Fire of Moscow (1812)

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Fire of Moscow
Fire of Moscow 1812.jpg
Fire of Moscow by Alexander Smirnov, 1813
Date14–18 September 1812
Location Moscow, Russian Empire
Outcome
  • destruction of 6496 out of 9151 residential buildings;
  • destruction of 6584 wooden and 2567 stone houses;
  • destruction of 122 out of 329 churches. [1]
An 1817 map. Areas of Moscow destroyed by the fire are in red. 1813 moscow-pozar.jpg
An 1817 map. Areas of Moscow destroyed by the fire are in red.
Faber du Faur Moskau 1812 Faber du Faur Moskau 1812.jpg
Faber du Faur Moskau 1812

During the French occupation of Moscow, a fire persisted from 14 to 18 September 1812 and all but destroyed the city. The Russian troops and most of the remaining civilians had abandoned the city on 14 September 1812 just ahead of French Emperor Napoleon's troops entering the city after the Battle of Borodino. [2] [3] [4] The Moscow military governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, has often been considered responsible for organising the destruction of the sacred former capital to weaken the French army in the scorched city even more. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Background

After continuing Barclay's "delaying operation" [8] as part of his attrition warfare against Napoleon, Kutuzov used Rostopchin to burn most of Moscow's resources as part of a scorched earth strategy, guerilla warfare by the Cossacks against French supplies and total war by the peasants against French foraging. [9] This kind of war without major battles weakened the French army at its most vulnerable point: military logistics. [10] On 19 October 1812 the French army, lacking provisions and being warned by the first snow, abandoned the city voluntarily. [11]

Regarding the state of Moscow itself, the city was mostly deserted, at least in comparison to its normal levels of population: At the beginning of 1812 Moscow had around 270,184 inhabitants according to a contemporary police survey; [12] of these, somewhere between 6,200 and 10,000 civilians chose to remain in the city after the arrival of the French, in addition to between 10,000 and 15,000 sick or wounded Russian soldiers. [13]

Causes

Napoleon watching the fire of Moscow from the walls of the Kremlin Napoleon watching the fire of Moscow 01.jpg
Napoleon watching the fire of Moscow from the walls of the Kremlin
Vyazyomy Manor Glavnyi dom Bol'shie Viaziomy.jpg
Vyazyomy Manor
A 19th-century caricature (lubok) of Napoleon meeting Satan after the Fire of Moscow, by Ivan Alekseevich Ivanov Napoleon with Satan after burning Moscow (19th century).png
A 19th-century caricature ( lubok ) of Napoleon meeting Satan after the Fire of Moscow, by Ivan Alekseevich Ivanov

Search had been made for the fire-engines since the previous day, but some of them had been taken away and the rest put out of action...The Poles reported that they had already caught some incendiaries and shot them, ...they had extracted the information that orders had been given by the Governor of the city and the police that the whole city should be burnt during the night. [14] [15]

Before leaving Moscow, Count Rostopchin supposedly gave orders to the head of police (and released convicts) to have the Kremlin and major public buildings (including churches and monasteries) set on fire.[ citation needed ] During the following days, the fires spread. According to Germaine de Staël, who left the city a few weeks before Napoleon arrived, and afterward corresponded with Kutuzov, it was Rostopchin who ordered his own mansions to be set on fire, so no Frenchmen should lodge in it. [16] The French actress Louise Fusil, who was living in Moscow, wrote that the fire started at Petrovka Street and offers more details in her memoires. Today, the majority of historians blame the initial fires on the Russian strategy of scorched earth. [17] [6]

Furthermore, a Moscow police officer was captured trying to set the Kremlin on fire where Napoleon was staying at the time. Brought before Napoleon, the officer admitted he and others had been ordered to set the city on fire, after which he was bayonetted by guardsmen on the spot on the orders of a furious Napoleon. [18]

The sight of the fire deeply disturbed Napoleon who was horrified and intimidated at the Russian resolution to destroy their most sacred and beloved city before surrendering it. According to him most churches, monasteries and palaces survived as they were made out of stone. A witness records him as remaining transfixed watching the fire from the Kremlin while saying: "What a terrible sight! And they did this themselves! So many palaces! What an incredible solution! What kind of people! These are Scythians!" [19]

The catastrophe started as many small fires, which promptly grew out of control and formed a massive blaze from the northeast, according to Larrey. [20] The fires spread quickly since most buildings in Moscow were made of wood, except in the German Quarter. Although Moscow had had a fire brigade, their equipment had previously either been removed or destroyed on Rostopchin's orders. The flames spread into the Kremlin's arsenal, and was put out by French Guardsmen. The burning of Moscow is reported to have been visible up to 215 km, or 133 miles, away. [21]

Tolstoy, in his book War and Peace , suggests that the fire was not deliberately set, either by the Russians or the French, but was the natural result of placing a deserted and mostly wooden city in the hands of invading troops. Before the invasion, fires would have started nearly every day even with the owners present and a fully functioning fire department, and the soldiers would start additional fires for their own needs, from smoking their pipes, cooking their food twice a day, and burning enemies' possessions in the streets. Some of those fires would inevitably get out of control, and without an efficient firefighting action, these individual building fires can spread to become neighborhood fires, and ultimately a citywide conflagration. [22] [23]

Timeline of events

Commemorative Bandanna: Burning of Moscow (1812) Printed in England - "Conflagration of Moscow Seen from the Kremlin, on the entrance of the French Army, the 14th of Sept 1812" Burning of Moscow 1812 - Bandana 01.jpg
Commemorative Bandanna: Burning of Moscow (1812) Printed in England – "Conflagration of Moscow Seen from the Kremlin, on the entrance of the French Army, the 14th of Sept 1812"
Liturgy in the Saint Euplo church of Moscow in presence of French soldiers, 27 September 1812. Moscou 1812.jpg
Liturgy in the Saint Euplo church of Moscow in presence of French soldiers, 27 September 1812.
Manoeuvre of Tarutino Manoeuvre of Tarutino - ru.svg
Manoeuvre of Tarutino

Extent of the disaster

Napoleon within the burning Moscow Napoleon Moscow Fire.JPG
Napoleon within the burning Moscow

...In 1812, there had been approximately 4,000 stone structures and 8,000 wooden houses in Moscow. Of these, there remained after the fires only about 200 of the stone buildings and some 500 wooden houses along with about half of the 1,600 (?) churches, although nearly every church was damaged to some extent...the large number of churches that escaped total destruction by the flames is probably explained by the fact that altar implements and other paraphernalia were made of precious metals, which immediately attracted the attention of the looters. Indeed, Napoleon had a systematic sweep made for the church silver, which ended up in his war chest, the mobile treasury. [3]

The treatment of these Russians left behind, civilians or soldiers, by the French was mixed: According to a Russian source, they destroyed monasteries and blew up architectural monuments. Moscow churches were deliberately turned into stables and latrines. Priests who did not give up church shrines were murdered savagely, nuns were raped, and stoves were fired using ancient icons. On the other hand, Napoleon personally made sure that enough food was delivered to Moscow to feed all the Russians left behind who were fed regardless of sex or age. [73] [74]

Still, the remaining buildings had enough space for the French army. As General Marcellin Marbot reasoned:

"It is often claimed that the fire of Moscow... was the principal cause of the failure of the 1812 campaign. This assertion seems to me to be contestable. To begin with, the destruction of Moscow was not so complete that there did not remain enough houses, palaces, churches, and barracks to accommodate the entire army [for a whole month]." [75]

Reconstruction of the city

Some 18th-century buildings were rebuilt to original plans Wiki chernigovsky.jpg
Some 18th-century buildings were rebuilt to original plans
Vasily Pushkin house, a typical example of 1810s cheap wooden architecture with neoclassical trim Wiki Staraya Basmannaya 36, Vasily Pushkin House, Moscow, Russia.jpg
Vasily Pushkin house, a typical example of 1810s cheap wooden architecture with neoclassical trim

The process of rebuilding after the fire under military governor Alexander Tormasov (1814–1819) and Dmitry Golitsyn (1820–ca 1840) was gradual, lasting well over a decade. [76] [77] [78]

In culture

Notes

  1. (in Russian) Kataev, I.M. (1912) "The Fire of Moscow in 1812 "(Moscow, 1911)
  2. Haythornthwaite 2012, pp. 40–72, The Battle of Borodino.
  3. 1 2 3 Riehn 1990, p. 285.
  4. Mikaberidze 2014, pp. 96–111, Chapter 6: The Great Conflagration.
  5. Mikaberidze 2014, pp. 68–95, Chapter 5: 'And Moscow, Mighty City, Blaze!'.
  6. 1 2 Mikaberidze 2014, pp. 145–165, Chapter 8: 'By Accident or Malice?' Who Burned Moscow.
  7. Zemtsov, Vladimir Nikolaevich (2012). "French Jesuit Abbot A. Surugue and the 1812 Fire of Moscow Historic Myth". Izvestiya Uralskogo Federalnogo Universiteta – Seriya 2 – Gumanitarnye Nauki. 14 (2). Yekaterinburg, Russia: Ural Federal University: 118–133. ISSN   2227-2283.
  8. US DOD 2021.
  9. Chandler 2009, pp. 749–766, 68. War Plans and Preparations (Part Thirteen. The Road to Moscow).
  10. Chandler 2009, pp. 813–822, 71. Precarious Position (Part Fourteen. Retreat).
  11. Riehn 1990, p. 321.
  12. Martin, Alexander M. (2002). "The Response of the Population of Moscow to the Napoleonic Occupation of 1812". In Lohr, Eric; Poe, Marshall (eds.). The Military and Society in Russia: 1450–1917. History of warfare. Vol. XIV. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. pp. 469–490. ISBN   978-9004122734.
  13. Mikaberidze, Alexander (2014). Masséna, Victor-André; Lentz, Thierry; de Bruchard, Marie; Boulant, Antoine; Delage, Irène (eds.). "Napoleon's Lost Legions. The Grande Armée Prisoners of War in Russia". Napoleonica. La Revue. Spécial prisonniers de guerre. 21 (3). Paris, Ile de France, France: Fondation Napoléon: 35–44. doi:10.3917/napo.153.0035. ISSN   2100-0123 via Cairn.INFO.
  14. Caulaincourt 1935, p. 118, VI. The Fire.
  15. Vionnet 2013, pp. 73–97, 12. The Great Fire.
  16. Staël-Holstein 1821, p. 352.
  17. 1 2 Austin 2012, pp. 26–28, Chapter 1: "Fire! Fire!".
  18. Ludwig 1927, p. 408, Book Four: The Sea.
  19. Ludwig 1927, p. 430, Book Four: The Sea.
  20. "Surgical memoirs of the campaigns of Russia, Germany, and France", pp. 43–45
  21. Luhn, Alec (14 September 2012). Richardson, Paul E.; Widmer, Scott; Shine, Eileen; Matte, Caroline (eds.). "Moscow's Last Great Fire". Russian Life. Montpelier, Vermont, United States of America: StoryWorkz. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  22. War and Peace, Vol. 3, Book XI, chapter 26
  23. Russia: A Short History by Abraham Ascher
  24. Riehn 1990, p. 260.
  25. "The Burning of Moscow". 31 August 2015.
  26. Haythornthwaite 2012, p. 74, The End of the Campaign.
  27. Wilson 2013, p. 159, Uncandid Despatch of Kutusow.
  28. Wolzogen und Neuhaus, Justus Philipp Adolf Wilhelm Ludwig (1851). Wigand, O. (ed.). Memoiren des Königlich Preussischen Generals der Infanterie Ludwig Freiherrn von Wolzogen[Memoirs of the Royal Prussian General of the Infantry Ludwig Freiherrn von Wolzogen] (in German). Leipzig, Germany: Wigand. LCCN   16012211. OCLC   5034988.
  29. https://www.nivasposad.ru/school/homepages/all_kurs/konkurs2013/web-pages/web/filippov_andreji/html/bolshie_vyazemi.html Archived 2021-05-13 at the Wayback Machine Russian : Большие Вязёмы
  30. Lieven 2009, pp. 210–211, 5. The Retreat.
  31. de Segúr, Philip (23 April 1825). "Segur's History of Napoleon's Expedition". The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, Etc. IX (431). London: Whiting & Branston: 262–263. Retrieved 26 September 2021 via Google Books.
  32. Adam, Albrecht (2005) [1990]. North, Jonathan (ed.). Napoleon's Army in Russia: The Illustrated Memoirs of Albrecht Adam, 1812. Pen & Sword Military. Translated by North, Jonathan (2nd ed.). Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword Books Limited. ISBN   978-1-84415-161-5.
  33. https://architecturebest.com/usadba-bolshie-vjazemy/ Russian : Усадьба Большие Вяземы
  34. Austin 2012, pp. 69–70, Chapter 4: A Desconsolate Advance Guard.
  35. War and Peace, Vol. 3, Book XI, chapter 19
  36. War and Peace, Vol. 3, Book XI, chapter 19
  37. Riehn 1990, p. 290.
  38. 1 2 Riehn 1990, p. 286.
  39. Dedem van de Gelder, Anton Boudewijn Gijsbert van (1900). van Dedem Lecky, Elisabeth (ed.). Un général hollandais sous le premier empire: Mémoires du général Bon de Dedem de Gelder, l774–1825 [A Dutch general under the First Empire: Memoirs of general Bon de Dedem de Gelder, 1774–1825] (in French). Paris: Libraire Plon, Nourrit et Cie, Imprimeurs-Éditeurs. p. 250. LCCN   01017275. OCLC   1007804088 via Internet Archive.
  40. Austin 2012, p. 223, Chapter 13: "That's Enough, Gentlemen. I Shall Decide".
  41. "Moscow's Last Great Fire".
  42. Zamoyski 2004, p. 300, 14. Hollow Triumph.
  43. Bourgogne 1899, p. 31, Chapter II. The Fire at Moscow.
  44. Zamoyski 2004, p. 304, 14. Hollow Triumph.
  45. Wilson 2013, p. 170, Position of the Russian Army on the road to Kalouga.
  46. Wilson 2013, p. 175, Manoeuvres of hostile armies.
  47. Wilson 2013, p. 177, Manoeuvres of the hostile armies.
  48. 1812: Napoleon in Moscow by Paul Britten Austin
  49. 1 2 Austin 2012, p. 73, Chapter 4: A Desconsolate Advance Guard.
  50. Austin 2012, p. 85, Chapter 5: Settling in for the Winter.
  51. A Dutch officer of the 33rd Light Infantry Regiment, Russia 1812
  52. F.H.A. Sabron (1910) Geschiedenis van het 33e regiment Lichte Infanterie (het Oud-Hollandsche 3e regiment Jagers) onder Keizer Napoleon I, p. 64
  53. Lieven 2009, p. 214, 5. The Retreat.
  54. Lieven 2009, p. 252, 6. Borodino and the Fall of Moscow.
  55. Wilson 2013, p. 203, Letter of reproof from Alexander to Kutusow.
  56. Lieven 2009, p. 253, 6. Borodino and the Fall of Moscow.
  57. Lieven 2009, p. 296, 7. The Home Front in 1812.
  58. Austin 2012, p. 79, Chapter 4: A Desconsolate Advance Guard.
  59. Austin 2012, p. 93, Chapter 5: Settling in for the Winter.
  60. Austin 2012, p. 102, Chapter 6: Marauding Parties.
  61. Austin 2012, p. 104, Chapter 7: Lovely Autumn Weather.
  62. Austin 2012, p. 152, Chapter 8: A Lethal Truce.
  63. Austin 2012, p. 174, Chapter 10: Battle at Waterloo.
  64. Wilson 2013, p. 181, Contemplated treachery of Kutusow.
  65. Austin 2012, pp. 141–142, Chapter 8: A Lethal Truce.
  66. Wilson 2013, pp. 178–180, Patriotism of Rostopchin.
  67. Austin 2012, pp. 107–108, Chapter 7: Lovely Autumn Weather.
  68. Austin 2012, p. 123, Chapter 8: A Lethal Truce.
  69. Wilson 2013, p. 201, Russian main Army-Unauthorised interviews between the Generals of the hostile armies.
  70. Austin 2012, p. 114, Chapter 7: Lovely Autumn Weather.
  71. Austin 2012, p. 202, Chapter 12: "Where Our Conquest of the World Ended".
  72. Wilson 2013, p. 209, Combat of Czenicznia and brilliant conduct of Murat.
  73. Zemtsov, Vladimir Nikolaevich (15 August 2015). Glantz, David (ed.). "The Fate of the Russian Wounded Abandoned in Moscow in 1812". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies . 28 (3). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies/Taylor & Francis or Routledge: 502–523. doi:10.1080/13518046.2015.1061824. ISSN   1351-8046. LCCN   93641610. OCLC   56751630. S2CID   142674272.
  74. Zakharov, Arthur (2004). Napoleon v Rossii glazami russkikh[Napoleon in Russia through the eyes of the Russians] (in Russian) (1st ed.). Moscow, Russia.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  75. Marbot 1913, p. 602, Vol. II, Chapter LXXIV.
  76. Luhn 2012.
  77. Alekseevna, Molokova Tatyana (1 June 2012). Telichenko, Valery Ivanovich; Korol, Elena Anatolievna; Dyadicheva, Anna A.; Bernikova, Tat'yana V. (eds.). "Восстановление Москвы после пожара 1812 г.: новый облик города" [Reconstruction of Moscow after the 1812 fire of Moscow: New look of the city]. Vestnik MGSU. Архитектура и градостроительство. Реконструкция и реставрация (in Russian). 7 (6). Moscow, Russia: Moscow State University of Civil Engineering/ASB Publishing House, LLC.: 17–22. doi: 10.22227/1997-0935.2012.6.17-22 . ISSN   1997-0935.
  78. Shvidkovsky, Dmitry; Yesoulov, Georgy (28 August 2017). The classical models brought by European architects to the development of the St. Petersburg and the reconstruction of Mosco after the Great Fire of 1812. 4th International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts SGEM 2017. International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences & Arts Sgem. Vol. 17. Sofia, Bulgaria: SWS International Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities. pp. 59–66. doi:10.5593/sgemsocial2017/62/S22.007 (inactive 2024-04-02). ISBN   978-619-7408-24-9. ISSN   2367-5659. Archived from the original on 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2022-02-09.{{cite conference}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link)
  79. "Russian literature – in War and Peace, why do all the generals and Kutuzov consider it "impossible" to defend Moscow?".
  80. Taylor 2019.

Bibliography

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