What decision was made by the council in the files. Military Observer

After Battle of Borodino the Russian army withdrew to Moscow and in the early morning of September 1 (13) settled down near the small village of Fili near Moscow at a position chosen by the chief of staff of the Russian army, Bennigsen. The terrain turned out to be extremely unfavorable. “In case of failure, the entire army would have been destroyed to the last man,” Russian General M.B. Barclay de Tolly.

In the evening of the same day, a military council headed by the commander of the Russian army gathered in the hut of the peasant FrolovM. I. Kutuzovwhere it was necessary to decide the fate of Moscow. Barclay de Tolly advocated the need for a retreat, justifying this by the "danger of the position" and the "superior forces" of the enemy, as well as the impossibility of "defending such a vast city with such insignificant forces." Generals D. S. Dokhturov, N. N. Raevsky and A. P. Ermolovsupported the retreat, P.P. Konovnitsyn and L.L. Bennigsen spoke in favor of the battle, the rest took a wait and see attitude. The last word was expected from M.I. Kutuzova. After listening to all those present, the commander-in-chief decided to retreat. “With the loss of Moscow, Russia has not yet been lost,” he said.

This was the last retreat of the Russian army in the Patriotic War of 1812. G.

During the retreat, an order was given to destroy ammunition depots and provisions. A fire broke out in the city, destroying more than 70% of the buildings, all food supplies and weapons. 2(14) September Napoleon entered Moscow. Torn off from their rear, the French were actually locked in a devastated city. In October 1812The French army left Moscow and began to retreat along the Kaluga road. ButMaloyaroslavetsKutuzov blocked Napoleon's path, forcing him to retreat along the Smolensk road devastated by the war. Constant blows of the Cossack detachments of the atamanD. V. Davydovaand partisans, as well as hunger and severe frosts, turned the retreat of the French army into a rout. In the battle at the riverBerezina, Napoleon suffered a crushing defeat and fled, leaving the remnants of his army.

The hut of the peasant Frolov began to be called the Kutuzov hut and they tried to preserve it as a historical monument. However, in 1868it was almost completely destroyed by fire. In 1887According to the plans and drawings of the old hut, a new one was recreated. In the room of the military council placed a museum dedicated to 1812city, and in the other half of the hut they settled veteran soldiers of the Pskov Infantry named after Field Marshal Kutuzov Regiment.

After 1917 Kutuzovskaya hut was turned into a residential building.

In 1939 It was decided to open the historical monument "Kutuzovskaya izba in Fili".

Since 1962 Kutuzovskaya izba is a branch of the Borodino Battle panorama museum.

Lit.: Berezin N. Patriotic War of 1812City: Military Council in Fili. M., 1912; Official site of the Museum-panorama "Battle of Borodino". B.d.URL:

Kivshenko A. D.
Military council in Fili in 1812
1880
Canvas, oil. 92 x 164
State Russian Museum

The plot of the picture reflects an important event in Russian history at the beginning of the 19th century - a meeting of military leaders convened by Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov on September 1 (13), 1812. The great Russian commander, given the heavy losses in the battle of Borodino, at the military council in the village of Fili supported the proposal made by Barclay de Tolly to leave Moscow without a fight for the sake of preserving the army. He said: "Leaving Moscow, we will save the army, losing the army, we will lose Moscow and Russia." M.I. Kutuzov found the strength to courageously make this decision for the sake of preserving the army, foreseeing that, thanks to the strategy he had chosen, Napoleon's army would inevitably be defeated in the future. According to Kutuzov's plan, the army moved along the Ryazan road, and then secretly crossed to the Kaluga road, having made the Tarutinsky march-maneuver. During the 20 days spent in the fortified Tarutinsky camp, 84 kilometers south of Moscow, the Russian army was replenished with people, weapons and equipment, military partisan detachments and "flying corps" were sent to the rear of the enemy. All this decided the outcome of the war and confirmed the foresight and talent of the great Russian commander.

On the canvas, the artist depicted the moment of the dispute between M.I. Kutuzov and a number of generals, headed by the chief of staff L.L. Venigsen, who spoke in favor of the battle near Moscow. The painting depicts (from left to right): P.S. Kaisarov, M.I. Kutuzov, P.P. Konovnitsyn, N.N. Raevsky, A.I. Osterman-Tolstoy, L.L. Bennigsen, M.B. Barclay de Tolly, F.P. Uvarov, K.F. Tol, D.S. Dokhturov, A.P. Ermolov. The author of this work, A.D. Kivshenko, was not a participant in well-known events, but the masterful description given by L.N. Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace” served as a reason for him to use the plot from the military events of 1812 for his thesis. The artist created a deeply psychological work, captivating with the truthfulness and emotionality of expressive means, which makes the picture one of the best canvases of Russian historical painting of the second half of the 19th century.

Kivshenko Alexey Danilovich
1851, Tula region - 1895, Heidelberg, Germany

The son of a serf belonging to Count D.V. Sheremetyev, from the age of 9 was sent to study in St. Petersburg, to the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (class of I.N. Kramskoy), in 1867 he continued mastering the art at the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAH). He was awarded a gold and several silver medals. 1880-1884 worked in Düsseldorf, Munich and Paris, creating a number of interesting paintings. 1884 - a trip to the Transcaucasian region to collect material for a painting about the Turkish war (1877-1878), ordered by Emperor Alexander III. In 1891 he was a member of an archaeological expedition (headed by N. Kondakov) to Palestine and Syria. The artist also traveled to Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey, and the countries of the East, capturing landscapes, architecture, and the life of people in his watercolors. He taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts, at the school of Baron Stieglitz. The artist created works in the best traditions of Russian fine art of the second half of the 19th century, taking a worthy place among such famous artists as I.M. Pryanishnikov, I.N. Kramskoy, V.V. Vereshchagin, V.I. Surikov and others.

The Military Council in Fili is a meeting of Russian military leaders convened by M.I. Kutuzov on September 13 (1), 1812 in the village of Fili near Moscow in the hut of the peasant M. Frolov to decide the fate of Moscow. As a result of the roll-call vote on the first two proposals, the opinions of the council members were divided approximately equally.

On the eve of the council, the Russian army deployed to the west of Moscow to give battle to Napoleon. In his speech, Bennigsen announced that the retreat made senseless bloodshed in the Battle of Borodino. The surrender of the sacred city for the Russians will undermine the morale of the soldiers.

Barclay de Tolly was the first to speak in the debate, criticizing the position near Moscow and proposing to retreat: “Having saved Moscow, Russia is not saved from the war, cruel, ruinous. But having saved the army, the hopes of the Fatherland are not yet destroyed, and the war ... can continue with convenience: the prepared troops will have time to join in different places beyond Moscow.

To this, Kutuzov objected that "the French army will dissolve in Moscow, like a sponge in water," and suggested retreating to the Ryazan road. At the end of the council, Kutuzov summoned General Quartermaster D.S. Lansky and instructed him to ensure the delivery of food to the Ryazan road.

Since part of the Cossacks continued to retreat to Ryazan, the French scouts were disoriented and Napoleon had no idea about the whereabouts of the Russian troops for 9 days. The original appearance of the hut is known for certain thanks to a number of sketches made in the 1860s. A. K. Savrasov. On the basis of some testimonies of contemporaries, one can only assume that among the participants were M.I. Platov, K.F. Baggovut, F.P. Uvarov, P.S. Kaysarov and V.S. Lanskoy.

He ordered to leave the city and save the army for future hostilities, because, in his words, "with the loss of Moscow, Russia has not yet been lost." The next day, September 2, 1812, the Russian troops, having passed the city, left the capital, retreated along the Ryazan road, and later, having made the Tarutinsky march-maneuver, broke away from the enemy. The last word was expected from M.I. Kutuzov. A fire broke out in the city, destroying more than 70% of the buildings, all food supplies and weapons.

Torn off from their rear, the French were actually locked in a devastated city. In October 1812 The French army left Moscow and began to retreat along the Kaluga road. The constant blows of the Cossack detachments of Ataman D.V. Davydov and partisans, as well as hunger and severe frosts, turned the retreat of the French army into a rout. In 1939 It was decided to open the historical monument "Kutuzovskaya hut in Fili".

Miloradovich was not there - he was in the rearguard. The only ally of Kutuzov, Kutuzov understood that most of the generals who came to the council shared the opinion of the soldiers about the need to give another battle to Napoleon. Kutuzov immediately outlined his position, expected for the generals and unexpected for the soldiers - at the military council, Kutuzov spoke in favor of a retreat without a fight. Bennigsen was outraged by this idea, and continued to criticize the retreat in a harsh manner, insisting on the need to fight in the position he had chosen.

It seemed that they shed blood in vain in a general battle. The inhabitants of the city themselves were shocked to learn about the decision of the army, although they assumed such an outcome of events.

The council was attended by M.B. Barclay de Tolly, D.S. Dokhturov, F.P. Uvarov, A.P. Ermolov, A.I. Osterman-Tolstoy, P.P. Konovnitsyn and K.F. Tol, L.L. Bennigsen and M.I. Platov. From the age of 14, he served in the Hanoverian army, participated in the Seven Years' War, received promotions.

Retreat to Moscow

During the war of 1812, Bennigsen was appointed to be with the emperor, but after his departure he remained at the headquarters without any specific position. After the battle of Borodino, the Russian army withdrew to Moscow due to heavy losses, and a defensive position was chosen on the Sparrow Hills for the battle with the troops of Napoleon I Bonaparte. The final decision was made by M.I. Kutuzov. The hut of the peasant A. Frolov, in which the council took place, burned down in 1868, but was restored in 1887, since 1962 it has become a branch of the Battle of Borodino panorama museum.

Battle of Borodino - behind Moscow

Rostopchin, Count Feodor Vasilyevich - - Chief Chamberlain, Commander-in-Chief of Moscow in 1812-1814, member of the State Council. The Russian emperor, an outstanding diplomat, was well aware that Napoleon would try to impose a decisive battle on his army, in which the chances of winning against Russia were slim. A year before the start of the war, he said that he would rather retreat to Kamchatka than sign a peace treaty in the capital.

Having crossed the border river Neman in June 1812, the Great Army entered the territory of Russia. Near Smolensk in early August, the 1st and 2nd armies successfully completed this maneuver. It was not possible to defeat Napoleon, but in the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army, most importantly, completed its main task - inflicted serious damage on the enemy forces.

The military council in Fili was described by L.N. Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace", according to this description, the famous painting was written, which was included in school textbooks. In the tradition of Tolstoy and Kivshenko, the council is depicted in S. Bondarchuk's film epic "War and Peace" (1967). However, in 1868 it was almost completely destroyed by fire. Fili is a former village to the west of Moscow (since the mid-20s of the XX century, within the city).

Under the cover of a special rearguard, now under the command of General of Infantry Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich, who replaced the Cossack chieftain Matvey Platov, whose actions Kutuzov was still dissatisfied with, the Russian army retreated behind Mozhaisk, Nara, Bolshie Vyazemy and approached Moscow on September 13.

Mozhayskaya road in 1812
Chromolithography based on the original by P. KOVALEVSKY

Already on September 11, the rescript of Emperor Alexander I to General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov followed: As a reward for your merits and labors, we confer on you the rank of Field Marshal General, grant you one hundred thousand rubles at a time, and command your wife, the princess, to be our court lady

Portrait of M.I. Kutuzov
Roman VOLKOV

We grant all the lower ranks who were in this battle five rubles per person. We expect from you a special report on the chief commanders who have joined with you, and after them, on all other ranks, in order to make a worthy reward at your suggestion. We are favorable to you. Alexander.

Kutuzov on Poklonnaya Hill in front of the military council in Fili
War and Peace
Alexey KIVSHENKO

Sent for reconnaissance of the alleged battle site, the chief of staff, Infantry General Leonty Bennigsen, reported at the end of the day on September 12 that such a position had been found 3 versts from Moscow. The next day Kutuzov went there. The Commander-in-Chief asked Generals Barclay de Tolly, Yermolov, Tolya to carefully examine the positions and report their opinion. Barclay, who had already been ill for several days, rode around the battlefield and reported on his complete unfitness. Yermolov and Tolya were of the same opinion. Having given the order to notify the military leaders of the convening of the military council, Kutuzov departed for the village of Fili, where the main apartment of the Russian army was located in the hut of Krastyanin Frolov.

Kutuzov hut in Fili
Alexey SAVRASOV

Kutuzov hut in Fili
Alexey SAVRASOV

Kutuzov at the military council in Fili
Illustration for Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace
Andrey NIKOLAEV

The military council, held in secrecy and without protocol, was attended by 10 to 15 people. It is well established that Generals Kutuzov, Barclay de Tolly, Bennigsen, Dokhturov, Yermolov, Raevsky, Konovnitsyn, Osterman-Tolstoy, Tol, Uvarov, Kaisarov were present. Bennigsen was a little late, then Toll arrived, and the last to appear after the beginning of the council was General Raevsky. The question was posed by Kutuzov as follows: is it necessary to risk the entire army located in a disadvantageous position, or should Moscow be left without a fight. Contrary to the regulations (a statement from junior to senior), Barclay de Tolly took the floor and clearly, consistently explained why it was impossible to give a battle, it was necessary to retreat. And he was actually the first to voice the idea that with the loss of Moscow, Russia was not lost, but the capture of Moscow will prepare the death of Napoleon... And I must say, Mikhail Bogdanovich was able to convince even military leaders of his rightness, whose courage there was no doubt: Alexander Osterman-Tolstoy, Karl Tol, Nikolai Raevsky.

Military Council in Fili
Illustration for the novel by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace
Alexey KIVSHENKO
(the picture shows from left to right: Kaisarov, Kutuzov, Konovnitsyn, Raevsky, Osterman-Tolstoy, Barclay de Tolly, Uvarov, Dokhturov, Ermolov, Tol, Bennigsen)

Recognizing the hopelessness of the chosen position for the battle, as an alternative, the intention was expressed to show patriotism and beautifully accept death near the walls of the Kremlin. She was supported by Bennigsen, Yermolov (who later wrote that he spoke out because he was afraid of the reproaches of his contemporaries), Dokhturov, Konovnitsyn. That is, there was practically parity.

Military council in Fili.
Alexey KIVSHENKO

Kutuzov at the end of the council summed up these statements and made a final decision:

With the loss of Moscow, Russia is not lost yet. I make it my first duty to preserve the army, to get closer to those troops that go to reinforce it, and by the very concession of Moscow to prepare for the inevitable death of the enemy. Therefore, I intend, after passing through Moscow, to retreat along the Ryazan road. I know that responsibility will fall on me, but I sacrifice myself to save the Fatherland. I order you to retreat!

Kutuzov after the military council in Fili
Illustration for the novel by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace
Dementy SHMARINOV

Kutuzov in Fili
Alexander APSIT

So, at the military council in Fili on the evening of September 13, two very important decisions were made: the surrender of Moscow without a fight and the retreat of the Russian army along the Ryazan road. The passage of troops through Moscow was entrusted to Barclay de Tolly, and the commander of the rearguard, General Miloradovich Kutuzov, ordered through Yermolov honor the ancient capital with the VIEW of the battle under its walls.

Having received such an order from the commander-in-chief, Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich was very surprised, became furious and refused to give battle. Of course, he understood the danger that threatened the Russian army at that moment, and sent his adjutant to Murat with a proposal to conclude a one-day truce, during which the Russian army could freely pass through Moscow, unambiguously hinting to the marshal that otherwise his detachment would fight for every house and street and leave Moscow in ruins for the French... The French dutifully waited for the Russian army and the inhabitants of Moscow to leave the ancient capital.

The Russian army and residents leave Moscow in 1812.
A.SEMYONOV, A.SOKOLOV

This truce also suited the enemy, since both Murat and Napoleon believed that this was the first signal for peace negotiations, which the French emperor was so eager for. And no one wanted to sacrifice their own forces, pretty battered in the battle of Borodino. Whether a personal meeting took place at that historical moment of two great military leaders - Marshal Murat and General Miloradovich, nicknamed the Russian Murat, these two dandies are not exactly known (there are different opinions on this), but here is what he recalled about their contacts in his Notes General Alexey Ermolov:

General Miloradovich more than once had a meeting with Murat, the king of Naples... Murat would appear now dressed in Guishpan, now in an imaginary stupid costume, with a sable hat, and eyelet pantaloons. Miloradovich - on a Cossack horse, with a whip, with three shawls of bright colors that do not agree with each other, which, with their ends wrapped around the neck, developed to their full length at the behest of the wind. The third such was not in the armies.

In the Russian troops, after the announcement of the decision in Fili, despondency reigned. The officers and soldiers, entangled in the constantly changing statements of the field marshal, were perplexed and did not want to believe: I remember when my adjutant Lindel brought the order for the surrender of Moscow, all minds were in agitation: most of them wept, many tore off their uniforms and did not want to serve after the reprehensible retreat, or better, the surrender of Moscow. My General Borozdin resolutely considered this order treacherous and did not budge until General Dokhturov arrived to replace him.(S.I. Maevsky My age...)

Portrait of Count Fyodor Vasilyevich Rostopchin
Orest Kiprensky

What can we say then about the Governor-General of Moscow, Fyodor Vasilyevich Rostopchin, whom Kutuzov confused and led by the nose with his contradictory declarations: My real subject is the salvation of Moscow; The question has not yet been resolved: should we lose the army, or lose Moscow? In my opinion, the loss of Russia is connected with the loss of Moscow; It is not unknown to each of the chiefs that the Russian army must have a decisive battle under the walls of Moscow (the latter was said on September 12) So you just have to sympathize with this unsympathetic person.

Count Rostopchin and merchant son Vereshchagin in the courtyard of the governor's house in Moscow
Illustration for the novel by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace
Alexey KIVSHENKO

On the morning of September 13, Count Rostopchin committed a senseless and cruel act. At 10 o'clock in the morning, he left his house on Bolshaya Lubyanka to a huge crowd that had gathered to find out from the commander-in-chief himself whether Moscow would really be surrendered. In order to divert her attention and direct the passions of those gathered in a different direction, Rostopchin ordered that the arrested merchant son Vereshchagin be brought, whom he personally accused of betrayal, accusing him of translating old Napoleonic sheets - Letters from Napoleon to the King of Prussia and Speech delivered by Napoleon to the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine in Dresden. From this, the governor-general inflated the case of a universal scale, presenting Vereshchagin as a malicious drafter of proclamations.

Death of Vereshchagin
Claudius Lebedev

Rostopchin began to shout that Vereshchagin was the only Muscovite who had betrayed the Fatherland, and ordered two dragoon non-commissioned officers to hack him with sabers. When Vereshchagin fell, the crowd carried out the massacre...

Of course, not all Muscovites were waiting for the order to retreat, when a couple of weeks before that, the transfer of various state institutions, offices, state property to Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities began. More far-sighted and wealthy citizens began to slowly leave the capital. Nevertheless, a lot of people still remained, among them a large number of sick and wounded (according to various sources, about 20 thousand people), evacuated from previous battles to Moscow and those who managed to get out of the Borodino hell and from near Mozhaisk.

The wounded in the Battle of Borodino arrive in Moscow
Illustration for the novel War and Peace Lev Tolstoy
Alexander APSIT

The wounded in the Rostov courtyard
Illustration for the novel War and Peace Lev Tolstoy
Andrey NIKOLAEV

There were, of course, kind souls, such as the commander of the 2nd Combined Grenadier Division, Count Vorontsov, wounded at Borodino (yeah, exactly the same half lord half ignorant... but there is hope..., glorified later our everything for centuries), who ordered to leave the junk and wealth of several generations of his family, loaded on carts, and give them to evacuate the wounded; he was taken to the estate in the Vladimir province of about 450 people - generals, officers, batmen and soldiers. And then in Andreevsky, Mikhail Semyonovich organized a hospital where these wounded were treated at his expense until full recovery.

Portrait of General Mikhail Vorontsov
George Doe

But others are not so lucky. According to the testimony of the French staff general Jean-Jacques-Germain Pele-Closo, on September 14, Kutuzov ordered Miloradovich to deliver to the French a note signed by the duty general P. Kaisarov and addressed to the Chief of the General Staff of the French Army, Louis-Alexandre Berthier: The wounded remaining in Moscow are entrusted with the philanthropy of the French troops. It is not difficult to guess how this philanthropy turned out in burned Moscow.

My soul was torn apart by the groan of the wounded, left at the mercy of the enemy. ... The troops looked at this with indignation
(General Alexey Ermolov)

As I have already said, Kutuzov entrusted the organization of the passage of troops through Moscow to Barclay de Tolly, who wrote to Rostopchin: The armies are moving out this night in two columns, of which one will go through the Kaluga outpost, and the other will go through the Smolensk ... I ask you to order to take all necessary measures to preserve peace and quiet both on the part of the remaining inhabitants, and to prevent the abuse of troops, placing police teams all over the streets. For the army, it is necessary to have as many guides as possible, to whom all the big and country roads would be known..

Withdrawal of Russian troops through Moscow
I. ARKHIPOV

The withdrawal of Russian troops from Moscow in 1812
Vasily LEBEDEV

Rostopchin carried out the order, and discipline during the passage of troops through Moscow was the strictest. Barclay spent eighteen hours in the saddle and left Moscow with the last detachment at 9 pm. The Muscovites, who at first greeted the Russian army cordially and enthusiastically, then realized that it was simply following through Moscow, fell silent in confusion, looking at the departing army. The soldiers felt embarrassed, were gloomy, did not speak, some even cried. Kutuzov, not yet assuming the strength of Muscovites' discontent against him, first rode through the city on horseback, but then got into a carriage and asked his adjutant, Prince A.B. Golitsyn to see him out of Moscow so as not to meet anyone as much as possible.

Together with the army, Fyodor Rostopchin also left Moscow. As the governor-general of Moscow, he considered it his duty to be with the army as long as it remained within the boundaries of the Moscow province.

Residents leave Moscow
Nikolay SAMOKISH

Flight of residents from Moscow
Claudius Lebedev

Flight of residents from Moscow
Alexander APSIT

Following the army or together with it, thousands of carts and carriages, as well as tens of thousands of citizens who left the city on foot, moved through the Moscow outposts. This giant full-flowing river, consisting of old men, peasants, women, discharged young ladies, mothers with infants in their arms and young children, carriages, carts and wagons loaded with goods, household belongings and all kinds of domestic animals, gushed at once through all squares, streets and lanes. It was no longer the move of the army, but the movement of entire peoples from one end of the world to the other.(S.I. Maevsky My age, or the history of General Mayevsky)

Departure of residents from Moscow
Illustration for the novel by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace
Andrey NIKOLAEV

Suddenly, in the battalions that were the last to leave the city, music began to play ...
– What rogue told you to play music?- Shouted General of Infantry Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich to the commander of the garrison, Lieutenant General Brozin.
– According to the charter of Peter the Great, when the garrison leaves the fortress, music plays- answered the pedantic Vasily Ivanovich.
– And where is it written in the charter of Peter the Great about the surrender of Moscow? Miloradovich barked. Please tell the music to stop!

Portrait of General Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich
Yuri IVANOV

And already on the evening of September 14, soldiers and officers of the retreating Russian army saw flashes of Moscow fire on the horizon: it was burning on Solyanka, in Kitay-gorod, behind the Yauza bridge ... During the night, the fire intensified significantly and engulfed most of the city.