Russia Against Napoleon

Russia Against Napoleon

DOMINIC LIEVEN

Russia Against Napoleon

The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace

VIKING

VIKING

Published by the Penguin Group

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First American edition

Published in 2010 by Viking Penguin,

a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Copyright © Dominic Lieven, 2009

All rights reserved

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA

Lieven, D. C. B.

Russia against Napoleon: the true story of the campaigns of War and Peace / Dominic Lieven.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN: 1-101-42938-0

1. Napoleonic Wars, 1800–1815—Campaigns—Russia. 2. Russia—History—Alexander I, 1801–1825. 3. Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828–1910. Voina i mir. I. Title.

DC235.L49 2009

940.2'70947—dc22

2009042564

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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For my courageous wife, Mikiko, and in memory of the regiments of the Imperial Russian Army who fought, suffered and triumphed in the great war of 1812–14

Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Acknowledgements

A Note on the Text

1 Introduction

2 Russia as a Great Power

3 The Russo-French Alliance

4 Preparing for War

5 The Retreat

6 Borodino and the Fall of Moscow

7 The Home Front in 1812

8 The Advance from Moscow

9 1813: The Spring Campaign

10 Rebuilding the Army

11 Europe’s Fate in the Balance

12 The Battle of Leipzig

13 The Invasion of France

14 The Fall of Napoleon

15 Conclusion

Appendix 1:

The Russian Army in June 1812

Appendix 2:

Russian Army Corps at the beginning of the autumn 1813 campaign

Notes

Bibliography

Additional Reading in English

Illustrations

Alexander I

Mikhail Barclay de Tolly

Mikhail Kutuzov

Levin von Bennigsen

Peter von Wittgenstein

Petr Rumiantsev

Karl von Nesselrode

Aleksandr Chernyshev

Christoph von Lieven

Mikhail Speransky

Aleksei Arakcheev

Dmitrii Gurev

Fedor Rostopchin

Petr Bagration

Mikhail Miloradovich

Matvei Platov

Eugen of Württemberg

Petr Volkonsky

Aleksei Ermolov

Karl von Toll

Johann von Diebitsch

Aleksandre de Langeron

Fabian von der Osten-Sacken

Ilarion Vasilchikov

Johann von Lieven

Aleksei Gorchakov

Dmitrii Lobanov-Rostovsky

Georg Kankrin

Andrei Kologrivov

Private: Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment

Private: Finland Guards Regiment

Private: Riazan Infantry Regiment

Lieutenant: field artillery of the line – heavy battery

Private: Ekaterinoslav Cuirassier Regiment

Lieutenant: Guards Dragoon Regiment

Private: Sumi Hussar Regiment

Private: Lithuania Lancer Regiment

Napoleon awards the Légion d’honneur to Private Lazarev at Tilsit

Borodino: the Raevsky Redoubt after the battle

Spring 1813: the Cossacks in Hamburg

Fère-Champenoise: the Cossack Life Guard Regiment attacks the French infantry

Picture credits:

George Dawe painting, Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images

Christoph von Lieven: British Library

Aleksei Arakcheev: British Library