Russia Against Napoleon

50 Philippe de Ségur, History of the Expedition to Russia, 1812, 2 vols., Stroud, 2005, vol. 1, p. 255.

51 Correspondance de Napoléon Ier, vol. 24, no. 19182, p. 207.

52 Ségur, History, vol. 1, pp. 251–2. On this occasion General Gourgaud, Napoléon et la Grande Armée en Russie ou Examen critique de l’ouvrage de M. le Comte de Ségur, Paris, 1826, pp. 213–15, is wholly correct in his defence of Napoleon’s decision.

53 The official report of the regiment’s commander, Karl Bistrom, rather confuses the reader by its details, as does the regiment’s official history: Valkovich and Kapitonov (eds.), Borodino: Dokumental’naia khronika, no. 293, Bistrom to Lavrov, 31 Aug. 1812 (OS), pp. 168–70; Istoriia leib-gvardii egerskago polka za sto let 1796–1896, SPB, 1896, pp. 84–6. On Barclay, see Grabbe, Iz pamiatnykh, p. 74. For rumours, see e.g. Tartakovskii (ed.), Voennye dnevniki, p. 107, diary of Ivan Durnovo.

54 Complete casualty figures for other ranks are provided in the prilozhenie (appendix) 4 of Valkovich and Kapitonov (eds.), Borodino: Dokumental’naia khronika, pp. 332–54. On the French artillery, see A. P. Larionov, ‘Izpol’zovanie artillerii v Borodinskom srazhenii’, in K stopiatidesiatiletiiu otechestvennoi voiny, Moscow, 1962, pp. 116–31 at p. 127.

55 Jomini, Art of War, pp. 202–3.

56 T. von Bernhardi, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des kaiserlichen russischen Generals der Infanterie Carl Friedrich Grafen von Toll, 5 vols., Leipzig, 1858, vol. 4, p. 74.

57 I. Ul’ianov, 1812: Russkaia pekhota v boiu, Moscow, 2008, pp. 164–5.

58 On Kutaisov, see A. A. Smirnov, General Aleksandr Kutaisov, Moscow, 2002.

59 Thanks to their translator and editor, Alexander Mikaberidze, Ermolov’s memoirs are now available in English: The Czar’s General, Welwyn Garden City, 2007. His account of this episode is on pp. 159–61. Löwenstern’s account is in Mémoires, vol. 1, pp. 257–9.

60 On the deployment of artillery at Borodino, see Larionov, ‘Izpol’zovanie’, passim. P. Pototskii, Istoriia gvardeiskoi artillerii, SPB, 1896, pp. 181–2, explains these failings by Kutaisov’s death. For Liprandi’s views, see Kharkevich (ed.), 1812 god, vol. 2, ‘Zamechaniia I. P. Liprandi’, pp. 28–9.

61 For Paskevich’s account, see I. F. Paskevich, ‘Pokhodnyia zapiski’, in 1812 god v vospominaniiakh sovremennikov, Moscow, 1995, pp. 72–105, at pp. 102–3.

62 Pototskii, Istoriia, p. 178, for Norov’s comment. Kharkevich (ed.), 1812 god, vol. 2, pp. 176–84, for the excellent memoirs of Lieutenant-Colonel Vasilii Timofeev of the Izmailovskys. For the Finland Regiment, see S. Gulevich, Istoriia leib gvardii Finliandskago polka 1806–1906, SPB, 1906, pp. 204–20. For the Lithuania Regiment, see N. S. Pestreikov, Istoriia leib-gvardii Moskovskago polka, SPB, 1903, vol. 1, pp. 59–83.

63 Eugen, Memoiren, vol. 2, pp. 110–11; Bogdanovich, Istoriia…1812 goda, vol. 2, pp. 219, 226.

64 Together the Preobrazhenskys and Semenovskys lost fewer than 300 men on 7 Sept.: Valkovich and Kapitonov (eds.), Borodino: Dokumental’naia khronika, p. 342.

65 D. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, London, 1993, p. 807, writes that Napoleon’s decision was probably correct.

66 The most recent analysis of the second attack on the redoubt is by V. N. Zentsov, ‘Borodinskoe srazhenie: Padenie “bol’shogo reduta”’, in Borodinskoe pole: Istoriia, kul’tura, ekologiia, Moscow, 2000, pp. 31–55.

67 ‘Zhurnal uchastnika voiny 1812 goda’, VIS, 3/2, 1913, pp. 163–4.

68 Radozhitskii, Pokhodnyia zapiski, vol. 1, p. 168.

69 Valkovich and Kapitonov (eds.), Borodino: Dokumental’naia khronika, pp. 332–5. Mikaberidze, Borodino, p. 209.

70 V. M. Bezotosnyi, Donskoi generalitet i ataman Platov v 1812 godu, Moscow, 1999, pp. 33–4, 62–4, 75–83. The memoirs of Fedor Akinfov, Miloradovich’s aide-de-camp, are very useful for this period: ‘Iz vospominanii Akinfova’, in Kharkevich (ed.), 1812 god, vol. 2, pp. 205–12.