On the eve of the war

Situation in Belarusian territory


Political situation in the region

Map “The incorporation of Belarus into Russia” showing territorial changes after the three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, 1793 and 1795.
Photoreproduction. Printed document. Belarusian. Atlas gistoryi Belarusi ad starazhytnastsi da nashykh dzion. Мinsk, 2006. P. 59.
(BelNITsED, collection of electronic copies of documents and materials on the history of the war of 1812)
The annexation of Belarus to Russia Map
Tadeush Kostyushko (1746-1817) – leader of the 1794 uprising in Poland, Belarus and Lithuania for the resurrection of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Portrait. Photoreproduction. Atlas gistoryi Belarusi ad starazhytnastsi da nashykh dzion. Мinsk, 2006. P. 61.
(BelNITsED, collection of electronic copies of documents and materials on the history of the war of 1812)
Tadeush Kostyushko
Assessment of the social and political situation in Belarus on the eve of the war of 1812 by M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky, the noted Russian and   Belarusian historian of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Photocopy. Printed document. M.V. Dovnar-Zapolsky. Istoriia Belorusii. Minsk, 2005. P. 284-285.
(BelNITsED, collection of electronic copies of documents and materials on the history of the war of 1812)
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Extract from the Field criminal code of the Russian Empire relating to the responsibility of inhabitants in territories occupied by the acting army.
1812.
Printed document.
(NIAB, f. 320, op. 1, d. 12, l. 11)
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Memorandum by Count Mikhail Oginsky on the restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the local administration, submitted to Alexander I (the project was approved but not officially ratified) (excerpts).
1811.
Photocopy. Printed document. Belarusian. Istoriia Belarusi v dokumentakh i materialakh. Minsk, 2000. P. 138-146.
(BelNITsED, collection of electronic copies of documents and materials on the history of the war of 1812)
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Draft edict on the new organization of the Western provinces (excerpts).
1811.
Photocopy. Printed document. Belarusian. Istoriia Belarusi v dokumentakh i materialakh. Minsk, 2000. P. 136-138.
(BelNITsED, collection of electronic copies of documents and materials on the history of the war of 1812)
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Instruction from the Minister of Police A.D. Balashov to the civil governor of Mogilev P.I. von Berg to search in Cherikov and in the province a French female “Eruka” and to pass her to the provincial secretary of St. Petersburg police Berezin to be conveyed to St. Petersburg.
4 September 1810.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2001, op. 1, d. 13, l. 94)
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Letter from the military governor of Belarus, Duke A. Wurttemberg to the civil governor of Mogilev concerning the deportation through Polangen of foreigners who appeared in the province disguised as vagabonds and applying this measure to all the suspicious foreign tramps.
30 April 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2001, op. 1, d. 21, l. 332-333 ob.)
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From I.I. Radozhytsky’s memoirs about Napoleon’s spies.  
Photocopy. Printed document. Otechestvennaia voina 1812 g. Sb. dok. i materialov. Leningrad, Moscow, 1941. P. 8.
(BGAMLI, library, № 3002)
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Circular letter from the commander in chief of the army in St. Petersburg, chief of special office at police ministry, Fok to the civil governor of Mogilev on the introduction of new procedures for making passports to travel abroad from the western areas of the Empire.
26 May 1812.
Printed document. On letterhead.
(NIAB, f. 2001, op. 1, d. 21, l. 392)
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Report from the conscription office of Pinsk district to the conscription office of Minsk province on the lack of data on donations from district residents for military needs in 1812.
13 September 1813.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 13, l. 31)
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Letter from Minister of Finance D.A. Guriev to the governor of Minsk P.M. Dobrinsky concerning money donations for military needs in the Minsk province in 1812-1813, sums of money, and purposes of expenditure.
27 October 1813.
Copy. Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 13, l. 23-24)
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Military arrangements on Belarusian lands

Instruction from M.B. Barclay de Tolly to K.I. Opperman regarding the selection of spots for a fortified camp and fortresses on the western frontier.
14 March 1810.
Photocopy. Printed document. Otechestvennaia voina 1812 g. Sb. dok. i materialov. Leningrad, Moscow, 1941. P. 2-4.
(BGAMLI, library, № 3002)
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From K. Clausewitz’s notes about the camp at Drissa (now Verkhnedvinsk).
Photocopy. Printed document. Otechestvennaia voina 1812 g. Sb. dok. i materialov. Leningrad, Moscow, 1941. P. 4-7.
(BGAMLI, library, № 3002)
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Report from the governor of Dinaburg Neidgart to the civil governor of Vitebsk P.I. Sumarokov on the number of regular and reserve regiments and battalions, officials of all ranks and travelling horses, who camped near Dinaburg for building a fortress (present-day Daugavpils, Latvia).
10 August 1810.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1430, op. 1, d. 50137, l. 253-255 ob.)
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Report from the chief of engineer expedition, military ministry, engineer major general K.I. Opperman to the engineer major general E.P. Felkerzam on completed works and further construction of the fortress.
Bobruisk. 21 October 1810.
Copy. Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 655, op. 1, d. 1, l. 334-335 ob., 341-341 ob.)
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Extract from the minutes of the Communications Council dated 14-15 December 1810 concerning the determination of borders, land roads, waterways and highways in District VI sent by the communications director, Prince G.P. Golshtinsky to the head of District VII.
Tver. 20 December 1810.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2695, op. 3, d. 28, l. 1-4)
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Extract from the minutes of the Communications Council dated 17 January 1811 concerning the determination of borders, land roads and military routes in District V sent by the communications director, Prince G.P. Golshtinsky to the head of District VII.
23 January 1811.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2695, op. 3, d. 28, l. 7-10 ob.)
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Letter from the chief of staff of the 1st Western Army, lieutenant general N.I. Lavrov to the civil governor of Minsk on giving assistance to the engineer captain A.M. Azikov in supply of materials and workers to build a bridge over the Disna River near Kozyany and sending a member of the Disna conscription office to inspect its construction because of time constraints.
Vilna. 30 May 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 1, l. 166-167)
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Letter from the Major of His Imperial Majesty’s Retinue on Quartermaster Issues Ya.P. Gaverdovsky to the civil governor of Minsk G.I. Rading on giving assistance in the description of military roads in Minsk province by order of Emperor Alexander I with an open letter signed by the Interior Minister Prince A.B. Kurakin.
Vitebsk. 26 May 1809.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 295, op. 1, d. 86, l. 1-2)
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Report from the police chief of Minsk I.F. Vishnyakov to the civil governor of Minsk G.I. Rading on submission of data to the Major of His Imperial Majesty’s Retinue on Quartermaster Issues Ya.P. Gaverdovsky on the number of houses suited for military quartering, a provisions shop and a military hospital in Minsk and the possible arrangement of a military camp in the town’s neighbourhood.
8 June 1809.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 295, op. 1, d. 86, l. 13-14 ob.)
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Instruction from the Minister of Police A.D. Balashov to the civil governor of Mogilev P.I. Berg on dispatching the junior officers to assist the senior officers commanded to the provinces of Lifland, Courland, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Minsk, Vilna, Grodno, Kiev, Volhynia, Podolia, Kherson and Bialystok to verify the map of the Russian Empire.
19 September 1810.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2001, op. 1, d. 13, l. 109-109 ob.)
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Mobilization of manpower and material resources

Register on the number of recruits from the noblemen’s and clerical estates in Minsk province in 1811 and assigned for the next recruitment.
8 January 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 320, op. 3, d. 8, l. 52)
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Edict by Emperor Alexander I to the Senate on a levy of two men out of every 500.
23 March 1812.
Printed document.
(NIAB, f. 320, op. 1, d. 12, l. 47)
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Instruction from the Minister of War Barclay de Tolly to the civil governor of Minsk Rading on a levy of one man in every 500 souls in Minsk province.
25 April 1812.
Copy. Printed document.
(NIAB, f. 320, op. 1, d. 12, l. 89)
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From the order by P.I. Bagration for the 2nd Western Army on dispatching “unnecessary loads” and the wives of officers and soldiers into the interior of the country.
1 April 1812.
Photocopy. Printed document. Otechestvennaia voina 1812 g. Sb. dok. i materialov. Leningrad, Moscow, 1941. P. 4.
(BGAMLI, library, № 3002)
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Register on the number of recruits not provided in the 1812 draft and the sums of storage money to be submitted to the recruitment office of Minsk province by monasteries, rectories and landlords in Igumen district.
11 April 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 320, op. 3, d. 8, l. 61 ob.-62)
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Letter from the quartermaster general of the 1st Western Army E.F. Kankrin to the civil governor of Minsk G.I. von Rading on submission of data on food and forage supplies, construction of military roads and reserve magazines.
Vilna. 28 April 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 1, l. 254-256)
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Proposal by the civil governor of Minsk G.I. von Rading to the conscription office of Minsk province on equalization of military duties, the use of the townsfolk, Christians and Jews on construction work in Bobruisk, Borisov and Drissa and the use of the lesser nobility in delivery of wagons for transporting the State goods.
11 May 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 1, l. 176-177)
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Proposal by the civil governor of Minsk P.M. Dobrinsky to the conscription office of Minsk province on delivery of wagons, tools, materials, 500 workers and 350 men from the districts of Slutsk and Pinsk to the town of Nesvizh for making fascines, gabions and palisades by order of the commander in chief, Second Western Army, Prince P.I. Bagration.
9 June 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 1, l. 204-205)
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Letter from the commander of the Cuirassier Lifeguard Regiment of His Emperial Majesty, Baron A.V. Rosen to the civil governor of Minsk G.I. von Rading on taking measures to furnish the regiment with forage in Vileika district.
25 April 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 1, l. 8-8 ob.)
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Instruction from the Belorussian military governor, Duke Alexander Wurttemberg to the vice-governor of Mogilev to escort a member of  the Smolensk commissariat, Vatitsky who arrived in Mogilev to visit hospitals at Bykhov and Rogachev and take measures for curing the patients of lower ranks from the Ekaterinburg and Rylsk infantry regiments.
1 March 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2001, op. 1, d. 21, l. 172-173)
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Instruction from the Belorussian military governor, Duke Alexander Wurttemberg to the civil governor of Mogilev to transfer the military hospital from the merchant Menkovich’s house in the center of Mogilev to the town’s outskirts because of possible distribution of contagious diseases.
13 March 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 2001, op. 1, d. 21, l. 206-207)
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Report from the commissar for military hospitals at Vileika and Molodechno, inspector Molokov to the conscription office of Minsk province concerning the arrangement of hospital facilities at Vileika and Molodechno and the transportation of Grodno patients to Vileika.
30 May 1812.
Manuscript.
(NIAB, f. 1537, op. 1, d. 2, l. 1-1 ob.)
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