Battle of Borodino: Presidential Library preserved memory about “the battle of giants”

206 years ago, September 7 (August 26, in the Julian calendar) of 1812, the famous Battle of Borodino took place. From the historical essay "The Battle of Borodino August 26, 1812" published on the Presidential Library portal, you can find out that Napoleon called it "the battle of giants". In turn, in "The Battle of Borodino" book of 1861, I. P. Liprandi mentions about "a gigantic battle that does not represent another similar since the invention of firearms".     

The Presidential Library builds a large collection of materials dedicated to the year 1812. These are electronic copies of documents, rare books, portraits of military commanders, photographs of battlefields, radio and TV programs that help to look at those distant events through the eyes of their participants, from generals to simple artillerymen. 

"There were many magnificent and strategic descriptions of the Battle of Borodino but details of private figures were hidden, modest Russians are silent and let the light judge their prowess", - foreword to N. Lubenkov's essay "The Story of the Artilleryman on the Borodino affair" of 1837 edition is said.   

However, even the artilleryman writes about the war of 1812 so exalted that it is time to compare it with the poem "Borodino" by M. Y. Lermontov, apparently it is a feature of that time: "The dawn was engaged in blood pall, the left bivouacs steamed, burned out like the life of the wounded. The armies were in battle order, our guns were loaded, the fatal wicks were already smoking, the sun was also rising, it gilded, our weapons caressed ... "

The Battle of Borodino is considered the general battle of the campaign of 1812. More details is available in the "Description of the Battle of Borodino, August 24-26, 1812" Lieutenant-General Karl Tol.

In turn, N. P. Mikhnevich in "The Battle of Borodino" book (1912) notes that the both sides were waiting for the battle royal.

As a result, the French failed to defeat the Russians, but "the losses suffered by both sides in this battle were truly terrible. Out of the Russian army, 58,000 fighters were killed and wounded, and the French lost about 50,000. The trophies were the same: we took 13 French guns, the French 15 of ours", - writes P. M. Adrianov in the book “The Borodino Fight” (1912), available in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library.

Of particular interest is part of the collection, dedicated to the life of Russian society during the war. Here can find out how differently people treated both Napoleon and the French.

"My fellow citizens, my people! Magnanimous, intrepid, virtuous descendants of the ancient Ross! <...> Napoleon, this proud, insatiable and bloodthirsty lord of power, this indomitable scourge of humanity, with cunning in the heart and with flattery in his mouth, bears Russia eternal chains and fetters!"- it is said in the "Proclamation to the compatriots found at the foot of the monument of the prince of Italy Count Suvorov-Rymniksky" - a proclamation composed by an unknown patriot, where he refers to Alexander I’s manifesto on July 6 (18), 1812.

But already in October 1812, when Napoleon lost, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, M. I. Kutuzov, showed respect for the French in a letter to the Chief of Staff of Napoleon's army, Marshal Berthier. In this document, he also talks about the national character of the Patriotic War in Russia: "It's hard to stop people who are fierce with all that it sees, people who for 300 years did not know wars on their land that is ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the homeland and who does not distinguish between what is accepted and what is not accepted in ordinary war. As for the armies under my command, I hope, Count, that everyone recognizes in their way of acting the rules that characterize the brave, honest and generous people".

Kutuzov's report of November 22, 1812 details on war pattern when the population was withdrawn arms in a number of provinces. "People of those places tried to get their own weapons, in order to protect themselves from the invasion of the enemy", - writes the Field Marshal General to the tsar and admits that he not only did not interfere with that, he even encouraged. Now, when "the enemy by the will of the Almighty has already completely retired", the military commander called on not only to take out the guns from the people, but to determine for them "a commensurate payment".

Many materials of the Presidential Library are dedicated to the militia. The landlords equipped their peasants in the army, snipers formed from among the hunters, and the clergy went to the troops. Moreover, the Presidential Library collections provide access to medals, coins and monuments in memory of the military exploits of the Russian army.