Feat grenadier Leonty Korenny
Battle of Leipzig. Painting V.I. Mashkova
Representatives of the most famous Russian surnames considered it an honor to serve in the life guards of the Finnish regiment. Princes and counts among the officers of the regiment were not uncommon. And all of them, climbing the main staircase to the officer’s regimental assembly, saluted the monument depicting a simple soldier. What did the Grenadier Leontiy Korennoy do, so that the officers would install a monument to him at his own expense and pay him honor?
His feat, which glorified him in two armies, Russian and French, the grenadier Leonty Korennoy made 4 on October 1813 of the year during the famous battle of Leipzig, called the “Battle of the Nations”.
By this time, Root was already a seasoned fighter, to whom not only young soldiers but also gray-haired regimental veterans had great respect. His chest was decorated with the St. George Cross, obtained for Borodino, where he and his five colleagues managed to knock the French out of the forest. This is how their exploit was described. Stories Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment: “At all times the battles with the enemy were in the arrows and repeatedly refuted the growing chains, striking hard, and every step was marked by courage and courage, which, overturning the enemy, betrayed him to flee and, having driven him out of the woods on bayonets , they took the place that they had stubbornly defended for several hours. ”
But the fact that Leonty Korennoy committed under Leipzig, even in the Russian army, astonished what to say about the French. And the following happened. The attacking battalion of Finns was cut off from the main forces and was forced to fight in a semi-circle, pressed against a high stone wall. Many soldiers and most of the officers were injured and could not on their own under the fire of the enemy to overcome the wall. Then Koren helped the wounded battalion commander and several officers move over the wall, and then with a handful of soldiers began to cover the retreat of their colleagues. Soon he survived alone. The cartridges ran out, and the soldier fought off the bayonet and butt of those who were sticking to the French. The French initially wanted to capture him. But the furious Russian soldier in hand-to-hand, you just can not take it. The enemy had to use bayonets. Apparently, shocked by the courage of the Russian grenadier, the French felt sorry for the soldier: there were no mortal wounds among the 18 he received.
The feat of the grenadier Leonty Korenny. Painting PI Babaeva
The French did not finish off the seriously wounded soldier, but carried him to the dressing station. Napoleon found out about the amazing resilience of a Russian soldier. There are two versions of how this happened. According to the first, one of the officers reported about the soldier who alone confronted the whole platoon. The information reached Napoleon, and he wanted to look at such a hero himself. According to another version, Bonaparte was told about the amazing Russian wounded when the emperor visited the field hospital.
How Napoleon learned about the Root is not so important. The main thing is how the emperor acted. After talking with the soldier, he ordered to heal him and release him to his unit. Bonaparte, himself a youth of despairing brave, knew how to respect someone else’s courage. And then something quite amazing happened. Napoleon ordered to prepare about the feat of the Russian Grenadier Root in the order on the troops, in which he called the Russian Guards a hero, a role model and an example for the French soldiers.
When the wounds of Leonty Korenny healed a little, the French escorted him to the outposts and wished him a good trip. Soon Leonty found his regiment. Imagine the surprise of the soldiers, who considered him dead, to see Native strongly wounded, but alive. One can imagine the commander’s amazement when the soldier reported that he had arrived from captivity by order of Bonaparte himself. The words of the soldier checked through the prisoners of the French, everything turned out to be true. They reported to the commander in chief and the emperor about the amazing feat of the grenadier.
The courageous soldier was promoted to the ensigns (the highest noncommissioned officer) and appointed a regimental standard-bearer. And from the emperor he was granted a special silver medal for wearing around his neck with a laconic inscription "For the love of the Fatherland." The most amazing thing about this award is not that it was personalized. Personal medals have been established more than once in Russia, although not for ordinary soldiers. It is surprising that it was necessary to wear it on the neck, because then only high degrees of orders were worn. Even this fact was emphasized feature of the soldier’s deed.
The soldiers about the hero "Uncle Korennoy" put down the song, which they began to sing not only in the Finnish regiment. Several of its variants are known, but the differences between them are minor. Here is the most common:
We remember Uncle Native,
He lives in our memory,
Happened to any enemy
In the bayonets with the guys go.
Then bulat stirs,
Fight hand to hand boil,
The blood of the enemy will flow down,
A root forward brings down;
And the enemies all marveled at the troops,
As in Gosse Russian Private
Saved by the chiefs heroically,
Saved all - and gave up his head.
Bonaparte himself glorified him,
Order sent by the army,
In the example of all the Russian set,
So that everybody knew.
Here is a miracle hero was small
Dashing flank grenadier,
Everywhere, always, in battles
Heroic courage is an example.
It is surprising that in those times when there were practically no newspapers, the feat of the Korenny became widely known in Russia. Painter Polydor Babayev, born in the year of the Leipzig battle, painted the painting The Feat of the Grenadier Leonty Korennogo. For officers who distinguished themselves during the Crimean War during the defense of Sevastopol, in Tula were made revolvers, decorated with gilding with etched drawings depicting the feat of the Root.
In the 1903 year, when the centenary of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment was celebrated, a bronze monument to Leonty Korennoy, which was depicted at the time of the feat, was erected at the expense of the officers at the entrance to the officers' meeting. On four bas-reliefs, located on the pedestal of the monument, episodes from the regiment's history were depicted. Unfortunately, in 30-years the monument was dismantled. But his pedestal lived up to our days and is located in St. Petersburg in the square near the AV Museum. Suvorov.
Not forgotten feat grenadier in our days. Many veteran and public organizations of St. Petersburg are in favor of restoring the monument to the glorious Russian soldier, who surprised with his feat the two best armies of Europe.
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