History of the war (overview)
In European history the late 18th and early 19th centuries were marked by significant political upheaval, numerous wars and territorial revisions. In the late 18th century, one of the largest states of that time – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (from the Polish word Rzeczpospolita – republic, commonwealth, common thing, which in turn derives from the Latin term Res Publica – public matter, commonwealth) disappeared from the map of Europe. This federation was formed by a union of the Kingdom of Poland (the Crown) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Duchy or Litva), which had a common government and pursued a common foreign policy, but remained autonomous in matters of administration, legislature, finance, courts, had a separate army, etc. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had a code of feudal laws, in particular the constitutional law, the Statute of 1588, which is regarded the first constitution in Europe.
The head of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who had a title of the Polish king and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russia and Samogitia, was an elected figure and had limited power. More authority was given to the representative body of the magnates and the nobility, the Diet (Parliament), whose deputies were by large elected at the provincial dietins (local assemblies). The Diet, in particular, confirmed the candidate to the throne. The privileged class, the nobility, had considerable rights, and their dispute often led to the anarchy in management of state affairs.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth has often been associated exclusively with Poland, but it is a mistaken view, since the State was composed of lands now not only in Poland but also in Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and nearly a half of Latvian territory. Both parts, the Crown (lands of Poland and Ukraine) and historical Litva (lands of present-day Belarus, over three-fourth of its territory, and lands of present-day Lithuania) were formally equal in rights. The elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the magnates and the nobility, though conscious of their Litvin origin, spoke in their circle in Polish, which was the official language of record keeping, and the Polish culture was dominant in the State. These obviously were the reasons why both in Europe and in Russia the inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were often called Poles. However the majority of the population, the serfs and townfolk, spoke their native language and kept their popular and cultural traditions. But because of their subjugated social status theses classes almost did not participate in the public life.
As a result of internal disorders caused by the struggle of the magnate groups and the anarchy among the nobility, as well as the external expansion (for example, the Russian troops were present in its territory for years), the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth increasingly weakened as the State and at the end of the 18th century ceased to exist after the three partitions made by Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795. Russia annexed the lands of Belarus, Lithuania, Right-Bank Ukraine, and Latgalia and Courland in Latvia. Prussia acquired central Poland. Austria received lands in Galicia and in southern Poland.
Nevertheless, after the partitioning of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the idea of its resurrection continued to live and the hopes flared to restore the statehood with the support of a strong ally. This could be at that time the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte of France, who waged numerous wars in attempt for European and world dominance.
The quest for hegemony inevitably led to the conflict of interests between France and other European states, often turned into military hostilities and wars in Europe. One of the participants in these wars was the Russian Empire. The French victory in the Franco-Prussian-Russian war of 1806-1807 resulted in the conclusion of a number of international treaties known as the Peace of Tilsit of 1807. Under the treaty’s terms, a new Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw, was created by Napoleon in the lands ceased by Prussia after the partitioning of the Commonwealth and now occupied by Napoleonic troops. The Duchy was under control of the French emperor and was governed by France’s ally, the king of Saxony. Russia, according to the Tilsit treaty, acquired the district of Bialystok, and consequently all ethnic Belarusian lands became part of imperial Russia.
Later, the area of the Duchy of Warsaw became a bastion in the war against Russia. In January 1812, the Duchy put forward 65,000 men to support the French army, in August another 97,000. However, the expectations for Napoleon as a politician who would assist in restoring the Polish state in corpore were not realised. He was hesitant about the recreation of its former statehood, though he refused to ratify the agreement concluded in Petersburg in 1810 that banned the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This fact caused a considerable deterioration of Franco-Russian relations.
Amidst the polonized Belarusian nobility the very fact of the existence of the Duchy of Warsaw inspired hopes for the resurrection of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, the other part of the nobility and especially the magnates showed discretion about the transformations introduced here by Napoleon, in particular the emancipation of the serfs. They believed the former statehood could be restored under the protection of Russia.
An attempt to realize these hopes was the so-called Oginski plan for the establishment of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Russian Empire, proposed to Emperor Alexander I by Senator Michal Kleofas Oginski in 1811. The plan was to create a separate province, called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, composed of eight western gubernias of Vilna, Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, Volhynia, Kiev and Podolia and the districts of Bialystok and Tarnopol. The province would be governed by imperial commissioner, and Vilna was announced its capital. There were plans to create a special Lithuanian chancellery under the emperor, to recognize the 1588 Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the main law in the province, to arrange the government exclusively from local residents, to institute the Supreme Tribunal in Vilna, and more. On the orders of Emperor Alexander the plan was designed to organize a separate Lithuanian army as part of Russian troops. The discussion of these plans aroused a strong discontent among the Russian power elite. At the beginning of 1812, the Tsar in effect rejected the idea held in the Oginski plan.
The Russo-French contradictions worsened. The Russian nobility suffered economic losses from the enforced accession to the Continental Blockade of England under the Treaty of Tilsit. A national mood of taking a revenge for the wars lost by Russia in 1805-1807 prevailed. As for the French, they were discontented because in December 1810 Russia significantly increased import duties on merchandise, including that imported from France.
Aware of the imminent war, Russia made great exertions to build up. New corps and divisions were formed. The total number of the armed forces of the Russian Empire increased in 1810-1812 by more than a half, making up nearly a million men. These also included thousands of recruits from Belarusian lands. As an example, in 1811 their number was 14,750. The work proceeded on cartography and military engineering in the areas along the Western Dvina, Dnieper and Berezina rivers, the future possible theatre of military actions. Under construction were the new fortresses at Dinaburg (now Daugavpils) and Bobruisk, a military camp at Drissa (now Verkhnedvinsk), the bridges across the Berezina at Borisov, fortifications at Rogachev and other localities. Large stocks of provisions were gathered in magazines in Belarusian territory.
Various strategic plans were designed with view to different methods of future warfare, both an offensive, in the area of the Duchy of Warsaw, and a defensive, in the territory of the Western provinces. Nearly two dozens of them were submitted to Emperor Alexander I for consideration, but none was officially approved.
Napoleon examined several strategic plans of warfare, too. In late 1811, he came to the conclusion about the necessity of advancing his troops into territory of the Duchy of Warsaw under the threat of its invasion by Russia, and about the possible attack on the Russian Empire aiming to force her strictly obey the terms of Tilsit in the continental blockade of England and to reduce the duties on French merchandise.
At the beginning of 1812, France succeeded to sign the treaties of alliance with Prussia and Austria, who could now not act as Russia’s allies. The Russian Empire concluded an agreement with Sweden and more importantly a peace treaty with Turkey, which made possible in future to use the Army of the Danube against Napoleon.
On 10 June (22 June New Style) 1812, France declared war on Russia. On the night of 12 (24) June, Napoleon’s troops began to cross the river Niemen in the area of Kovno (now Kaunas). The offensive of Napoleon’s army was started by the main group of troops marching on Vilna (now Vilnius). This consisted of two armies: the northern army under the personal command of Napoleon Bonaparte (about 220,000 men, 527 guns) and the central army under Eugene de Beauharnais (about 85,000 men, 208 guns). The southern army under Jerome Bonaparte (about 80,000 men, 159 guns) was tasked to advance in the area of Grodno to prevent the junction of Russian troops and their joint resistance to Napoleon’s main forces. On the left wing was J. MacDonald’s Corps; on the right, K. Schwarzenberg’s Corps. Napoleon’s multinational army was composed of the French, Saxons, Bavarians, Spaniards, Poles, Italians, Portuguese and other nations. There were 297 battalions of the French infantry, as opposed to 307 “non-French” battalions. 38,000 troops of French cavalry were supplemented by 42,000 cavalrymen from other European countries. In Russia, this multinational army would be called “an invasion of twelve languages”.
Opposing Napoleon’s army was the Russian First Western Army under the command of M.B. Barclay de Tolly (some 120,000 men, 580 guns, headquarters in Vilna) and the Second Western Army under P.I. Bagration (about 49,000 men, 168 guns, headquarters in the area of Volkovysk). Communication between the armies was effected by the Cossack Corps under M.I. Platov (about 6,000 men) stationed in the area of Grodno. The Third Reserve Army under A.P. Tormasov was deployed in Volhynia in north-western Ukraine. The supreme commander in chief of the Russian armies was Emperor Alexander I, who in May arrived to the position of the First Western Army.
By 15 (27) June, the whole northern group of French troops had crossed the Niemen. Aware of the superior strength of the enemy, the command of the First Western Army began a retreat. On 13 (25) June, the army set out towards Sventsyany and Braslav. Barclay de Tolly’s troops were pursued by Napoleon’s vanguard under the command of Joachim Murat. On 16 (28) June, Napoleon’s troops took Vilna without fighting. For political reasons, the right to be the first to enter the city was given by the French emperor to the Regiment of Polish Lancers under the command of Dominik Radziwill, Lord of the Nesvizh entail.
On 15 (27) June, Jerome Bonaparte’s troops entered into combat and the next day they took Grodno. Platov drew back his corps to Ivye.
On 17-20 June (29 June-2 July), E. Beauharnais’s troops crossed the Niemen and joined the main army.
“The experience of the past battles and the situation on our frontiers urges us to prefer a defensive war against an offensive in view of the great resources built up by the enemy on the banks of the Vistula… These factors make us avoid the major battle until Prince Bagration joins the First Army…”, – this tactics based on the plan by Barclay de Tolly, according to the statement of the Russian Army HQs, had been adopted already in the first days of the hostilities.
On 18 (30) June 1812, the command of the Second Western Army received a rescript by Emperor Alexander I ordering to march on Novogrudok and Vileika to effect the junction with the First Army.
Napoleon delayed his troops in the vicinity of Vilna assuming the Russian Second Western Army would attempt to join the First Army in the shortest time not moving far from the frontier, and it is here they would give them a battle, cutting off the way for junction. On 19 June (1 July), the French Corps under Louis-Nicolas Davout captured Oshmyany and then Volozhin. On 26 June (8 July), they occupied Minsk. Bagration directed his troops on Slonim and Novogrudok with the purpose to march towards Minsk. Davout however managed to rally considerable forces in this area. Bagration and Platov did not dare to attack and marched off towards Korelichi and Mir. The pursuing main forces under Jerome Bonaparte were left far behind.
The First Western Army abandoned Sventsyany and marched on Drissa (now Verkhnedvinsk), where an entrenched camp was arranged shortly before the war. Thus, the Russian troops abandoned the whole of Vilna and Grodno provinces almost without fighting but totally preserved their combat strength. They proceeded eastward, engaging mainly in rearguard clashes. Napoleon failed to take advantage of his much superior numeric strength and his strategic initiative and did not crush the Russian troops piecemeal in the battles near the frontier.
On 27-28 June (9-10 July) 1812, the Cossack Corps under Platov, who covered the withdrawal of the Second Western Army, clashed with the Division of Polish Lancers under General Rozniecki in the battle of Mir. The Cossacks ambuscaded, crushed the enemy (some 600 killed) and pursued them for long distance, nearly two hundred men were taken prisoner. This was the first Russian victory in the war.
On the southern flank the hostilities were initially not connected with the situation in the central direction. On 22 June (4 July) 1812, the Austrian Corps under Karl Schwarzenberg, left here by Napoleon to protect the Duchy of Warsaw, seized Brest-Litovsk and was further to march by Slonim and Nesvizh to join the main army. To cover it from the possible actions of the Third Reserve Army, the Saxon Corps under Jean Reynier was dispatched from Nesvizh to Pruzhany.
For several days the First Western Army stayed in the camp at Drissa. It is in this vicinity that the Russian army was initially expected to stop Napoleon. Yet, the Council of War held here with the participation of Emperor Alexander I was forced to make a different decision in view of the critical analysis of the camp’s position, errors in its construction, and the estimate of the enemy’s strength.
Having left behind in the area of Drissa–Polotsk for the protection of the strategic direction on Petersburg the Corps commanded by Wittgenstein (some 25,000 men), from this time to late November effecting as a separate army, on 2 (14) July Barclay de Tolly directed his forces towards Vitebsk. Emperor Alexander I departed for Petersburg.
On 6-8 (18-20) July, the Second Western Army was present in Bobruisk, abandoned here the wounded and sick, replenished their provisions. Bagration attempted to reach Mogilev ahead of the French army in order to cross there the Dnieper and march further for the junction with the First Army in the vicinity of Vitebsk. But Davout’s Corps was first to enter Mogilev on 8 (20) July. South of the town, on 9-11 (21-23) July the Corps under N.N. Rayevsky and Davout’s forces engaged in a battle near the village of Soltanovka and the township of Dashkovka. In the fierce fighting the Russians lost over 2,500 men, the French casualties were between 3,000 and 5,000. Though outnumbered, Rayevsky managed to delay the enemy, making possible for the Second Western Army to cross the Dnieper near the village of Novy Bykhov and to move further towards Smolensk.
On 14 (26) July 1812, Platov’s Cossack Corps, effecting as a rearguard of the 2nd Army, conducted another successful action against the troops of J. Bonaparte and J. Poniatowski at the township of Romanovo (now the village of Lenino, Slutsk district), having crushed the two regiments.
On 3 (15) July, the Third Army under A.P. Tormasov entered into combat. Shcherbatov’s squadron pushed Napoleon’s troops out of Brest-Litovsk. From Volhynia the army moved further on Kobrin. On 15 (27) July, in the town and its environs the battle of Kobrin was fought between the Russian divisions under K.O. Lambert and E.I. Chaplits and the Saxon Corps under J. Reynier. The Russian troops took Kobrin, having lost less than 100 men, while the Saxon casualties were around 2,000.
On 13-14 (25-26) July 1812, a bitter fighting took place not far from Vitebsk near the villages of Ostrovno and Kukovyachino, Senno district, Mogilev province (now in Beshenkovichi district, Vitebsk region) between Murat’s advanced guard and the Russian corps under A.I. Ostermann-Tolstoy. The Russians lost nearly 4,000 men, the French losses were over 3,000. On the second day of the battle arrived Napoleon and personally led the pursuit of the retreating elements. Napoleon’s troops were nonetheless held back for a day, making possible for Barclay de Tolly’s main forces to withdraw to Vitebsk and march off to Smolensk. On 16 (28) July, Napoleon’s troops captured Vitebsk. For some time in the city stayed the French emperor, who told his generals of his intention to finish here the campaign of 1812. But soon afterward he changed his resolution.
From Dinaburg (now Daugavpils, Latvia) through Braslav and Miory advanced the Napoleonic Corps under Nicolas Oudinot. The commander of the Russian Corps, Wittgenstein initially put against him a single squadron under Ya.P. Kulnev. On 14 (26) July, Oudinot’s troops captured Polotsk. His further plan was to march on Sebezh to cut off Wittgenstein from withdrawal towards Petersburg. The Russian troops attempted to break through at any cost. The fights at the village of Klyastitsy took place on 18-20 July (30 July-1 August) 1812. Kulnev was mortally wounded. The losses on both sides were between 4,000 and 5,000 men. The Russian troops nevertheless won the first and only one victory over the superior forces of the enemy.
After the victory at Klyastitsy Wittgenstein commanded his troops towards Polotsk, despite the fact that Oudinot’s Corps was reinforced with the Bavarian Corps under Gouvion Saint-Cyr. On 30 July (11 August), the advance guards of Wittgenstein and Oudinot clashed in battle near the township of Svolna at the bank of the river of the same name, resulting in the withdrawal of Napoleon’s troops, who lost 1,500 men killed and wounded. The Russian losses were between 500 and 700 men.
The Russian First and Second Western Armies united on 22 July (3 August) at Smolensk, and on 26 July (7 August) conducted an offensive operation in the direction of Vitebsk. While the Russians were advancing on Vitebsk, the French emperor determined to take advantage of the situation, adandoned this town on 31 July (12 August) and advanced his troops on Smolensk. The battle of Smolensk took place on 4-6 (16-18) August. Napoleon saw it as a general battle, but Barclay de Tolly, aiming to preserve the army intact as possible, commanded to abandon Smolensk. By different estimates, the French army lost between 14,000 and 20,000 men. The Russian losses were some 10,000 men.
On 31 July (12 August), at the villages of Gorodechno and Poddubno (now in Pruzhany district) the battle of Gorodechno took place between Tormasov’s Third Army and Napoleon’s Austrian Corps under Schwarzenberg and the Saxon Corps under Reynier. The Russian army suffered a defeat and was forced to abandon the area of Grodno province. On 1 (13) August, the Napoleon troops entered Kobrin, on 4 (16) August they recaptured Brest-Litovsk, on 6 (18) August, Malorita. Yet, the actions of the Russian Third Army forced Napoleon to hold the sizeable forces on the southern flank.
The fights in Belarusian territory proceeded on 5-6 (17-18) August at the first battle of Polotsk. Wittgenstein’s troops assaulting Polotsk were again opposed by the corps of Saint-Cyr and Oudinot. The battle lasted for 14 hours with no decisive victory on either side. The both sides had considerable losses, the Russians suffered some 5,500 men, as opposed to 8,000 French and Bavarians. Wittgenstein failed to recapture Polotsk and drew back his troops to Drissa. Yet, in the issue of the battle the French were forced to reject the idea of advancing towards Petersburg.
On 23 August (4 September), the French division under J. Dombrowski began a siege of the Bobruisk fortress. The fortress garrison led by the military governor G.A. Ignatyev and commandant A.F. Berg comprised about 5,000 troops and 330 guns. The defense of Bobruisk lasted until 30 September (12 October); the fortress was never taken but drew to itself the enemy’s elements and provided protection to F. Ertel’s Corps, who covered Rechitsa where the civil administration of Minsk province was seated.
The Russian troops abandoned Smolensk and marched off towards Moscow. On 8 (20) August, M.I. Kutuzov was appointed the commander in chief of the Russian army, on 17 (29) August he arrived to the army.
The major battle of Borodino was fought on 26 August (7 September) 1812. The both sides suffered great losses. The Russians stroke a heavy blow to the enemy but were forced to abandon Moscow on 2 (14) September. After a month, the exhausted Napoleon’s forces abandoned Moscow, too.
On 7 (19) September 1812, Tormasov’s Third Army joined Chichagov’s Danube Army. Chichagov was appointed the commander of the united Third Western Army (about 60,000 troops), which took Brest on 30 September (12 October).
On 28-29 September (10-11 October), Wittgenstein’s forces were reinforced by the Corps under F.D. Steinheil and the squadron under I.M. Bergichev. The total strength reached 55,000 men. On 5 (17) October, they approached Polotsk, which garrisoned 30,000 to 32,000 French troops. On 6-8 (18-20) October, in the bloody fights at the second battle of Polotsk, the Russian troops took Polotsk. The Russians lost 8,000 men in killed and wounded, the French casualties were 4,000 killed and wounded and over 2,000 prisoners. The victors received large depots of provisions and ammunition.
After the fights at Tarutino on 6 (18) October and at Maloyaroslavets on 12 (24) October not far from Moscow, the strategic initiative in the war totally passed to the Russians. The Russian army began an offensive.
On abandoning Polotsk, the French Oudinot’s Corps pursued by Wittgenstein’s forces drew back to Chashniki, where it joined Victor’s Corps. On 17 (29) October 1812, near the town of Lepel, Wittgenstein’s Corps merged with Steinheil’s Corps that followed it. On 19 (31) October, the battle was raged in the vicinity of Chashniki. As a consequence, the French troops drew back to the village of Chereya aiming to cover Napoleon’s troops on the retreat from Orsha to Borisov.
According to Kutuzov’s general plan, the Third Army was to march on Minsk and then jointly with Wittgenstein’s Corps to encircle Napoleon’s forces and cut off their retreat towards Vilna.
The squadron commanded by E.I. Chaplits of the Third Army was dispatched to raid the enemy’s rear. On 8 (20) October, the battle of Slonim was fought between Chaplits’ squadron and one of the best regiments of Napoleon’s Lithuanian army commanded by J. Konopka. The Russians took Slonim, Konopka’s regiment was defeated, and its commander was taken prisoner.
On 18 (30) October, Chichagov’s Third Army marched off to Slonim by Pruzhany. Osten-Sacken’s troops were left behind in Brest.
During the advance of the Third Army towards Minsk the battle of Koidanovo took place on the road Nesvizh-Minsk between the Third Army’s vanguard commanded by K. Lambert and the French-Polish detachment commanded by F. Kossecki. On 1 (13) November 1812, the Russians took Novy Sverzhen, and on 3 (15) Koidanovo (now Dzerzhinsk). On 4 (16) November, the Third Army took Minsk, having captured the large stores of provisions and ammunition.
K. Schwarzenberg attempted to organize the pursuit of Chichagov’s troops. However, the effective maneuvers of Osten-Sacken’s group ruined his plans. In late October (early November), Napoleon’s forces unsuccessfully attempted to neutralize the Russian army in the clashes with Reynier’s Corps near Vysokoe, Rudnya and Gornostaevichi. On 3-4 (15-16) November, Osten-Sacken’s group in a rash attack took the town of Volkovysk, attempted to hold it but was forced to withdraw. The casualties on both sides at the battle of Volkovysk were between 2,000 and 3,000 men. On 13 (25) November, Osten-Sacken’s troops were crushed at Brest and retreated to Volhynia. Yet, Schwarzenberg was forced to reject the pursuit of Chichagov’s army and the latter was capable to reach Minsk and Borisov and take part in the Berezina operation.
On abandoning Moscow, Napoleon’s troops followed by the Russians began to withdraw to Smolensk along the road devastated by the war. They lost almost all horses, starvation and mass disease thrived, the severe frosts increased the mortality. About 50,000 soldiers under arms and almost the same number of stragglers reached Smolensk. At the battle of Krasnoe on 4-6 (16-18) November Napoleon’s troops lost almost half of effective soldiers more. Yet, they managed to force through into Belarusian territory in the direction of Dubrovno and Orsha. On 7 (19) November, Napoleon’s advanced guard entered Orsha.
Kutuzov’s plan was to encircle and destroy Napoleon’s army from several directions. Kutuzov’s army marched from the east, Chichagov from the southwest, and Wittgenstein from the north. Chichagov’s army took Minsk and cut off Napoleon’s retreat through this town. It was further to join Wittgenstein’s Corps near Dokshitsy and wait there for the arrival of Napoleon’s troops.
In November 1812, the Russian army undertook the offensive operation of Berezina, as a result of which Napoleon’s forces greatly reduced in their strength. The main forces of Napoleon (over 30,000 men and nearly the same number of non-combatants) were against Kutuzov’s troops (some 50,000 men). Chichagov’s army (about 35,000 men) was opposed mainly by the Polish troops (about 9,000 men, in particular Dombrowski’s squadron). Wittgenstein’s reinforced corps (some 40,000 men) fought against Victor’s and Oudinot’s corps (in all, some 25,000 men).
On 9-11 (21-23) November, Chichagov’s Third Western Army had a battle with Napoleon’s troops composed of the local garrison reinforced by the garrison of Minsk and Dombrovski’s squadron for the possession of the town of Borisov, the largest water barrier on the route of retreating Napoleon’s army. In the fierce fighting on 10 (22) November Chichagov’s troops captured the town but the next day were forced to withdraw pressured by upcoming Oudinot’s corps. Borisov was burned and destroyed. The Russian army lost some 3,000 men, while the Polish and French casualties were some 5,000 men. Wittgenstein’s corps did not provide sufficient support to the troops of the Third Army.
On the first day of the battle of Borisov, Napoleon’s main army departed from Orsha and marched on Tolochin and further on Borisov. The French emperor arrived in Borisov on 13 (25) November. Victor’s corps joined the main forces. Napoleon’s army was tasked to cross the river Berezina.
Only on 12-14 (24-26) November, Kutuzov’s army crossed in the area of Kopys to the right bank of the Dnieper. Wittgenstein’s Corps moved slowly and approached the enemy’s rearguard only on 14 (26) November, too.
On the Berezina above Borisov at the village of Studenka the French began to prepare to cross the river. They undertook efforts to misinform the Russian command about the place of their future crossing. Napoleon’s troops constructed two bridges from the peasant huts demolished in Studenka and organized the crossing of the Berezina on 14-16 (26-28) November. In the second half of the day of 15 (27) November and on 16 (28) November, the fierce fighting was raged on the both sides of the river. From the Russian side – Chaplits’s squadron and other elements of the Third Western Army, Wittgenstein’s vanguard, and a partisan cavalry squadron commanded by A.N. Seslavin. From the French side – the division under L. Partouneaux and the corps under Victor, Oudinot and Ney. The French managed to pass their most effective units, Napoleon’s Guard, to the right bank in the vicinity of the village of Brili and on 15 (27) November Napoleon himself passed the river. In the morning of 17 (29) November, his soldiers set the bridges on fire and fell back towards Zembin, Pleshchenitsy and Molodechno.
Despite the exertions, Chichagov’s army could not essentially prevent the crossing. The Russians lost between 6,000 and 9,000 men. Napoleon’s losses were 40,000 to 50,000 men, including 10,000 killed in combat. On the left bank of the river remained a great number of stragglers and civilians who followed the army, many drowned during the crossing. The Berezina operation ultimately determined the victory of the Russian army in the war.
The remainder of Napoleon’s troops (no more than 10,000 men) withdrew towards Molodechno and Smorgon. On 21 November (3 December), Napoleon arrived in Molodechno and on 23 November (5 December) was present in Smorgon, where he assigned the command of the army to Marshal J. Murat and departed for Paris.
On 22-23 November (4-5 December) 1812, in the actions near the township of Molodechno the Russian troops under Platov and Chaplits defeated Napoleon’s troops, having captured about 500 prisoners. The forces of Chichagov’s army and Ermolov’s squadron further assisted them. On 23 November (5 December), the Russians forced into Molodechno. Some 2,5000 men were taken prisoner.
On 28 November (10 December) 1812, Chaplits’s advanced corps of the Third Western Army pushed the remnants of Napoleon’s troops out of Vilna. The main headquarters of Kutuzov’s army was set up in the city. On 10 (22) December, Emperor Alexander I arrived here. The War of 1812 was over.
With Napoleon’s troops approaching, Russian officials and some landlords left their homes for safer places. As an example, the administrative officials of Minsk province moved into the district center of Mozyr, which eventually remained untouched by the wave of hostilities. The institutional archives and the State treasury were evacuated wherever possible. Thousands of carts were requisitioned from the inhabitants for military needs. The sick and wounded were transported into the interior of the country. A large military hospital was arranged in Bobruisk.
In the regions occupied by Napoleon’s troops a considerable part of the inhabitants – many magnates, the middle nobility, townsfolk – met the Napoleonic troops as their liberators, powerful to restore the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Emperor’s Order dated 19 June (1 July) 1812 decreed the establishment in Vilna of the supreme body of civil administration under French control – the Provisional Government of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (also termed the Provisional Government Commission of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or the Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission, etc.). This body was in charge of the provinces of Vilna, Grodno, Minsk and Bialystok, renamed into departments and subdivided into districts. Its power did not extend over the provinces of Vitebsk and Mogilev, which were governed by separate administrative commissions within the Vitebsk and Mogilev departments. Napoleon foresaw the possibility of ceding the Vitebsk and Mogilev regions to Emperor Alexander I in the future political trade in exchange for a truncated Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The Provisional Government was composed of seven committees: provisions and magazines, finances, police, military, legal, internal affairs, and educational and religious affairs, in addition to a general secretary. The Government was headed by S. Soltan, but because of his illness his duties were for long time executed by the military governor general of Lithuania, D. van Hogendorp. The imperial commissioner at the Provisional Government was L. Bignon, whose functions included the political administration in the region. The Provisional Government exerted control over the central and local administrative agencies in the four departments. The language of record keeping was Polish.
On 2 (14) July 1812, the Provisional Government announced the joining to the General Confederation of 1812, a political union of the magnates and the nobility in the Duchy of Warsaw, aiming to awaken the national liberation movement and mobilize the material resources in the event of war between France and Russia. The Confederation’s Act proclaimed the restoration of the Polish kingdom and those who served Russia were urged to abandon it. However, Napoleon did not support the unification of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Duchy of Warsaw. The Provisional Government for both objective and subjective reasons failed to launch a full-scale activity for the resurrection of the former statehood.
The main functions of the Provisional Government included the formation of the armed forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the supply of provisions, forages and transport for Napoleon’s troops, the organization of legal procedure and public education in the controlled territories etc.
Napoleon was in demand of soldiers. The Emperor’s order directed the Provisional Government to organize the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – the troops composed of five infantry regiments and four cavalry regiments. 500,000 francs were allocated for these purposes. Each department was tasked to supply a fixed number of recruits. Four Lancer regiments, a Light Horse Regiment, a Tartar Squadron, and three Chasseur battalions were formed. The noblemen joined the troops voluntarily. The National Guard was announced to be formed in the department centers and in the towns based on Magdeburg Law. The decree of the Provisional Government obliged all inhabitants to pay the so-called personal one time offering for the formation of the army. Separate army units were raised at the own expenses of some magnates and noblemen. By October, the fully manned units had totaled around 20,000 men, and additional units were still in the process of formation.
With the beginning of the Russian offensive, the army of the Provisional Government of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was mainly engaged in the actions against the Russian Third Western Army. After several unsuccessful clashes with the Russian troops, in order to avoid the destruction of separate units piecemeal, all the troops located in the departments of Bialystok, Vilna and Grodno were massed in the area of Vilna.
The Minsk formations of the Grand Duchy’s army took part in the battle of Studenka and the crossing of the Berezina, ending in heavy losses.
After the battles for Vilna, the remnants of the Duchy’s army proceeded westward together with the retreating French.
Another important task assigned by Napoleon on the Provisional Government was procuring supplies for the army. Napoleon’s troops rapidly ran out of their personal provisions and the soldiers began to resort to plundering. In attempt to resist a widely spread marauding, Napoleon as early as 8 (20) July issued an order directing the trial and execution of criminals. The pillaging however did not stop.
According to the official requisitions, the population had to supply 3 mln poods of rye, 2.5 mln poods of hay, 53,000 heads of cattle, hundred barrels of cereals, vodka and salt for the army’s needs. To fill the treasury, the Provisional Government obliged the inhabitants to pay not only newly established taxes but also the arrears formed during the Russian rule.
Over time the hostile attitude to the new administration and Napoleon’s troops intensified. Many enormous requisitions and pillaging kindled the discontent and resistance. The inhabitants hid their provisions and escaped to the woods. Plunders and marauding especially intensified during the retreat of Napoleon’s army. The hungry, frost-bitten and sick soldiers seized everything they came across, demolished the peasant huts for firewood, and thus flared the resistance of the local populace.
On the French-controlled territory there operated the guerrilla groups of Belarusian peasants, who rebelled most often not only against the French foragers, but also against their own masters and the hard exploitation that had not ceased in the wartime. After all, Napoleon did not dare to abolish the serfdom, as he did in the Duchy of Warsaw. In the time the peasant disturbances also occurred in Belarusian territory not occupied by Napoleon’s troops.
Immediately after the expulsion of Napoleon’s troops in Belarusian territory the measures were taken to restore the order of the Russian Empire and to liquidate the consequences of the war. Kutuzov proposed to Emperor Alexander I to confiscate the estates of Napoleon’s collaborators and pass them over to the Russian generals. Alexander however did not agree. By an imperial manifesto dated 12 (24) December 1812, the Russian tsar granted amnesty to the inhabitants of Western provinces who participated in the war on Napoleon’s side, under the condition they would return home within the two months. The property of those who remained abroad was subject to confiscation. These people numbered over 200. The sequestration commissions were formed. The further manifesto dated 30 August (11 September) 1814 announced a complete and unconditional amnesty. The property of the estates that had already been confiscated or sequestered was returned to their owners.
The provinces of Belarus remained in the state of martial law. The war continued beyond the borders of the Russian Empire and across their territory incessantly marched the great masses of troops which had to be procured with provisions, forages, horses, carts etc. The burden fell on both the local peasants and the landlords.
As early as December 1812, the provisional executive commission began to function, and in January 1813 the inventory commissions. Their purpose was to estimate the damage inflicted by the war on landowners and taking this into account to adjust the extent of supplies for the Russian army. Yet, the tax burden on the inhabitants did not weaken. Only in late 1813, on orders of Emperor Alexander I, the size of the war damage was finally fixed and the measures were administered to restore the welfare of the population – first of all, it was proposed to exempt from taxes or to reduce their size. Consequently, peasants were exempted from tax arrears for 1812 and 1813, and landlords were excused from profit arrears for 1812-1814.
The war of 1812 had extremely damaging social and economic consequences for Belarus.
As a result of the 1812 war, the population of Belarus suffered great losses. According to some estimates, the number of casualties was about one million, that is nearly one-fourth of the population. In some districts the losses were more considerable: in Mogilev district – approx. 32%, in Oshmyany, 27%. People also died of the disease here unknown before the war. For example, one-fourth of the inhabitants died in Rogachev district. A great number of corpses were still to be buried and burned until the spring of 1813. The number of the population returned to the prewar figures only 20 years after the war.
The financial damage to Belarusian provinces attributable to the war is estimated at 152,975,594 roubles 79 copecks. This sum includes the cost of the destructed and plundered property, losses from requisition supplies, loss of cattle, harvest destruction etc.
Plundering and requisitions especially damaged the agriculture. In the spring of 1813 many farmers had no seeds to plant crops. The sown areas dwindled almost by half. The commerce sharply reduced, many merchants lost their property. The living standards sharply fell down.
Many towns and villages were destructed or burned down. The most devastated were Oshmyany and Braslav districts in Vilna province, Vitebsk and Polotsk in Vitebsk province, Brest and Kobrin in Grodno province, Borisov, Vileika and Disna in Minsk province, Babinovichi, Kopys and Orsha in Mogilev province.
The massive numbers of prisoners of war were held at the expense of local funds in each province. Some were captured in combat but many weak and sick soldiers were abandoned in villages and townships under the care of the inhabitants. Many prisoners died, some were sent to the provinces in central Russia, but a great number remained in Belarusian territory. They had to be procured with food. Clothes and footwear for each prisoner cost about 50 roubles, and there were thousands of them. As early as 1813, prisoners began gradually to return home. But many entered the service of Russia and adopted Russian citizenship.
The memory of the war of 1812 remains alive in Belarus. To mark the 200th anniversary of the war a committee was set out under the aegis of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus to prepare and execute memorable events and projects.
This war is commemorated in nearly thirty memorial objects most often located at the sites of battles. Many monuments to Russian soldiers were erected on the 100th anniversary of military operations and some on the 150th anniversary. Jubilee medals were coined to honour the centenary of the war.
The war of 1812 is under research by Belarusian scholars. In Belarus this topic is addressed in many scholarly and popular editions and discussed at various conferences and readings, including on international scale.
The war of 1812 has been portrayed in fiction works by Belarusian authors and dramatical plays staged at Belarusian theatres.
After the two centuries the Franco-Russian confrontation acquired a different look in the eyes of descendants. In the 1990s and 2000s, at the site of the crossing of the Berezina the monuments were erected to commemorate the fallen soldiers and officers of Napoleon’s army. The participants at memorable events have included the Embassy of France, members of historical clubs from Belarus, France, Russia and other countries etc.
A notable fact is that in 2002 on the left bank of the Berezina at the village of Studenka, Borisov district the monument was erected to commemorate all victims of the war of 1812 (sculptor A. Artimovich, architect I. Morozov).