“The club of the people’s war rose with all its formidable and majestic force and, without asking anyone’s tastes and rules, rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion perished,” everyone who read “War and Peace” will not forget These are the words of Leo Tolstoy.

Partisan poet

The Frenchman did not rejoice for long. In September, the invaders ruled Belokamennaya, and in October they no longer knew how to escape - and the partisans played a significant role in this change. After the first news of victories and the retreat of the enemy, Russia finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It all started with a message to Prince Bagration, in which the brave hussar and brilliant poet Denis Vasilyevich Davydov proposed to equip a detachment for partisan warfare. Guerrilla warfare is the only way to defeat Napoleon, stop him, and make the existence of the “great army” in Russia unbearable. Bagration approved Davydov's plans. The word was with the new commander-in-chief Kutuzov.

On the eve of the Battle of Borodino, Kutuzov accepts the plan of Davydov and Bagration. Denis Vasilyevich, having received several dozen hussars and Cossacks at his disposal, immediately began a “search” in the French rear. That is why he will not take part in the Battle of Borodino. But Borodino was almost like family to Davydov... His father bought it immediately after his resignation.

On the Borodino field, Denis Vasilyevich’s brother, cavalry guard, captain Evdokim Davydov, was wounded in the leg. But Denis Vasilyevich was engaged in no less important work than Borodin’s heroes. In the days of Napoleon's approach to Moscow, in the days of the great battle, Davydov was already disturbing the French rear, repelling Russian prisoners, and destroying convoys.

Many considered Davydov’s flying squad to be doomed and saw him off as if he were going to die. But for Denis Vasilyevich, partisan warfare turned out to be his natural element. After the first victory over the French detachment on the Smolensk road, he transfers the weapons captured from the enemy to the peasants. How much he did to ensure that the “club of the people’s war” hit the enemy more painfully!

Davydov's first detachment - only fifty hussars and eighty Cossacks - moved to the rear of the "great army" on the eve of Borodin. And immediately he almost was captured... by Russian partisans! Yes, yes, this is not an empty joke, the peasants really mistook the hussars for the French. Davydov had to grow his beard and put on a Russian caftan. And he knew how to talk to men - he was never a Gallomaniac. Denis Vasilyevich himself tells the following about those days: “How many times did I ask the residents after the conclusion of peace between us: “Why did you think we were French?” Each time they answered me: “Yes, you see, my dear (pointing to my hussar’s cap), this is they say, it’s similar to their clothes.” - “But don’t I speak Russian?” - “But they have all sorts of people!” Then I learned from experience that in the People’s War one must not only speak the language of the rabble, but adapt to "I put on a man's caftan, began to grow a beard, instead of the Order of St. Anna I hung an image of St. Nicholas and spoke to them in the language of the people." Yes, the word “rabble” hurts our ears. But in those days, and even in the mouth of Davydov, it did not have a derogatory connotation. In the twentieth century, we outgrew this word, destroying class prejudices. As if the worst of the distant past would not return to our lives now... In the first weeks of the raid on the French rear, Davydov captured three to four times more prisoners than there were soldiers in his detachment. These successes impressed Kutuzov, Major Davydov received reinforcements. The detachment was also replenished by peasants - people's avengers. Soon Davydov already had four thousand prisoners on his account. And he receives the rank of colonel.

Napoleon not only sentenced Davydov to execution, but was also forced to form a cavalry detachment of two thousand sabers, which was tasked with destroying Davydov. However, Russian partisans lured the French cavalry into a trap. Rumors spread throughout Russia about Davydov's invincibility, about miraculous victories... The famine in the French army was also largely the merit of Davydov, who captured many food convoys.

The largest victories of the flying detachment took place on October 28 at Lyakhov and November 9 at Kopys. Under Lyakhov, Augereau’s brigade was attacked by four Russian detachments: in addition to Davydov’s, the partisan detachments of Seslavin, Figner and Orlov-Denisov. Davydov, the initiator of the operation, commanded the vanguard. They managed to defeat the superior forces of the French, and one and a half thousand, including the general, surrendered. This is one of the most striking episodes of the operation, which will remain in history as the expulsion of the “great army” from Russia. “Night fell; the frost intensified; Lyakhovo was burning; our troops, on horseback, stood on both sides of the road along which disarmed French troops were passing, illuminated by the glow of the fire. The chatter of the French did not stop: they cursed the frost, their general, Russia, us,” - Davydov described the finale of the battle.

Not only a grunt, but also a talented military writer, Davydov became a theorist of partisan warfare and a historian of the War of 1812. Of course, there were opponents who believed that Denis Vasilyevich exaggerated his role in the partisan movement. But let us remember that he became a national hero already in 1812. Rumor picked up his name, and popular print artists replicated the image. Walter Scott himself kept an engraved portrait of Denis Davydov from a series of portraits of Russian heroes in 1812, which was released by the artist Dighton.

In Dayton's engraving, Denis Davydov is depicted in the guise of a mighty warrior, with a black curly beard and a cap of hair, wearing a fur skin draped over his shoulders and fastened with a buckle at the collar, with a scarf instead of a belt and a saber in his hand. The signature read: "Denis Davydov. Black captain." There is no time for portrait resemblance here, but Davydov will be flattered to learn about this from correspondence with the English classic.

And yet - the victorious people!

Recently, it has become fashionable to “dispel myths” about the great past. They tell us: the partisan movement was not popular. It was just that officers - representatives of the aristocracy - carried out secret missions, professionally carried out sabotage behind enemy lines. But the peasants didn’t even know such a word - “patriotism”! The ideas of the times of a certain Dmitry Runich returned, who argued: “The Russian man did not defend his political rights. He fought in order to exterminate the “beasts of prey” that came to devour his sheep, chickens, and devastate his fields and granary.” The gentlemen did not believe that the “plebeians” were capable of high impulses, capable of thinking about anything other than their daily bread. Even in our time, the concept of “people” is not held in high esteem; it is considered an atavism of Soviet rhetoric. Once Suvorov argued to Potemkin: “Allow me, Your Serene Highness, to convey: there are heroes even in the lower ranks.” Around the same time, Karamzin revealed to the enlightened public a secret behind seven seals: “And peasant women know how to love.” In "Notes of a Hunter" Turgenev showed the generosity and humanity of the peasants. And suddenly in the 21st century they began to write about Russian farmers and soldiers of 1812 as if they were animals!..

Such times have come; everyone fancies himself a lone hero and despises the “overwhelming majority.” For many years, the “rulers of thought” have been imposing on us skeptical ideas about the “people”: if they are a mass, then they are obviously gray. A new crop of “intellectuals” has been raised. In former times, the ideology and raison d'être of the intelligentsia was to serve the people:

People! People!

I love you, I sing your suffering.

But where is the hero, who will lead you out of the darkness into the light?..

Modern snobs ridiculed this position. On the path of self-affirmation, everything is burned. They hate Tolstoy's understanding of the historical drama of 1812. By the way, L.N. Tolstoy can be found discussing the “drone population of the army” - about those officers who thought only about honors. And Denis Davydov has a fundamental dispute with salon Russophobes:

Every mama's boy, every thief, a fool of fashionable nonsense, making liberal appearances.

"..." And look: our Mirabeau of Old Gavrilo For a crumpled frill, Whipping him in the mustache and in the snout.

And look: our Lafayette, Brutus or Fabricius puts men under pressure

Along with beets.

This poem is called "Modern Song". The trouble is that it is now modern again! In today's talkative circles, contempt for the “people” (or even denial of such a concept) is already perceived as valor.

Partisan glory

But let’s return from Davydov the poet to Davydov the partisan. He saw that the commanders were not ready for a general battle: the risk was too great, you could lose the army, and with it Russia. I also saw the weakness of the positions of the “Great Army”: Napoleon walked 1200 kilometers from the Neman to Moscow. The military history of that time did not know such extended communication lines. This is the vulnerability of the victors of the summer of 1812. Davydov’s troops were joined by peasants and soldiers who lagged behind the army, and sometimes Kutuzov sent reinforcements. But mass support for the resistance is not just stories!

The peasants of the Bronnitsky district of the Moscow province, the peasants of the village of Nikola-Pogorely near Vyazma, the Bezhetsky, Dorogobuzhsky, and Serpukhovsky peasants constantly supported the partisans and replenished the flying detachments. Often groups of peasants tracked down individual enemy detachments and destroyed French foragers and marauders. There was no question of mercy here. The peasants punished inexorably.

In Soviet times, Vasilisa Kozhina Street appeared in Moscow. Who is she, the legendary peasant partisan? They say her husband was killed by the invaders, and she vowed revenge. There were different stories about her. Something like this: “The headman of one village in the Sychevsky district of the Smolensk province led a party of prisoners taken by the peasants to the city. In his absence, the villagers caught several more Frenchmen and immediately brought them to the elder Vasilisa to be sent to their destination. This latter, not wanting to distract the adults from their most important busy beating and catching villains, she gathered a small convoy of children and, mounting a horse, set off as a leader to escort the French herself... With this intention, riding around the prisoners, she shouted to them in an commanding voice: “Well, French villains! To hell! Form up! Go, march!" One of the captured officers, annoyed that a simple woman decided to command them, did not listen to her. Vasilisa, seeing this, jumped up to him instantly and, hitting him on the head with her staff - a scythe, threw him dead at her feet , crying out: “The same will happen to all of you, thieves, dogs, who just dare to move a little! I’ve already torn off the heads of twenty-seven such mischief-makers! March to the city!" And after that, who can doubt that the prisoners recognized the power of the elder Vasilisa over themselves."

A popular series of popular prints was dedicated to Vasilisa Kozhina, the stern escort of prisoners. We still remember A.G.’s popular print. Venetsianov 1813 “The French are hungry rats in the team of the elder Vasilisa” with the inscription “Illustration of an episode in the Sychevsky district, where the wife of the village elder Vasilisa, having recruited a team of women armed with scythes and daggers, drove before her several captured enemies, one of whom He was killed by her for disobedience."

The famous portrait of a simple peasant woman is an unprecedented thing! - wrote the artist Alexander Smirnov. Under the painting is the signature: “Partisan of 1812. She did great good for Russia. She was awarded a medal and a cash prize of 500 rubles.” It's not about the prize, but about the achievements! The fact is that the occupiers failed to break the freedom-loving spirit of the Russian people. Where has it been seen that a woman does not submit to an armed invader? And the stories about Vasilisa were perhaps more important than her brave deeds. Wars are won not only by soldiers and guns, but also by books, songs, and correctly formulated slogans.

Playing with death

Alexander Figner, who began the war with the rank of staff captain, became an energetic organizer of the partisan movement. Remember Tolstoy's Dolokhov? Figner is one of his prototypes. A desperate brave man, he burned with hatred for the enemy and dreamed (like all partisans) of capturing Bonaparte. When the enemy occupied Moscow, he headed to the occupied city. A born intelligence officer and actor, he changed his outfits, posing as either a Frenchman or a German (his Baltic origins allowed him!). As we know, he failed to capture Napoleon. But Figner managed to obtain important information from the French camp, and after leaving Moscow, he put together a small detachment of volunteers.

The young officers admired Figner's reckless courage. He played with death like a brute. But not only for the sake of fame and certainly not for personal gain.

He defended the Fatherland.

Legends of Figner's resourcefulness inspired the army. One day the French managed to pin a partisan detachment to impassable swamps. The enemies are seven thousand, the Fignerites are a handful. The situation is hopeless! At night the French did not sleep a wink, guarding the partisans in a trap in order to deal with them in the morning. But when it dawned, it turned out that the swampy copse was empty. There are no traces of Russians. What a miraculous salvation? There was no miracle, it was just a military stratagem that worked once again. In the dark, Figner, risking his life, crossed the swamp over bumps. Two miles from the swamp there was a quiet village. Figner gathered the peasants, told them what was what, and together they found a way out. In no time (every minute counts!) they brought boards and straw to the shore and laid out a road in the swamp. The commander was the first to check the strength of the flooring and returned to the detachment. He ordered the horses to be carefully moved to a safe place - the French sentries did not hear any suspicious sounds. Then people started walking down the chain. The latter removed the boards behind them and passed them forward. Even the wounded managed to get out of the trap, and not a trace remained of the road.

Is there any exaggeration in this story? In the combat biography of Figner, Davydov, Seslavin there were many incredible episodes - not a single dreamer could come up with such things. Figner himself (like Dolokhov) loved a spectacular pose and knew how, as they say, to make an impression. In one of his reports he admitted:

“Yesterday I learned that you are worried about finding out about the forces and movements of the enemy, for which reason yesterday I was with the French alone, and today I visited them with an armed hand. After which I again had negotiations with them.

Mr. Captain Alekseev, who I sent to you, will better tell you about everything that happened, because I’m afraid to brag.”

He understood that noisy popularity helps in battle and instills courage in the hearts of volunteers. It is worth paying attention to the elegant style of Figner's reports. A bright person - bright in everything! A master of hoaxes, staging - and an incredible brave man...

Another time, the partisans were surrounded. The French cavalry was preparing for battle; Figner divided his detachment into two groups. The first, which included cavalrymen of the Polish Lancer Regiment, wearing uniforms very similar to the French, jumped out of the forest and rushed towards their comrades, the Russian partisans. There was a shootout and even hand-to-hand combat. French observers decided that Figner was defeated. While they were gathering their thoughts, the partisans disappeared. But Napoleon was ready to pay dearly for Figner’s head. The elusive partisan terrified the enemy!

He did not stop combat attacks even when experienced partisans needed a break: “Figner, unique in everything, often disguised himself as a simple worker or peasant and, armed with a blowgun instead of a stick and taking the St. George’s Cross in his pocket, so that, if necessary, he could show it to the Cossacks, whom he could meet, and thereby prove his identity, he went alone on reconnaissance while everyone was resting."

Legends about his exploits spread to Europe. Even in Germany, he did not stop secretly infiltrating cities occupied by the French. During his campaign abroad, Figner formed a “Legion of Vengeance” from Germans, Russians, Italians - those who were ready to fight Napoleon. He continued to fight in the partisan style, and held the rank of Russian colonel with honor. The troops of Marshal Ney pressed the brave men to the Elbe. Only the saber of the brave colonel remained on the shore. The waters of the German river closed over the wounded hero.

But he managed to accomplish the main thing: the enemy was driven out of Russia!

Poet-hussar, front-line soldier (let me note in passing: the most venerable centenarian in classical Russian literature - he lived for almost 94 years) Fyodor Glinka dedicated wonderful poems to the hero:

Oh, Figner was a great warrior, And not an ordinary one... he was a sorcerer!..

With him, the Frenchman was always restless...

Like an invisible man, like a flyer,

An unrecognized spy everywhere,

Then suddenly he’s a fellow traveler for the French,

That is their guest: like a German, like a Pole;

He goes to the French bivouac in the evening And plays cards with them, Sings and drinks... and he said goodbye, As if to his own brothers...

But sleep will still support the tired at the feast, And he, quietly, with his vigilant team, Sneaked from the forest under the hill, Like here!.. “Sorry!” They have no shame:

And, without spending a single cartridge, He takes two-thirds of the squadron...

("The Death of Figner").

Seslavin

Fighting next to the fierce, daring Figner was a partisan leader distinguished by his nobility and wisdom.

One of the heroes of the Battle of Borodino, Colonel Alexander Nikitich Seslavin, received command of a separate flying detachment in the fall of 1812. It was his soldiers who were the first to notice Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. Seslavin's detachment pursued the French all the way to the borders of Russia, set up ambushes, and captured prisoners. He did not allow the enemy to come to his senses and imposed a 24-hour guerrilla war on the French, seven days a week.

If it weren’t for Seslavin’s timely report to General D.S. Dokhturov, Napoleon might have been able to occupy the fertile southern provinces and begin a new campaign in the spring of 1813, replenishing the army. But near Maloyaroslavets, the Russians blocked the “Great Army”’s path to salvation. They had to retreat along the old Smolensk road, which promised only hunger and meetings with the partisans. In the last period of the war, the Seslavians captured demoralized French in the thousands. In the battle near Vilna, a dashing detachment was the first to break into the city, and Seslavin was wounded in the arm with a broken bone - not the first and not the last in his combat biography. He did not stay in the hospital for long and took part in all the main battles of the European campaign of 1813 and 1814, right up to the Battle of Paris. In the Moscow Kremlin, near the Arsenal, you can see many captured cannons, recaptured from the enemy by Seslavin’s miracle heroes.

Glory to “that people who, in a moment of trial, without asking how others acted according to the rules in similar cases, with simplicity and ease, picks up the first club they come across and nails it with it until in their soul the feeling of insult and revenge is replaced by contempt and pity" - these are the words of L.N. Tolstoy. We believe that our people have not lost these qualities.

Arseny ZAMOSTYANOV.

The date is based on the Directive of the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated June 29, 1941, in particular, which read: “...5) In areas occupied by the enemy, create partisan detachments and sabotage groups to fight units of the enemy army, to incite partisan warfare everywhere, to blow up bridges, roads, damage telephone and telegraph communications, set fire to warehouses, etc. In the occupied areas, create unbearable conditions for the enemy and all his accomplices, pursue and destroy them at every step, and disrupt all their activities.”

However, a lot is known about the partisans of the Great Patriotic War (at least, I would like to hope!) - so let’s turn to the origins of the topic. (By the way, the document signed by Stalin and Molotov exhaustively characterizes partisan activity. If we turn to Peter’s Military Regulations of 1716, we will find: “A corvolant (that is, a light corps) ... from the great army of several thousand on purpose ... is given over to some business ... either from the enemy to stop or take away a pass, or to go to his rear, or to enter his land and cause sabotage "). Why not a partisan detachment?.. Although, of course, in more distant times there existed: firstly, professional sabotage units; secondly - detachments of civilians who armed themselves for the occasion and necessity...

(...From school days we remember the statement of Count Tolstoy: “...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 disassembling anything, it rose, fell and nailed...” So - on the pages of "War and Peace" the classic devotes a lot of space to the analysis of the partisan war of 1812 (and does this with his inherent talent) ... but, in fairness, let's turn to the facts - this very "club" is successful when it is in skillful hands!..)

The first to seriously suffer from the partisans were Napoleon’s soldiers - first they would run into the Spanish guerrilla (that is, a “small war”; then they would end up in Russia. (By the way, the word partie (“part”), understandable in many languages, is precisely French; the first Russians The partisans called their units “parties”).

As for the championship, with the light hand of the same Tolstoy, it is well known that “Denis Davydov, with his Russian instinct, was the first to understand the meaning of that terrible club, which, without asking the rules of military art, destroyed the French, and the glory of the first step to legitimize this method of war belongs to him.” Indeed, the gallant lieutenant colonel will appear to Bagration shortly before Borodin; will outline his project - and receive approval, along with fifty hussars and eighty Cossacks. (As they say, Prince Peter wanted to give three thousand, without trifling, but Kutuzov, as usual, will be careful).

However, the truly first flying detachment appeared a month earlier - moreover, it consisted of five cavalry regiments (three Don; Kazan Dragoons and Stavropol Kalmyk - in total about one thousand three hundred sabers!) - in addition to reconnaissance, this unit delivered sensitive blows to the flanks of the Great Army - and after Borodin it will be positioned on the path of Napoleon’s possible attack on the capital... Alas - at the origins were, as they say, “the wrong people”... the organizer of the first, but half-forgotten detachment will be Barclay, unloved by the army (and by historiographers) Tolly; and the commander was Baron Ferdinand Winzengerode (who alternately served in the Austrian and Russian armies).

(...A memorable episode from his career - having learned that during the retreat Bonaparte ordered to blow up the Kremlin, the brave general will arrive for negotiations... will be captured - and almost shot! For unclear reasons, the worst did not happen - however, the French will drag the prisoner with himself... later he will be recaptured by other partisans - Chernyshev's detachment (Before the war, Prince Chernyshev served as Alexander's personal envoy under Napoleon... These are the kind of partisan leaders we had!)

Subsequently, the heroic Davydov will be subordinated to von Winzengerode (he will even put him under house arrest for the unauthorized capture of Dresden) - in general, it is more or less clear why this man with a German surname is little known to the general public... unlike the author of “War Notes” " (...Yes - there is one more reason! The vanguard of Winzengerode was commanded by the fearless Benckendorf... the future head of the III department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery - the well-known "strangler of freedom"... Well - where with such a profile on the heroic pages of history?. .)

PS: ...All of the above does not at all aim to belittle the valor of the hussar praised by Pushkin - as well as other partisan commanders (we only note that these were all professional warriors - and they commanded regular troops)... But - let’s not forget the peasants! (About which, however, much less is known. There is a lot of evidence that in the territory occupied by the enemy, the unexpectedly liberated serfs first plundered the landowners' estates - and only then switched to their French competitors. Even Lev Nikolaevich mentions in passing that “... the men Karp and Vlas... after the French performance, they came to Moscow with carts to plunder the city”). It is difficult to judge how widespread such phenomena were... but it is known that Davydov’s partisans, as soon as they had time to leave for their first mission, the men would indeed, allegedly, take them for foreign adversaries - and they would not kill them for nothing... However, this is completely other story.

The partisan movement is 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 considering anything, it rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion was destroyed”
. 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 hesitate! Let me come! Hood. V.V.Vereshchagin, 1887-1895

It is no coincidence that this definition has firmly stuck to her. Not only the regular army took part in it - for the first time in the history of the Russian state, the entire Russian people stood up to defend their homeland. Various volunteer detachments were formed and took part in many major battles. Commander-in-Chief M.I. Kutuzov called on the Russian militias to provide assistance to the active army. The partisan movement developed greatly throughout Russia, where the French were located.

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

A.P. Butenev recalled how Russian peasants fought the French: “The further the army went into the interior of the country, the more deserted the villages encountered were, and especially after Smolensk. The peasants sent their women and children, belongings and livestock to the neighboring forests; they themselves, with the exception of only the decrepit old men, armed themselves with scythes and axes, and then began to burn their huts, set up ambushes and attacked lagging and wandering enemy soldiers. In the small towns we passed through, there was almost no one to meet on the streets: only local authorities remained, who for the most part left with us, having first set fire to supplies and shops where the opportunity presented itself and time permitted...”

“They punish villains without any mercy”
Gradually, peasant resistance took on other forms. Some organized groups of several people, caught soldiers of the Grand Army and killed them. Naturally, they could not act against a large number of French at the same time. But this was quite 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 “Russian partisans.”

With a weapon in your hands - shoot! Hood. V.V.Vereshchagin, 1887-1895

In some provinces abandoned 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 Emelyanov, 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 whatever they could, they elected the brave Emelyanov over them, swearing an oath not to spare their lives for the faith, the Tsar and the Russian land and to obey him in everything... Then Emelyanov introduced There is amazing order and structure between the warrior-villagers. According to one sign, when the enemy was advancing in superior strength, the villages became empty; according to another, people gathered in their houses again. Sometimes an excellent beacon and the ringing of bells announced when to go on horseback or on foot to battle. He himself, as a leader, encouraging by example, was always with them in all dangers and pursued evil enemies everywhere, beat many, and took more prisoners, and finally, in one hot skirmish, in the very splendor of military actions of the peasants, he sealed his love with his life to the fatherland..."

There were many such examples, and they could not escape the attention of the leaders of the Russian army. M.B. In August 1812, Barclay de Tolly made an appeal 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 Russian name, punish the villains without any mercy. Imitate them all who love themselves, the fatherland and the sovereign. Your army will not leave your borders until it drives out or destroys the enemy forces. It has decided to fight them to the extreme, and you will only have to reinforce it by protecting your own homes from attacks more daring than terrible.”

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 for the enemy to encircle him 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 partisans’ activities: “...I placed ten partisans on that leg in order to be able to take away all the ways from the enemy, who thinks in Moscow to find all kinds of contentment in abundance. During the six-week rest of the Main Army at Tarutino, the partisans instilled fear and horror in the enemy, taking away all means of food...”

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

Such actions required brave and decisive commanders and troops capable of operating in any conditions. The first detachment that was created by Kutuzov to wage a small war was the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel D.V. Davydova, formed at the end of August with 130 people. With this detachment, Davydov set out through Yegoryevskoye, Medyn to the village of Skugarevo, which was turned into one of the bases of partisan warfare. He acted together 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 people’s war one must not only speak the language of the mob, but adapt to it, to its customs and its clothing. I put on a man's caftan, began to let my beard down, and instead of the Order of St. Anna I hung an image of St. Nicholas and spoke in a completely folk language...”

Another partisan detachment was concentrated near the Mozhaisk road, led by Major General I.S. Dorokhov. Kutuzov wrote to Dorokhov about the methods of partisan warfare. And when information was received at army headquarters that Dorokhov’s detachment was surrounded, Kutuzov reported: “The partisan can never come to this situation, because his duty is to stay in one place for as long as he needs to feed the people and horses. The flying detachment of partisans must make marches secretly, along small roads... During the day, hide in forests and low-lying places. In a word, the partisan must be decisive, fast and tireless.”

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

At the end of August 1812, a detachment was also formed Winzengerode, consisting of 3200 people. Initially, his tasks included monitoring the corps of Viceroy Eugene Beauharnais.

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

In total, in September, the flying detachments included 36 Cossack regiments and one team, 7 cavalry regiments, 5 squadrons and one light horse artillery team, 5 infantry regiments, 3 battalions of rangers and 22 regimental guns. Kutuzov managed to give the partisan war a wide scope. He assigned them the task of observing the enemy and delivering continuous attacks on his troops.

Caricature from 1912.

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

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

Peasant partisan units
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 partisan Yegor Stulov. Hood. Terebenev I.I., 1813

Samusya's detachment operated near Moscow. He managed to exterminate more than three thousand French: “Samus introduced an amazing order in all the villages under his command. With him, everything was performed according to signs, which were given through the ringing of bells and other conventional signs.”

The exploits of Vasilisa Kozhina, who led a detachment in Sychevsky district and fought against French marauders, became very famous.

Vasilisa Kozhina. Hood. A. Smirnov, 1813

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

Club of the People's War

Club of the People's War
From the novel “War and Peace” (vol. IV, part 3, chapter 1) by L. N. Tolstoy (1828-1910): “Let’s imagine two people who went out with swords to a duel according to all the rules of fencing art... suddenly one of the opponents, feeling wounded, realizing that this was not a joke... threw down his sword and, taking the first club he came across, began to swing it... Fekhto-
the feller, who demanded fighting according to all the rules of art, were the French; his opponent, who threw down the sword and raised the club, were Russians... Despite all the complaints of the French about non-compliance with the rules... the club of the people's war rose with all its formidable and majestic strength and, without asking anyone's tastes and rules, rose, fell and nailed the French until the entire invasion was destroyed."
Allegorically: about the great possibilities of a people's war.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M.: “Locked-Press”. Vadim Serov. 2003.

See what the “Cudgel of the People’s War” is in other dictionaries:

A famous writer who achieved something unprecedented in the history of literature in the 19th century. glory. In his person a great artist and a great moralist were powerfully united. T.’s personal life, his stamina, tirelessness, responsiveness, animation in defending... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

Tolstoy L. N. TOLSTOY Lev Nikolaevich (1828 1910). I. Biography. R. in Yasnaya Polyana, formerly Tula lips. He came from an old noble family. T.’s grandfather, Count Ilya Andreevich (prototype of I. A. Rostov from “War and Peace”), went bankrupt towards the end of his life.… … Literary encyclopedia

Wikipedia has articles about other people with this surname, see Kirichenko. Ivan Fedorovich Kirichenko ... Wikipedia

Main article: Novomoskovsk (Tula region) Coat of arms of Novomoskovsk The history of Novomoskovsk originates from the village of Bobriki (1765 1930), which in the early 1930s in just a few years became a large industrial city, the capital ... ... Wikipedia

PATRIOTIC WAR OF 1812- Russia's war of liberation against Napoleonic aggression. In June 1812, Napoleon's half-million army, led by the Emperor of France, who was striving for world domination, crossed the Russian border. Napoleon's plan was...

Troops: ground forces Branch of troops: armored forces ... Wikipedia

WAR AND PEACE- Roman epic L.N. Tolstoy*. The novel “War and Peace” was written in 1863–1869. during the writer’s life in Yasnaya Polyana. The first chapters appeared in the magazine “Russian Bulletin” in 1865 under the title “1805”. In 1866, a new option arises... ... Linguistic and regional dictionary

Winged words- stable, aphoristic, usually figurative expressions that have come into general use from or on the basis of a certain folklore, literary, journalistic or scientific source (apt sayings of outstanding public figures,... ... Pedagogical speech science

Ukrainian SSR, Ukraine, is located in the southwest of Europe. parts of the USSR, in the south it is washed by the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. It borders on the west with the SRR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland, on the north with the BSSR, on the north and east with the RSFSR, on the southwest with Mold. SSR. Formed 12 (25) Dec. 1917. On Dec. 1922 together with others... Soviet historical encyclopedia

- ... Wikipedia

Books

• People's War. Partisans against punitive forces, Dyukov Alexander Reshideovich. The organization of the partisan movement during the Great Patriotic War is still one of the least studied pages of our history. Historians are still arguing: why centralized...

A masterpiece of Russian literature, a grandiose epic novel in which the writer revealed one of the main themes - the theme of war. In his work, the writer showed the period when our country was forced to defend itself, because the French army led by. For Russia, the Patriotic War became a people's war, when not only soldiers defended their Motherland, not only the army and military commanders fought the enemy. This is a war when the entire Russian people rose up against the French, the whole club of the people's war showed its strength, defeating the enemy.

Club of the People's War: the meaning of the metaphor

What is the meaning of Tolstoy's metaphor of the club of the people's war and why is guerrilla warfare called such? In his work, the writer showed the unity of people driven by one goal - to defeat the enemy. All the heroes are different, each has their own destiny, but a difficult life situation reunited the entire Russian people, who became a terrifying machine of the people's militia. And even though the main weapon of all states has always been the army with its soldiers and commanders, yet guerrilla warfare has always and everywhere been considered the most terrible. She, like that cudgel of the people's war, rose up to instill fear in the enemies. The people, led by a single idea, went to the bitter end, sacrificing everything and even their lives, so that the future of the nation would be bright and free.

The club of the people's war rose with formidable force...

In the novel we see how ordinary people and nobles go to serve, how merchants donate a lot of money to the army. Many burned their property so that the French would not get it; they left their homes, burning everything. We see how peasants and ordinary men joined the partisan detachments, becoming a powerful force united by a noble goal. People independently act in the fight against the enemy, raising their weapon - a club that defeated Napoleonic army. The partisans crushed the French piece by piece, while the detachments gathered a variety of people who burned with hatred of the invaders. This is Tikhon Shcherbaty, and Denisov, and Petya Rostov, and Karataev, and Timokhin, and the elder Vasilisa and many others. This is exactly what Tolstoy writes about the club of the people’s war in an excerpt from his work: the club of the people’s war rose with a formidable force... nailed the French until the entire invasion was destroyed. Any military leadership is powerless before this formidable force, which was once again proven by our patriots. Small detachments of partisans who did not leave the French the slightest chance of salvation.