The Patriotic War of 1812, when the French Napoleon’s army was completely defeated, went down in history as one of the largest. Despite the severe losses and considerable damage, the troops of the Russian Empire managed to reverse the adverse course of this war and defeat the enemy, driving him out of their land. And, of course, the famous Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly and Bagration made a great contribution to the victory.
After the war, many French prisoners remained in Russia, eventually settling down here and becoming Russified. Many of them then became teachers of the French language, popular with the then nobility, tutors and governors. During the Patriotic War of 1812, detachments formed from peasants often attacked Russian troops, and not by mistake. They were then serfs, and rumor said that Napoleon intended to free the peasants, so some people supported the French. The total number of Napoleon’s army that participated in the war of 1812 against Russia exceeded 500 thousand people. The French among them were about 50%, the rest were from other European countries.
Simultaneously with the attack on Moscow, the French emperor launched an attack on St. Petersburg, but on this front his troops were completely defeated. The total weight of weapons and equipment of a soldier of the Russian army in 1812 reached 45 kilograms. At the beginning of the war, Alexander I tried to personally command the troops, but he understood tactics and strategies indirectly, so the generals convinced him to return to St. Petersburg, assuring the emperor that he was more necessary in the capital. The most famous partisan during the Patriotic War of 1812 was Denis Davydov, a hussar and a poet. He and his detachment made raids on the enemy’s rear and flank, inflicting disturbing strikes and disappearing before reinforcements were pulled up to the enemy. For the enormous damage done and his elusiveness, he was even honored to become the personal enemy of Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only Kutuzov, but also Michael Barclay de Tolly made a great contribution to the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. This talented general of Scottish descent, even 5 years before the outbreak of the war, drew up a plan of military operations for the emperor in case of Napoleon’s invasion.
Winter is equally harsh on everyone. Judging by the chronicles, more than 400 thousand bodies were buried along the road from Moscow to the western frontiers, many of which became victims of frost. Of these, only about half belonged to the invaders. Borodino battle took place, first of all, as a concession to public opinion. People regarded the strategic retreat of the Russian army as a flight, and Kutuzov had to convince everyone that this was not the case). Napoleon Bonaparte twice wooed the sisters of the Russian Emperor Alexander I, 2 and 4 years before the Patriotic War of 1812, but both times he was refused. Otherwise there would probably be no war.
In his notes on the war, Emperor Alexander I wrote that the French were brave, but not accustomed to a harsh winter and no less severe deprivation. Russian noblemen in those years usually talked among themselves in French, which is why they were often shot by their own soldiers, who confused them with the enemy. During the Patriotic War of 1812, Napoleon proposed to Alexander I four times to make peace, but the Russian emperor all four times ignored his proposals, leaving them unanswered. In total, during the war about 200 thousand French were captured. Most of them decided not to return to their homeland, when the opportunity arose, since by that time they were already well settled in Russia.
