The unsuccessful start of the war and the retreat of the Russian army deep into its territory showed that the enemy could hardly be overthrown by the forces of regular troops alone. This required the efforts of the entire people. In the overwhelming majority of the regions occupied by the enemy, he perceived the "Great Army" not as his liberator from serfdom, but as an enslaver. The next invasion of "aliens" was perceived by the overwhelming majority of the population as an invasion aimed at eradicating the Orthodox faith and affirming godlessness.

Speaking about the partisan movement in the war of 1812, it should be clarified that the partisans themselves were temporary detachments of military personnel of regular units and Cossacks, purposefully and orderly created by the Russian command for actions in the rear and on enemy communications. And to describe the actions of the spontaneously created self-defense units of the villagers, the term "people's war" was introduced. Therefore, the popular movement in the Patriotic War of 1812 is part of more common theme "The People in the War of the Twelfth Year."

Some authors associate the beginning of the partisan movement in 1812 with the manifesto of July 6, 1812, as if allowing the peasants to take up arms and actively participate in the struggle. In reality, the situation was somewhat different.

Even before the start of the war, the lieutenant colonel had drawn up a note on the conduct of an active partisan war. In 1811, the work of the Prussian colonel Valentini "The Little War" was published in Russian. However, the Russian army looked at the partisans with a considerable degree of skepticism, seeing in the partisan movement "a pernicious system of fragmentation of the army."

People's war

With the invasion of Napoleonic hordes, the locals initially simply left the villages and went into forests and areas far from military operations. Later, retreating through the Smolensk lands, the commander of the Russian 1st Western Army called on his compatriots to take up arms against the invaders. His proclamation, which apparently was drawn up on the basis of the work of the Prussian colonel Valentini, indicated how to act against the enemy and how to wage a partisan war.

It arose spontaneously and was a performance of small scattered detachments of local residents and soldiers lagging behind their units against the plundering actions of the rear units of the Napoleonic army. Trying to protect their property and food supplies, the population was forced to resort to self-defense. According to the memoirs, “in every village the gates were locked; with them stood young and old with pitchforks, stakes, axes, and some of them with firearms. "

French foragers sent to the villages for food did not only encounter passive resistance. In the region of Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev detachments of peasants made frequent day and night raids on enemy carts, destroyed his foragers, and captured French soldiers.

Later, the Smolensk province was also plundered. Some researchers believe that it was from that moment that the war became patriotic for the Russian people. Here popular resistance also acquired the widest scope. It began in Krasnensky, Porechsky districts, and then in Belsky, Sychevsky, Roslavl, Gzhatsky and Vyazemsky districts. At first, before the appeal of M. B. Barclay de Tolly, the peasants were afraid to arm themselves, fearing that they would then be brought to justice. However, this process was subsequently intensified.

Partisans in the Patriotic War of 1812
Unknown artist. 1st quarter of the 19th century

In the city of White and Belsk Uyezd, peasant detachments attacked the French parties making their way to them, destroyed them or took them prisoner. The leaders of the Sychevsk detachments, police chief Boguslavsky and retired major Yemelyanov, armed their villagers with rifles taken from the French, established proper order and discipline. The Sychevsk partisans attacked the enemy 15 times in two weeks (from August 18 to September 1). During this time, they killed 572 soldiers and captured 325 people.

The inhabitants of the Roslavl district created several horse and foot peasant detachments, equipping the villagers with lances, sabers and rifles. They not only defended their district from the enemy, but also attacked the marauders who made their way into the neighboring Yelnensky district. Many peasant detachments operated in the Yukhnovsky district. Having organized defense along the river. Ugra, they blocked the enemy's path in Kaluga, provided substantial assistance to the army partisan detachment of D.V. Davydov.

In the Gzhatsk district, another detachment, created from peasants, was actively operating, and at the head of which was an ordinary Kiev dragoon regiment. Chetvertakov's detachment began not only to protect villages from marauders, but to attack the enemy, inflicting tangible losses on him. As a result, in the entire area 35 versts from the Gzhatskaya pier, the lands were not ravaged, despite the fact that all the surrounding villages were in ruins. For this feat, the inhabitants of those places "with sensitive gratitude" called Chetvertakov "the savior of the other side."

Private Eremenko did the same. With the help of the landowner s. Michulovo, by the name of Krechetov, he also organized a peasant detachment, with which on October 30 he exterminated 47 people from the enemy.

The actions of peasant detachments became especially active during the stay of the Russian army in Tarutino. At this time, they widely deployed a front of struggle in the Smolensk, Moscow, Ryazan and Kaluga provinces.

Fight of Mozhaisk peasants with French soldiers during and after the Battle of Borodino. Colorized engraving by an unknown artist. 1830s

In the Zvenigorod district, peasant detachments destroyed and captured more than 2 thousand French soldiers. Here the detachments became famous, the leaders of which were the volost head Ivan Andreev and the centenary Pavel Ivanov. In the Volokolamsk district, such detachments were led by retired non-commissioned officer Novikov and private Nemchinov, volost head Mikhail Fedorov, peasants Akim Fedorov, Philip Mikhailov, Kuzma Kuzmin and Gerasim Semenov. In the Bronnitsky district of the Moscow province, peasant detachments united up to 2 thousand people. History has preserved for us the names of the most distinguished peasants from the Bronnitskaya district: Mikhail Andreev, Vasily Kirillov, Sidor Timofeev, Yakov Kondratyev, Vladimir Afanasyev.

Don't cover it up! Let me come! Artist V.V. Vereshchagin. 1887-1895

The largest peasant detachment in the Moscow region was a detachment of the Bogorodsk partisans. In one of the first publications in 1813 about the formation of this detachment, it was written that "the economic volosts Vokhnovskaya head, the centenary Ivan Chushkin and the peasant, the Amerevsky head Emelyan Vasiliev gathered the peasants subordinate to them, and the neighboring ones were also invited."

The detachment consisted of about 6 thousand people; the peasant Gerasim Kurin became the leader of this detachment. His detachment and other smaller detachments not only reliably defended the entire Bogorodsk district from the penetration of French marauders, but also entered into an armed struggle with the enemy troops.

It should be noted that even women took part in sorties against the enemy. Subsequently, these episodes were overgrown with legends and in some cases did not even remotely resemble real events. A typical example is s, to which the popular rumor and propaganda of that time attributed no less than the leadership of the peasant detachment, which in reality was not.

French guards under the escort of grandmother Spiridonovna. A.G. Venetsianov. 1813 g.

A gift to children in memory of the events of 1812. Caricature from I.I. Terebeneva

Peasant and partisan detachments fettered the actions of Napoleon's troops, inflicted damage on the enemy's manpower, and destroyed military property. The Smolensk road, which remained the only protected postal route leading from Moscow to the west, was constantly raided by them. They intercepted French correspondence, especially valuable ones delivered to the headquarters of the Russian army.

The actions of the peasants were highly appreciated by the Russian command. "The peasants," he wrote, "from the villages adjacent to the theater of war inflict the greatest harm on the enemy ... They kill the enemy in great numbers, and the captured are taken to the army."

Partisans in 1812 Artist B. Zvorykin. 1911 g.

According to various estimates, more than 15 thousand people were taken prisoner by peasant formations, the same number were exterminated, and significant stocks of fodder and weapons were destroyed.

In 1812. Captive French. Hood. THEM. Pryanishnikov. 1873 g.

During the war, many active members of peasant detachments were awarded. Emperor Alexander I ordered to reward the people subordinate to the column: 23 people "in charge" - with insignia of the Military Order (St. George's Crosses), and the other 27 people - with a special silver medal "For Love of the Fatherland" on the Vladimir ribbon.

Thus, as a result of the actions of military and peasant detachments, as well as militia warriors, the enemy was deprived of the opportunity to expand the zone he controlled and create additional bases to supply the main forces. He failed to gain a foothold either in Bogorodsk, or in Dmitrov, or in Voskresensk. His attempt to obtain additional communication, which would connect the main forces with the corps of Schwarzenberg and Rainier, was thwarted. The enemy also failed to capture Bryansk and reach Kiev.

Army guerrilla units

Army partisan detachments also played an important role in the Patriotic War of 1812. The idea of \u200b\u200btheir creation arose even before the Battle of Borodino, and was the result of an analysis of the actions of individual cavalry units, at the behest of circumstances, fell on the enemy's rear communications.

The first partisan actions were begun by the general from the cavalry, who formed the "flying corps". Later, on August 2, already M.B. Barclay de Tolly ordered the creation of a detachment under the command of a general. He headed the united Kazan Dragoon, Stavropol, Kalmyk and three Cossack regiments, which began to operate in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Dukhovshchina on the flanks and in the rear of the enemy. Its number was 1300 people.

Later, the main task partisan units was formulated by M.I. Kutuzov: “Since now the autumn time is coming, through which the movement of a large army becomes completely difficult, then I decided, avoiding a general battle, to wage a small war, because the enemy's separate forces and his oversight give me more ways to destroy him, and in order to now 50 versts from Moscow with the main forces, I am giving away important units in the direction of Mozhaisk, Vyazma and Smolensk. "

Army partisan detachments were created mainly from the most mobile Cossack units and were unequal in size: from 50 to 500 people or more. They were assigned the task of disrupting communications, destroying it with sudden actions behind enemy lines. manpower, strike at the garrisons, suitable reserves, deprive the enemy of the opportunity to get food and fodder for themselves, monitor the movement of troops and report this to the headquarters of the Russian army. As far as possible, interaction was organized between the commanders of the partisan detachments.

The main advantage of the partisan detachments was their mobility. They never stood in one place, being constantly on the move, and no one, except the commander, knew in advance when and where the detachment would go. The actions of the partisans were sudden and swift.

Partisan detachments of D.V. Davydova, etc.

The personification of the entire partisan movement was the detachment of the commander of the Akhtyrka hussar regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Denis Davydov.

The tactics of the actions of his partisan detachment combined a swift maneuver and striking an enemy unprepared for battle. To ensure secrecy, the partisan detachment had to be on the march almost constantly.

The first successful actions encouraged the partisans, and Davydov decided to make an attack on some enemy wagon train going along the main Smolensk road. On September 3 (15), 1812, a battle took place near Tsarev-Zaymishche on the Great Smolensk road, during which the partisans captured 119 soldiers and two officers. At the disposal of the partisans were 10 provisions carts and a cart with cartridges.

M.I. Kutuzov closely followed the brave actions of Davydov and attached great importance to the expansion of the partisan struggle.

In addition to the Davydov detachment, there were many other well-known and successfully operating partisan detachments. In the fall of 1812, they surrounded the French army in a continuous moving ring. The flying detachments included 36 Cossack and 7 cavalry regiments, 5 squadrons and a team of light horse artillery, 5 infantry regiments, 3 battalions of rangers and 22 regimental guns. Thus, Kutuzov gave the guerrilla war a broader scope.

Most often, partisan detachments ambushed and attacked enemy transports and carts, captured couriers, and freed Russian prisoners. Every day, the commander-in-chief received reports on the direction of movement and actions of enemy detachments, broken mail, interrogation protocols of prisoners and other information about the enemy, which were reflected in the war log.

A partisan detachment of Captain A.S. Figner. Young, educated, well-versed in French, German and Italian, he found himself in the fight against a foreign enemy, without fear of perishing.

From the north, Moscow was blocked by a large detachment of General F.F. Vintsingerode, who, allocating small detachments to Volokolamsk, to the Yaroslavl and Dmitrovskaya roads, blocked the access of Napoleon's troops to the northern regions of the Moscow region.

With the withdrawal of the main forces of the Russian army, Kutuzov from the area of \u200b\u200bKrasnaya Pakhra moved to the Mozhaisk road to the area with. Perkhushkovo, located 27 versts from Moscow, the detachment of Major General I.S. Dorokhov, consisting of three Cossack, hussar and dragoon regiments and half a company of artillery with the aim of "making an attack, trying to destroy the enemy parks." Dorokhov was instructed not only to observe this road, but also to inflict blows on the enemy.

The actions of Dorokhov's detachment were approved in the main apartment of the Russian army. On the first day alone, he managed to destroy 2 cavalry squadrons, 86 loading wagons, capture 11 officers and 450 privates, intercept 3 couriers, and recapture 6 pounds of church silver.

Having withdrawn the army to the Tarutino position, Kutuzov formed several more army partisan detachments, in particular detachments, and. The actions of these units were of great importance.

Colonel N. D. Kudashev with two Cossack regiments was sent to the Serpukhov and Kolomna roads. His detachment, having established that there are about 2,500 French soldiers and officers in the village of Nikolskoye, suddenly attacked the enemy, killed more than 100 people and took 200 prisoners.

The roads between Borovsk and Moscow were controlled by the detachment of Captain A.N. Seslavin. He and a detachment of 500 people (250 Don Cossacks and a squadron of the Sumy hussar regiment) were instructed to operate in the area of \u200b\u200bthe road from Borovsk to Moscow, coordinating their actions with the detachment of A.S. Figner.

In the area of \u200b\u200bMozhaisk and to the south, a detachment of Colonel I.M. Vadbolsky as part of the Mariupol hussar regiment and 500 Cossacks. He advanced to the village of Kubinsky to attack the enemy carts and drive away his party, seizing the road to Ruza.

In addition, a detachment of a lieutenant colonel of 300 people was also sent to the Mozhaisk region. To the north, in the Volokolamsk area, a detachment of the colonel operated, near Ruza - a major, behind Klin in the direction of the Yaroslavl tract - Cossack detachments of a military sergeant major, near Voskresensk - Major Figlev.

Thus, the army was surrounded by a continuous ring of partisan detachments, which prevented it from foraging in the vicinity of Moscow, as a result of which a massive death of horses was observed in the enemy troops, and demoralization increased. This was one of the reasons for Napoleon's abandonment of Moscow.

The partisans A.N. Seslavin. At the same time, he, being in the forest near the village. Fomichevo, personally saw Napoleon himself, which he immediately reported. The advancement of Napoleon to the new Kaluga road and the cover detachments (the corps with the remnants of the vanguard) were immediately reported to M.I. Kutuzov.

An important discovery of the partisan Seslavin. Unknown artist. 1820s.

Kutuzov sent Dokhturov to Borovsk. However, on the way, Dokhturov learned about the occupation of Borovsk by the French. Then he went to Maloyaroslavets to prevent the enemy from advancing to Kaluga. The main forces of the Russian army also began to move there.

After a 12-hour march, D.S. By the evening of October 11 (23), Dokhturov approached Spassky and joined up with the Cossacks. And in the morning he entered the battle on the streets of Maloyaroslavets, after which the French had only one road to retreat - Old Smolenskaya. And then be late for the report of A.N. Seslavin, the French would have bypassed the Russian army near Maloyaroslavets, and what would then have been the further course of the war is unknown ...

By this time, the partisan detachments were consolidated into three large parties. One of them, under the command of Major General I.S. Dorokhova, consisting of five infantry battalions, four cavalry squadrons, two Cossack regiments with eight guns, on September 28 (October 10), 1812, went to the assault on Vereya. The enemy took up arms only when the Russian partisans had already burst into the city. Vereya was liberated, and about 400 people of the Westphalian regiment with the banner were taken prisoner.

Monument to I.S. Dorokhov in the town of Verey. The sculptor S.S. Alyoshin. 1957 g.

Continuous impact on the enemy was of great importance. From 2 (14) September to 1 (13) October, according to various estimates, the enemy lost only about 2.5 thousand people killed, 6.5 thousand French were taken prisoner. Their losses increased every day in connection with the active actions of peasant and partisan detachments.

To ensure the transportation of ammunition, food and fodder, as well as safety on the roads, the French command had to allocate significant forces. Taken together, all this had a significant impact on the moral and psychological state of the French army, which deteriorated every day.

The great success of the partisans is rightfully considered the battle at the village. Lyakhovo west of Yelnya, which occurred on October 28 (November 9). In it, partisans D.V. Davydova, A.N. Seslavin and A.S. Figner, reinforced by regiments, 3280 in total, attacked Augereau's brigade. After a stubborn battle, the entire brigade (2 thousand soldiers, 60 officers and Augereau himself) surrendered. This was the first time an entire enemy military unit was surrendered.

The rest of the partisan forces also appeared incessantly on both sides of the road and harassed the French vanguard with their shots. Davydov's detachment, like the detachments of other commanders, all the time followed on the heels of the enemy army. The colonel, following on the right flank of the Napoleonic army, was ordered to go ahead, warning the enemy and raid individual detachments when they stopped. A large partisan detachment was sent to Smolensk in order to destroy enemy stores, carts and individual detachments. From the rear, the French were pursued by the Cossacks M.I. Platova.

No less vigorously, partisan detachments were used to complete the campaign to expel Napoleon's army from Russia. Detachment A.P. Ozharovsky was supposed to capture the city of Mogilev, where there were large rear warehouses of the enemy. On November 12 (24), his cavalry broke into the city. And two days later the partisans D.V. Davydov was interrupted by communication between Orsha and Mogilev. Detachment A.N. Seslavin, together with the regular army, liberated Borisov and, pursuing the enemy, approached the Berezina.

At the end of December, the entire detachment of Davydov, on the orders of Kutuzov, joined the vanguard of the main forces of the army as his vanguard.

The partisan war that unfolded near Moscow made a significant contribution to the victory over Napoleon's army and the expulsion of the enemy from Russia.

Material prepared by the Research Institute (Military History)
Military academy General Staff RF Armed Forces

The most massive form of the struggle of the masses of Russia against the invaders was the struggle for food. From the very first days of the invasion, the French demanded from the population a large amount of bread and fodder to supply the army. But the peasants did not want to give their grain to the enemy. Despite a good harvest, most of the fields in Lithuania, Belarus and the Smolensk region remained unharvested. On October 4, the police chief of the Berezinskaya sub-prefecture, Dombrovsky, wrote: "I am ordered to deliver everything, but there is nowhere to take ... There is a lot of grain in the fields, not harvested because of the disobedience of the peasants."

From passive forms of resistance, the peasants are increasingly beginning to move to active, armed ones. Everywhere - from the western border to Moscow - peasant partisan detachments began to emerge. There were even areas in the occupied territory where there was no French or Russian administration and which were controlled by partisan detachments: Borisov district in the Minsk province, Gzhatsky and Sychevsky districts in Smolensk, Vokhonskaya volost and the vicinity of the Ko-Lotsky monastery in Moscow. Typically, such detachments were headed by wounded or lagging behind due to illness, career soldiers or non-commissioned officers. One of such large partisan detachments (up to 4 thousand people) was led in the Gzhatsk region by "soldier Eremey Chetvertakov."
Eremey Vasilyevich Chetvertakov was an ordinary soldier of the dragoon cavalry regiment, which in August 1812 was part of the rearguard of the Russian army under the command of General Konovnitsyn. In one of such skirmishes on August 31 with the vanguard of French troops rushing to Moscow, near the village of Tsarevo-Zaimishche, the squadron in which Chetvertakov was located was in a difficult situation: it was surrounded by French dragoons. A bloody battle ensued. Paving its way with sabers and pistol fire, a small Russian squadron escaped from the encirclement, but at the very last moment a horse was killed near Chetvertakov. Falling, she crushed the rider, and he was taken prisoner by the enemy dragoons who surrounded him. Chetvertakov was sent to a prisoner of war camp near Gzhatsk.

But the Russian soldier was not like that to come to terms with captivity. Guard duty in the camp was carried out by forcibly 172 Dalmatian Slavs mobilized into the "great army", who only became "French" in 1811, after the inclusion of the so-called Illyrian provinces on the Adriatic coast - Dalmatia - into the French Empire. Chetvertakov quickly found a common language with them and on the fourth day of captivity, with the help of one of the guard soldiers, fled.

At first, Eremey Vasilyevich tried to break through to his own. But it turned out to be a difficult matter - horse and foot patrols of the enemy loomed everywhere. Then the savvy soldier made his way through the forest paths from the Smolensk road to the south and went out to the village of Zadkovo. Without waiting for any order, Chetvertakov, at his own peril and risk, began to create a partisan detachment from the inhabitants of this village. The serfs all as one responded to the call of a seasoned soldier, but Chetvertakov understood that one impulse was not enough to fight a strong and well-trained enemy. After all, none of these patriots knew how to wield a weapon, and the horse for them was only a draft force to plow, mow, transport a cart or sleigh.

Almost no one knew how to ride, and speed of movement, maneuverability were the key to success partisan... Chetvertakov began by creating a "partisan school". To begin with, he taught his wards the elements of cavalry riding and the simplest commands. Then, under his supervision, the village blacksmith forged several makeshift Cossack peaks. But I also had to get firearms. In the village, of course, he was not. Where to get? Only the enemy.

And now 50 of the best trained guerrillas on horseback, armed with homemade pikes and axes, made their first raid under cover of night. Napoleon's troops marched along the Smolensk road in a continuous stream to the Borodino field. To attack such an armada is suicide, although everyone was impatient and eager to fight. Not far from the road, in the forest, Chetvertakov decided to set up an ambush, expecting that some small group of the enemy would deviate from the route in search of food and forage for the horses. And so it happened. About 12 French cuirassiers left the road and went deep into the forest, heading for the nearest village of Kravnoy. And suddenly trees fell in the path of the cavalrymen. Shouting "Ambush! Ambush!" the cuirassiers were about to turn back, but even here, on their way, centuries-old spruces fell right on the road. Trap! No sooner had the French come to their senses than bearded men with pikes and axes flew at them from all sides. The fight was short. All 12 died on a deaf forest road. The partisans got ten excellent cavalry horses, 12 carbines and 24 pistols with a supply of charges for them.

But the Russian dragoon was in no hurry - after all, none of his army had ever held a cavalry carbine or pistol in his hands. First you had to learn how to use a weapon. Chetvertakov himself spent two whole years studying this science in the recruits of the reserve dragoon regiment: he learned to load, shoot from a horse, from the ground, standing and lying, and not just shoot at God's light as a pretty penny, but aiming. Eremey took his detachment back to the partisan base in Zadkovo. Here he opened the "second class" of his "partisan school" - he taught the peasants to use firearms. Time was running out, and there were few powder charges. Therefore, the course is accelerated.

They hung armor on the trees and began to shoot at them as if they were targets. The peasants did not have time to practice shooting a couple of times when a sentinel galloped on a lathered horse: "The French are going to the village!" Indeed, a large detachment of French foragers, led by an officer and a whole column of provisions wagons, was moving through the forest towards Zadkovo.

Eremey Chetvertakov gave the first military command - "In the gun!" There are twice as many Frenchmen, but the guerrillas are on the side of ingenuity and knowledge of the area. Again an ambush, again a short battle, this time with shooting no longer at targets, and again success: 15 invaders remain lying on the road, the rest hurriedly flee, leaving ammunition and weapons. Now it was possible to fight in earnest!

Rumors about the successes of the Zadkovo partisans under the command of a dashing dragoon who escaped from captivity spread widely throughout the district. Not even two weeks have passed since the day last fighthow peasants from all the surrounding villages reached out to Chetvertakov: "Take it, father, at your own command." Soon, Chetvertakov's partisan detachment reached three hundred people. A simple soldier showed remarkable commanding thinking and ingenuity. He divided his squad into two parts. One carried out a patrol service on the border of the partisan region, preventing small groups of foragers and marauders from entering it.
Another became a "flying detachment" that raided the enemy's rear, in the vicinity of Gzhatsk, to the Kolotsky monastery, to the city of Medyn.

The partisan detachment grew continuously. By October 1812, he had already reached a number of almost 4 thousand people (a whole partisan regiment!), This allowed Chetvertakov not to limit himself to the destruction of small gangs of marauders, but to smash large military formations. So, at the end of October, he utterly defeated a battalion of French infantry with two cannons, captured food stolen by the invaders and a whole herd of cattle taken from the peasants.

During the French occupation of the Smolensk province, most of the Gzhatsky district was free from invaders - partisans vigilantly guarded the borders of their "partisan land". Chetvertakov himself turned out to be extremely humble man... When the army Napoleon Hastily fled from Moscow along the Old Smolensk road, the dragoon gathered his army, bowed deeply to them "for service to the tsar and the fatherland", dismissed the partisans to their homes, and he himself rushed to catch up with the Russian army. In Mogilev, where General A.S. Kologrivov formed reserve cavalry units, Chetvertakov was assigned to the Kiev dragoon regiment, as an experienced soldier, promoted to non-commissioned officers. But no one knew that he was one of the heroes-partisans of the Patriotic War of 1812. Only in 1813, after the peasants-partisans of the Gzhatsk district themselves turned to the authorities with a request to note the merits of "Chetvertak" (this was his partisan nickname) as "the savior of the Gzhatsky district", who again became the commander-in-chief after the death of M.I.Kutuzov M. B. Barclay de Tolly awarded "the Kiev dragoon regiment of non-commissioned officer Chetvertakov for his exploits, rendered in 1812 against the enemy, the insignia of the Military Order" (St. George's Cross, the highest award of the soldiers of the Russian army). Chetvertakov fought bravely during the overseas campaign of the Russian army in 1813-1814. and ended the war in Paris. The partisan detachment of Eremey Chetvertakov was not the only one. In the same Smolensk province in the Sychevsky district, a partisan detachment of 400 people was led by a retired Suvorov soldier S. Emelyanov... The detachment fought 15 battles, destroyed 572 enemy soldiers and captured 325 people. But often ordinary peasants also became the head of the partisan detachments. For example, a large detachment of the peasant Gerasim Kurin was operating in the Moscow province. What particularly struck the invaders was the participation of women in the partisan movement. History has preserved to this day the exploits of the headman of the Gorshkov farm in the Sychevsky district of the Smolensk province, Vasilisa Kozhina. She was matched by the "lacemaker Praskoveya" (her last name remained unknown) from the village of Sokolovo of the same Smolensk province.

Especially many partisan detachments arose in the Moscow province after the occupation of Moscow by the French. The partisans no longer limited themselves to ambush attacks on individual foragers, but fought real battles with the invaders. For example, a detachment of Gerasim Kurin fought such continuous battles from September 25 to October 1, 1812. On October 1, partisans (500 cavalry and 5 thousand on foot) in a battle near the village of Pavlov Posad defeated a large detachment of French foragers. 20 carts, 40 horses, 85 guns, 120 pistols, etc. were captured. The enemy was missing more than two hundred soldiers.
For your selfless actions Gerasim Kurin received St. George cross from the hands of M.I.Kutuzov himself.

It was a rare case of awarding a non-military person, and even a serf man. Along with the peasant partisan detachments, on the initiative of Barclay de Tolly and Kutuzov, in August 1812, the so-called military (flying) partisan detachments began to be created from regular and irregular (Cossacks, Tatars, Bashkirs, Kalmyks) troops.

Troop guerrilla units... Seeing the stretching of the enemy's communications, the absence of a continuous line of defense, the roads not protected by the enemy, the Russian military command decided to use this to deliver strikes with small flying cavalry detachments sent to the rear of the "great army". The first such detachments were created even before the Battle of Smolensk by Barclay de Tolly (on August 4 - the military partisan detachment of F.F. Vintzengerode). The Vincengerode detachment operated at first in the rear of the French troops in the region of Vitebsk and Polotsk, and after leaving Moscow, it urgently moved to the St. Petersburg road directly in the vicinity of the "second capital". Then a detachment of military partisans of I.I.Dibich 1st was created, operating in the Smolensk province. These were large detachments, combining from six, like Wincenerode, to two, like Diebitsch, cavalry regiments. Along with them, small (150-250 people) mobile mounted military partisan teams operated. The initiator of their creation was the famous poet-partisan Denis Davydovsupported by Bagration and Kutuzov... Davydov also led the first such agile detachment of 200 hussars and Cossacks shortly before the Battle of Borodino.

Davydov's detachment operated at first against small 180 enemy groups (forage teams, small carts, etc.). Gradually, Davydov's team overgrown at the expense of the repulsed Russian prisoners. "In the absence of Russian uniforms, I dressed them in French uniforms and armed them with French rifles, leaving them with Russian caps instead of shakos," he wrote later D. Davydov... "Soon Davydov had 500 men. This allowed him to increase the scope of operations. On September 12, 1812, Davydov's detachment defeated a large enemy train in the Vyazma region. 276 soldiers, 32 carts, two wagons with cartridges and 340 rifles were captured. Davydov handed over to the militia.

The French were seriously alarmed, seeing the successful actions of Davydov's detachment in the Vyazma area. For his defeat, a 2,000-strong punitive detachment was allocated, but all efforts were in vain - local peasants warned Davydov in time, and he left the punitive forces, continuing to smash the enemy's carts and beating off Russian prisoners of war. Subsequently, D. V. Davydov summarized and systematized the military results of actions of military partisans in two of his works of 1821: "Experience of the theory of partisan actions" and "Diary of partisan actions of 1812", where he rightly emphasized the significant effect of this new for the 19th century forms of war to defeat the enemy.
The successes of the military partisans prompted Kutuzov to actively use this form of fighting the enemy during the retreat from Borodino to Moscow. So a large detachment of military partisans (4 cavalry regiments) arose under the command of another famous partisan, General I.S.Dorokhov.

Dorokhov's detachment successfully smashed enemy transports on the Smolensk road from September 14 to September 14, capturing more than 1.4 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. Major operation detachment Dorokhova was the defeat of the French garrison in the city of Vereya on September 19, 1812. The Westphalian regiment guarding the city from Junot's corps was utterly defeated. It is characteristic that the peasant partisan detachment of the Borovsk district took part in the assault along with the military partisans.

The obvious successes of the detachments of Davydov and Dorokhov, and the rumor of their victories quickly spread throughout all the central provinces of Russia and in the Russian army, stimulated the creation of new detachments of military partisans. During his stay at the Tarutino position, Kutu Zov created several more such detachments: captains A. N. Seslavin and A. S. Figner, colonels I. M. Vadbolsky, I. F. Chernozubov, V. I. Prendel, N. D. Kudashev and others. All of them operated on the roads leading to Moscow.
Figner's detachment acted especially boldly. The commander of this detachment himself was distinguished by unbridled courage. Even during the retreat from Moscow, Figner obtained permission from Kutuzov to remain in the capital to commit an assassination attempt on Napoleon. Disguised as a merchant, he watched Napoleon's headquarters in Moscow day after day, at the same time creating a small detachment of urban partisans. The detachment smashed the guards of the invaders at night. Figner failed to make an attempt on Napoleon's life, but he successfully applied his experience as a military intelligence officer, leading the partisans. Hiding his small team in the forest, the commander himself, in the uniform of a French officer, went to the Mozhaisk road, collecting intelligence data. It never occurred to the Napoleonic soldiers that a brilliant French-speaking officer was a partisan in disguise. After all, many of them (Germans, Italians, Poles, Dutch, etc.) understood only the commands in French, explaining themselves to each other in that unimaginable jargon that could only be conventionally called French.

Figner and his squad more than once got into difficult alterations. Once they were surrounded by punishers from three sides. It seemed that there was no way out, we had to give up. But Figner came up with a brilliant military trick: he dressed half of the squad in French uniforms and faked a fight with another unit. The real French stopped, awaiting the end and preparing carts for trophies and prisoners. Meanwhile, the "French" pushed the Russians back to the forest, and then they disappeared together.

Kutuzov praised Figner's actions and put him at the head of a larger detachment of 800 people. In a letter to his wife, transmitted with Figner, Kutuzov wrote: "Look at him intently, this is an extraordinary man. I have never seen such a height of my soul, he is a fanatic in courage and in patriotism ..."

Giving a vivid example of patriotism, MI Kutuzov sent his son-in-law and adjutant, Colonel Prince ND Kudashev, to the military partisans. | Like Davydov, Kudashev led a small mobile detachment of 300 Don Cossacks and, leaving Tarutino in early October 1812, began to actively operate in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Serpukhov road.

On October 10, at night, with a sudden blow, the Donets defeated the French garrison in the village of Nikolskoye: out of more than 2 thousand, 100 were killed, 200 were taken prisoner, the rest fled in panic. 16 October Kudashev's detachment near the village of Lopasni scattered a large detachment of French cuirassiers, captured their train and 16 prisoners. On October 17, near the village of Alferovo, the Donets of Kudashev again ambushed another Napoleon's cavalry detachment that stretched along the Serpukhov road and again captured 70 people.
Kutuzov closely followed the combat partisan successes of his beloved son-in-law (he called him "my eyes") and wrote with pleasure to his wife - his daughter: "Kudashev is also a partisan and does well."

On October 19, Kutuzov ordered the expansion of this "small war." In his letter to his eldest daughter in St. Petersburg on October 13, he explained his intention as follows: “We have been standing for more than a week in one place (in Tarutino - V.S.) and we are looking at each other with Napoleon, everyone is biding his time. we fight every day and to this day everywhere successfully. Every day we take almost three hundred people in full and lose so little that almost nothing ... ".

But if Napoleon really expected (and in vain) peace with Alexander I, then Kutuzov acted - he expanded the "small war" around Moscow. The detachments of Figner, Seslavin and Kudashev operating near Tarutin were ordered from 20 to 27 October 1812 to march along the rear of the Napoleonic army - from Serpukhov to Vyazma - with small mobile detachments, no more than 100 people each. the main task - reconnaissance, but battles should not be neglected. The commanders of the military partisans did just that: smashing individual military units and foraging teams of the enemy along the road (only Kudashev's detachment took 400 people prisoner and recaptured 100 carts with food), they collected valuable information about the deployment of enemy troops. By the way, it was Kudashev, looking through the papers found on one of the killed French staff officers, who discovered the secret order of the chief of staff of the "great army" Marshal Berthier to send "all the weights" (that is, property looted in Moscow - V.S.) to Mozhaiskaya road and further to Smolensk, to the west. This meant that the French intended to leave Moscow soon. Kudashev immediately forwarded this letter to Kutuzov.

It confirmed the strategic calculation of the great Russian commander. As early as September 27, almost a month before the French left the "first throne", he wrote to his eldest daughter (not without intent - she was a lady of state at court and was an entrance to the tsar's wife): "I won the battle before Moscow (at Borodino. - In C), but the army must be saved, and it is intact. Soon all our armies, that is, Tormasov, Chichagov, Wittgenstein and others, will begin to act towards one goal, and Napoleon will not stay in Moscow for a long time ... "

The military partisans brought a lot of trouble and anxiety to Napoleon. He had to divert considerable forces from Moscow to guard the roads. So, to protect the section from Smolensk to Mozhaisk, parts of Victor's reserve corps were moved. Junot and Murat received an order to strengthen the protection of Borovsk and Podolsk roads. But all efforts were in vain. Kutuzov had every reason to inform the tsar that "my partisans instilled fear and horror at the enemy, taking away all means of food."

The partisan movement in the Patriotic War of 1812 significantly influenced the outcome of the campaign. The French met with fierce resistance from the local population. Demoralized, deprived of the opportunity to replenish its food supplies, the ragged and frozen army of Napoleon was severely beaten by the flying and peasant partisan detachments of the Russians.

Squadrons of flying hussars and detachments of peasants

The highly stretched Napoleonic army, pursuing the retreating Russian troops, quickly became a convenient target for partisan attacks - the French often found themselves far away from the main forces. The command of the Russian army decided to create mobile detachments to carry out sabotage behind enemy lines and deprive him of food and fodder.

In World War II, there were two main types of such detachments: flying squadrons of army cavalrymen and Cossacks, formed by order of the commander-in-chief Mikhail Kutuzov, and a group of partisan peasants, which united spontaneously, without army leadership. In addition to sabotage actions, the flying detachments were also engaged in reconnaissance. The peasant self-defense forces mainly fought off the enemy from their villages and villages.

Denis Davydov was mistaken for a Frenchman

Denis Davydov is the most famous commander of a partisan detachment in the Patriotic War of 1812. He himself drew up a plan of action for mobile partisan formations against the Napoleonic army and offered it to Peter Ivanovich Bagration. The plan was simple: to annoy the enemy in his rear, capture or destroy enemy warehouses with food and fodder, beat small groups of the enemy.

Under the leadership of Davydov there were over one hundred and fifty hussars and Cossacks. Already in September 1812, they seized a French caravan of three dozen carts near the Smolensk village of Tsarevo-Zaimishche. Davydov's cavalrymen killed more than 100 Frenchmen from the escorting detachment, and captured another 100. This operation was followed by others, also successful.

Davydov and his team did not immediately find support from the local population: at first, the peasants took them for the French. The commander of the flying detachment even had to put on a peasant's caftan, hang an icon of St. Nicholas on his chest, let go of his beard and switch to the language of the Russian common people - otherwise the peasants would not believe him.

Over time, the detachment of Denis Davydov increased to 300 people. The cavalrymen attacked the French units, sometimes having a fivefold numerical superiority, and smashed them, taking the carts and freeing prisoners, it even happened to capture the enemy's artillery.

After the abandonment of Moscow, by order of Kutuzov, flying partisan detachments were created everywhere. Mostly these were Cossack units, each numbering up to 500 sabers. At the end of September, Major General Ivan Dorokhov, who commanded such a unit, captured the town of Vereya near Moscow. The united partisan groups could resist the large military formations of Napoleon's army. So, at the end of October, during a battle in the region of the Smolensk village of Lyakhovo, four partisan detachments utterly defeated more than one and a half thousand brigade of General Jean-Pierre Augereau, capturing himself. For the French, this defeat was a terrible blow. On the contrary, the Russian troops, this success, encouraged and tuned in to further victories.

Peasant Initiative

Substantial contribution to destruction and attrition french units contributed self-organizing to combat squads peasants. Their partisan units began to form even before Kutuzov's instructions. While willingly helping the flying detachments and units of the regular Russian army with food and fodder, the peasants, at the same time, everywhere and in every possible way did harm to the French - they exterminated enemy foragers and looters, often, when the enemy approached, they themselves burned their houses and went into the forests. Fierce local resistance intensified as the demoralized French army increasingly became a swarm of robbers and marauders.

One of these detachments was assembled by dragoons Ermolai Chetvertakov. He taught the peasants to use captured weapons, organized and successfully carried out many sabotage against the French, capturing dozens of enemy convoys with food and livestock. At one time, Chetvertakov's compound included up to 4 thousand people. And such cases, when peasant partisans, led by regular soldiers, noble landowners, successfully wielded in the rear of the Napoleonic troops, were not isolated.

DAVYDOV DENIS VASILIEVICH (1784 - 1839) - Lieutenant General, ideologist and leader of the partisan movement, participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, Russian poet of the "Pushkin Pleiade".

Born July 27, 1784 in Moscow, in the family of Brigadier Vasily Denisovich Davydov, who served under the command of A.V. Suvorov. A significant part of the future hero's childhood years passed in a military situation in Little Russia and in Slobozhanshchina, where his father served, who commanded the Poltava light-horse regiment. Once, when the boy was nine years old, Suvorov came to visit them. Alexander Vasilyevich, looking at the two sons of Vasily Denisovich, said that Denis "this daring, will be a military man, I will not die, but he will win three battles." Denis remembered this meeting and the words of the great commander for the rest of his life.

In 1801, Davydov entered service in the Guards Cavalry Regiment and the next year was promoted to cornet, and in November 1803 - to lieutenant. Because of satirical poetry, he was transferred from the guard to the Belarusian hussar regiment with the title of captain. Since the beginning of 1807, Denis Davydov, as an adjutant to P.I.Bagration, has been participating in hostilities against Napoleon on the territory of East Prussia. For exceptional bravery shown in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, IV degree.

During the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809. in Kulnev's detachment, he went all over Finland to Uleaborg, occupied the island of Karlier with the Cossacks and, returning to the vanguard, retreated across the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. In 1809, during russian-Turkish war Davydov was under Prince Bagration, who commanded troops in Moldova, participated in the capture of Machin and Girsovo, in the battle at Rasevat. When Bagration was replaced by Count Kamensky, he entered the vanguard of the Moldavian army under the command of Kulnev, where, in his words, "he finished the course of the outpost school started in Finland."

At the beginning of the war of 1812, Davydov, with the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Akhtyrsky hussar regiment, was in the vanguard troops of General Vasilchikov. When Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief, Davydov, with the permission of Bagration, came to the Most Serene Prince and begged a partisan detachment to his command. After the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army moved to Moscow, and Davydov with a small detachment of 50 hussars and 80 Cossacks went west, to the rear of the French army. Soon, the successes of his detachment led to a full-scale deployment of the partisan movement. In one of the very first sorties, Davydov managed to capture 370 Frenchmen, having beaten off 200 Russian prisoners, a cart with cartridges and nine carts with provisions. His detachment grew rapidly at the expense of peasants and freed prisoners.

Constantly maneuvering and attacking, Davydov's detachment did not give rest to the Napoleonic army. In the period from September 2 to October 23 alone, he captured about 3,600 enemy soldiers and officers. Napoleon hated Davydov and ordered, upon arrest, to shoot him on the spot. The French governor of Vyazma sent one of his best detachments of two thousand horsemen with eight chief officers and one staff officer to capture him. Davydov, who had twice less people, managed to drive the detachment into a trap and take prisoner along with all the officers.

With the retreat of the French army, Davydov, together with other partisans, continued to pursue the enemy. Davydov's detachment, together with the detachments of Orlov-Denisov, Figner and Seslavin, defeated and captured the two thousandth brigade of General Augereau near Lyakhov. Pursuing the retreating enemy, Davydov defeated a three-thousandth cavalry depot near the town of Kopys, scattered a large French detachment near Belynichy and, reaching the Neman, occupied Grodno. For the campaign of 1812, Davydov was awarded the Orders of St. Vladimir, 3rd degree and St. George, 4th degree.

During the Foreign campaign of the Russian army, Davydov distinguished himself in the battles of Kalisz and La Rotiere, having entered Saxony with an advanced detachment, captured Dresden. For the heroism shown by Davydov during the storming of Paris, he was awarded the rank of Major General. The glory of the brave Russian hero thundered throughout Europe. When Russian troops entered any city, all residents went out into the street and asked about it in order to see it.

After the war, Denis Davydov continued to serve in the army. He wrote poetry and military-historical memoirs, corresponded with the most famous writers of his era. Participated in Russo-Persian War 1826-1828 and in the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831. He was married to Sofya Nikolaevna Chirkova, from whom he had 9 children. Last years DV Davydov spent his life in the village of Verkhnyaya Maza, which belonged to his wife, where he died on April 22, 1839, at the age of 55, from an apoplectic stroke. The poet's ashes were transported to Moscow and buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.

SESLAVIN ALEXANDER NIKITICH (1780 - 1858) - Major General, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, a famous partisan.

He was educated in the 2nd Cadet Corps, served in the Guards Horse Artillery. In 1800, Emperor Paul awarded Second Lieutenant Seslavin with the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Participated in the wars with Napoleon in 1805 and 1807. In 1807 he was wounded at Heilsberg, awarded a golden sword with the inscription "For Bravery", then distinguished himself at Friedland. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812, he was wounded again - in the arm, with bone fracture.

At the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, he served as an adjutant to General MB Barclay de Tolly. He took part in almost all battles of the 1st Russian army. For the special bravery shown in the Battle of Borodino, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

With the beginning of the partisan war, Seslavin received a flying detachment in command and proved himself to be a talented scout. The most outstanding feat of Seslavin was the discovery of the movement of Napoleon's army along the Borovsk road to Kaluga. Thanks to this information, the Russian army managed to block the French road at Maloyaroslavets, forcing them to retreat along the already devastated Smolensk road.

On October 22, near Vyazma, having galloped through the French troops, Seslavin discovered the beginning of their retreat and, having reported this to the Russian command, personally led the Pernov regiment into battle, first breaking into the city. Under Lyakhov, together with the detachments of Davydov and Figner, he captured the two thousandth brigade of General Augereau, for which he was promoted to colonel. On November 16, Seslavin captured the city of Borisov and 3,000 prisoners, establishing communication between the armies of Wittgenstein and Chichagov. On November 23, attacking the French near Ashmyany, he almost captured Napoleon himself. Finally, on November 29, on the shoulders of the retreating French cavalry, Seslavin broke into Vilna, where he was again seriously wounded in the arm.

During the Foreign campaign of the Russian army, Seslavin often commanded forward detachments. For his distinction in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, he was promoted to major general. In 1814 he was retired. The wounded hero was treated for a long time abroad. Seslavin died in 1858 in his estate Kokoshino, Rzhevsky district, where he was buried.

FIGNER ALEXANDER SAMOYLOVICH ... (1787 - 1813) - colonel, participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, an outstanding partisan, intelligence officer and saboteur.

Born into the family of the head of the Imperial Glassworks, pupil of the 2nd cadet corps... In 1805, with the rank of an officer, he was assigned to the troops of the Anglo-Russian expedition in Italy, where he perfectly mastered the Italian language. In 1810 he fought against the Turks in the Moldavian army. For distinction during the storming of Ruschuk, he was promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.

At the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Figner was the staff captain of the 3rd light company of the 11th artillery brigade. In a battle near Smolensk, the fire of his battery repulsed the French onslaught on the left wing of the Russian army.

After the French occupied Moscow, he, with the permission of the commander-in-chief, went there as a scout, but with the secret intention of killing Napoleon, for whom he had fanatical hatred, as well as for all the French. He did not succeed in fulfilling his intentions, but thanks to his extraordinary sharpness and knowledge of foreign languages, Figner, changing into different costumes, moved freely among the enemy soldiers, obtained the necessary information and reported it to our main apartment. During the retreat of the French, having recruited a small detachment of hunters and backward soldiers, Figner, with the assistance of the peasants, began to disturb the rear messages of the enemy. Irritated by the activities of the Russian intelligence officer, Napoleon appointed a bounty on his head. However, all efforts to capture Figner were fruitless; several times surrounded by the enemy, he managed to escape. Strengthened by the Cossacks and cavalrymen, he began to annoy the enemy even more annoyingly: he intercepted couriers, burned carts, once, together with Seslavin, recaptured a whole transport with jewels looted in Moscow. For his actions in World War II, the sovereign promoted Figner to lieutenant colonel with a transfer to the guard.

With a brilliant education and appearance, Figner had strong nerves and a fierce heart. In his detachment, prisoners were not left alive. As Denis Davydov recalled, once Figner asked him to give him the French captured in battle so that they would be "torn to pieces" by the Cossacks of his detachment, who had not yet been "incited". “When Figner entered feelings, and his feelings consisted only of ambition and self-esteem, then something satanic was revealed in him…. when putting up to a hundred prisoners next to each other, he killed them with his own hand from a pistol, one after the other, ”wrote Davydov. As a result of this attitude towards the prisoners, Figner's detachment very soon left all the officers.

Figner's nephew, trying to justify his uncle, cited the following information: “When the masses of prisoners were surrendered into the hands of the victors, my uncle was at a loss for their numbers and a report to A.P. He asked Ermolov how to deal with them, for there was no means or opportunity to support them. Ermolov replied with a laconic note: "Those who entered the Russian land with arms - death." To this, my uncle sent back a report of the same laconic content: "From now on, Your Excellency I will no longer disturb the prisoners," and from that time began the cruel extermination of the prisoners, who were killed by the thousands. "

In 1813, during the siege of Danzig, Figner entered the fortress under the guise of an Italian and tried to anger the inhabitants against the French, but was captured and imprisoned. Released from there for lack of evidence, he managed to sneak into the confidence of the commandant of the fortress, General Rapp, to such an extent that he sent him to Napoleon with important dispatches, which, of course, ended up in the Russian headquarters. And soon, having recruited hunters, among whom were fugitives (Italians and Spaniards) from the Napoleonic army, he again began to act on the flanks and in the rear of the enemy troops. Surrounded as a result of betrayal near the city of Dessau by enemy cavalry and pinned to the Elbe, he, not wanting to surrender, rushed into the river, bandaging his hands with a handkerchief.

DOROKHOV IVAN SEMYONOVICH (1762 - 1815) - Lieutenant General, participant of the Patriotic War of 1812, partisan.

Born in 1762 into a noble family. From 1783 to 1787 he was educated in the Artillery and Engineering Corps. In the rank of lieutenant, he fought against the Turks in 1787-1791. He distinguished himself at Fokshany and Machine, served at the headquarters of A.V. Suvorov. During the Warsaw Uprising of 1794, fighting with his company surrounded for 36 hours, he managed to break through to the main Russian forces. He was among the first to break into Prague. In 1797 he was appointed commander of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. Participated in the campaign of 1806-1807. Was awarded orders St. George 4th and 3rd degree, St. Vladimir 3rd degree, Red Eagle 1st degree.

At the very beginning of the war of 1812, Dorokhov, cut off with his brigade from the 1st Army, decided, on his own initiative, to join the 2nd Army. For several days he advanced between the French columns, but managed to elude them and joined Prince Bagration, under whose command he participated in the battles of Smolensk and Borodino.
On the day of the Battle of Borodino, he commanded four cavalry regiments of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. He successfully counterattacked on Bagration flushes. For his courage he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Since September, Dorokhov commanded a partisan detachment consisting of one dragoon, one hussar, three Cossack regiments and half a company of horse artillery and caused a lot of harm to the French, exterminating their individual teams. In just one week - from September 7 to September 14, 4 cavalry regiments, a detachment of infantry and cavalry of 800 people were defeated, carts were captured, an artillery warehouse was blown up, about 1,500 soldiers and 48 officers were taken prisoner. Dorokhov was the first to inform Kutuzov about the movement of the French to Kaluga. During the Tarutino battle, the Cossacks of his detachment successfully pursued the retreating enemy, killing the French general Deri. At Maloyaroslavets he was wounded by a bullet through the leg.

The main success of Dorokhov's partisan detachment was the capture of the city of Vereya on September 27, the most important point of enemy communications. The battle was carefully planned, fleeting, with a sudden bayonet attack and almost no firing. In just an hour, the enemy lost more than 300 people killed, 15 officers and 377 soldiers were taken prisoner. Russian losses amounted to 7 killed and 20 wounded. Dorokhov's report to Kutuzov was brief: "By order of your lordship, the city of Vereya was taken by storm on this date." Kutuzov announced this "excellent and brave feat" in the order for the army. Later, Dorokhov was awarded a gold sword decorated with diamonds with the inscription: "For the release of Vereya."

The wound received by the general near Maloyaroslavets did not allow him to return to duty. On April 25, 1815, Lieutenant General Ivan Semenovich Dorokhov died. He was buried, according to his dying will, in Verey, freed by him from the French, in the Nativity Cathedral.

CHETVERTAKOV ERMOLAY VASILIEVICH (1781 - after 1814) Non-commissioned officer, participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, partisan.

Born in 1781 in the Ukraine into a family of serfs. Since 1804, a soldier of the Kiev Dragoon Regiment. Participated in the wars against Napoleon in 1805-1807.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, being in the regiment in the rearguard of the troops of General P.P. Konovnitsyn, in a battle on August 19 (31) near the village of Tsarevo-Zaymishche he was captured. Chetvertakov stayed in captivity for three days, and on the night of the fourth he fled from the French, when they had a day in the city of Gzhatsk, having obtained a horse and weapons.

He formed a partisan detachment from 50 peasants from several villages in the Gzhatsky district of the Smolensk province, which successfully operated against the invaders. He defended villages from marauders, attacked passing transports and large French units, inflicting tangible losses on them. The inhabitants of the Gzhatsky district were grateful to Chetvertakov, whom they considered their savior. He succeeded "in the area of \u200b\u200b35 versts from the Gzhatskaya pier" to protect all the surrounding villages, "while all the surrounding villages were all in ruins." Soon the number of the detachment increased to 300, and then 4 thousand people.

Chetvertakov organized training of peasants in shooting, established reconnaissance and guard service, and attacked groups of Napoleonic soldiers. On the day of the Battle of Borodino, Chetvertakov with a detachment came to the village of Krasnaya and found 12 French cuirassiers there. During the battle, all cuirassiers were killed. By the evening of the same day, an enemy foot team of 57 people with 3 wagons approached the village. The detachment attacked them. 15 Frenchmen were killed, the rest fled, and the wagons went to the partisans. Later, near the village. Skugarevo, led by 4 thousand peasants, Chetvertakov defeated a French battalion with artillery. Clashes with marauders took place at the village. Antonovka, der. Krisovo, in the village. Flowers, Mikhailovka and Drachev; at the Gzhatskaya pier, the peasants recaptured two guns.
The officers of the French units, who had combat clashes with Chetvertakov, were amazed at his skill and did not want to believe that the commander of the partisan detachment was a simple soldier. The French considered him an officer with the rank of colonel no lower.

In November 1812 he was promoted to non-commissioned officer, joined his regiment, as part of which he participated in the Foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813-1814. For initiative and courage, E. Chetvertakov was awarded the Insignia of the Military Order.

KURIN GERASIM MATVEEVICH (1777 - 1850) Member of the Patriotic War of 1812, partisan.

Born in 1777 in the Moscow province, from the state peasants. With the advent of the French, Kurin gathered around him a detachment of 200 daredevils and began fighting... Very quickly, the number of partisans increased to 5,300 people and 500 horsemen. As a result of seven clashes with Napoleonic troops from September 23 to October 2, Kurin captured many French soldiers, 3 cannons and a grain wagon train, without losing a single person. Using a false retreat maneuver, he lured and defeated a punitive detachment sent against him from two squadrons of dragoons. By their active actions, Kurin's detachment actually forced the French to leave the city of Bogorodsk.

In 1813 Gerasim Matveyevich Kurin was awarded the 1st class of St. George's Cross. In 1844, Kurin participated in the opening of Pavlovsky Posad, which was formed at the confluence of Pavlov and four surrounding villages. 6 years after this event, in 1850, Gerasim Kurin died. Buried at the Pavlovsky cemetery.

ENGELGARDT PAVEL IVANOVICH (1774-1812) - retired lieutenant colonel russian army, commanded a partisan detachment in the Smolensk province during the Patriotic War of 1812. Shot by the French.

Born in 1774 in a family of hereditary nobles of the Porechsky district of the Smolensk province. He studied at the land cadet corps. From 1787 he served in the Russian army with the rank of lieutenant. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, lived in his family estate Diaghilevo.

When French troops captured Smolensk in 1812, Engelhardt, together with several other landowners, armed the peasants and organized a partisan detachment, which began to attack enemy units and transports. Engelhardt himself took part in sorties against enemy units, personally killed 24 Frenchmen in skirmishes. Was issued by his serfs to the French. On October 3, 1812, a French military court sentenced Engelhardt to death. For two weeks the French tried to persuade Engelhardt to cooperate, offered him the rank of colonel in the Napoleonic army, but he refused.

On October 15, 1812, Engelhardt was shot at the Molokhov gate of the Smolensk fortress wall (now they do not exist). IN last way he was accompanied by the priest of the Odigitrievskaya church, the first Smolensk historian Nikifor Murzakevich. This is how he described the execution of the hero: “He was calm all day and with a cheerful spirit spoke of the death, destined for him, ... - Behind the Molokhov gate, in the trenches, they began to read the sentence to him, but he did not let them finish reading, shouted in French : “It's full of lies, it's time to stop. Charge up soon and go! So as not to see more the devastation of my fatherland and the oppression of my compatriots. " They began to blindfold him, but he would not let him, saying: “Get out! Nobody saw his death, but I will see her. " Then he prayed briefly and ordered to shoot. "

Initially, the French shot him in the leg, promising to cancel the execution and cure Engelhardt if he went over to their side, but he again refused. Then a volley of 18 charges was fired, 2 of which went in the chest and 1 in the stomach. Engelhardt survived even after that. Then one of the French soldiers shot him in the head. On October 24, another member of the partisan movement, Semyon Ivanovich Shubin, was shot at the same place.

Engelhardt's feat was immortalized on a marble plaque in the church of the 1st cadet corps, where he studied. Russian Emperor Alexander I provided the Engelhardt family with an annual pension. In 1833, Nicholas I gave money for the construction of a monument to Engelhardt. In 1835, a monument with the inscription: "Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Ivanovich Engelhardt, who died in 1812 for loyalty and love for the Tsar and the Fatherland" was installed at the place of his death. The monument was destroyed during the Soviet era.

A source .

Partisan movement - "the club of the people's war"

"... the club of the people's war rose with all its formidable and majestic strength and, without asking anyone's tastes and rules, with stupid simplicity, but with expediency, without taking anything apart, it rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion had died."
... L.N. Tolstoy, "War and Peace"

The Patriotic War of 1812 remained in the memory of all Russian people as a people's war.

Don't cover it up! Let me come! Hood. V.V. Vereshchagin, 1887-1895

This definition is not accidentally firmly entrenched in her. Not only the regular army participated in it - for the first time in the history of the Russian state, the entire Russian people rose to defend their homeland. Various volunteer units were formed and took part in many major battles. Commander-in-Chief M.I. Kutuzov called on the Russian militia to provide assistance to the army in the field. The partisan movement developed greatly throughout the territory of Russia, where the French were stationed.

Passive resistance
The population of Russia began to resist the invasion of the French from the very first days of the war. The so-called. passive resistance. The Russian people left their homes, villages, entire cities. At the same time, people often devastated all warehouses, all food supplies, destroyed their farms - they were firmly convinced: nothing should have fallen into the hands of the enemy.

A.P. Butenev recalled how the Russian peasants fought the French: “The further the army went into the interior of the country, the more deserted were the villages encountered, and especially after Smolensk. The peasants sent their women and children, belongings and cattle to the neighboring forests; they themselves, with the exception of only decrepit old people, armed themselves with scythes and axes, and then began to burn their huts, set up ambushes and attacked backward and wandering enemy soldiers. In the small cities that we passed, almost no one was met on the streets: there were only local authorities, who for the most part left with us, having previously set fire to supplies and shops, where there was an opportunity and time allowed ... "

"The villains are punished without mercy"
Peasant resistance gradually took on other forms. Some organized groups of several people, fished out soldiers The great army and killed them. Naturally, they could not act against a large number of French at the same time. But that was enough to strike terror into the ranks of the enemy army. As a result, the soldiers tried not to walk alone, so as not to fall into the hands of the "Russian partisans".

With weapons in hand - shoot! Hood. V.V. Vereshchagin, 1887-1895

In some provinces left by the Russian army, the first organized partisan detachments were formed. One of these detachments operated in the Sychevsk province. It was headed by Major Yemelyanov, who was the first to excite the people to accept weapons: “Many began to pester him, from day to day the number of accomplices multiplied, and then armed with what was possible, they chose the brave Emelyanov over themselves, taking an oath not to spare the belly for the faith, the Tsar and the Russian land and obey him in everything ... Then Emelyanov introduced between the warriors-villagers there is an amazing order and arrangement. According to one sign, when the enemy marched in excellent forces, the villages became empty, on the other they again gathered in houses. Sometimes an excellent lighthouse and bell ringing announced when to go on horseback or on foot to battle. He himself, as the chief, encouraging by his example, was always with them in all dangers and everywhere pursued evil enemies, beat many, and took more prisoners, and, finally, in one hot skirmish in the very splendor of the military actions of the peasants with his life he captured his love to the fatherland ... "

There were many such examples, and they could not escape the attention of the leaders of the Russian army. M.B. Barclay de Tolly in August 1812 appealed to the residents of the Pskov, Smolensk and Kaluga provinces: “… But many of the inhabitants of the Smolensk province have already awakened from their fear. They, armed in their homes, with courage worthy of the name of the Russian, punish the villains without mercy. Imitate them all who love themselves, the fatherland and the sovereign. Your army will not go out of your borders, until they drive out or destroy the forces of the enemy. It has decided to the very extreme to fight them, and you will only have to back it up by defending your own homes from more daring than terrible raids. "

The wide scope of the "small war"
Leaving Moscow, commander-in-chief Kutuzov intended to wage a "small war" in order to create a constant threat to the enemy of his encirclement in Moscow. This task was to be solved by detachments of military partisans and people's militias.

While at the Tarutino position, Kutuzov took control of the partisan activities: “... I put ten partisans on the wrong foot in order to be able to take away all the methods from the enemy, who thinks in Moscow to find all kinds of content in abundance. During the six-week rest of the Main Army at Tarutin, the partisans instilled fear and horror at the enemy, taking away all the means of food ... ".

Denis Davydov. Engraving by A. Afanasyev
from the original by W. Langer. 1820s.

Such actions required bold and decisive commanders and troops capable of acting in any conditions. The first detachment that was created by Kutuzov to conduct a small war was a detachment of lieutenant colonel D.V. Davydova, formed at the end of August in the composition of 130 people. With this detachment, Davydov marched through Yegoryevskoye, Medyn to the village of Skugarevo, which was turned into one of the bases for partisan warfare. He acted in conjunction with various armed peasant detachments.

Denis Davydov did not just fulfill his military duty. He tried to understand the Russian peasant, because he represented his interests and acted on his behalf: “Then I learned from experience that in a popular war one should not only speak the language of the rabble, but adapt to it, to its customs and its clothes. I put on a man's caftan, began to lower my beard, instead of the Order of St. Anne, I hung up the image of St. Nicholas and began to speak the language of quite folk ... ".

Another partisan detachment, led by a major general, was concentrated near the Mozhaisk road. I.S. Dorokhov. Kutuzov wrote to Dorokhov about the methods of partisan struggle. And when information was received at the army headquarters that Dorokhov's detachment was surrounded, Kutuzov reported: “The partisan can never get into this situation, because his duty is to stay in one place as much time as he needs to feed people and horses. A flying detachment of partisans should make marches secretive, along small roads ... During the day, hide in forests and low-lying places. In a word, a partisan must be decisive, quick and tireless. "

Figner Alexander Samoilovich. Engraving by G.I. Grachev with lithographs from the collection of P.A. Erofeeva, 1889.

At the end of August 1812, a detachment was also formed Vincengerode, consisting of 3200 people. Initially, his task was to monitor the corps of Viceroy Eugene de Beauharnais.

Having withdrawn the army to the Tarutino position, Kutuzov formed several more partisan detachments: the detachments of A.S. Figner, I.M. Vadbolsky, N.D. Kudashev and A.N. Seslavin.

In total, in September, 36 Cossack regiments and one team, 7 cavalry regiments, 5 squadrons and one command of light horse artillery, 5 infantry regiments, 3 battalions of rangers and 22 regimental guns acted as part of the flying detachments. Kutuzov succeeded in giving the partisan war a wide scope. He entrusted them with the task of monitoring the enemy and delivering continuous strikes against his troops.

Caricature from 1912.

It was thanks to the actions of the partisans that Kutuzov possessed complete information on the movements of French troops, on the basis of which it was possible to draw conclusions about the intentions of Napoleon.

Due to the continuous strikes of the flying partisan detachments, the French had to always keep part of the troops at the ready. According to the journal of military operations, from September 14 to October 13, 1812, the enemy lost about 2.5 thousand people only killed, about 6.5 thousand French were taken prisoner.

Peasant partisan detachments
The activities of military partisan detachments would not have been so successful without the participation of peasant partisan detachments, which had been operating everywhere since July 1812.

The names of their "leaders" will remain in the memory of the Russian people for a long time: G. Kurin, Samus, Chetvertakov and many others.

Kurin Gerasim Matveevich
Hood. A. Smirnov

Portrait of the partisan Yegor Stulov. Hood. Terebenev I.I., 1813

Samusia's detachment operated near Moscow. He managed to exterminate more than three thousand French: “Samus introduced an amazing order in all the villages subordinate to him. He performed everything according to signs, which were given by means of bell ringing and other conventional signs. "

The exploits of Vasilisa Kozhina, who led a detachment in the Sychevsky district and fought against French marauders, received great fame.

Vasilisa Kozhina. Hood. A. Smirnov, 1813

M.I. wrote about the patriotism of Russian peasants. Kutuzov's report to Alexander I of October 24, 1812 about the patriotism of Russian peasants: “With martyrdom they bore all the blows associated with the invasion of the enemy, hid their families and young children in the forests, while the armed men themselves sought defeat in their peaceful homes for the emerging predators. Often the very women cunningly caught these villains and punished them with death for their assassination attempts, and often the armed villagers, joining our partisans, greatly contributed to them in exterminating the enemy, and it can be said without exaggeration that many thousands of the enemy were exterminated by the peasants. These feats are so numerous and delightful to the spirit of the Russian ... ".