The Patriotic War of 1812, or the Russian Campaign of Napoleon as it was called on the West, occupies one of the most remarkable places in the century-old and reach of events Russian history. The Patriotic War of 1812 had become the beginning of the end of Napoleon's Empire; Russia had become the place of the destruction of the Great Army.

Many events were contained in this heroic epoch: long and heavy retreat of the Russian armies in land, a bitterness of defeats of the first months of the campaign, the tragedy of the surrender of Moscow to the enemy, the triumph and the joy after enemy's proscription from the limits of Motherland.

The officially given reason for the invasion was Napoleon's desire to defeat Britain. Because of Britain's power at sea, Napoleon could not even think about overcoming her without powerful allies on the Continent. Russia was a key power that did not cooperate in closing her ports from British trade and thus enabled Britain to survive Napoleon's tactics.

Another and perhaps a more important reason was that Napoleon's and Alexander's interests were in competition when it came to acquiring new territory. Alexander I resented Napoleon's seizure of Oldenburg on the German coast and was suspicious of Napoleon's plans about Poland. Alexander himself had absorbed a large portion of Poland, which made Napoleon fear that Alexander might want to take the rest of it, too.

Marshals Mikhail Kutuzov war the key figure of the Patriotic War of 1812. Kutuzov became the Russian army commander at the age of sixty-seven years. He has generally been described as a corpulent, lethargic and yet shrewd and intelligent general. Whereas Napoleon generally sought major engagements, Kutuzov's strategy was to wear down the French by continuous minor engagements while retreating and preserving his own troops. Under public pressure, he occasionally actually fought the enemy, e.g. at Borodino, but he never seemed to take advantage of his minor victories and really try to destroy the enemy.

All of Russia knew the names of those War Heroes. One could write a heroic ode to each of them. They were the subject of celebratory lines in the poem by Marina Tsvetaeva dedicated to the battle of Borodino:
“…Three hundred defeated -three!
Only the corpse did not rise from the earth.
You were children and heroes,
You could do anything!..”

Aleksei Ermolov (1777-1861) was an outstanding military figure and one of the most popular people of his age. During the Patriotic War of 1812 Ermolov participated in all the major military action. In the heat of the battle of Borodino, Kutuzov sent him to the left flank, in the 2nd army, where Bagration was heavily wounded, and Ermolov was able to overcome the disarray in the ranks of the troops.

After seeing that Raevsky’s central battery had been taken by the French, he organized a counter attack, took the battery and led its defense until he himself suffered a contusion from a canister of shot.

Battle of Borodino

Napoleon was anxious for a major battle that he felt would deliver Russia over to him. Initially, he felt that Smolensk would be that town. He met fierce and heroic resistance there. But the Russians made a strategic retreat from the town setting it on fire and leaving few supplies and only a handful of people. Napoleon was sure that he had the Russian troops on the run and that it would only be a matter of time.

Napoleon's hope for battle was rewarded at Borodino. It was one of the major battles of the War of 1812 in Russia. The Russian commander Kutuzov, following the surrender of Smolensk to the French forces, made the decision to stage a decisive battle against the Napoleonic army.

Battle of Borodino on September 7, 1812 was the peak of the glory of the 1812 Patriotic War. It determined the outcome of the war against Napoleon. Thousands of soldiers from the whole of Russia withstood the army of Napoleon. The battle lasted 6 hours.

Napoleon called it “the battle of giants”. Later, being in exile, French Emperor had recognized, that from 50 battles, given by him “In the battle under Moscow the greatest valour was displained and the least success was gained. The French had shown themselves deserved to gain the victory, but the Russia had got the right fully deserved to be invincible.”


Battle at Borodino, Peter von Hess, Hermitage Gallery.

Artillery played a central part at the battle of Borodino. At the later stages of the battle staggering numbers of guns were assembled by each side to pulverize the opponent. By the afternoon of 7 September, Napoleon concentrated some 300 cannon against Bagration’s positions on the Russian left flank and Rayevky’s redoubt in the center. Russians replied with over 300 guns.

The death toll was catastrophic -- 58,000 Russian troop members died and nearly 50,000 Napoleonic forces including 47 generals. Both sides claimed victory. But Napoleon had failed in his attempt to totally destroy the Russian army. The Russians continued to retreat and Napoleon became convinced that Moscow would herald the end of the Russian war effort.

Till our days, Borodino is a symbol of greatness of the Russian spirit and object of the national proud.

As news came that Russians were approaching Moscow, Napoleon decided that a hasty retreat to Paris was in order and left the city. However his retret t from Russia would be far from pleasant.