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
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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
Alexandre de Langeron and Fabian von der Osten-Sacken: British Library
Andrei Kologrivov: British Library
Albrecht Adam sketch: AKG Images
V. Bezotosny
Don Cossack Life Guard Club/Courbevoie
Maps
1 The Campaign of 1812
2 The Campaign of Autumn 1813
3 Europe in May 1812
4 The Smolensk Region
5 The Borodino Battlefield
6 The Crossing of the Berezina
7 The Campaign of Spring 1813