Russia Against Napoleon (105 page)

34 For the Austrian view on this, see Karl Fürst Schwarzenberg,
Feldmarschall Fürst Schwarzenberg: Der Sieger von Leipzig
, Vienna, 1964, pp. 268–71. Jomini’s line is inevitably different: see Jomini,
Précis
, vol. 2, pp. 224–5, 228–31. Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 9–15, gives a balanced account but argues that going through Switzerland was probably unnecessary. Alexander’s letter to Bernadotte is in
VPR
, 7, no. 174, pp. 434–6. His indignant letter to Schwarzenberg of 5 Jan. 1814 is in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fo. 108.

35 Marquess of Londonderry,
Narrative of the War in Germany and France in
1813
and
1814, London, 1830, pp. 254–5. Perhaps Stewart’s feelings at the time were not as clear-cut as this last sentence, written in 1830, implies.

36 Lord Burghersh,
The Operations of the Allied Armies in
1813
and
1814, London, 1822, pp. 72–3.

37
Dnevnik Pavla Pushchina
, Leningrad, 1987, pp. 142–3. I. Radozhitskii,
Pokhodnyia zapiski artillerista s
1812
po
1816
god
, 3 vols., Moscow, 1835, vol. 3, pp. 36–9. ‘Iz zapisok pokoinago general-maiora N. P. Koval’skago’,
Russkii vestnik
, 91/1, 1871, pp. 106–7. RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fos. 120i–ii, Alexander to Platov, 24 Jan. 1814 (OS).

38 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fos. 99ii–100i, Alexander to Blücher, 14 Dec. 1813 (OS). For reasons of space this is an abbreviated account: for a fuller one, see Leggiere,
Fall of Napoleon
, chs. 10–16, and Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 60–72.

39 These points are covered by Leggiere,
Fall of Napoleon
, and Friederich,
Feldzug
, but on the running down of conscription see Isser Woloch,
The New Regime: Transformations of the French Civil Order, 1789–1820s
, London, 1994, ch. 13, pp. 380–426.

40 For accounts of the battle, see Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 89–95; Bogdanovich,
Istoriia
…1814, vol. 1, pp. 108–13; James Lawford,
Napoleon: The Last Campaigns.
1813–15, London, 1976, pp. 68–101. Sacken’s own rather laconic report on the battle is in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3403, fos. 34ii–35ii, Sacken to Barclay, 17 Jan. 1814 (OS).

41 Quotation from Friederich,
Feldzug
, p. 103. See Sacken’s letter to Barclay de Tolly of 27 Jan. 1814 (OS), in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3403, fo. 37i.

42 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3403, fos. 36i–ii, Sacken to Barclay, 21 Jan. 1814 (OS). Bogdanovich,
Istoriia
…1814, vol. 1, p. 128.

43 F. von Schubert,
Unter dem Doppeladler
, Stuttgart, 1962, p. 343, on Blücher and the wine cellar.

44 See Alexander’s letter to Blücher of 26 Jan. 1814 (OS) in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fos. 121ii–122i.

45 Schwarzenberg,
Schwarzenberg
, pp. 276–300.

46 Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 81–2. Burghersh,
Operations
, pp. 91–103, 250–52.

47 Fournier,
Congress
, pp. 42–4, 58–63; see above all Francis II’s reply (p. 277) to Schwarzenberg’s letter of 8 Feb. (pp. 272–3). Schwarzenberg was clearly asking for instructions to stand still and these the emperor supplied. Schwarzenberg,
Schwarzenberg
, pp. 276–9, 293–9.

48 Fournier,
Congress
, pp. 105–14. The text of Metternich’s memorandum is in
SIRIO
, 31, 1881, pp. 349–55.

49 Alexander’s response to Metternich’s questions is in
SIRIO
, 31, 1881, pp. 355–60. A summary of the British, Austrian and Prussian views is in Fournier,
Congress
, pp. 285–9.

50 For Madame de Staël’s view on Alexander, see her
Ten Years’ Exile
, Fontwell, 1968, pp. 377–82. On Alexander’s view of Louis, see Philip Mansel,
Louis XVIII
, London, 2005, p. 164. On Bernadotte’s candidacy, see F. D. Scott, ‘Bernadotte and the Throne of France 1814’,
Journal of Modern History
, 5, 1933, pp. 465–78. There is nothing in the Russian military or diplomatic correspondence of 1814 which suggests more than a passing interest in Bernadotte’s candidature. In 1813 Alexander had written that Bernadotte’s private hopes for the French crown could be indulged so long as they did not impede his contribution to the allied cause. In 1814 the emperor may even have encouraged Bernadotte’s hopes as a way of luring him back from his campaign against Denmark.

51 Baron de Vitrolles,
Mémoires et relations politiques
, 3 vols., Paris, 1884, vol. 1, pp. 115–20.

52 For the conversation with Castlereagh, see T. von Bernhardi,
Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben des kaiserlichen russischen Generals der Infanterie Carl Friedrich Grafen von Toll
, 5 vols., Leipzig, 1858, vol. 4ii, p. 58.

53 Fournier,
Congress
, pp. 105–37; Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 156–64.

54 See e.g. Karl von Clausewitz,
Der Feldzug von
1812
in Russland, der Feldzug von
1813
bis zum Waffenstillstand und der Feldzug von
1814
in Frankreich
, Berlin, 1862, pp. 361–71. Müffling,
Memoirs
, pp. 115–45. Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 117–47, is as always admirably fair and balanced.

55 Major-General Kornilov was the senior officer of Olsufev’s corps who escaped: his report on the battle is in M. Galkin,
Boevaia sluzhba 27-go pekhotnago Vitebskago polka
1703–1903, Moscow, 1908, pp. 223–4. On Olsufev’s losses, see: Napoleon to Joseph, 10 Feb. 1814, in A. du Casse (ed.),
Mémoires et correspondance politique et militaire du Roi Joseph
, Paris, 1854, p. 85.

56 The basic narrative is from Friederich,
Feldzug
, pp. 129–34, and Bogdanovich,
Istoriia
…1814, vol. 1, pp. 186–96. Sacken’s official report to Barclay, dated 3 Feb. 1814 (OS), is in RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Ed. Khr. 3403, fos. 37ii–39i. The description of Sacken the day after the battle is from Bernhardi,
Denkwürdigkeiten
, vol. 4i, p. 393. There is a good description of the retreat in the history of the Pskov Infantry Regiment: Captain Geniev,
Istoriia Pskovskago pekhotnago general-fel’dmarshala kniazia Kutuzova-Smolenskago polka:
1700–1831, Moscow, 1883, pp. 233–6.

57 Koch,
Mémoires
, vol. 1, pp. 267–8. There is a good description of this retreat in Müffling,
Memoirs
, pp. 128–36.

58 Bogdanovich,
Istoriia
…1814, vol. 1, pp. 206–8. Du Casse,
Mémoires…du Roi Joseph
, Napoleon to Joseph, 11 Feb. 1814, pp. 88 ff.
Correspondance de Napoléon Ier
, 32 vols., Paris, 1858–70, vol. 27, Paris, 1869, no. 21295, Napoleon to Eugéne, 18 Feb. 1814, pp. 192–3.

59 Fain,
Manuscrit de Mil Huit Cent Quatorze
, nos. 12 and 13, Bassano to Caulaincourt, 5 Feb. and Caulaincourt to Bassano, 6 Feb. 1814, pp. 253–7.

60 Ibid., no. 26, Napoleon to Caulaincourt, 17 Feb. 1814, pp. 284–5.
Correspondance de Napoléon
, vol. 27, no. 21344, Napoleon to Francis II, 21 Feb. 1814, pp. 224–7; no. 21295, Napoleon to Eugéne, 18 Feb. 1814, pp. 192–3. Du Casse,
Mémoires…du Roi Joseph
, Napoleon to Joseph, 18 Feb. 1814, pp. 133 ff.

61 For Alexander’s warning to Wittgenstein, see RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fo. 125ii, Alexander to Wittgenstein, 4 February 1814 (OS). On Pahlen and Wittgenstein, see M. Bogdanovich, ‘Graf Petr Petrovich fon der Pahlen i ego vremiia’,
VS
, 7/8, 1864, pp. 411–26, at pp. 418–19.

62 For Wittgenstein, see the previous note. On the Estland Regiment, see S. A. Gulevich,
Istoriia 8go pekhotnago Estliandskago polka
, SPB, 1911, p. 208.

63 Schwarzenberg,
Schwarzenberg
, pp. 281–8, for his comments about Blücher. Fournier,
Congress
, no. 14, pp. 277–8, for his letter to Francis II of 20 Feb. and no. 13, p. 277, for Francis’s instructions to remain south of the Seine until it was clear whether or not the peace negotiations would succeed. Count Münster’s letter to the Prince Regent of 23 Feb. describes allied suspicions of Austrian ‘bleeding’ tactics: Fournier,
Congress
, no. 9, p. 302.

64 On frustration in the ranks, see Sabaneev’s letter to P. M. Volkonsky of 20 Feb. (OS): RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 4166, fo. 65i, and on orders to Oertel and the Evdokimov case his letters of 28 Jan. (OS) to Major-General Oldekop (fo. 40i) and to the Grand Duke Constantine of 24 Jan. (fo. 42i).

65 The voluminous correspondence above all between Barclay and Kankrin in RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 18, Delo 17, gives a detailed sense of the army’s efforts to feed itself and the problems they encountered: see in particular fos. 128i–ii, Barclay to Kankrin, 29 Jan. 1814 (OS); fos. 153i–ii, Barclay to Kankrin, 9 Feb. 1814 (OS); fos. 160i–ii, Kankrin to Barclay, 14 Feb. 1814 (OS). M. Dandevil’,
Stoletie 5-go dragunskago Kurliandskago Imperatora Aleksandra III-go polka
, SPB, 1903, p. 105.

66 RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/120, Sv. 18, Delo 17, fos. 109–10, Kankrin to Barclay, 17 Jan. 1814 (OS); fos. 172–5, Kankrin to Barclay, 20 Feb. 1814 (OS); fo. 218, Barclay to Oertel, 7 March 1814 (OS). V. von Löwenstern,
Mémoires du Général-Major Russe Baron de Löwenstern
, 2 vols., Paris, 1903, vol. 2, pp. 315–20.

Chapter 14: The Fall of Napoleon

1 RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/120, Sv. 18, Delo 17, fos. 68–70, Kankrin to Barclay (enclosing Lisanevich’s own report: fos. 70–71), 14 Jan. 1814 (OS); fos. 73–5, Barclay to Kankrin, 15 Jan. 1814 (OS) (on how the mobile magazine should be used); fo. 127, Kankrin to Barclay, 27 Jan. 1814 (OS) (on the magazines’ survival almost intact); fo. 160, Kankrin to Barclay, 15 Feb. 1814 (OS) (on how the mobile magazines had already supplied biscuit rations for one month); fo. 204, Kankrin to Barclay, 27 Feb. 1814 (OS) (on the dispatch of Kondratev’s magazine to Joinville).

2 RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 18, Delo 17, fos. 50–52: Stein’s letter to Barclay explaining the arrangements to administer occupied territory and defining the districts, dated 25 Jan. (NS) 1814. For Alopaeus’s initial responses see: fos. 188–9, Kankrin to Barclay, 22 Feb. 1814 (OS), and fos. 201–3, Alopaeus to Barclay, 23 Feb. 1814 (OS). See also Peter Graf von Kielmansegg,
Stein und die Zentralverwaltung 1813/14
, Stuttgart, 1964, part 4, pp. 98 ff.

3 RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 12, Delo 126, fos. 52–3, Kankrin to Barclay, 22 Jan. 1814 (OS).

4 RGVIA, Fond 103, Opis 4/210, Sv. 18, Delo 17, fo. 204, Kankrin to Barclay, 27 Feb. 1814 (OS); fos. 205–7, Alopaeus to Kankrin, 25 Feb. (OS).

5 A. Fournier,
Der Congress von Chatillon: Die Politik im Kriege von
1814, Vienna, 1900, no. 27, Metternich to Stadion, 9 March 1814, pp. 334–5. Lord Burghersh,
The Operations of the Allied Armies in
1813
and
1814, London, 1822, pp. 177–85, for a retrospective, ‘sanitized’ view.

6 Dispatch from Lieven to Nesselrode, 26 Jan. 1814, enclosed in a letter from Castlereagh to Liverpool, 18 Feb. 1814: Marquess of Londonderry (ed.),
Correspondence, Despatches, and Other Papers of Viscount Castlereagh
, 12 vols., vol. 9, London, 1853, pp. 266–73.

7 F. Martens (ed.),
Sobranie traktatov i konventsii, zakliuchennykh Rossiei s inostrannymi derzhavami
, vol. 3:
Traktaty s Avstrieiu
, SPB, 1876, no. 73, pp. 148–65.

8 RGVIA, Fond 846, Opis 16, Delo 3399, fos. 131ii–132i.
SIRIO
, 31, 1881, pp. 364–5, has the protocol of the meeting of 25 February. M. Bogdanovich,
Istoriia voiny
1814
goda vo Frantsii
, 2 vols., SPB, 1865, vol. 1, pp. 268–70.

9 K. von Clausewitz,
Der Feldzug von
1812
in Russland, der Feldzug von
1813
bis zum Waffenstillstand und der Feldzug von
1814
in Frankreich
, Berlin, 1862, pp. 375–7; Baron Karl von Müffling,
The Memoirs of Baron von Müffling: A Prussian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars
, ed. P. Hofschroer, London, 1997, pp. 146–71; V. von Löwenstern,
Mémoires du Général-Major Russe Baron de Löwenstern
, 2 vols., Paris, 1903, vol. 2, pp. 325–34.
Correspondance de Napoléon Ier
, 32 vols., Paris, 1858–70, vol. 27, no. 21439, Napoleon to Joseph, 5 March 1814, pp. 288–9. Henri Houssaye,
Napoleon and the Campaign of 1814: France
, Uckfield, 2004, pp. 116–41, tends to be an uncritical apologist for the Bonapartist line. Bogdanovich,
Istoriia
…1814, vol. 1, pp. 299–307.