutuzov and the messenger sent by Dokhturov (in the Bolkhovitinov novel), described by Tolstoy on the basis of Bolgovsky's memoirs.

For the next month and a half, Seslavin acted with his detachment with exceptional courage and energy, fully justifying the characterization given to him by one of the participants in the Patriotic War as an officer of "tried courage and zeal, extraordinary enterprise." So, on October 22, near Vyazma, Seslavin, having galloped between the enemy columns, discovered the beginning of their retreat and let the Russian detachments know about it, and he himself broke into the city with the Pernovsky regiment. On October 28, near Lyakhov, together with Denis Davydov and Orlov-Denisov, he captured the brigade of General Augereau, for which he was promoted to colonel; together with another famous partisan, Figner, he recaptured from the French transport with valuables stolen in Moscow. On November 16, Seslavin broke into Borisov with his detachment, captured 3,000 prisoners, and established communication between the troops of Wittgenstein and Chichagov. Finally, on November 27, he was the first to attack the French troops in Vilna and was seriously wounded in the process.

In December 1812, Seslavin was appointed commander of the Sumy Hussar Regiment. In the autumn of 1813 and in 1814 he commanded the forward detachments of the Allied army, participated in the battles near Leipzig and Ferchampenoise; Promoted to major general for military distinction.

Seslavin, according to him, took part "in 74 combat battles" and was wounded 9 times. Intense combat service and severe injuries affected his health and mental balance. At the end of hostilities, he received a long leave for treatment abroad, visited France, Italy, Switzerland, where he walked along the path of Suvorov - through St. Gotthard and the Chortov bridge, was treated on the waters, but his health did not improve. In 1820, he left the service and retired to his small Tver estate Yesemovo, where he lived alone, without meeting with any of the neighboring landowners, for more than 30 years.

Seslavin was distinguished by exceptional courage and energy, courage fully justifying the characterization given to him by one of the participants in the Patriotic War as an officer of "tried courage and zeal, extraordinary enterprise" .. () Alexander Nikitich was a deeply educated person, was interested in various sciences. After retiring, he wrote memoirs of which only fragments have survived. This man was undeservedly forgotten by his contemporaries, but deserves to be remembered and studied by posterity.

Nevstruev, 1998
Shmurzdyuk, 1998

1.4 Hero of the partisans - A. Figner

The famous partisan of the Patriotic War, a descendant of an ancient German family who left for Russia under Peter I, b. in 1787, died on October 1, 1813. Figner's grandfather, Baron Figner von Rutmersbach, lived in Livonia, and his father, Samuil Samuilovich, having started his service from an ordinary rank, reached the rank of headquarters officer, was appointed director of a state-owned crystal factory near St. Petersburg and shortly thereafter, renamed state councilors, he was appointed in 1809 vice-governor in the Pskov province (died July 8, 1811). Alexander Figner, having successfully completed the course in the 2nd Cadet Corps, was released on April 13, 1805 as a second lieutenant in the 6th artillery regiment and in the same year was sent to the Anglo-Russian expedition to the Mediterranean. Here he found an opportunity to be in Italy and lived for several months in Milan, diligently studying the Italian language, with a thorough knowledge of which he subsequently managed to render so many services to the fatherland. Upon his return to Russia, on January 17, 1807, Figner was promoted to lieutenant, and on March 16 he was transferred to the 13th artillery brigade. With the beginning of the Turkish campaign of 1810, he entered the Moldavian army, participated with a detachment of General Zass in the case on May 19 during the capture of the Turtukaya fortress and from June 14 to September 15 - in the blockade and capitulation of the Ruschuk fortress by the troops of gr. Kamensky. In a number of cases near Ruschuk, Figner managed to show excellent courage and bravery. Commanding, during the imposition of the fortress, in the nearest flying sap 8 guns, he, during the repulsion of one of the enemy's sorties, was seriously wounded in the chest, but did not leave the line, but soon volunteered for a new feat. When gr. Kamensky decided to storm Ruschuk, Figner volunteered to measure the depth of the moat and did it with a boldness that amazed the Turks themselves. The assault on July 22 failed, but Figner, who brilliantly participated in it, was awarded the Order of St. George, removed by the commander-in-chief from the artillery general Sievers, who was killed on the glacis of the fortress, and on December 8, 1810, he was honored to receive a personalized Most Gracious Rescript. In 1811, Figner returned to his homeland to meet with his father and here he married the daughter of a Pskov landowner, retired state councilor Bibikov, Olga Mikhailovna Bibikova. On December 29, 1811, he was promoted to staff captain, with a transfer to the 11th artillery brigade, and soon received a light company in command of the same brigade. The Patriotic War again called Figner to the military field. His first feat in this war was the courageous defense by fire of the guns of the left flank of the Russian troops in the case at the river. Stragani; here, having stopped the shooters overturned by the French, he, at the head of them, recaptured one of the guns of his company from the enemy, for which the commander-in-chief personally congratulated Figner with the rank of captain. With the retreat of the Russian troops through Moscow to Tarutino, Figner's combat activity changed: he handed over the command of the company to the senior officer in it, having acted shortly before in the field of partisan operations. By secret order of Kutuzov, disguised as a peasant, Figner, accompanied by several Cossacks, went to Moscow, already occupied by the French. Figner failed to fulfill his secret intention - to somehow get to Napoleon and kill him, but nevertheless his stay in Moscow was a true horror for the French. Having formed an armed party from the inhabitants who remained in the city, he made ambushes with it, exterminated lone enemies, and after his nightly attacks, many corpses of the killed French were found every morning. His actions inspired panic fear in the enemy. The French tried in vain to find a brave and secretive avenger: Figner was elusive. Knowing fluently French, German, Italian and Polish, he wandered in all sorts of costumes during the day between the heterogeneous soldiers of the Napoleonic army and listened to their conversations, and at nightfall he ordered his daring men to kill the hated enemy. At the same time, Figner found out everything necessary about the intentions of the French, and with the collected important information, on September 20, having safely got out of Moscow, he arrived at the main apartment of the Russian army, in Tarutino. The courageous enterprise and sharpness of Figner attracted the attention of the commander-in-chief, and he was instructed, along with other partisans, Davydov and Seslavin, to develop partisan actions on enemy messages. Having gathered two hundred daring hunters and backwards, putting the footmen on peasant horses, Figner led this combined detachment to the Mozhaisk road and began to carry out his disastrous raids in the rear of the enemy army. During the day, he hid the detachment somewhere in the nearest forest, and himself, disguised as a Frenchman, Italian or Pole, sometimes accompanied by a trumpeter, drove around the enemy outposts, looked out for their location and, after dark, flew into the French with his partisans and every day sent to the main apartment of hundreds of prisoners. Taking advantage of the enemy's oversight, Figner beat him wherever possible; in particular, his actions intensified when armed peasants near Moscow joined the detachment. At 10 versts from Moscow, he overtook an enemy transport, took away and riveted six 12-pound. guns, blew up several charging trucks, put up to 400 people on the spot. and about 200 people, together with the Hanoverian colonel Tink, took prisoner. Napoleon appointed a prize for the head of Figner, but the latter did not stop his courageous activities; wanting to bring his heterogeneous detachment into a larger organization, he began to introduce order and discipline into it, which, however, did not please his hunters, and they fled. Then Kutuzov gave Figner 600 people at his disposal. regular cavalry and Cossacks, with officers of his choice. With this well-organized detachment, Figner became even more terrible for the French, here his outstanding abilities as a partisan developed even more, and his enterprise, reaching insane audacity, manifested itself in full splendor. Deceiving the enemy's vigilance with skillful maneuvers and secrecy of transitions and having good guides, he unexpectedly flew into the enemy, smashed foragers, burned wagons, intercepted couriers and disturbed the French day and night, appearing at various points and everywhere carrying death and captivity. Napoleon was forced to send infantry and Ornano's cavalry division to the Mozhaisk road against Figner and other partisans, but all searches for the enemy were in vain. Several times the French overtook the Figner detachment, surrounded it with superior forces, it seemed that the death of the brave partisan was inevitable, but he always managed to deceive the enemy with cunning maneuvers. Figner's courage reached the point that once, near Moscow itself, he attacked Napoleon's guards cuirassiers, wounded their colonel and captured them, along with 50 soldiers. Before the Battle of Tarutino, he passed "through all the French outposts", made sure that the French avant-garde was isolated, reported that to the commander-in-chief and thereby had considerable benefit in the complete defeat of Murat's troops that followed the next day. With the beginning of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, a people's war broke out; Taking advantage of this favorable circumstance for the partisan, Figner acted tirelessly. Together with Seslavin, he recaptured a whole transport with jewels looted by the French in Moscow; soon after, meeting with an enemy detachment at the village. Stone, broke it, put in place up to 350 people. and took about the same number of lower ranks with 5 officers captured, and, finally, on November 27, in the case of p. Lyakhov, uniting with the partisan detachments of Count Orlov-Denisov, Seslavin and Denis Davydov, contributed to the defeat of the French General Augereau, who laid down his weapons by the end of the battle. Admired by the exploits of Figner, Emperor Alexander promoted him to lieutenant colonel, with a transfer to the guards artillery, and awarded him 7,000 rubles. and, at the same time, at the request of the commander-in-chief and the English agent at the main apartment, R. Wilson, who was a witness to many of Figner's exploits, freed his father-in-law, the former Pskov vice-governor Bibikov, from trial and punishment. Upon his return from St. Petersburg, Figner overtook our army already in northern Germany, under besieged Danzig. Here he volunteered to fulfill the courageous commission of Mr. Wittgenstein - to get into the fortress, collect all the necessary information about the strength and location of the fortress werks, about the size of the garrison, the number of military and food supplies, and also secretly incite the inhabitants of Danzig to revolt against the French. Only with an extraordinary presence of mind and an excellent knowledge of foreign languages ​​could Figner dare to carry out such a dangerous mission. Under the guise of an unfortunate Italian, robbed by the Cossacks, he entered the city; here, however, they did not immediately believe his stories and put him in prison. For two months Figner languished in it, tormented by incessant interrogations; he was required to prove his true origin from Italy, every minute he could be recognized as a spy and shot. The stern commandant of Danzig himself, General Rapp, interrogated him, but his extraordinary ingenuity and resourcefulness saved this time the brave daredevil. Remembering his long stay in Milan, he introduced himself as the son of a well-known Italian family, told, at a confrontation with a native of Milan, who happened to be in Danzig, all the smallest details about how old his father and mother were, what condition, on what street they were standing. house and even what color the roof and shutters were, and not only managed to justify himself, but, hiding behind ardent devotion to the emperor of the French, even crept into the confidence of Rapp so much that he sent him with important dispatches to Napoleon. Of course, Figner, having got out of Danzig, delivered the dispatches, together with the information he had obtained, to our main apartment. For the accomplished feat, he was promoted to colonel and temporarily left at the main apartment. Following, however, his vocation, he again devoted himself to the activities of the partisan. At his suggestion, a detachment was formed from various deserters of the Napoleonic army, mostly Spaniards, who were forcibly recruited into it, as well as from German volunteers, and was called the "legion of revenge"; in order to ensure the reliability of partisan actions, a combined team from various hussar and Cossack regiments was attached to the detachment, which formed the core of the detachment. With this detachment, Figner again opened his disastrous raids on the enemy in the new theater of war. On August 22, 1813, he defeated an enemy detachment that he met at Cape Niske, three days later appeared already in the vicinity of Bautzen, on August 26 at Koenigsbrück he passed 800 steps past a puzzled enemy who had not even fired a single shot, and on August 29 attacked the French General Mortier at Speyrsweiler and took several hundred people prisoner. Continuing further movement ahead of the Silesian army, illuminating the area, the Figner partisan detachment met on September 26 at Eulenburg with the corps of General Sacken, but on the same day, separated from it, took the direction of the Elbe. Twice the detachment then encountered enemy detachments, so few in number that their extermination could be certain, but Figner evaded attacks and did not even allow the Cossacks to chase the lagging behind. The brave partisan was obviously saving men and horses for some more important undertaking. Seeing from the movements of the belligerents that the fate of Germany would be decided between the Elbe and Sala, Figner assumed that in early October, Napoleon, in view of the decisive battle, would remove his troops from the left bank of the Elbe, and therefore, in anticipation of this movement, he wanted, holding out for several days near Dessau, then invade Westphalia, which remained loyal to the Prussian government, and raise its population against the French. But his assumptions were not justified. Napoleon, due to changed circumstances, took the intention to cross to the right bank of the Elbe, and, according to the orders given to them, Marshals Renier and Ney moved to Wittenberg and Dessau to master the crossings. On September 30, one of the patrols informed Figner about several squadrons of enemy cavalry that had appeared on the road from Leipzig to Dessau, but he, confident that the French troops had already begun a retreat towards Sala, explained the appearance of the squadrons by foragers sent from the enemy. Soon a party of Prussian black hussars ran into the detachment, explaining that the enemy squadrons belonged to a strong vanguard, followed by the entire army of Napoleon. Realizing the danger, Figner immediately turned the detachment into the gap between the main roads that went to Wörlitz and Dessau, and approached the Elbe with a forced march towards evening. Here news was received from the head of the Prussian troops stationed at Dessau that, in view of the unexpected advance of the French army towards this city, the Tauenzin corps would retreat to the right bank of the river, leaving not a single detachment on the left. But the people and horses of the Figner detachment were tired of the reinforced transition in the vicinity of Dessau, devastated by the French and allies; in addition, Figner was sure that the French movement was only a demonstration to divert the attention of Bernadotte and Blucher, and that Tauentzin, convinced of this, would cancel the proposed retreat to the right bank of the Elbe. Figner decided to stay on the left bank. On the next day, he planned to hide his detachment in the dense bushes of a small island near Wörlitz and then, letting the French pass, rush, depending on the circumstances, either to Westphalia or to the Leipzig road to search for enemy carts and parks. Based on all these considerations, Figner deployed his detachment seven versts above Dessau; the left flank of the detachment adjoined the coastal road to this city, the right flank to the forest, which stretched for a verst along the river, in front, about seventy sazhens, lay a small village; in it, as in the forest, were the Spaniards, and two platoons of Mariupol and Belorussian hussars stood between the village and the forest, the Don Cossacks - on the left flank. The patrols sent in all directions reported that the enemy was nowhere to be seen at a distance of 5 versts, and the reassured Figner allowed the detachment to make fire and indulge in rest. Ho, this was the last rest for almost the entire detachment. Before dawn on October 1, the partisans roused themselves with a drawn-out command: "to the horses!" Rifle shots and the cries of the fighting were heard in the village. It turned out that two or three platoons of the enemy cavalry, taking advantage of the night and the carelessness of the Spaniards, tore off their picket and rushed through the streets, but, met by the hussars, turned back and, pursued by shots, scattered across the field. Several captured Polish lancers showed that they belonged to the vanguard of Ney's corps advancing along the Dessau road. Meanwhile, dawn began, and no more than a hundred fathoms from the village, the formation of the enemy cavalry was discovered. The situation became critical, moreover, with the rising of the sun, the presence of the enemy was detected not on one, but on all sides. Obviously, a detachment of brave men was bypassed and pressed against the Elbe. Figner gathered the officers of the detachment. “Gentlemen,” he said, “we are surrounded; we need to break through; if the enemy breaks our ranks, then don’t think about me anymore, save yourself in all directions; I told you about this many times. on the Torgau road, about ten versts from here ... "The detachment entered the gap between the village, occupied by a platoon of Spaniards, and the forest and prepared for a friendly attack. Commanding words of enemy officers were heard in the fog. "Akhtyrians, Alexandrians, peaks at the ready, march - march!" Figner commanded, and the detachment cut into the enemy, making his way with bayonets and pikes. Inspired by the example of their leader, a handful of brave men performed miracles of courage, but, crushed by disproportionately superior forces, were pushed back to the very bank of the Elbe. The partisans fought to the death: their ranks were broken through, the flanks were covered, most of the officers and lower ranks were killed. Finally, the detachment could not stand it and rushed into the river, seeking salvation by swimming. Weakened and wounded people and horses were carried by the current and died in the waves or from enemy bullets raining down on them from the shore. Figner was among the dead; on the shore they found only his saber, taken by him in 1812 from a French general. Thus ended the days of the famous partisan. His name became the best asset in the history of the exploits of the Russian troops, to increase the glory of which, it seemed, he devoted all his strength.

Disregarding life, he volunteered to carry out the most dangerous assignments, led the most risky enterprises, selflessly loving his homeland, he seemed to be looking for an opportunity for cruel revenge on Napoleon and his hordes. The entire Russian army knew about his exploits and highly appreciated them. Back in 1812, Kutuzov, sending a letter to his wife with Figner, punished her: “Look at him closely: this is an extraordinary person; I have never seen such a high soul; he is a fanatic in courage and patriotism, and God knows what he won't do it." , Comrade Figner. by occupation, he decided to cast a shadow on the glorious partisan, explaining, in his letter to, all the heroism of Figner only with a thirst to satisfy his immense feelings of ambition and pride. Figner is depicted in different colors according to the testimony of his other comrades and contemporaries, who valued in the famous partisan his true heroism, bright mind, captivating eloquence and outstanding willpower.

Despite different opinions about Figner's personal qualities, this man was brave, courageous, daring, fearless. He knew several foreign languages. The French assigned a large sum for the capture, they called him a “terrible robber”, who is elusive like the devil .. This man deserves the attention and memory of his descendants.

Conclusion

During the preparation of the counteroffensive, the combined forces of the army, militias and partisans fettered the actions of the Napoleonic troops, inflicted damage on the enemy's manpower, and destroyed military property. The troops of the Tarutinsky camp firmly covered the paths to the southern regions not devastated by the war. During the stay of the French in Moscow, their army, not conducting open hostilities, at the same time suffered significant losses every day. It became more and more difficult for Napoleon from Moscow to communicate with the rear troops, to send urgent dispatches to France and other Western European countries. The Smolensk road, which remained the only protected postal route leading from Moscow to the west, was constantly subjected to partisan raids. They intercepted French correspondence, especially valuable ones were delivered to the Headquarters of the Russian army.

The actions of the partisans forced Napoleon to send large forces to guard the roads. So, to ensure the safety of the Smolensk road, Napoleon advanced to Mozhaisk part of the corps of Marshal Victor. Marshals Junot and Murat were ordered to strengthen the protection of the Borovsk and Podolsk roads.

The heroic struggle of the army, partisans, the people's militia, led by Kutuzov and his headquarters, the feat of the people in the rear created favorable conditions for the Russian army to go on the counteroffensive. The war entered a new phase.

Analyzing the actions of military partisans and summing up their activities during the army’s stay in the Tarutino camp, Kutuzov wrote: “During the six-week rest of the Main Army at Tarutino, my partisans instilled fear and horror in the enemy, taking away all means of food.” Thus was laid the foundation for the impending victory. The names of Davydov, Seslavin, Figner and other brave commanders became known throughout Russia.

Denis Davydov, one of the first theorists of the partisan war in 1812, reasonably believed that during the retreat of the Napoleonic army, the partisans participated, together with the main parts of the Russian army, in all the most important military operations, inflicting enormous damage on the enemy. He emphasized that “partisan warfare also has an impact on the main operations of the enemy army” and that partisan detachments “help the pursuing army to push back the retreating army and use local benefits for its final destruction” 55. More than a third of the prisoners, a huge number of rifles, even cannons, various wagons were taken by the partisans. During the retreat of the Napoleonic army, the number of prisoners increased so rapidly that the command of the advancing Russian troops did not have time to allocate detachments for their escort and left a significant part of the prisoners in the villages under the protection of armed villagers.

Kutuzov had every reason to inform the tsar that "my partisans instilled fear and horror in the enemy, taking away all means of food."

Chapter 2 Gratitude of the descendants to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 in Moscow

2.1 Patriotic War of 1812 in the names of Moscow streets Many architectural ensembles and monuments of Moscow today remind of the feat of the people in 1812. At Poklonnaya Hill on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, the Triumphal Arch rises. Not far from the Arc de Triomphe are the Battle of Borodino Panorama Museum, a monument to the heroes of this battle, and the famous Kutuzovskaya Hut. The monument was erected on Victory Square.

From here, the road to the center of Moscow leads through the monument to the heroes of Borodino - the Borodino Bridge. And there, not far from Kropotkinskaya Street, where the partisan's house of 1812 is located, and to the Khamovniki barracks (on Komsomolsky Prospekt), where the Moscow militia was formed in 1812. Not far from here is the Manege located next to the Kremlin - also a monument to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, built for the 5th anniversary of victory in this war.

Every place, every house or other monument associated with the Patriotic War of 1812,

gives rise to a sense of pride: for the heroic past of our people

Street names are also reminiscent of the war of 1812. So, in Moscow, a number of streets are named after the heroes of 1812: Kutuzovsky Prospekt, Bagrationovsky, Platovsky, Barclay Drives, streets of General Yermolov, D. Davydov, Seslavin, Vasilisa Kozhina, Gerasim Kurin, st. Bolshaya Filevskaya, st. Tuchkovskaya and many others.

Metro stations Bagrationovskaya, Kutuzovskaya, Fili, Filevsky Park are also reminiscent of the war.

https://pandia.ru/text/77/500/images/image002_13.jpg" align="left" width="329" height="221 src=">

Fig.1 Seslavinskaya street

Seslavinskaya street (July 17, 1963) Named in honor of A.N. Seslavin () - lieutenant general of the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812

· Denis Davydov Street (May 9, 1961) Named after DV Davydov () - a poet one of the organizers of the partisan movement in 1812

https://pandia.ru/text/77/500/images/image005_7.jpg" align="left" width="294" height="221 src=">

One thousand eight hundred and twelfth year (1812) street (May 12, 1959) Named in honor of the feat committed by the peoples of Russia in 1812 to protect their Fatherland

· Kutuzovsky Prospekt (December 13, 1957). Named after -Kutuzov ()

Field Marshal General, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army during https://pandia.ru/text/77/500/images/image007_5.jpg" width="296" height="222">

Rice. 3 on

2.2 Monuments of the Patriotic War of 1812 in Moscow

· The 1812 memorial at Poklonnaya Gora includes several objects.

Triumphal Arch

Kutuzov hut

Church of the Archangel Michael near the Kutuzov hut

Panorama Museum "Battle of Borodino"

Kutuzov and glorious sons of the Russian people

Fig. 4 Arc de Triomphe

https://pandia.ru/text/77/500/images/image011_4.jpg" align="left" width="235" height="312 src=">

Fig. 5 Kutuzov and the glorious sons of the Russian people

Fig.6 Kutuzovskaya hut

Rice. 7 Church of the Archangel Michael near the Kutuzov hut

Monuments of the Patriotic War of 1812 in Moscow

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Kremlin arsenal

Moscow Manege

Alexander Garden

Georgievsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace

Borodinsky bridge

Fig. 8 Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Fig. 9 Kremlin arsenal

Rice. 10 Moscow Manege

Fig. 11 Alexander Garden

Fig. 12 Georgievsky Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace

Fig.13 Borodinsky bridge

Conclusion

In the process of working on the project, we studied a lot of material about partisans and their activities during the Patriotic War of 1812.

Even from literature lessons, we know the name of Denis Davydov, but he was known as a poet. Having visited the Museum-panorama "Battle of Borodino", we recognized Denis Davydov from the other side - a brave, brave partisan, a competent commander. Reading his biography in more detail, we became aware of the names of Alexander Seslavin,

Alexander Figner, who were also leaders of partisan detachments.

The guerrillas made daring raids on the enemy, obtained important information about the activities of the enemy. highly appreciated the activities of military partisans for their courage, unbridled courage,

Denis Davydov after the Patriotic War of 1812 summarized and systematized

military results of the actions of military partisans in two works of 1821: "Experience in the theory of partisan actions" and "Diary of partisan

actions of 1812”, where he rightly emphasized the significant effect of the new

for the 19th century forms of war to defeat the enemy. [12 c.181]

The collected material replenished the information fund of the school museum.

1. 1812 in Russian poetry and memoirs of contemporaries. M., 1987.

2. . Moscow: Moscow worker, 1971.

3. Heroes of 1812: Collection. M .: Young Guard, 1987.

4. , . Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. L .: Publishing house "Aurora", 1974.

5. Davydov Denis. Military notes. Moscow: Gospolitizdat, 1940.

6. Moscow. Big illustrated encyclopedia. Moscow studies from A to. Eksmo, 2007

7. Moscow magazine. History of Russian Goverment. 2001. No. 1. p.64

8. Moscow is modern. Atlas. M. Print, 2005.

9. "Thunderstorm of the twelfth year ..." M. "Science" 1987 p.192

10. Patriotic War of 1812: Encyclopedia. M., 2004.

11. Popov Davydov. Moscow: Education, 1971.

12. Sirotkin war of 1812: Prince. For students Art. environment classes. school-M.: Enlightenment, 198s.: ill.

13. Khataevich. Moscow: Moscow worker, 1973.

14. Figner Posluzhn. list, store in the archives of St. Petersburg. artillery. museum. - I. R .: "Travel notes of an artilleryman from 1812 to 1816", Moscow, 1835 - "Northern Post", 1813, No. 49. - "Rus. Inv.", 1838, No. No. 91-99. - "Military Collection", 1870, No. 8. - "To All. Illustr.", 1848, No. 35. - "Russian Star", 1887, v. 55, p. 321- 338. - "Military encyclical lexicon", St. Petersburg, 1857. D.S. [Polovtsov]

The partisan movement in the Patriotic War of 1812 significantly influenced the outcome of the campaign. The French met fierce resistance from the local population. Demoralized, deprived of the opportunity to replenish their food supplies, ragged and frozen, Napoleon's army was brutally beaten by flying and peasant partisan detachments of Russians.

Squadrons of flying hussars and detachments of peasants

The greatly stretched Napoleonic army, pursuing the retreating Russian troops, quickly became a convenient target for partisan attacks - the French often found themselves far removed from the main forces. The command of the Russian army decided to create mobile detachments to carry out sabotage behind enemy lines and deprive him of food and fodder.

During World War II, there were two main types of such detachments: flying squadrons of army cavalrymen and Cossacks, formed by order of the commander-in-chief Mikhail Kutuzov, and groups of peasant partisans, united spontaneously, without army leadership. In addition to the actual sabotage actions, the flying detachments were also engaged in reconnaissance. Peasant self-defense forces basically fought off the enemy from their villages and villages.

Denis Davydov was mistaken for a Frenchman

Denis Davydov - the most famous commander of a partisan detachment in the Patriotic War of 1812. He himself drew up a plan of action for mobile partisan formations against the Napoleonic army and offered it to Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration. The plan was simple: to annoy the enemy in his rear, to capture or destroy enemy warehouses with food and fodder, to beat small groups of the enemy.

Under the command of Davydov there were over one and a half hundred hussars and Cossacks. Already in September 1812, in the area of ​​the Smolensk village of Tsarevo-Zaimishche, they captured a French caravan of three dozen carts. More than 100 Frenchmen from the accompanying detachment were killed by Davydov's cavalrymen, another 100 were captured. This operation was followed by others, also successful.

Davydov and his team did not immediately find support from the local population: at first, the peasants mistook them for the French. The commander of the flying detachment even had to put on a peasant's caftan, hang an icon of St. Nicholas on his chest, grow a beard and switch to the language of the Russian common people - otherwise the peasants did not believe him.

Over time, the detachment of Denis Davydov increased to 300 people. The cavalry attacked the French units, sometimes having a fivefold numerical superiority, and defeated them, taking the carts and freeing the prisoners, it even happened to capture enemy artillery.

After leaving Moscow, on the orders of Kutuzov, flying partisan detachments were created everywhere. Mostly these were Cossack formations, each numbering up to 500 sabers. At the end of September, Major General Ivan Dorokhov, who commanded such a formation, captured the city of Vereya near Moscow. The combined partisan groups could withstand the large military formations of Napoleon's army. So, at the end of October, during a battle near the Smolensk village of Lyakhovo, four partisan detachments completely defeated the more than one and a half thousandth brigade of General Jean-Pierre Augereau, capturing him himself. For the French, this defeat was a terrible blow. On the contrary, this success encouraged the Russian troops and set them up for further victories.

Peasant Initiative

A significant contribution to the destruction and exhaustion of the French units was made by the peasants who organized themselves into combat detachments. Their partisan units began to form even before Kutuzov's instructions. While willingly helping the flying detachments and units of the regular Russian army with food and fodder, the peasants at the same time harmed the French everywhere and in every possible way - they exterminated enemy foragers and marauders, often, at the approaches of the enemy, they themselves burned their houses and went into the forests. Fierce resistance on the ground intensified as the demoralized French army became more and more a crowd of robbers and marauders.

One of these detachments was assembled by the dragoons Yermolai Chetvertakov. He taught the peasants how to use captured weapons, organized and successfully carried out many sabotage against the French, capturing dozens of enemy carts with food and livestock. At one time, up to 4 thousand people entered the Chetvertakov compound. And such cases when peasant partisans, led by military personnel, noble landowners, successfully operated in the rear of the Napoleonic troops, were not isolated.

While the Napoleonic troops are relaxing with drunkenness and robbery in Moscow, and the regular Russian army is retreating, making cunning maneuvers that will then allow it to rest, gather strength, significantly replenish its composition and defeat the enemy, let's talk about cudgel of the people's war, as we like to call the partisan movement of 1812 with the light hand of Leo Tolstoy.

Partisans of the Denisov detachment
Illustration for Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace
Andrey NIKOLAEV

Firstly, I would like to say that this cudgel has a very remote relation to guerrilla warfare in the form in which it existed. Namely, army partisan detachments of regular military units and Cossacks, created in the Russian army to operate in the rear and on enemy communications. Secondly, even recently reading various materials, not to mention Soviet sources, you often come across the idea that the alleged ideological inspirer and organizer of them was exclusively Denis Davydov, the famous poet and partisan of that time, who was the first to come out with a proposal to create detachments , like the spanish guerilla, through Prince Bagration to Field Marshal Kutuzov before the battle of Borodino. I must say that the dashing hussar himself put a lot of effort into this legend. Happens...

Portrait of Denis Davydov
Yuri IVANOV

In fact, the first partisan detachment in this war was created near Smolensk by order of the same Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, even before Kutuzov was appointed commander in chief. By the time Davydov turned to Bagration with a request to allow the creation of an army partisan detachment, Major General Ferdinand Fedorovich Wintzingerode (commander of the first partisan detachment) was already in full swing and successfully smashing the rear of the French. The detachment occupied the cities of Surazh, Velez, Usvyat, constantly threatened the suburbs of Vitebsk, which caused Napoleon to send the Italian division of General Pino to the aid of the Vitebsk garrison. As usual, we have forgotten the affairs of these "Germans" ...

Portrait of General Baron Ferdinand Fedorovich Wintzingerode
Unknown artist

After Borodino, in addition to Davydov's (by the way, the smallest detachment), several more were created that began active hostilities after leaving Moscow. Some detachments consisted of several regiments and could independently solve major combat missions, for example, the detachment of Major General Ivan Semenovich Dorokhov, which included dragoon, hussar and 3 cavalry regiments. Large detachments were commanded by colonels Vadbolsky, Efremov, Kudashev, captains Seslavin, Figner and others. Many glorious officers fought in partisan detachments, including future satraps(as they were previously presented to us) Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev.

Portraits of Ivan Semenovich Dorokhov and Ivan Efremovich Efremov
George Dow Unknown artist

At the beginning of October 1812, it was decided to surround the Napoleonic army with a ring of army partisan detachments, with a clear action plan and a specific area of ​​\u200b\u200bdeployment for each of them. So, Davydov's detachment was ordered to function between Smolensk and Gzhatsk, Major General Dorokhov - between Gzhatsk and Mozhaisk, Staff Captain Figner - between Mozhaisk and Moscow. In the Mozhaisk area there were also detachments of Colonel Vadbolsky and Colonel Chernozubov.

Portraits of Nikolai Danilovich Kudashev and Ivan Mikhailovich Vadbolsky
George Doe

Between Borovsk and Moscow, the detachments of Captain Seslavin and Lieutenant Fonvizin attacked the enemy's communications. To the north of Moscow, a group of detachments under the general command of General Winzingerode conducted an armed struggle. On the Ryazan road, a detachment of Colonel Efremov operated, on Serpukhovskaya - Colonel Kudashev, on Kashirskaya - Major Lesovsky. The main advantage of partisan detachments was their mobility, surprise and swiftness. They never stood in one place, they constantly moved around, and no one except the commander knew in advance when and where the detachment would go. If necessary, several detachments were temporarily united for large-scale operations.

Portraits of Alexander Samoilovich Figner and Alexander Nikitich Seslavin
Yuri IVANOV

Without detracting from the exploits of the detachment of Denis Davydov and himself, it must be said that many commanders were offended by the memoirist after the publication of his military notes, in which he often exaggerated his own merits and forgot to mention his comrades. To which Davydov simply replied: Fortunately, there is something to say about yourself, why not talk? And it's true, the organizers, Generals Barclay de Tolly and Winzingerode, passed away one after another in 1818, what to remember about them ... And written in a fascinating juicy language, the works of Denis Vasilyevich were very popular in Russia. True, Alexander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky wrote to Xenophon Polevoy in 1832: Between us, be it said, he wrote out more than cut himself the glory of a brave man.

A memoirist, and even more so a poet, and even a hussar, well, how can we do without fantasies :) So let's forgive him these little pranks? ..

Denis Davydov at the head of the partisans in the vicinity of Lyakhovo
A. TELENIK

Portrait of Denis Davydov
Alexander ORLOVSKY

In addition to partisan detachments, there was also the so-called people's war, which was waged by spontaneous self-defense detachments of the villagers and the significance of which, in my opinion, is greatly exaggerated. And it is already teeming with myths ... Now, they say, they concocted a film about the old man Vasilisa Kozhina, whose very existence is still disputed, and nothing can be said about her exploits.

But oddly enough, the same “German” Barclay de Tolly had a hand in this movement, who back in July, without waiting for instructions from above, turned through the Smolensk governor, Baron Casimir Asch, to the inhabitants of the Pskov, Smolensk and Kaluga regions with appeal:

The inhabitants of Pskov, Smolensk and Kaluga! Listen to the voice that calls you to your own comfort, to your own safety. Our irreconcilable enemy, having undertaken a greedy intention against us, fed himself hitherto with the hope that his impudence alone would be enough to frighten us, to triumph over us. But our two brave armies, stopping the daring flight of his violence, with their breasts resisted him on our ancient borders ... Avoiding a decisive battle, ... his robber gangs, attacking unarmed villagers, tyrannize over them with all the cruelty of barbarian times: they rob and burn their houses; they desecrate the temples of God... But many of the inhabitants of the province of Smolensk have already awakened from their fear. They, armed in their homes, with courage worthy of the name of the Russian, punish the villains without any mercy. Imitate them all who love themselves, the fatherland and the sovereign!

Of course, the inhabitants and the peasants behaved differently in the territories left by the Russians. When the French army approached, they moved away from home or into the forests. But often, first of all, some people ruined the estates of their tyrannical landowners (we must not forget that the peasants were serfs), robbed, set fire to, ran away in the hope that the French would come now and free them (the land was full of rumors about Napoleon’s intentions to rid the peasants of serfdom ).

Destruction of the landowner's estate. Patriotic War of 1812
The looting of the landowner's estate by the peasants after the retreat of the Russian troops before Napoleon's army
V.N. KURDYUMOV

During the retreat of our troops and the entry of the French into Russia, the landlord peasants often rose up against their masters, divided the master's estate, even tore up and burned houses, killed landowners and managers- in a word, they smashed the estates. The passing troops joined the peasants and, in turn, carried out the robbery. Our picture depicts an episode from such a joint robbery of the civilian population with the military. The action takes place in one of the rich landowners' estates. The owner himself is no longer there, and the remaining clerk was seized so that he would not interfere. The furniture was taken out into the garden and broken. The statues decorating the garden are broken; crushed flowers. There is also a barrel of wine lying around with the bottom knocked out. The wine spilled. Everyone takes whatever they want. And unnecessary things are thrown away and destroyed. A cavalryman on a horse stands and calmly looks at this picture of destruction.(original caption for illustration)

Partisans of 1812.
Boris ZVORYKIN

Where the landowners behaved like human beings, the peasants and yard people armed themselves with what they could, sometimes under the leadership of the owners themselves, attacked the French detachments, carts and rebuffed them. Some detachments were led by Russian soldiers who fell behind their units due to illness, injury, captivity and subsequent flight from it. So the audience was diverse.

Homeland Defenders
Alexander APSIT

Scouts Scouts
Alexander APSIT

It is also impossible to say that these detachments acted on a permanent basis. They organized for as long as the enemy was on their territory, and then disbanded, all for the same reason that the peasants were serfs. Indeed, even from the militias created at the behest of the emperor, runaway peasants were escorted home and subjected to trial. So the detachment of Kurin, whose exploits were sung by Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, lasted 10 days - from October 5 to October 14, until the French were in Bogorodsk district, and then was disbanded. Yes, and not the entire Russian people participated in the people's war, but only the inhabitants of several provinces where hostilities took place, or adjacent to them.

French guards under the escort of grandmother Spiridonovna
Alexey VENETSIANOV, 1813

I started this whole conversation in order, firstly, to understand that our cudgel of the people's war could not stand any comparison with the Spanish-Portuguese guerilla (you can read a little about this), which we allegedly looked up to, and, secondly, to once again show that the Patriotic War was won primarily thanks to the actions of our commanders, generals, officers , soldier. And the emperor. And not by the forces of the Gerasimov Kurins, the mythical lieutenants Rzhevskys, Vasilis Kozhins and other entertaining characters ... Although they could not do without them ... And more specifically, we will talk more about the guerrilla war ahead ...

And finally, today's picture:

Archpriest of the Cavalier Guard Regiment Gratinsky, serving a prayer service in the parish church of St. Euplas, in Moscow, in the presence of the French on September 27, 1812.
Engraving from a drawing by an unknown artist

... Wishing to create a more favorable attitude towards himself among the population, Napoleon ordered not to interfere with the celebration of worship in churches; but this was possible only in a few temples that were not touched by the enemy. From September 15, divine services were regularly performed in the church of Archdeacon Evpla (on Myasnitskaya); divine services were performed daily in the church of Kharitonius in Ogorodniki. The first evangelism in the church of Peter and Paul on Yakimanka made a particularly deep impression in Zamoskorechye...(w-l Tourist's companion No. 3, published for the centenary of the war of 1812)