by Yevgeny MEZENTSEV, Cand. Sc. (Hist.), Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences Back in 1912, as our country was celebrating the centennial of her victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon, a granite obelisk was put up near the village of Bukharino near Smolensk. It reads: "In 1812 troops of the Emperor of France Napoleon crossed here the old border of Russia on their victorious march on Moscow on August 2; on November 6 they crossed it back upon heavy defeat." Yet another century has gone by. Still, we cannot help but think back to battles fought there, at this important defense line. Many episodes are not yet clear in full, and controversial views are voiced in this context time and again. With the French Grande Armée invading our country in the early summer of 1812, the First and Second Russian Armies deployed in the west had to fall back. The commander of the First Russian Army was Michael Barclay de Tolli, the War Minister and Commander-in-Chief; the commander of the Second Army was General Bagration*. On July 22, 1812, both armies, about 130,000 strong, joined on the approaches to Smolensk. Napoleon, meanwhile, who had mustered as many as 125,000 as his strike force, stayed on at Vitebsk for two weeks to give respite to his Bicentennial of the war of 1812. An emblem. * See: Ye. Mezentsev, "The Lion of Russian Army", Science in Russia. No. 5, 2012--Ed. стр. 83 famished men, tired after forced marches. He deployed his units far apart so as to better replenish provisions and forage. Bagration suggested taking advantage of the enemy's carelessness and strike at the disjointed enemy forces before their joining together again. However, Barclay de Tolli voiced his objections to the counterstrike, he intended to proceed with the retreat, though Czar Alexander I issued an express order to act in concert with Bagration and even engage the enemy in a decisive battle. As Eugene Tarlé*, an emin ... Читать далее