“What courage!” As Napoleon’s army nearly defeated at Preussish-Eylau
The beginning of the battle. The defeat of the corps Auger
On the morning of January 27, following the instructions of Napoleon, the French army began to move. The Russians noticed the movement of the enemy troops, and the artillery of the right wing opened fire. The French troops responded with artillery fire from the Soult Corps and the Guard. Napoleon attacked his left wing. As the deployment of troops to attack artillery fire increased.
Soult's divisions, supported by 150 gun fire, delivered a distracting blow to the troops of Tuchkov. Napoleon ordered several Russian strongholds to be seized on the right flank of the Russians in order to divert their attention from the movement of the Davout corps. The Russians repulsed Soult’s attacks, then Major-General Fock counterattacked with the infantry and the dragoons and rejected the enemy.
The fire of several hundred guns lasted for about three hours, when around 10 hours the French headquarters received a report about the approach of Davout troops. The French emperor Napoleon ordered Soult to maintain his position and Eylau, his right wing, the St. Iller division, moved to the right and had to join the Davout corps when it came out to Serpalen. The corps of Augereau also had to move to the right and then turn left a little, keeping the message with St. Iller and distracting the Russians, covering Davout’s flank maneuver. The cavalry shifted behind the infantry. Part of the reserve cavalry and guards occupied the positions left by the corps of Augereau.
However, the movement of troops took place during the blizzard began. Augereau's troops strayed from the road and, during the clearing of the weather, appeared, unexpectedly for themselves and for us, in front of the batteries of the Russian center. As soon as the Moscow and Shlisselburg regiments, covering the artillery, parted, the entire central battery opened at close range, destroying cartel fire. A sudden blow of fire stunned the French. They suffered great losses. Marshal Augereau and his two divisional commanders, Desjardins and Gödele (Edle), were seriously injured and were taken to the rear. In a few minutes the French lost several thousand people. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, the Moscow Grenadier, Shlisselburg, Vladimir and other regiments rushed into a bayonet attack. There was an amazing and unprecedented fight. As the military historian Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky wrote: “More than 20 000 from both sides thrust a triangular edge into each other, were cut without mercy. Parts of the French rushed forward, grabbed our guns, instantly seized them, and emitted the breath under bayonets, butts and bannits. Piles of bodies fell, showered with fresh piles. " In the end, during the most severe hand-to-hand slaughter, the French corps was actually crushed, suffered huge losses and began to retreat.
St. Iller’s division was also lost in a blizzard and was nearly crushed. She went to the very Serpalena and when she turned back, she was attacked by our cavalry under the command of Major General Kakhovsky - Little Russian Cuirassier and Horse-Polish regiments. They crushed the 55 th linear regiment.
In pursuit of the enemy, the Russians developed an attack. The victory inspired our troops. Napoleon’s rate was on the Cemetery in Preussisch-Eylau that day. From the command post, the emperor saw the regiments of Russian soldiers go ahead in an avalanche, overturning the French. Russian cavalry broke through to its headquarters, driving before the enemy. The battalion of the Russian infantry was a hundred steps from Napoleon’s headquarters, but the French guards and cavalry scattered him. Around Napoleon went to the core and grenades. Looking at the attack of the Russians, the emperor said: “What courage!” Napoleon always believed that the commander in chief should not risk his life without the most urgent need. However, here, under Eylau, he saw that again, as under Lodi or under Arcola, it was precisely this urgent necessity that came. Napoleon stayed in place to force his infantry to withstand the blow of the enemy. The personal presence of the emperor, whom the French soldiers loved, restrained them from fleeing. At his feet lay the corpses of soldiers and officers, but he stood, seeing this, the French infantry held on. Infantry companies, initially surrounding the emperor, were gradually exterminated by Russian fire and replaced by suitable rangers, guard grenadiers, and cuirassiers. Napoleon continued to give orders in cold blood, although the Russian cavalry was already close, and the emperor himself could be killed or captured.
Napoleon, in order to rectify the situation and save the corps of Augereau from complete annihilation, threw a reserve cavalry of Murat into the offensive, which was supported by Bessiere's cavalry guards. Murat sent Klein's dragoon division to the right flank, to help the St. Iller division, he led two divisions (the dragoons Grushi and the cuirassiers of Hopult). Murat's cavalry bypassed the unsuccessfully operating St. Iller troops and attacked the Russian cavalry. A new slaughter began, in which no one wanted to yield. The battle proceeded with varying success. The French overturned the Russian cavalry, which pursued Corps Augereau. However, our cavalry regrouped and struck the flanks of the French dragoons, they turned back. In this attack, the Courland Dragoon and Order cuirassier regiments especially distinguished themselves. The French dragoons came to the aid of the cuirassiers, who crumpled and pursued our cavalry to the Russian infantry. The French were met with gunfire, the cuirassiers fled, our cavalry pursued them. Then Bessier entered the battle with the Guards Cavalry, and the French again crushed the Russian cavalry. In the heat of battle, several French squadrons broke through the two lines of our infantry and reached the reserve. Here they were greeted with a powerful salvo. The Elisavetgrad hussar regiment of Yurkovsky, several squadrons of the Pavlograd hussar regiment and the Cossacks finally dispersed the French. Most of the French brave men who invaded the middle of the Russian army died. Only a few made their way through the rear to their own.
As a result, the cavalry battle ended with heavy losses for both sides. Divisional generals died in these fights: the commander of the cuirassiers Gopul, the commander of the guard horse rangers Dalman, the adjutant general of the emperor Corbino. Corps Augereau was broken. However, the brilliant attack of Murat's cavalry saved the position of the French army. The opposing sides have withdrawn their forces to their original positions, regrouped, and restored orders. Bennigsen strengthened the battle line with most of the Dokhturov reserve. The armies temporarily stopped the battle, only the artillery continued the exchange of fire.
Attack of the Davout Corps
At noon, Davout's corps finally entered the battle. He attacked the Russian left flank. Ahead was Friant’s infantry division, supported by light cavalry; in the second line was the division of Moran, followed by the division of Gudin. Seeing Davou's troops, Napoleon ordered the St. Iller divisions to attack the Russians in Serpalene and form the left wing of the Davout troops. Two dragoon divisions followed St. Iller. All these forces began to develop an offensive against the left flank of the Russians. During this movement, the artillery of the Russian left wing inflicted heavy damage on the enemy.
The Baggovut detachment, attacked simultaneously from three sides by superior enemy forces, began to retreat to Southgarten. Meanwhile, Bennigsen, understood where the enemy was leading the main attack, and ordered Lestoc's corps to go to the left flank, and not to the right, as before. Also, the Russian commander-in-chief strengthened the Baggovut detachment on the left flank of the 14 division of Kamensky from the reserve of the left wing.
A new fight ensued, which also took place with varying success. First, the French began to push the Russian troops. Entering into battle reserve connections Russian did not correct the situation. Davu's troops attacked Baggovut and Kamensky’s detachments at Sausgarten. The French broke into the village. But the Ryazan regiment threw the enemy. A stubborn fight began to boil near the village. Sausgarten changed hands several times. The divisions of Gudin and Moran went on the offensive. Russian and French artillery slid down on a carte shot. The Russian cavalry attacked the division of Moran and forced her to retreat. To the rescue of Moran came the dragoon division of Klein, and the French went forward again.
Count Osterman ordered to leave Southgarten. Our troops slowly retreated. Lieutenant Colonel Yermolov described this moment in his memoirs: “The attack on the left flank was successful. Neither the prudent orders of General Baron Saken, nor the resistance of the intrepid Major General Count Osterman-Tolstoy did not stop him. The left flank moved back and made an almost right angle with the army line. ” Dokhturov strengthened the left wing with the last remaining reserve, but this was not enough, the troops of Osterman-Tolstoy still moved back. The French broke into Auklapen, then came out to Cushiten (Kuchitten).
Davout built troops in parallel with Count Osterman, and sought to reach the Russians with his right wing. He placed the artillery on the Craig Mountain and she trashed the Russian order. Napoleon pushed forward the remaining troops of Augereau (the corps led by Kompana), and part of the reserve cavalry. Our troops were almost under the crossfire of the center and the right flank of the French army. At the same time, the Russian army remained without commander in chief for some time. Bennigsen went to Lestoc to speed up the movement of his body and got lost. Seeing that the army was bypassed from the flank, there was a threat of the enemy going to the rear and that the troops suffered heavy losses from crossfire, Saken was ready to order a retreat in order to save the army.
However, the critical situation was straightened by the artillery commander of the right wing Kutaisov, who, seeing that the French were not attacking in his direction and were limited to artillery firing, was bored. He wanted action. The general went to the center of the position and noticed that Osterman's troops were in a dangerous position. General Kutaisov sent three cavalry-artillery companies from his flank to Auklapen under the command of Yashvil, Yermolov and Bogdanov. Total 36 guns. Upon arrival, the gunners found the Russian troops bleeding and holding their last strength. By the 36 fire of the guns, the battery in time dropped the French infantry and began to smash the enemy guns. The French quivered, hit by grapeshot and ran. Cheered up by the Russians, they again seized Auklapen and established themselves in it. This allowed Saken and Osterman to restore order in the troops.
However, the confusion of the French was short. Strengthening the artillery, Davou again threw the troops into the attack. The French attacked Auklapen, but could not take it, held back by Russian artillery fire. The battle was still fierce. Its participant, Denis Davydov, wrote in his essay: “The devil knows what clouds of nuclei flew, fell, jumped around me, dormant masses of our troops dug in all directions, and what clouds of grenades burst over my head and under my feet! It was a wide hurricane of death, which shattered and wiped everything that fell under its shattering breath into smithereens. ”
Russian troops held tight. Osterman only needed fresh reinforcements in order to throw away the body of Davout, which suffered serious losses and stretched its orders too far towards Cushiten. And reinforcements came up. In 17 hours on the battlefield appeared advanced parts of the Prussian corps of Lestocq. The Prussian corps marched in the morning and, hiding behind a barrier from the troops of Ney, who was supposed to intercept Lestocq, was able to connect with the Russians. Bennigsen met with the Allies and led them to Cushiten.
Coming to the aid of the troops of Osterman-Tolstoy, the Prussians (about 5,5 thousand people) went on the attack. In the head of the Prussian detachment followed our Vyborg regiment. Our soldiers broke into Cushiten and almost completely interrupted the French 51 line regiment and four companies of the 108, and beat off three Russian guns that the French had previously captured. Following the Vyborg Regiment, Prussian troops entered the village, Platov with the Cossacks and the Prussian Light Regiment. The French fled, and the Cossacks strengthened their rout. Then the Prussians and Russians drove the French out of the grove in which the enemy was trying to hold on. As a result, the French were bypassed from their right flank. Davu threw Friant's division into the counterattack. But the attack of the Russian-Prussian troops was already supported by the Russian cavalry. The troops of Baggovut and Kamensky cheered and found the strength to go forward. Friant's division was shot down, Davout began to withdraw his troops and hastily placed them at Southgarten, reinforcing them with artillery.
Thus, on all points of the Russian left wing the French were rejected; they could hardly resist only at Sausgarten, from where they could not be dislodged. At this battle at Preyssish-Eylau actually ended. Up to an hour of 21, an artillery skirmish continued on both sides, but the bloodless and weary armies no longer thought about resuming the bout. It was quickly getting dark. Napoleon was waiting for Ney, but his body arrived only by 10 hours of the evening. French troops retreated to the starting line. Napoleon, in view of the arrival of Russian reinforcements and the depletion of ammunition, was ready to withdraw his troops in order to join up with Ney and Bernadotte corps. He was waiting for the actions of the Russian army, whether Bennigsen would go ahead or stop.
Bennigsen did not dare to attack, although the right flank of our army retained its combat capability. In addition, he was embarrassed by the shooting in our rear, at Schmoditen, where the Prussian barrier entered into battle with Ney’s advance guard. Bennigsen sent reinforcements to Schmoditen, they knocked out the French from the village, and learned from the prisoners about the approach of Nei's corps. As a result, Bennigsen abandoned the idea of a night strike on Napoleon’s army, which was on the verge of defeat. In the 1813 year, talking to our officers about the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, Bernadot said: “Happiness never again favored Napoleon, as under Eylau. Hit Bennigsen in the evening, he would have taken at least the 150 guns under which the horses were killed. ”
Some Russian generals demanded an attack. But Bennigsen decided to retreat to Konigsberg. At night, Russian troops began to retreat. The French no longer had the strength to prevent this. The whole battlefield was littered with dead. The fact that Napoleon stood on the battlefield of the 8 days speaks of the grave condition of the French army. Then he began a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. Apparently, if a more decisive and skillful commander, like A. Suvorov, were in Bennigsen's place, the French would not have escaped defeat.
Results
The battle of Preussisch-Eylau was one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century, and in this respect surpassed almost all the battles previously given by Napoleon. At the same time the battle ended in a draw. The total losses of the Russian and French armies were about 50 thousand people. In the snow, there were left to lie until 20-26 thousand Russian and 22-29 thousand French. The corps of Augereau suffered such losses that it was disbanded, distributing the remaining soldiers under other corps. The witness of this terrible day recalled: “Never before have so many corpses littered such a small space. Everything was covered in blood. The snow that fell and continued to fall hid little by little from the depressed look of the people ... Going through one field, we immediately found ourselves on another one, also littered with corpses. ”
The French army led by Napoleon lost the image of invincibility. Napoleon directly led the battle. He carefully considered and developed a battle plan, proving that his commanding gift was as strong as before; with him were his best commanders — Davout, Soult, Murat, Augereau. The soldiers fought bravely and stubbornly, believing in the star of their emperor. And yet, despite the best efforts of Napoleon, the efforts of the marshals and generals, the courage of the soldiers, the battle was not won by the French. Augereau was defeated, Nei did not have time to fight, the attack of Davou did not bring victory.
In the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, the Russian army dealt a strong blow to Napoleon’s previously invincible army. Bennigsen also did not win the battle, as he hurried to report back to Petersburg (although he had good chances to win). But even the fact that the French emperor did not emerge as the undisputed winner gave the Russians a feeling of major success. The Tsar replied to Bennigsen Alexander I’s victorious report: “You won the glory of defeating someone who was never defeated,” and sent a letter to the “invincible winner” about awarding him with the Order of Andrew the First-Called and a lifetime pension in 12 thousand rubles. . An officer medal was instituted in honor of the battle.
All public opinion converged on one thing: the battle of Preussisch-Eylau proved that Napoleon could not always win. He had not yet been defeated, but he had already ceased to be an invincible commander. Schlieffen, analyzing the emperor's strategic art, wrote: “The day of the battle at Preussish-Eylau means a turn in Napoleon’s commanding life. A series of successful battles of destruction, which were Marengo, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, no longer repeated. "
The French emperor in his bulletins also spoke about the victory. I embellished it with a lie about 15, thousands of Russian prisoners and 18 flags (the Russians didn’t lose any guns or banners, there were several hundred prisoners on both sides). But he, of course, was well aware that although Bennigsen had lost almost a third of his army in battle, the Russian troops remained operational and ready for new battles. If Napoleon had in fact defeated the Russian army, he could have finished it easily, and took Konigsberg, which would complete the rout of Prussia. However, he took the army back, and after fierce winter battles, there was a three-month lull caused by the need to take a breath, replenish and arrange the troops, as well as bad weather (spring thaw). Napoleon himself in 1809, in a conversation with the Russian envoy Chernyshev, said: "If I called myself a winner under Eylau, then this is only because you wanted to retreat."
At the direction of Napoleon, French diplomacy repeated the proposal for a peace treaty. However, Bennigsen declared to General Bertrand that he refuses to start negotiations, since he was "set by the sovereign to wage war". Emperor Alexander agreed with Bennigsen’s statement, and the opportunity to end the war in which Russia fought for the interests of Prussia and England was missed. To a large extent, Russia's position was explained by the hope of supporting the allies. Sweden promised to intensify its actions in Pomerania, and England - to land the 20-thousandth landing between the Elbe and the Oder.
Cross “For victory at Preussisch-Eylau”
On the morning of January 27, following the instructions of Napoleon, the French army began to move. The Russians noticed the movement of the enemy troops, and the artillery of the right wing opened fire. The French troops responded with artillery fire from the Soult Corps and the Guard. Napoleon attacked his left wing. As the deployment of troops to attack artillery fire increased.
Soult's divisions, supported by 150 gun fire, delivered a distracting blow to the troops of Tuchkov. Napoleon ordered several Russian strongholds to be seized on the right flank of the Russians in order to divert their attention from the movement of the Davout corps. The Russians repulsed Soult’s attacks, then Major-General Fock counterattacked with the infantry and the dragoons and rejected the enemy.
The fire of several hundred guns lasted for about three hours, when around 10 hours the French headquarters received a report about the approach of Davout troops. The French emperor Napoleon ordered Soult to maintain his position and Eylau, his right wing, the St. Iller division, moved to the right and had to join the Davout corps when it came out to Serpalen. The corps of Augereau also had to move to the right and then turn left a little, keeping the message with St. Iller and distracting the Russians, covering Davout’s flank maneuver. The cavalry shifted behind the infantry. Part of the reserve cavalry and guards occupied the positions left by the corps of Augereau.
However, the movement of troops took place during the blizzard began. Augereau's troops strayed from the road and, during the clearing of the weather, appeared, unexpectedly for themselves and for us, in front of the batteries of the Russian center. As soon as the Moscow and Shlisselburg regiments, covering the artillery, parted, the entire central battery opened at close range, destroying cartel fire. A sudden blow of fire stunned the French. They suffered great losses. Marshal Augereau and his two divisional commanders, Desjardins and Gödele (Edle), were seriously injured and were taken to the rear. In a few minutes the French lost several thousand people. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, the Moscow Grenadier, Shlisselburg, Vladimir and other regiments rushed into a bayonet attack. There was an amazing and unprecedented fight. As the military historian Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky wrote: “More than 20 000 from both sides thrust a triangular edge into each other, were cut without mercy. Parts of the French rushed forward, grabbed our guns, instantly seized them, and emitted the breath under bayonets, butts and bannits. Piles of bodies fell, showered with fresh piles. " In the end, during the most severe hand-to-hand slaughter, the French corps was actually crushed, suffered huge losses and began to retreat.
St. Iller’s division was also lost in a blizzard and was nearly crushed. She went to the very Serpalena and when she turned back, she was attacked by our cavalry under the command of Major General Kakhovsky - Little Russian Cuirassier and Horse-Polish regiments. They crushed the 55 th linear regiment.
In pursuit of the enemy, the Russians developed an attack. The victory inspired our troops. Napoleon’s rate was on the Cemetery in Preussisch-Eylau that day. From the command post, the emperor saw the regiments of Russian soldiers go ahead in an avalanche, overturning the French. Russian cavalry broke through to its headquarters, driving before the enemy. The battalion of the Russian infantry was a hundred steps from Napoleon’s headquarters, but the French guards and cavalry scattered him. Around Napoleon went to the core and grenades. Looking at the attack of the Russians, the emperor said: “What courage!” Napoleon always believed that the commander in chief should not risk his life without the most urgent need. However, here, under Eylau, he saw that again, as under Lodi or under Arcola, it was precisely this urgent necessity that came. Napoleon stayed in place to force his infantry to withstand the blow of the enemy. The personal presence of the emperor, whom the French soldiers loved, restrained them from fleeing. At his feet lay the corpses of soldiers and officers, but he stood, seeing this, the French infantry held on. Infantry companies, initially surrounding the emperor, were gradually exterminated by Russian fire and replaced by suitable rangers, guard grenadiers, and cuirassiers. Napoleon continued to give orders in cold blood, although the Russian cavalry was already close, and the emperor himself could be killed or captured.
Napoleon, in order to rectify the situation and save the corps of Augereau from complete annihilation, threw a reserve cavalry of Murat into the offensive, which was supported by Bessiere's cavalry guards. Murat sent Klein's dragoon division to the right flank, to help the St. Iller division, he led two divisions (the dragoons Grushi and the cuirassiers of Hopult). Murat's cavalry bypassed the unsuccessfully operating St. Iller troops and attacked the Russian cavalry. A new slaughter began, in which no one wanted to yield. The battle proceeded with varying success. The French overturned the Russian cavalry, which pursued Corps Augereau. However, our cavalry regrouped and struck the flanks of the French dragoons, they turned back. In this attack, the Courland Dragoon and Order cuirassier regiments especially distinguished themselves. The French dragoons came to the aid of the cuirassiers, who crumpled and pursued our cavalry to the Russian infantry. The French were met with gunfire, the cuirassiers fled, our cavalry pursued them. Then Bessier entered the battle with the Guards Cavalry, and the French again crushed the Russian cavalry. In the heat of battle, several French squadrons broke through the two lines of our infantry and reached the reserve. Here they were greeted with a powerful salvo. The Elisavetgrad hussar regiment of Yurkovsky, several squadrons of the Pavlograd hussar regiment and the Cossacks finally dispersed the French. Most of the French brave men who invaded the middle of the Russian army died. Only a few made their way through the rear to their own.
As a result, the cavalry battle ended with heavy losses for both sides. Divisional generals died in these fights: the commander of the cuirassiers Gopul, the commander of the guard horse rangers Dalman, the adjutant general of the emperor Corbino. Corps Augereau was broken. However, the brilliant attack of Murat's cavalry saved the position of the French army. The opposing sides have withdrawn their forces to their original positions, regrouped, and restored orders. Bennigsen strengthened the battle line with most of the Dokhturov reserve. The armies temporarily stopped the battle, only the artillery continued the exchange of fire.
Attack of the Davout Corps
At noon, Davout's corps finally entered the battle. He attacked the Russian left flank. Ahead was Friant’s infantry division, supported by light cavalry; in the second line was the division of Moran, followed by the division of Gudin. Seeing Davou's troops, Napoleon ordered the St. Iller divisions to attack the Russians in Serpalene and form the left wing of the Davout troops. Two dragoon divisions followed St. Iller. All these forces began to develop an offensive against the left flank of the Russians. During this movement, the artillery of the Russian left wing inflicted heavy damage on the enemy.
The Baggovut detachment, attacked simultaneously from three sides by superior enemy forces, began to retreat to Southgarten. Meanwhile, Bennigsen, understood where the enemy was leading the main attack, and ordered Lestoc's corps to go to the left flank, and not to the right, as before. Also, the Russian commander-in-chief strengthened the Baggovut detachment on the left flank of the 14 division of Kamensky from the reserve of the left wing.
A new fight ensued, which also took place with varying success. First, the French began to push the Russian troops. Entering into battle reserve connections Russian did not correct the situation. Davu's troops attacked Baggovut and Kamensky’s detachments at Sausgarten. The French broke into the village. But the Ryazan regiment threw the enemy. A stubborn fight began to boil near the village. Sausgarten changed hands several times. The divisions of Gudin and Moran went on the offensive. Russian and French artillery slid down on a carte shot. The Russian cavalry attacked the division of Moran and forced her to retreat. To the rescue of Moran came the dragoon division of Klein, and the French went forward again.
Count Osterman ordered to leave Southgarten. Our troops slowly retreated. Lieutenant Colonel Yermolov described this moment in his memoirs: “The attack on the left flank was successful. Neither the prudent orders of General Baron Saken, nor the resistance of the intrepid Major General Count Osterman-Tolstoy did not stop him. The left flank moved back and made an almost right angle with the army line. ” Dokhturov strengthened the left wing with the last remaining reserve, but this was not enough, the troops of Osterman-Tolstoy still moved back. The French broke into Auklapen, then came out to Cushiten (Kuchitten).
Davout built troops in parallel with Count Osterman, and sought to reach the Russians with his right wing. He placed the artillery on the Craig Mountain and she trashed the Russian order. Napoleon pushed forward the remaining troops of Augereau (the corps led by Kompana), and part of the reserve cavalry. Our troops were almost under the crossfire of the center and the right flank of the French army. At the same time, the Russian army remained without commander in chief for some time. Bennigsen went to Lestoc to speed up the movement of his body and got lost. Seeing that the army was bypassed from the flank, there was a threat of the enemy going to the rear and that the troops suffered heavy losses from crossfire, Saken was ready to order a retreat in order to save the army.
However, the critical situation was straightened by the artillery commander of the right wing Kutaisov, who, seeing that the French were not attacking in his direction and were limited to artillery firing, was bored. He wanted action. The general went to the center of the position and noticed that Osterman's troops were in a dangerous position. General Kutaisov sent three cavalry-artillery companies from his flank to Auklapen under the command of Yashvil, Yermolov and Bogdanov. Total 36 guns. Upon arrival, the gunners found the Russian troops bleeding and holding their last strength. By the 36 fire of the guns, the battery in time dropped the French infantry and began to smash the enemy guns. The French quivered, hit by grapeshot and ran. Cheered up by the Russians, they again seized Auklapen and established themselves in it. This allowed Saken and Osterman to restore order in the troops.
However, the confusion of the French was short. Strengthening the artillery, Davou again threw the troops into the attack. The French attacked Auklapen, but could not take it, held back by Russian artillery fire. The battle was still fierce. Its participant, Denis Davydov, wrote in his essay: “The devil knows what clouds of nuclei flew, fell, jumped around me, dormant masses of our troops dug in all directions, and what clouds of grenades burst over my head and under my feet! It was a wide hurricane of death, which shattered and wiped everything that fell under its shattering breath into smithereens. ”
Russian troops held tight. Osterman only needed fresh reinforcements in order to throw away the body of Davout, which suffered serious losses and stretched its orders too far towards Cushiten. And reinforcements came up. In 17 hours on the battlefield appeared advanced parts of the Prussian corps of Lestocq. The Prussian corps marched in the morning and, hiding behind a barrier from the troops of Ney, who was supposed to intercept Lestocq, was able to connect with the Russians. Bennigsen met with the Allies and led them to Cushiten.
Coming to the aid of the troops of Osterman-Tolstoy, the Prussians (about 5,5 thousand people) went on the attack. In the head of the Prussian detachment followed our Vyborg regiment. Our soldiers broke into Cushiten and almost completely interrupted the French 51 line regiment and four companies of the 108, and beat off three Russian guns that the French had previously captured. Following the Vyborg Regiment, Prussian troops entered the village, Platov with the Cossacks and the Prussian Light Regiment. The French fled, and the Cossacks strengthened their rout. Then the Prussians and Russians drove the French out of the grove in which the enemy was trying to hold on. As a result, the French were bypassed from their right flank. Davu threw Friant's division into the counterattack. But the attack of the Russian-Prussian troops was already supported by the Russian cavalry. The troops of Baggovut and Kamensky cheered and found the strength to go forward. Friant's division was shot down, Davout began to withdraw his troops and hastily placed them at Southgarten, reinforcing them with artillery.
Thus, on all points of the Russian left wing the French were rejected; they could hardly resist only at Sausgarten, from where they could not be dislodged. At this battle at Preyssish-Eylau actually ended. Up to an hour of 21, an artillery skirmish continued on both sides, but the bloodless and weary armies no longer thought about resuming the bout. It was quickly getting dark. Napoleon was waiting for Ney, but his body arrived only by 10 hours of the evening. French troops retreated to the starting line. Napoleon, in view of the arrival of Russian reinforcements and the depletion of ammunition, was ready to withdraw his troops in order to join up with Ney and Bernadotte corps. He was waiting for the actions of the Russian army, whether Bennigsen would go ahead or stop.
Bennigsen did not dare to attack, although the right flank of our army retained its combat capability. In addition, he was embarrassed by the shooting in our rear, at Schmoditen, where the Prussian barrier entered into battle with Ney’s advance guard. Bennigsen sent reinforcements to Schmoditen, they knocked out the French from the village, and learned from the prisoners about the approach of Nei's corps. As a result, Bennigsen abandoned the idea of a night strike on Napoleon’s army, which was on the verge of defeat. In the 1813 year, talking to our officers about the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, Bernadot said: “Happiness never again favored Napoleon, as under Eylau. Hit Bennigsen in the evening, he would have taken at least the 150 guns under which the horses were killed. ”
Some Russian generals demanded an attack. But Bennigsen decided to retreat to Konigsberg. At night, Russian troops began to retreat. The French no longer had the strength to prevent this. The whole battlefield was littered with dead. The fact that Napoleon stood on the battlefield of the 8 days speaks of the grave condition of the French army. Then he began a hasty retreat in the opposite direction. Apparently, if a more decisive and skillful commander, like A. Suvorov, were in Bennigsen's place, the French would not have escaped defeat.
Results
The battle of Preussisch-Eylau was one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century, and in this respect surpassed almost all the battles previously given by Napoleon. At the same time the battle ended in a draw. The total losses of the Russian and French armies were about 50 thousand people. In the snow, there were left to lie until 20-26 thousand Russian and 22-29 thousand French. The corps of Augereau suffered such losses that it was disbanded, distributing the remaining soldiers under other corps. The witness of this terrible day recalled: “Never before have so many corpses littered such a small space. Everything was covered in blood. The snow that fell and continued to fall hid little by little from the depressed look of the people ... Going through one field, we immediately found ourselves on another one, also littered with corpses. ”
The French army led by Napoleon lost the image of invincibility. Napoleon directly led the battle. He carefully considered and developed a battle plan, proving that his commanding gift was as strong as before; with him were his best commanders — Davout, Soult, Murat, Augereau. The soldiers fought bravely and stubbornly, believing in the star of their emperor. And yet, despite the best efforts of Napoleon, the efforts of the marshals and generals, the courage of the soldiers, the battle was not won by the French. Augereau was defeated, Nei did not have time to fight, the attack of Davou did not bring victory.
In the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, the Russian army dealt a strong blow to Napoleon’s previously invincible army. Bennigsen also did not win the battle, as he hurried to report back to Petersburg (although he had good chances to win). But even the fact that the French emperor did not emerge as the undisputed winner gave the Russians a feeling of major success. The Tsar replied to Bennigsen Alexander I’s victorious report: “You won the glory of defeating someone who was never defeated,” and sent a letter to the “invincible winner” about awarding him with the Order of Andrew the First-Called and a lifetime pension in 12 thousand rubles. . An officer medal was instituted in honor of the battle.
All public opinion converged on one thing: the battle of Preussisch-Eylau proved that Napoleon could not always win. He had not yet been defeated, but he had already ceased to be an invincible commander. Schlieffen, analyzing the emperor's strategic art, wrote: “The day of the battle at Preussish-Eylau means a turn in Napoleon’s commanding life. A series of successful battles of destruction, which were Marengo, Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, no longer repeated. "
The French emperor in his bulletins also spoke about the victory. I embellished it with a lie about 15, thousands of Russian prisoners and 18 flags (the Russians didn’t lose any guns or banners, there were several hundred prisoners on both sides). But he, of course, was well aware that although Bennigsen had lost almost a third of his army in battle, the Russian troops remained operational and ready for new battles. If Napoleon had in fact defeated the Russian army, he could have finished it easily, and took Konigsberg, which would complete the rout of Prussia. However, he took the army back, and after fierce winter battles, there was a three-month lull caused by the need to take a breath, replenish and arrange the troops, as well as bad weather (spring thaw). Napoleon himself in 1809, in a conversation with the Russian envoy Chernyshev, said: "If I called myself a winner under Eylau, then this is only because you wanted to retreat."
At the direction of Napoleon, French diplomacy repeated the proposal for a peace treaty. However, Bennigsen declared to General Bertrand that he refuses to start negotiations, since he was "set by the sovereign to wage war". Emperor Alexander agreed with Bennigsen’s statement, and the opportunity to end the war in which Russia fought for the interests of Prussia and England was missed. To a large extent, Russia's position was explained by the hope of supporting the allies. Sweden promised to intensify its actions in Pomerania, and England - to land the 20-thousandth landing between the Elbe and the Oder.
Cross “For victory at Preussisch-Eylau”
Bloodbath Eylau. When draw is worse than defeat
Despite the fact that Napoleon eventually won the First Polish company 1806-1807, one of her decisive battles - under Preussis-Eylau, without any reservations, can be considered a failure of a great commander. The first failure in the battles on the fields of Europe. In his reports, the emperor of the French, of course, tried to give Eylau for the victory, and the Russian generals, led by Leonty Bennigsen, didn’t really want to win. Just because they still had to retreat.
But historians are still ready to argue what this slaughter in the snow turned out to be for the Russian army - a victory or a draw. One thing is clear, about the defeat, the one that Napoleon wanted, was out of the question. And let the French stubbornly assert that the Russian army left the battlefield. The French didn't even try to chase her.
Under Eylau, Napoleon almost for the first time failed to truly outperform his opponent in some way as a commander in chief. And this is despite the fact that Bennigsen did not do anything supernatural, and the fact that he personally went to meet the Prussian column Lestocq did not take into account for any particular military achievement. The Prussians of Lestocq managed to escape from the corps of Marshal Ney who was pursuing them, and with a powerful attack they threw away the corps of Davout, which had already almost crushed the left wing of the Russian army.
And yet, you could imagine Napoleon, going to meet Pears under Waterloo? No, the emperor merely limited himself to the famous reprimand of Marshal Soult, who replaced the indispensable Berthier at the head of his headquarters. Napoleon at the decisive moment of the battle asked the Duke of Dalmat (Soult) what news about Pears, and having received the answer that the chief of staff sent a courier there, irritably threw him: “Berthier would send four!”
At the same time, it is not surprising that Bennigsen’s subordinates managed, if not to surpass, then certainly not to yield to Napoleon’s marshals and generals. The French commanders were pretty tired by the lingering company, they wanted to take the winter apartments as soon as possible, but the annoying Russians repeatedly beat them apart from each other.
It must be admitted that under Eylau von Lestok, he surpassed Ney, Osterman and Saken did not lose to Davout. Auger was just a bit, as, indeed, Murat's cavalry, and even Bagration, who was left without a specific command, did not get lost on the battlefield. Well, the Russian artillerymen Kutaisov and Yermolov did not give in to the glorified Napoleonic “masters of fire”, who are practically not mentioned by researchers not only from the Russian, but also from the French side.
The Russian army itself, of course, turned out to be better prepared than the French for fighting in the winter, and even in such a kind of theater as East Prussia. However, the Russians had not so long-term experience of the war with Polish insurgents Tadeusz Kosciuszko in conditions no less difficult, however, in fact, in terms of combat experience, the French were hardly in many respects inferior to Russians.
But is it worth remembering “General Moroz” again, when the Russian army had much more significant advantages? First of all, it is necessary to recall the short communications, because behind the back of the army Bennigsen was Koenigsberg with its port, with its dimensionless warehouses and shops. At that time, this was the most important factor, but one should not forget the loyalty of the local Prussian population, which, unlike the Poles, did not experience any enthusiasm either for the French liberators or for Napoleon himself.
However, the weather also played against the French army. Powerful snow charges struck the attacking columns directly in the face, many of which came under fire from the Russians as they left the narrow streets of Eylau. It seems that having led his advance guard out of town on the night of 7 on 8 in February, General Bennigsen did not make a serious mistake, as is commonly believed, but seemed to foresee wisely what awaits everyone in the morning.
The role of the commanders will be discussed in more detail in our next essay, already from the series “They defeated Napoleon”. There we will briefly dwell not only on what he managed to do to win, or, if you will, on an honorable draw, General Bennigsen, but also on the actions of von Lestoc, about which one of the modern historians said that "he crushed Napoleon" . In addition, as far as possible, let us pay tribute to the Russian generals, although not to everyone, as well as to the soldiers and officers who managed to withstand, and those who were forced to retreat. But only by order.
Despite the fact that Napoleon eventually won the First Polish company 1806-1807, one of her decisive battles - under Preussis-Eylau, without any reservations, can be considered a failure of a great commander. The first failure in the battles on the fields of Europe. In his reports, the emperor of the French, of course, tried to give Eylau for the victory, and the Russian generals, led by Leonty Bennigsen, didn’t really want to win. Just because they still had to retreat.
But historians are still ready to argue what this slaughter in the snow turned out to be for the Russian army - a victory or a draw. One thing is clear, about the defeat, the one that Napoleon wanted, was out of the question. And let the French stubbornly assert that the Russian army left the battlefield. The French didn't even try to chase her.
Under Eylau, Napoleon almost for the first time failed to truly outperform his opponent in some way as a commander in chief. And this is despite the fact that Bennigsen did not do anything supernatural, and the fact that he personally went to meet the Prussian column Lestocq did not take into account for any particular military achievement. The Prussians of Lestocq managed to escape from the corps of Marshal Ney who was pursuing them, and with a powerful attack they threw away the corps of Davout, which had already almost crushed the left wing of the Russian army.
And yet, you could imagine Napoleon, going to meet Pears under Waterloo? No, the emperor merely limited himself to the famous reprimand of Marshal Soult, who replaced the indispensable Berthier at the head of his headquarters. Napoleon at the decisive moment of the battle asked the Duke of Dalmat (Soult) what news about Pears, and having received the answer that the chief of staff sent a courier there, irritably threw him: “Berthier would send four!”
At the same time, it is not surprising that Bennigsen’s subordinates managed, if not to surpass, then certainly not to yield to Napoleon’s marshals and generals. The French commanders were pretty tired by the lingering company, they wanted to take the winter apartments as soon as possible, but the annoying Russians repeatedly beat them apart from each other.
It must be admitted that under Eylau von Lestok, he surpassed Ney, Osterman and Saken did not lose to Davout. Auger was just a bit, as, indeed, Murat's cavalry, and even Bagration, who was left without a specific command, did not get lost on the battlefield. Well, the Russian artillerymen Kutaisov and Yermolov did not give in to the glorified Napoleonic “masters of fire”, who are practically not mentioned by researchers not only from the Russian, but also from the French side.
The Russian army itself, of course, turned out to be better prepared than the French for fighting in the winter, and even in such a kind of theater as East Prussia. However, the Russians had not so long-term experience of the war with Polish insurgents Tadeusz Kosciuszko in conditions no less difficult, however, in fact, in terms of combat experience, the French were hardly in many respects inferior to Russians.
But is it worth remembering “General Moroz” again, when the Russian army had much more significant advantages? First of all, it is necessary to recall the short communications, because behind the back of the army Bennigsen was Koenigsberg with its port, with its dimensionless warehouses and shops. At that time, this was the most important factor, but one should not forget the loyalty of the local Prussian population, which, unlike the Poles, did not experience any enthusiasm either for the French liberators or for Napoleon himself.
However, the weather also played against the French army. Powerful snow charges struck the attacking columns directly in the face, many of which came under fire from the Russians as they left the narrow streets of Eylau. It seems that having led his advance guard out of town on the night of 7 on 8 in February, General Bennigsen did not make a serious mistake, as is commonly believed, but seemed to foresee wisely what awaits everyone in the morning.
The role of the commanders will be discussed in more detail in our next essay, already from the series “They defeated Napoleon”. There we will briefly dwell not only on what he managed to do to win, or, if you will, on an honorable draw, General Bennigsen, but also on the actions of von Lestoc, about which one of the modern historians said that "he crushed Napoleon" . In addition, as far as possible, let us pay tribute to the Russian generals, although not to everyone, as well as to the soldiers and officers who managed to withstand, and those who were forced to retreat. But only by order.
Alexey Podymov
22.03.2019
22.03.2019
Information