Manifesto of Alexander 1 about the beginning of the war. Formation of the zemstvo militia

At the end of June 1812, an unprecedentedly huge army invaded Russia - over 600 thousand troops gathered by Napoleon from all over Europe. The aggressor's forces more than tripled...

At the end of June 1812, an unprecedentedly huge army invaded Russia - over 600 thousand troops gathered by Napoleon from all over Europe. The aggressor's forces outnumbered the Russian armies near the western borders by more than three times. Therefore, less than a month after the start of the war, on July 18 (July 6, old style), 1812, while in the army in the camp near Polotsk, Tsar Alexander I decided to convene a people's militia to help the regular army.

The tsar's manifesto was signed, that is, the monarch's appeal to the people, in which Alexander I was able to find the right words without hiding the complexity of the situation. “The enemy has entered our borders and continues to carry his weapons into Russia ... - wrote the Russian tsar. - We cannot and must not hide from our faithful subjects that the forces of various powers gathered by him are great ... With all the firm hope for our brave army, we believe it is necessary and necessary to gather new forces within the state, which, inflicting new horror on the enemy, would constitute the second fence in support of the first and in defense of the houses, wives and children of each and all.

The call to create a militia ended with an emotional appeal to the historical experience of the ancestors: “Now we appeal to all our loyal subjects, to all estates and states, spiritual and worldly, inviting them together with us in a unanimous and common uprising to help against all enemy plans and attempts. May the enemy find the faithful sons of Russia at every step, striking him with all means and strength! May he meet Pozharsky in every nobleman, in every spiritual Palitsyn, in every citizen of Minin ... Russian people! Brave offspring of brave Slavs! You have repeatedly crushed the teeth of the lions and tigers that rushed at you. Unite all: with a cross in your heart and with a weapon in your hands, no human forces will overcome you.

After the royal call, the formation of a people's militia began in 16 provinces of Russia, divided into three districts. The militias of the first two districts were preparing to take part in the defense of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the third - became a general reserve.

The militia of the first district was formed by the governor of Moscow, Prince Fyodor Vasilyevich Rostopchin. His district included Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga and Smolensk provinces. The second district included the militias of the Petersburg and Novgorod provinces, the third - the militia of the Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Kostroma, Simbirsk and Vyatka provinces.

The commanders of the militia were elected at congresses of nobles in the respective provinces, funds for uniforms and food for the militia were collected by the whole society. The rate of recruitment of militias was also determined by the congresses of the nobles - from 4 to 10 people from 100 "revision souls", that is, from hundreds of peasants and bourgeois.

The largest militia was assembled in the Moscow province - 31959 "warriors", as ordinary militiamen were called then. The Moscow militia was reduced to regiments, the warriors dressed in ordinary peasant clothes and received bronze crosses on hats with the inscription: "For faith and the king."

The Petersburg and Novgorod militia was divided not into regiments, but into squads, each of which included militiamen from one county. Such a squad consisted of 4 hundreds, and a hundred - of 200 warriors. A total of 192,976 militias were gathered in all three districts from 16 provinces. Almost 100 million rubles worth of public donations were collected for their equipment and provision.

Manifesto of Alexander I on the collection within the state of the Zemstvo militia. July 6 (18), 1812

The militias of the Moscow and St. Petersburg districts already in August-September 1812 took part in the defense of both capital cities Russian Empire. 10 thousand militia warriors from Moscow and Smolensk fought in the Battle of Borodino as part of the Russian army. History has preserved for us some of the names of ordinary militias who distinguished themselves in that historic battle: Anisim Antonov, Kondrat Ivanov, Savely Kirillov and many others.

One of the Napoleonic officers recalled the battle with the militias: “And suddenly the high forest came to life and howled like a storm. Seven thousand Russian beards poured out of the ambush. With a terrible cry, with homemade peaks, with homemade axes, they rush at the enemy, as if into a thicket of the forest, and cut people like firewood ... "

The militia forces were used especially widely in the fight against the enemy after the French occupied Moscow and during the winter counteroffensive of the Russian army. During the period of occupation of the “old capital” by the enemy, the militia, together with regular units, firmly closed the roads that diverged from Moscow to Tver, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, and also, together with the partisans, dealt sensitive blows to individual detachments the enemy, exhausting and demoralizing his manpower.

During the winter retreat of Napoleon, the militias took part in all major battles- near Maloyaroslavets, Polotsk, Mogilev and on the Berezina River. General Pyotr Khristianovich Wittgenstein, who commanded the corps that covered St. Petersburg and then advanced on Polotsk, repeatedly noted in his reports to Kutuzov that the militias in battles with the enemy are often in no way inferior to the soldiers of regular units. Here is how he described the actions of the militia warriors in the battles for Polotsk: “Having thrown off the Armenians, the warriors ran out of the chain, rushed into hand-to-hand combat, fought with butts and axes, fearlessly rushed under a hail of bullets and buckshot, fighting like angry lions, and with a strong the onslaught of the enemy stood like immovable rocks. It happened that they met the cavalry with butts in whole columns and instantly overturned it.

The formation of squads and regiments of militias did not stop even after the liberation of Russia from the invaders. Until the end of the Napoleonic Wars, almost 400 thousand Russian people visited such volunteer units. Among the militias were many of the best representatives of the Russian intelligentsia - S.N. Glinka, A.S. Griboyedov, V.A. Zhukovsky, M.N. Zagoskin, I.I. Lazhechnikov and many others.

A significant number of militias, for example, squads from the Kostroma, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan provinces, took part in the battles already during the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813-14. Russian militias distinguished themselves during the siege of Danzig and Hamburg, in the battles of Leipzig and Magdeburg, in the capture of Koenigsberg. Separate militia formations even took part in the capture of Paris in the spring of 1814.

Thus, the decision to create a people's militia, taken on July 18 (July 6, old style), 1812, was an important step towards Russia's historic victory over one of its most dangerous enemies.

About the Manifesto: Alexander's Manifesto marked the end of the war with Napoleonic France, which later became known as the Patriotic War of 1812. On June 12, 1812, more than 400,000-strong Napoleon's Grand Army, gathered from all over Europe, invaded Russia. The two Russian armies fought their way back into the interior of the country, evading attempts to draw them into battles and defeat them one by one. On August 8, M.I. was appointed commander-in-chief of all Russian forces. Kutuzov. On August 26, in the bloody battle of Borodino, neither side won a decisive success. On September 2, the French entered Moscow without a fight, and on the same day a fire broke out that destroyed almost the entire city. In September-October, Kutuzov, having carried out the Tarutinsky march-maneuver, withdrew the army to the area of the village of Tarutino, covered the roads to the southern provinces of Russia, replenished the army, supplied it with weapons and ammunition. Attempts by Napoleon I to enter into negotiations were rejected. The French who remained in Moscow suffered an acute shortage of food and equipment, and detachments of their foragers were destroyed by partisans and regular troops. On October 6, Napoleon I left Moscow and moved the army towards Kaluga, however, after the battle of Maloyaroslavets (October 12), he was forced to retreat along the devastated Old Smolensk road, pressed by the vanguard of the Russian army and subjected to constant blows from partisans and Cossacks from the flanks. By mid-December, the remnants of the Great Army were expelled from Russia. The subsequent foreign campaigns of 1813-1814. ended with the capture of Paris (March 18, 1814) and the fall of the empire of Napoleon I.

Manifesto "On bringing thanks to the Lord God for the liberation of Russia from the invasion of the enemy"

by the grace of God We are Alexander the First Emperor and Autocrat All-Russian and so on, and so on, and so on, announce publicly:

God and the whole world is a witness to this, with what desires and forces the enemy entered our beloved Fatherland. Nothing could avert his evil and stubborn intentions. Firmly relying on his own and the terrible forces gathered against Us from almost all European Powers, and driven by the greed of conquest and the thirst for blood, he hastened to break into the very chest of Our great Empire in order to pour out on it all the horrors and disasters not accidentally generated, but long since devastating war prepared for them. Foreknowledge by the known

Heard in the General Assembly of the Senate, December 30, 1812 Heard at ... December 30, 1812.

From the experiences of the boundless lust for power and the impudence of his enterprises, the bitter cup of evils prepared from him, and seeing him already with indomitable fury entered Our limits, We were forced with a painful and contrite heart, calling on God for help, to draw our sword and promise Our Kingdom that We will not lower it into the vagina, as long as one of the enemies remains armed in Our land. We made this promise firmly in our hearts, hoping for the strong valor of the people entrusted to Us by God, in which we were not deceived. What an example of bravery, courage, piety, patience and firmness Russia showed! The enemy who had broken into her chest with all unheard-of cruelty and fury could not reach the point that she even once sighed about the deep wounds inflicted on her by him. It seemed that with the shedding of her blood, the spirit of courage multiplied in her, with the fires of her cities, her love for the Fatherland was inflamed, with the destruction and desecration of the temples of God, faith was affirmed in her and irreconcilable revenge arose. The army, the nobles, the nobility, the clergy, the merchants, the people, in a word, all state ranks and states, sparing neither their property nor their lives, made up a single soul, a courageous and pious soul together, as much burning with love for the Fatherland, as much with love for God. . From this universal consent and zeal, consequences soon arose scarcely incredible, scarcely ever heard of. Let them imagine the terrible forces gathered from 20 kingdoms and peoples, united under a single banner, with what power-hungry, arrogant victories, a fierce enemy, entered Our land. Half a million foot and cavalry soldiers and about one and a half thousand guns followed him. With this huge militia, he penetrates into the very middle of Russia, spreads, and begins to spread fire and devastation everywhere. But barely six months have passed since he entered Our borders, and where is he? Here it is appropriate to say the words of the Holy Song-Singer: “I saw the wicked one, exalting myself and exalting myself, like the cedars of Lebanon, and mimoides, and behold, I sought him, and did not find his place.” In truth, this lofty saying was accomplished in all the power of its meaning over our proud and impious enemy. Where are his troops, like a cloud of black clouds driven by the winds? They crumbled like rain. A great part of them, having drunk the earth with blood, lies covering the space of the Moscow, Kaluga, Smolensk, Belarusian and Lithuanian fields. Another great part in various and frequent battles was taken prisoner with many commanders and generals, and in such a way that after repeated and strong defeats, finally, their entire regiments, resorting to the generosity of the victors, bowed their weapons before them. The rest, an equally great part, in their swift flight, driven by our victorious troops and met with scum and famine, covered the path from Moscow itself to the borders of Russia with corpses, cannons, carts, shells, so that the smallest, insignificant part of all their numerous strength remained exhausted and unarmed warriors, hardly half-dead can come to their country, in order to tell them to the eternal horror and trembling of their fellow earthmen, since a terrible execution befalls those who dare with swearing intentions to enter the bowels of mighty Russia. Now, with heartfelt joy and ardent gratitude to God, We announce to Our dear loyal subjects that the event has surpassed even Our very hope, and that what We announced, at the opening of this war, has been fulfilled beyond measure: there is no longer a single enemy on the face of Our land; or better to say, they all stayed here, but how? Dead, wounded and captured. The proud ruler and their leader himself could hardly ride away with his chief officials from here, losing all his army and all the cannons he brought with him, of which more than a thousand, not counting those buried and sunk by him, were recaptured from him and are in our hands. The spectacle of the death of his troops is incredible! You can hardly believe your own eyes. Who could do this? Without taking away worthy glory from either the commander-in-chief of Our troops, the famous commander, who brought immortal merits to the Fatherland, or from other skillful and courageous leaders and military leaders who marked themselves with zeal and zeal, or from all our brave army in general, we can say that what they have done is above human strength. And so let us know in this great work the providence of God. Let us bow down before His Holy Throne, and seeing clearly his hand that punished pride and wickedness, instead of vanity and arrogance about our victories, let us learn from this great and terrible example to be meek and humble of the laws and will of his executors, unlike these defilers of temples who have fallen away from the faith God, our enemies whose bodies in myriad quantities are lying around as food for dogs and crows! Great is the Lord our God in mercy and in his wrath! Let us go by the goodness of deeds and the purity of our feelings and thoughts, the only way leading to Him, to the temple of His holiness, and there, crowned with His glory by His hand, let us give thanks for the bounty poured out on us, and let us fall down to Him with warm prayers, may He prolong His mercy over us and stopping wars and battles, send us victories, victory, the desired peace and silence. Given in Vilna on the 25th day of December in the summer of the Nativity of Christ 1812, Our reign is in the second ten.

After signing the manifesto "On the collection within the State of the Zemstvo militia" Alexander I began to actively deal with issues related to the defense of the state. On July 30 (18), 1812, the emperor signed a new manifesto on the formation of a temporary internal militia. It said that the emperor found "in all classes and conditions, such zeal and zeal that the offerings offered voluntarily far exceed the number of people needed for the militia."

"Organized Patriotism"
In the manifesto of July 30 (18) it was supposed to divide Russia into three districts.

The first district included Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga and Smolensk Governorates; militia was soon to be created in them to guard and protect Moscow and the borders of this district. The second district covered the St. Petersburg and Novgorod provinces; his militia was supposed to guard these territories. The third district included Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Kostroma, Simbirsk and Vyatka provinces. It was supposed to "calculate and appoint people, but before the command does not collect them and does not tear them away from rural work."

In all the other provinces, no preparations had to be made until "there is no need to use them for uniform sacrifices and services for the fatherland." Thus, it was decided to limit the area of the formation of militias 16 provinces. This decision was made for three main reasons: firstly, the government feared that this would lead to a reduction in recruitment for the regular army, and secondly, because of possible unrest among the peasants. And thirdly, it remained unclear how long the war would drag on, an outcome was possible in which it would be necessary to replenish the number of militias just at the expense of peasants from the remaining provinces.

Nevertheless, fearing to some extent the patriotic upsurge of the entire population of Russia, the emperor decided to direct it into an organized channel. Peasant warriors united in regiments, which were led by noble landowners. Military discipline was introduced in the militia troops, punishments for disobedience, etc. were provided.

On August 12 (July 31), 1812, a special committee for militias was created, which included Count A.A. Arakcheev, Minister of Police A.D. Balashev and State Secretary A.S. Shishkov.

As a result, despite all the difficulties, the formation of the militias was successfully completed: in the I district, 133,401 people were put up, in the II district - 26,370, and in the III - 43,659 people. Of this number, 74 foot regiments, 2 battalions, 9 brigades (28 squads), 13 cavalry regiments and 3 hundreds were formed. In addition, in the militia provinces, their own volunteer regiments began to be created, recruited from the inhabitants of the city (St. Petersburg, Moscow, etc.).

Luchaninov I.V. Blessing on the militia of 1812

The formation of the militias of the I and II districts was carried out during August-October 1812. The creation of the militias of the III district dragged on until the beginning of 1813.

Their militias were also formed in the Ukrainian provinces. The Kiev and Podolsk provinces formed a Cossack division and put up a large number of "shovelers" to strengthen Kiev; Chernihiv and Poltava provinces fielded several dozen cavalry and foot regiments. In general, Ukraine provided 13,358 mounted Cossacks, 47,493 foot Cossacks, and several tens of thousands of drovers and "shovelers".

Maintenance and arming of the militias
Donations for the maintenance of the militias took on a massive character: some gave money, others - food, and others drove horses and cattle into the army. In Nizhny Novgorod, for example, artisans and small merchants raised 53,000 rubles to fight the enemy. The teachers and ministers of Moscow University decided to contribute their semi-annual salary (6.5 thousand rubles) to the militia fund. Some large landowners and manufacturers supported entire militia regiments at their own expense (Count Dmitriev-Mamonov, the Ural breeder Demidov, Prince Gagarin, etc.).

The Holy Synod issued its own decrees, in which the clergy were instructed to “promote the common cause” and take part in the militias: to send students of theological seminaries “to serve in onyia”. The synod also donated 1.5 million rubles to the Moscow and St. Petersburg militia.

There remained the question of arming the militias. It was hard to get guns. “I appointed collection points,” recalls Rostopchin, “and in 24 days the militia was assembled, divided into squads and dressed; but since there were not enough guns, they were armed with lances, useless and harmless. However, all the same, the Petersburg and Novgorod militias received about 13 thousand guns from the arsenal, which allowed them to almost immediately begin combat training of squads. About 15 thousand English guns and more than 20 thousand guns from the Moscow arsenal went into service with the militias of the II district.

The role of the militias in the war of 1812 was significant. The inclusion of militias in hostilities made it possible to free the field troops from the protection of communications, escort service and other similar duties that required a large number of people. All these duties were taken over by the militia units.

The Smolensk militia took an active part in the defense of Smolensk already in August 1812, the Moscow militia showed its strength in the battle of Borodino. The Petersburg and Novgorod militia showed their fighting qualities in the battles near Polotsk, at Chashnikov and at Studenka. The militias received numerous awards for bravery and courage shown in battles. But it must be said that in general the number of those who returned from the battlefield did not exceed one third of those who joined the militia.

Chronicle of the day: The French are forced to retreat behind Yakubovo

Wittgenstein's first separate corpus
Kulnev's detachment continued its attempts to capture the village of Yakubovo. During a successful attack, the Russian rangers of the 14th Infantry Division managed to force the French out of the forest between the villages of Olkhovo and Yakubovo. The infantry division of General Legrand counterattacked the chasseurs, but was thrown back by horse artillery fire on the 26th. chasseur regiment. Kulnev was able to hold the forest until the main forces of Wittgenstein's corps approached. The French were forced to retreat behind the village of Yakubovo, but separate attacks by the infantry division of General Verdier continued until late evening. Artillery cannonade continued until 11 pm and stopped only after dark.

First Western Army
The rearguard of Count Palen was involved in a skirmish with French cavalry near the village of Orlovka.

Third Observation Army
The main forces of the Saxon corps of General Rainier, who were 20 miles from Kobrin, began to retreat to the mountains. Slonim to connect with the Austrian corps of General Schwarzenberg. To prevent the advance of Tormasov, General Renier sent Saxon lancers to the city of Pruzhany to destroy food depots. Two squadrons of the Alexandria Hussars under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Madatov destroyed the Saxon cavalry, saving food depots.

Person: Matvey Aleksandrovich Dmitriev-Mamonov

Matvey Alexandrovich Dmitriev-Mamonov (1790-1863) descended from an old and wealthy noble family, which reached the peak of its fame and wealth under Catherine II. The young count received an excellent education and was unusually passionate about various patriotic ideas in the spirit of the Enlightenment. In 1808 he received the title of chamber junker, in 1810 he was appointed chief prosecutor of the 6th department of the Senate.

During the war of 1812, he was an active participant in the Moscow militia, donated huge sums to its organization, participated in the battles of Borodino, Tarutinsky and Maloyaroslavets. At his own expense, he began to form a cavalry regiment, of which he was subsequently appointed chief. The regiment of the young Dmitry Alexandrovich arrived at the army only in 1814, but in the same year it was disbanded for the incident with the burning of a German town.

In 1815, Count Dmitriev-Mamonov was placed under house arrest for participating in the pre-Decembrist "Order of Russian Knights", in 1826 he refused to swear allegiance to Emperor Nicholas I, for which he was declared insane and imprisoned in his own palace. At the end of the 1830s. and really went crazy, after which his property was taken under guardianship.

One of the the richest people Russia in obscurity, from burns caused by the fire of his own shirt.

July 17 (29), 1812
Kulnev's avant-garde did not drive the French out of Yakubovo
Person: Etienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty (1768-1815)
The Role of the Clergy in the War of 1812

July 16 (28), 1812
Wittgenstein decided to attack, the Russians retreat
Person: Philippe-Paul Comte de Segur
Long stop in Vitebsk

July 15 (27), 1812
Battle at the river Luchose
Person: Petr Petrovich von der Pahlen
Vitebsk: and again there is no decisive battle

July 14 (26), 1812
Battle of Kakuvyachyn
Person: Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov
Moscow militia

July 13 (25), 1812
Battle of Ostrovno: 1st day
Person: Pierre Joseph Bruyère
Battles near Ostrovno: the sun of Austerlitz did not rise

On July 18 (July 6, according to the strict style), 1812, Emperor Alexander the First, who was in Polotsk with the 1st Western Army, appealed to the inhabitants of Moscow to stand up for the Fatherland against the Napoleonic invasions, and issued a manifesto on the gathering within the State of the Zemstvo militia.

Moscow, the Mother See of Our Capital.

The enemy entered with great forces into the borders of Russia. He goes to ruin our dear Fatherland. Although the militia of Russia, flaming with courage, is ready to meet and overthrow its audacity and malice; however, according to paternal compassion and Our care for all Our faithful subjects, We cannot leave them without warning about this danger that threatens them: may the advantage to the enemy not arise from Our negligence. For this, having in mind, for the most reliable defense, to collect new internal forces First of all, We turn to the ancient Capital of Our Ancestors, Moscow: it has always been the head of other Russian cities; she always poured out from her bowels a deadly force on her enemies; following her example, from all other surroundings flowed to her, like blood to the heart, the sons of the Fatherland to protect it. Never insisted on that greater need, as now. The salvation of the Faith, the Throne, the Kingdom require it. And so may the spirit of that righteous battle, which God and our Orthodox Church bless, spread in the hearts of Our famous Nobility and in all other Estates; may this common zeal and zeal now form new forces, and may they multiply, starting from Moscow, throughout vast Russia! We will not hesitate to stand in the midst of Our people in this Capital and in other places of Our State for consultation and leadership of all Our militias, both now blocking the path of the enemy, and again arranged to defeat it wherever it appears. May the destruction into which he thinks he will cast us down upon his head turn, and may Europe liberated from slavery glorify the name of Russia!

By the grace of God, We, Alexander the First, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, and others, and others, and others.

The enemy has entered Our borders and continues to carry his weapons into Russia, hoping to shake the tranquility of this great Power by force and temptations. He put in his mind an evil intention to destroy her glory and prosperity. With deceit in his heart and flattery in his mouth, he carries chains and fetters eternal for her. We, calling on God for help, put Our troops in a barrier, seething with courage to trample, overthrow him, and drive out what remains undestroyed from the face of Our land. We put their strong hope in strength and strength; but we cannot and must not hide from Our faithful subjects that the forces of various powers gathered by him are great, and that his courage requires vigilant vigilance against it. For this reason, with all the firm hope in Our brave army, We consider it necessary and necessary: to gather new forces within the State, which, inflicting new horror on the enemy, would constitute a second fence to reinforce the first, and to protect the homes, wives and children of each and everyone.

We have already appealed to Our capital city, Moscow; and now we appeal to all Our loyal subjects, to all estates and states, spiritual and worldly, inviting them, together with Us, to assist in a unanimous and common uprising against all enemy plans and attempts. May he find at every step the faithful sons of Russia, striking him with all means and strength, not heeding any of his cunning and deceit. May he meet Pozharsky in every nobleman, in every spiritual Palitsyn, in every citizen of Minin. Noble nobility! you at all times at all times have been the savior of the Fatherland; Holy Synod and Clergy! you always with your warm prayers called for grace on the head of Russia; Russian people! brave offspring of the brave Slavs! you have repeatedly crushed the teeth of the lions and tigers that rushed at you; unite all: with a cross in your heart and with a weapon in your hands, no human forces will overcome you.

For the initial compilation of the assigned forces, it is left to the nobility in all the provinces to bring together the people they supply to protect the fatherland, choosing from among themselves the Chief over them, and letting them know about their number in Moscow, where the Leader over all will be chosen.

NOVGOROD project - (1812)
Selection of materials: A.N. Odinokov - a member of the Novgorod Society of Antiquity Lovers.

By the grace of God, we, Alexander I, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia, and so on, and so on, and so on. The enemy has entered our borders and continues to carry his weapons into Russia, hoping to shake the tranquility of this great power by force and temptations. He put in his mind an evil intention to destroy her glory and prosperity. With deceit in his heart and flattery in his mouth, he carries eternal chains and shackles for her. We, calling on God for help, put our troops in a barrier to him, seething with courage to trample, overthrow him, and drive what remains undestroyed from the face of our land. We put their strong hope in strength and strength; but we cannot and must not hide from our faithful subjects that the forces of various powers gathered by him are great and that his courage requires vigilant vigilance against it. For this reason, with all the firm hope in our brave army, we believe it is necessary to gather new forces within the state, which, inflicting new horror on the enemy, would constitute a second fence to reinforce the first and to protect the homes, wives and children of each and all.
We have already appealed to our capital city - Moscow, and now we appeal to all our loyal subjects, to all estates and states, spiritual and worldly, inviting them together with us in a unanimous and common uprising to help against all enemy plans and attempts. May he find at every step the faithful sons of Russia, striking him with all means and strength, not heeding any of his cunning and deceit. May he meet Pozharsky in every nobleman, in every spiritual Palitsyn, in every citizen of Minin.
Russian people! Brave offspring of brave Slavs! You have repeatedly crushed the teeth of the lions and tigers that rushed at you. Unite all: with a cross in your heart and with a weapon in your hands, no human forces will overcome you.
For the initial compilation of the intended forces, it is left to the nobility in all provinces to bring together the people they supply to defend the fatherland, choosing from among themselves the chief over them, and letting them know about their number in Moscow, where the leader of all will be chosen.

Source: PSZ. T. XXXII. No. 25176. S. 388.

SOURCE: personal library. Instance "M.K."
NAPOLEON in RUSSIA in 1812
History outline Patriotic War, compiled
according to official documents, memoirs, notes, characteristics, etc.
Edition A.A. Caspari
SPb. 1911
S. 174.

CHAPTER XI. Militia.

The beginning of that enormous social movement, that enormous upsurge, which resulted in the Russian people's militia of 1812, was laid by Emperor Alexander on July 6, when he signed the manifesto on the people's militia (1)
The Council took care that this manifesto be sent everywhere as soon as possible through express couriers. The Synod sent orders to all subordinate places and to all higher, clergy persons to "advance the common cause." The local authorities immediately set to work; in a word, everyone began to bustle with rare zeal and unanimity.

Society also with rare unanimity went to meet the government. And this general patriotic upsurge was so great that it had to be moderated immediately. It was considered quite sufficient to recruit a militia not throughout Russia, but only in seventeen provinces.

A special committee was organized for the main department of militia affairs, consisting of three members: Arakcheev, Balashev and Shishkov. Among the mass of orders that this committee made (on behalf of the Highest Name), it is difficult to find any of particular interest or special importance. However, Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky finds it possible to single out; a number of orders, calling them "more remarkable". These are orders, firstly, on the proposal to the nobility of the provinces that were not part of the militia to join the militia of other provinces; secondly, on the release of food for warriors, in all provinces evenly, for three months; thirdly, about allowing ministers to dismiss officials for joining the militia, leaving them with a salary; fourthly, about allowing state and privy councilors who join the militia to wear a general's uniform and occupy general positions.

As you can see, all these orders have no state significance, and yet they are "more remarkable than others." Others are therefore even less important.

The synod also took part in the general movement, sending out orders to “promote the common cause” and demanding active participation from the clergy in “ common cause". He prescribed: 1) deduct one and a half million rubles from the profits from the candle sale in favor of the St. Petersburg and Moscow militia; 2) invite the clergy, and through him the laity, to increased donations of money and things; 3) clerks and seminarians, to fire at will into the militia and give them allowances from the church for clothing and food; 4) daily to serve prayers everywhere for victory “against adversaries,” and so on.

In addition, the synod sent out an appeal to all churches, which he ordered to be read after the manifesto. In this appeal, after reporting on the invasion of the enemy, encroaching on the freedom of Russia, threatening the homes of Russians and the splendor of churches, there was the following appeal:
“For this reason, we appeal to you, children of the church and the fatherland! Take up arms and shield, but remain faithful and guard the faith of our fathers. Bring with thanksgiving to the fatherland those blessings that you owe to the fatherland. Do not spare your temporary life for the peace of the Church, which cares about your eternal life and peace. Remember the days of ancient Israel and the years of our ancestors, who, in the name of God, boldly plunged into danger and came out of them with glory.

This was followed by an appeal to “eminent men” who have the power to set an example for others, as well as to the ministers of the church about prayer and blessing to join the militia for those of them who, “having not yet decided to serve,” wish this. The proclamation ended with a promise to the church to pray for victory.

All seventeen provinces, to which the action of the manifesto 0b of the militia was extended, were divided into three districts: the first - Moscow, - for the defense of Moscow, the second - St. Petersburg, for the protection of St. t and y to make a reserve.
The first district consisted of eight provinces: Moscow, Tver, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, Tula, Vladimir, Kaluga and Smolensk. He was under the command of the Moscow commander-in-chief, Count Rostopchin.

The second district consisted of the provinces of St. Petersburg and Novgorod. The command over him was transferred, at the choice of the nobility, to Kutuzov, who had just returned from the Danube army.

The third district, under the command of Count Tolstoy, consisted of the provinces: Kazan, Penza, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Siberian and Vyatka.
Huge donations were made everywhere, except for the obligatory supply of warriors. Bread, horses, cattle, sheepskin coats, boots - all this was sent in large quantities to the active armies.

“It is impossible to calculate in detail and with some certainty,” writes Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, “how much donations extended in each province, because they were very diverse and varied, judging by the local situation of the region. According to an estimate based on the information that could be collected, it turns out that the donations of the provinces where the militia was located ranged from 4 to 6 million in each, and more in others adjacent to the theater of war.

All able to bear arms hurried to join the ranks of the militia. “Young people,” Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky continues, “should not be shown in tailcoats either in societies or at festivities, without hearing reproaches why they were not in military uniform. People who never thought of seeing a military field, who received from childhood that have nothing to do with military service appointment, from theological seminaries, civil schools, academies of arts, the mining corps, the Alexander manufactory, ministries, government offices, asked, as a favor, permission to take up arms. There were examples that young people of adolescence ran away from their parents' houses and enlisted in the regiments.
In Moscow, everyone, from old people to young men, was in a hurry to change their civilian clothes for a military militia uniform. Moscow streets have become unrecognizable. “On the boulevards,” Kologrivova writes in her memoirs, “where there was a walk every Monday, the entire male society dressed up in uniforms; emerald-colored feathers developed on the hats of the old men, and the young ones wore knight's helmets. They didn’t quite stick to others, and to us, their dancing ladies, they seemed ridiculous; others resembled medieval knights. In a word, everyone had on their minds, and some sang the romance in a whisper: "Partant pour la Syrie", or:
“So love should be a tribute to glory!
Hurry, hero, become famous for glorious abuse,
Fly to honor "(2).

For the speedy compilation of the militia in Moscow, two committees were established: one to receive people, the other to receive and spend donations. The militia consisted of horse and foot Cossacks and foot rangers. The officers were given general army uniforms, but for the Cossacks and the rangers was invented new form: gray spacious caftans (so wide that a short fur coat could be worn under them) with a green collar, shar0varas of the same cloth, sashes of any pattern and hats or caps, decorated with a copper cross with the emperor's monogram under it and the inscription: "For the faith and the Tsar" .

“Warriors,” Vigel writes in his notes, “having a beard, were allowed and even ordered not to shave it. Armament consisted of the simplest sabers and pikes; there were no other weapons available. Finally, a hat, decorated with a copper cross, completed to give this gathering the appearance of the army of Christ ”(3).

Regimental and battalion commanders were not supposed to be paid, "according to the importance of the rank in which they served, by special power of attorney of the sovereign, out of zeal for the fatherland." But in view of the fact that officer positions in the militia were occupied mainly by retired military men, of whom many were insolvent, a temporary allowance was assigned to such. Chief officers were assigned a salary. Hundreds of chiefs - 30 rudders a month, others - 20 rubles each. Officers and clerks were entitled to 1 p. 25 k. per month salary and provisions. Warriors 1 ruble a month and provisions. Provisions were issued in crackers.

Muscovites in the preparation of the militia showed great zeal. Within a month it was: formed 11 regiments of almost 26 thousand people. In addition to this militia, at the same time, four Moscow landowners each put up a regiment at their own expense. These were the counts: Dmitriev-Mamonov, Saltykov, Demidov and Prince Gagarin.

In other provinces, the nobility and merchants did not lag behind the Muscovites. The Tver nobility fielded about 12 and a half thousand foot and 600 horse warriors; in addition, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna ordered the formation of a battalion from her Tver specific peasants.

The Yaroslavl nobility took up arms 11 thousand people, Vladimir - 15 thousand people, Ryazan - 16 thousand, Tula - 13 thousand, Kaluga - 15 thousand, Smolensk - 12; thousand.
These 12 ; thousand warriors of the Smolensk province represented only an insignificant part of the total donations that were made by this province. “Her donations,” writes Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, “were incredible. While our troops were within its borders, she gave everything she had, what she could, without account and measure, without weight and receipts, putting up double and triple against what was required. Before the appearance of the army from the Smolensk province, its donations amounted to 9.824.000 rubles, except for bread from spare stores.

In a month, all the provinces of the 1st district equipped the militia. It included over 120 thousand people.

The nobility gave the warriors food, uniforms, and fodder. Together with the merchants, it also donated money to the militia. The amount of donations from the first district is over 25 million rubles.

And with all this, proposals of life and all property for the salvation of the fatherland were still rushing to Emperor Alexander from all sides. Here are excerpts from the resolutions of the nobility and the reports of the governors:

"The nobility (Tver) is ready, if necessary for the security of the state, to shed all the blood and not spare all of its property." (Report of the Tver Governor-General.)
"The (Yaroslavl) nobility unanimously expressed their readiness to bring both life and all property for the benefit of the fatherland and the throne, if circumstances so required." (From the report of the Yaroslavl Governor-General.)

The Ryazan nobility expressed its readiness "to spare neither the victims, nor the stomach itself for the compilation of the Highest told inner strength."

Everywhere ardent speeches were made, sumptuous appeals were written. Everyone tried to arouse patriotism in his neighbor, bring him to the highest tension, incite him to the greatest donations.

Each governor considered it his duty to stir up this mood in society with appeals, which for the most part had a very great influence on the minds of the population. As an example of such documents, we can cite the following excerpt from the appeal of the Kaluga governor.

“The nobility will bear their lives And the lives of their children, they will lead the peasants with them, their only property, they will justify their excellent rights and advantages with excellent deeds. Piles of bones of a slain enemy will be indelible monuments to their laudable deeds, if he stretches his audacity further. To you, respected citizens, I now refer the Monarch's appeal, knowing completely that you will not refuse to donate your capital to arm the militia, which is going to protect your children, your homes, and yourself. The ashes of your fathers will cry out against you if you cut down your excess of sacrifice in these troubled circumstances of the fatherland. The tears of your descendants will be shed before the judgment of God on the accusation of you, if you refuse to participate in the feat ahead.

And from the speeches that were made in that hot month, one of the most characteristic can be called the speech of the St. Petersburg provincial marshal of the nobility Zherebtsov.

- Our ancestors, the founders of this famous class, flocked to the salvation of the fatherland under the banner of the sovereign, each with his squad, who could bring as much to the militia. It remains for us to follow their example. Our Orthodox faith, the holiness of the altars of God, our honor, our fatherland, in our families, parents weighed down by years, tender spouses, innocent babies all demand donations with one mouth. Let's hurry! Let us unite with the union of faithful brethren, the union of faithful Russians; Let's be united! Unanimity is the hardest barrier, it is the unbreakable chain of union and prosperity! Let us all unite, with a cross in our hearts and weapons in our hands. Let us give ourselves to God and our king. Let's save the fatherland or, dying, let's save the honor of Ross, a loyal subject of Alexander!
And the Petersburg nobility did not lag behind the Moscow nobility. It was decided to gather 13 thousand people, uniformed, armed, supplied with food.
At a meeting on July 17, the nobility proceeded to elect the head of the militia. In this election, there was neither nomination of candidates nor voting. “There were no,” writes the historian of the Patriotic War Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, “neither white balls nor black ones. They unanimously pronounced the name of the commander, whom Russia had pointed out since the onset of danger. As soon as the transition to the election of the head of the militia was announced, shouts were heard:
- Kutuzova! Kutuzov!
They did not vote, so clear was the will of the assembly. Kutuzov was not in the meeting; a deputation was immediately sent for him.
When he arrived, there were cheers. He was deeply moved and excited. The noise is silent.
- Lord! Kutuzov began in a trembling, broken voice. - Lord! I wanted to tell you a lot ... I will only say that you have adorned my gray hairs ...
A sob interrupted his words. Tears poured from his eyes.
Shouts of delight filled the room. Kutuzov agreed to take command of the militia, with the proviso that this consent should not bind him for the future: he reserved the right to leave this post. In this spirit, with the same reservation, he also sent a report on his election to Emperor Alexander, who at that time was still in Moscow.

“On the 17th of this month,” Kutuzov wrote to the sovereign, “the St. Petersburg noble society called me to its meeting, where it announced a general desire that I accept the leadership of the militia of the St. Petersburg province, composed of the nobility. In order not to slow down the zealous actions of the nobility with a refusal, I accepted this proposal and entered into action on this part, but with such a condition that, being in Your Imperial Majesty's active military service, if I am called to another commission or in any way, this exercise of mine Your Imperial Majesty will not be pleased, then I will have to leave this position to another, according to the election of the nobility.
Immediately Kutuzov formed two committees: organizational and economic. One for receiving warriors, the other for donations.

The general desire to join the ranks of the militia was so great that almost immediately all officer positions were already taken. Philistines, merchants, artisans, German colonists living near St. Petersburg voluntarily joined the militia. In addition to 13 thousand infantry in St. Petersburg, two cavalry regiments were formed from hunters: the deadly and Alexander. Monetary donations in a few days reached four million. In a word, Petersburg, with its province, showed such zeal that the emperor Alexander considered it necessary to encourage him.

“We were pleased to see in the St. Petersburg nobility,” he wrote in a rescript to Kutuzov, “the same zeal and zeal for Us and the fatherland that we saw in the Moscow nobility, which is why we instruct you: the governor, leaders and all the local noble class declare Our favor and gratitude.

All the soldiers of the St. Petersburg militia were given guns from the arsenal and they were all equipped with shovels and axes.

The banner of the militia was white linen. In the middle of it was depicted an eight-pointed cross with an inscription on both sides of it: "By this, conquer." By. the corners of the banner, in laurel wreaths, under the crowns, were the cyphers of the name of Emperor Alexander.
Armament and training were better placed in the St. Petersburg militia than in other districts. The militias were trained by non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and there were so many of these that each had only 4 or 5 warriors.

The Novgorod nobility outdid even the St. Petersburg nobility, placing warriors almost 4,000 more and giving them clothes, a salary of provisions for a year (this cost about a million rubles). The merchants, burning with the desire to assist the nobility, assigned up to 200,000 rubles for military needs.

In the third district, the nobility decided to put up a militia of up to four people out of a hundred. In addition, subscriptions were opened to collect donations. Meanwhile, a manifesto was issued on July 18, ordering, in order not to tear the villagers away from field work, to collect warriors in the lower provinces on September 1. Alexander, having received news of the decision of the nobility of the 3rd district on the collection of 4 warriors from 100 souls of the population, was very dissatisfied. This seemed to him small in comparison with other districts, and he issued an order that in the third district they should recruit not 4 warriors from a hundred souls, but 10 each. But then, when it was already criminalized to form a militia, he canceled this order and ordered take 6 people from a hundred souls.

The militia of the 3rd district consisted of 64 thousand people.

In total, there were over 208 thousand people in all three districts.

Several times in this chapter, the zeal with which the population carried "their bellies and all their property on the altar of the fatherland" was mentioned. It should be noted that this was the zeal of only its owning part, the nobility and the merchant class. The peasantry, the main mass of the population, had no voice as an unfree, serf class. He was not asked about his desires or sympathies. The landowners simply donated "on the altar of the fatherland" so many peasant heads, and that's it.

But all the same, the mood of the peasantry in different places and at different times manifested itself in one way or another, this or that trend existed in it. First of all, it must be noted that the mood of the peasantry was certainly not uniform, the same everywhere, but changed from place to place and from village to village.

If we try to present a diagram of these fluctuations in the peasant mood locally, then without any particular exaggeration it can be done in the following form. On the western border and in the next strip, closer to the center, the peasants met the French either indifferently, or, bribed by French proclamations and promises of the abolition of serfdom, willingly. This attitude towards the French changed only after military extortion and robbery by marauders made the situation unbearable. But in the depths of Russia, where there had never been any French, not even prisoners, the French were for the most part very disliked, they were treated with intransigence.

Many governors reported on peasant revolts against the landlords, and in the Lithuanian and Belarusian provinces, according to Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, the peasants, together with the petty gentry, joined the marauders and engaged in robbery. In the Vitebsk province, "the peasants joined the marauders and, together with them, burned down a significant number of houses in the cities, entire villages and master buildings." This was not the case in other provinces. In the Tula province, in one of the villages, the peasants were very excited about the news of Napoleon's invasion and made very significant financial donations, but still there were no volunteers to join the militia. Here, the peasants were not so captured by patriotic fervor as to give "their bellies" to the fatherland.
This happened in the village of Mikhailovsky. Eyewitness's father D.I. Sverbeeva gathered a gathering and with his son, a 12-year-old boy, went out to her on the porch. First of all, he read them a very touching appeal, inviting everyone, if possible, to help the Orthodox Tsar in the general calamity with money, and called on the hunters to go against the enemy, who planned to destroy our faith and conquer our dear homeland.

“I myself,” Sverbeev said to the peasants, “a seventy-year-old old man, I will go before you and take this lad, my only son, with me to battle. Brothers! Think, talk among yourselves, time does not endure in half an hour or an hour I will come to find out your decision. Know, however, that in my words there is no compulsion to you; you are free to do what you want, and how you know.

“The peasants, in a crowd, bowed low to their father; The old people were in tears. Varfolomeevich, at the head of the servants, almost roared and was the first to volunteer to be a hunter: he had been in battles, and his old military bone spoke in him. When we left, the peasants rustled like a swarm of bees; we returned an hour later. The manager and the clerk wrote down a long line of names of those who declared themselves to be donors. Up to five hundred rubles were counted, but not a single hunter, except for Varfolomeevich, volunteered ”(4).
How to explain such a cold attitude of the peasants to the proposal of the father of the eyewitness?
Sverbeev himself explains this by the fact that “simple common sense” spoke in the peasants:
“They predicted that there would be a large set, and immediately started talking: “Why should we go to hunters? whoever wants to, he will go when they recruit, otherwise, perhaps, the willing will go, but they will take the appointed ones without replacement ”(5).

Here, in opposition to the western provinces, we can only talk about "reasonableness", coldness, but in no way: not about sympathy for the successes of the French. In other provinces, according to eyewitnesses, the peasants reacted with great fervor to the news of the French movement. Going against the French, they said, was like "becoming for God's cause." Therefore, with great desire, with a deep feeling, they became in the ranks of the militia.

Vigel in his memoirs draws the sharp contrast that existed between the ordinary recruiting recruitment and the militia warriors.

“Nothing tears souls apart,” he writes, “like the spectacle of ordinary recruiting kits: moaning and howling are heard from everywhere. Peaceful settlers, chained to the earth by habit from birth, have no other desires than a good harvest; promotion, glory are words incomprehensible to them; suddenly tear them away from everything native, familiar; they are industrious and do not know fear, but the unknown terrifies them; all their neighbors bury them alive; what wonder if bitter weeping and murmuring always occur during the performance of this violent action? Here, when recruiting warriors (militia), we saw quite the opposite: joy was written on the faces of those on whom the lot fell; their families, wives, mothers showered them with caresses, kissed, pardoned, gave them what they could. “My dear, you are going for us and for God’s cause,” they repeated” (6). (The described refers to the Penza province).

However, even in the inner provinces there were fears for the loyalty of the peasants and some uncertainty about them.

“Many of the landlords (of the Penza province,” writes Vigel, “feared that the approach of the French army and the people secretly sent from it by seductions and incitement would anger the peasants and courtyard people against them.”

The fears turned out to be unfounded. “On the contrary, at that time it seemed that they merged with the nobles and merchants into one body.”

Trefolev cites in the "Russian Archive" a story from the words of an eyewitness about the attitude of peasants towards the French in the Yaroslavl province. True, the peasants there made a mistake, mistaking the Little Russian Cossacks for the French, and everything turned out to be only a curious adventure, but this incident, nevertheless, can serve as an indicator of how the peasants would have reacted to the real French.

At the end of August or at the beginning of September, “renovators, a small Cossack detachment, passed through Yaroslavl,” writes Trefolev. They had to go to the city of Kostroma; but at the Yakovlevskaya (suburban) settlement somehow, by mistake, or due to the fact that an extra glass of vodka was not forgotten, they turned aside, got lost on a country road, which is why they decided to spend the night in the village of Vyatskoye ...
It should be noted that all the repairers, like pure Ukrainians, spoke Russian very badly. The first peasant they met pricked up his ears when he heard Little Russian sounds, and looked not very friendly at the strangers, who explained to him that they got lost, it was late, it was nighttime: they wanted to settle in apartments.
The peasant replied that this could not be done without the authorities: if they ordered to let them into the huts - they would let them in, but if they did not order - the doors were on the hook.
- And who is the boss here? Lead us to him! Alive! March! - Ukrainians shouted, without mercy breaking the Russian speech.
- The authorities, approximately, are the foreman. And now it sits in the volost board ...
But, before going to the board, the Cossacks decided to look for their own apartments. They didn't let me in anywhere, the man told the truth.
- Yes, who are you? - interrogated the Cossacks, examining from head to toe.
- We are Russians.
- That's it! .. Look, you are not talking in our way ... But all the same, we will not let you in, if the authorities do not order.
Willy-nilly, the poor Ukrainians, cursing the stubborn Muscovites, had to go to the volost government. At that time, the sergeant-major took a walk for sin. Hearing the Little Russian dialect, he instantly decided that the French were standing in front of him, although they scribble in Russian, but still not so well that they, the villains, could not be recognized.
- Orthodox! the foreman suddenly shouted. “After all, these are guardians!”
- Guardians! The freaks have arrived! - the crowd repeated in one voice and rushed to run in all directions.
The drunk foreman did not get cold feet; he decided to prove his courage before the enemy and, importantly akimbo, yelled at the top of his lungs:
- Cursed guardians! You don't have apartments! I'm not giving it! Get out of here while you're safe!
The Khokhols futilely assured that he was lying from drunken eyes, that they were not “knights”, and threatened to feel his ribs with whips for stubbornness: the foreman was adamant ...
The village was large, with two churches. The rumor that the French villains had arrived quickly spread through all the streets. Both bell towers sounded the alarm. The people hastily armed themselves with whatever they could: axes, pitchforks, sticks, scythes. The blacksmiths grabbed their hammers. As I see now, one knight in an Armenian coat grabbed a chopper (for chopping cabbage) and shouted:
– Do not be shy, Orthodox! Help is coming to you! I am help! Don't be shy!
- Why be shy! the crowd roared back. - Beat them, beat the damned infidels! So, they have already taken Yaroslavl, if they got here ...
Some of the crowd, wishing to capture the imaginary French alive, among other things, rushed at one Cossack, who, due to illness, could not sit on a horse and rode in a cart, somewhat behind his comrades.
- Cut off his head! Go mower! - shouted some, more than others bloodthirsty.
Why kill? And so it will soon die on its own! cried the soft-hearted. - Yes, and the mower is stupid, you can’t cut it off ...
- You can cut off the head. Nothing!.. Perhaps it will fall off...
The senior in the detachment, coming to his senses from terrible amazement, shouted to the peasants that if they did not disperse now, go home or touch his people with even a finger, it would be bad: he ordered them to stab and shoot.
- Fire, guardians, we are not afraid! - shouted the people, getting closer and closer to the Cossacks.
The loudest voice of the drunken foreman was heard, who encouraged the peasants, as I now hear, as follows:
- Well, what is it, guys? A dozen of ours will be killed, a hundred will come; a hundred will be killed, a thousand will be suitable for forgery ... And there will be no help for them, they lie!
Suddenly a bell rang. It was Mr. Yaroslavl police captain. Hearing an unusual noise and not a few shots fired fortunately by, only to incite the people, the police captain asked: - What's the matter?
He was answered that the French had climbed into the village of Vyatskoye, pretending to be Russians, but that the people had learned de their cunning and wanted to deal with them in their own way, with their own lynching, without bothering the higher authorities, i.e. his nobility. And the battle will start now, because - unbearable, the Russian heart swayed, the Russian blood boiled, valiant.
The police captain, after listening to the repairmen, took it into his head to explain to the people his mistake and shouted:
– Oh, you... children! Home!
Nobody moved. The police officer then suddenly became meek: to know, he saw in the peasant's eyes that a light sparkled in those eyes, such an evil, bad light; therefore, he showed mitigation to ... children, - he called them brothers.
- These, brothers, are not French. These are our Cossacks from the Don River who came here and got lost. You don’t need to offend them, but you should warm them up, feed them and bring vodka to a small talik; after all, they are for our land, for our Tsar Alexander Pavlovich, I assure you guys!
- We don't believe it! Treason! You lie, your honor! the foreman screamed. - Why are you deceiving the world, pulling on the French side?
- Yes! Yes! Treason! - burst out the crowd, approaching the policeman's britzka, where his nobility sat neither alive nor dead.
The coachman also frightened him in order, but fortunately he managed to quickly guess: he hit the troika, and remember your name! Rolled away with an arrow from Vyatka.
I don’t know how this adventure would have ended if I hadn’t gone out to the people from St. cross in the hands of my father, a priest of one of the Vyatka churches, respected and loved by the peasants. But even he, despite his love and respect, had to listen to cruel abuse when, with tears in his eyes, he began to assure his furious flock that they were doing “an evil deed”, that brotherly innocent blood would be shed by her.
- E! Yes, and our pop is also a traitor? Beat him too, if he stands for the heretic guardians! – swept through the crowd.
Then my father asked:
– And what do you think, Orthodox: do heretics have crosses around their necks? Do they pray to our God or not?
- No, what kind of crosses they have! If there is, then it means that these are indeed not guardians. Let them show...
All the Cossacks really found crosses and scapulars. My father triumphed and was emotionally touched, while the Orthodox only shrugged their shoulders: ek, they say, we have gone astray! And they wanted to invite the Cossacks to visit; but those, offended, said thanks to their father, cursed the peasants in an uncommon manner, and left Vyatka. They stopped in the nearest village, where they were allowed to spend the night without any hassle.
In the morning, when the foreman sobered up, he remembered yesterday's event, in which the main fault was on his side; and, fearing bad consequences for his mistake, he hurried to catch up with the Cossacks and brought them a confession. But it cost him dearly: he paid the Khokhols 500 rubles in banknotes and, moreover, gave them a guide to the city of Kostroma. How much fell into the hands of the offended police captain, I beg you not to ask me about it. Such things, you know, are done in private, in secret, although not amicably. The foreman dealt with the Ukrainians amicably: what he asked for, he gave, spreading 500 rubles to the whole “world”. “The world” is everywhere the defendant” (7).

Many examples of this kind could be cited. Suffice it to recall the partisan detachments, sometimes composed exclusively of peasants and led by some kind of retired non-commissioned officer or church clerk. In general, it can be said that the peasants, in those cases when they themselves imagined the decision or the execution of any business, acted for the most part, as Sverbeev put it, at the behest of "simple common sense."

The same cannot be said about other classes of the population - the nobility and the merchant class. For the most part, the nobility acted at this time without any restraint, closing their eyes, solely under the influence of passion. There were cases that some nobles promised to give more than they could. Not limited to the fact that they gave a significant percentage of their serfs to the warriors and made, in addition, significant monetary donations, they themselves were in a hurry to join the ranks of the active army or the militia. Whoever, therefore, could not join either the army or the militia, entered the zemstvo, internal guard, which was established almost everywhere, to assist the zemstvo police. “Local nobles,” writes Sverbeev, “who, under some pretext, did not enter the militia, the more eagerly agreed to take on the title of chief of this guard. In imitation of the real militia, they dressed in the same gray Russian semi-caftan of Cossack cut, hung a saber on themselves and covered their heads with the same caps, but there was no copper cross on them with the inscription: “For faith and the tsar” (8).

Everyone hastened to the banner.
“Rare of the governors,” writes Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, “in reports to the authorities, did not take it as a special honor that the administration of the province gave him the opportunity to be a witness to events where, with every proposal about state needs, there was a desire to forestall the will of the government.”

Representatives of ancient noble families, "who have served as a backbone of the empire," were usually appointed to the chiefs of the provincial militias and commanders of regiments.
There were not even enough retired officers in the third district to fill the positions of militia officers, because they went to the first district, where recruitment had been made before.

“Not a single one was found,” writes Vigel, “who wished to stay at home, everyone came to the service. However, they were not enough to fill all the places; it was allowed for civil officials, serving and retired, to join the militia, only with the loss of two or three ranks; this did not deter anyone: hundreds offered their services. And it was not only the landowners and their children: the offices of government offices began to empty. Finally, many seminarians, sons of priests and clergymen rushed into ordinary privates, however, being sure that, as written, literate people, they would not be slow to make them conscripts ”(9). Patriotic songs were sung everywhere; as hastily built, they were clumsy, but they sang them with enthusiasm, ardently, and some of them continued to sing in places long after 1812. As an example of this kind of songs, one can cite an excerpt from a song composed by two Yaroslavl seminarians (Bartsov and Studnitsky), who went to the militia that year:
“Suddenly a crimson dawn arose,
All Europe revolted
War has been declared.
Bonapartes, fierce beasts,
Opened hellish doors
Devour a sacred rank.
Suddenly the clouds came down
Heat pricks our sides,
There is nowhere to hide.
Noisy winds and weather
Suddenly troubles came upon us,
And the light went dark."
This song consists of an innumerable series of similar verses, which are a meaningless collection of words; but the fate of this song is nonetheless remarkable: as at least the Yaroslavl Provincial Vedomosti assures, this song was sung by Yaroslavl seminarians as early as 1872, that is, it lasted 60 years.
In society, they went from hand to hand, various caricatures of Napoleon and the French, all kinds of libels and evil acrostics. Particularly successful was the following acrostic, compiled from a list of French marshals:
Segur
Talleyrand
Abrantes (Junot),
Davout
Augereau,
Serrurier,
Victor
and
Ney (10).
If you read the initial letters of these names from top to bottom, and read the last name of Ney in full, you get: "A herd of pigs."

The public mood was extremely upbeat. Everything French was persecuted, it became dangerous to speak French on the streets. Aristocrats who replaced from childhood native language French and who did not know how to express their thoughts in Russian, were in a difficult position, but still, out of a sense of patriotism, they refused the French language and hired teachers for themselves in order to somehow learn to speak Russian tolerably.

The French troupe from St. Petersburg was removed. She was replaced by Russian actors who acted out patriotic plays. "Dmitry Donskoy" and "Pozharsky" did not leave the stage. There was a new play "Militia". At her performances, the audience went straight into a frenzy. This play was usually performed by an octogenarian old man, the actor Dmitrevsky, who had long since retired from the stage and now returned, and each of his appearances on the stage evoked noisy ovations. He acted as an old disabled person who came to donate the things most dear to him - three medals that adorned his chest, "heroic in his youth, and now already powerless, but still flaming with love for the fatherland" (11).

The ballet was also adapted to the mood of society. So, the patriotic ballet "Love for the Fatherland" was staged, in which "one movement of the banner with the inscription: "For the Fatherland" aroused tears, screams, incessant applause."
“Others,” writes Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, “leaving the theater, the next day they ran to sign up for the militia.”

With such a mood in society, it is not surprising that the number of those wishing to join the militia grew more and more and increased material donations. However, the provincial nobility, sacrificing under the influence of an increase in warriors, then tried to get off more economically and slipped old or crippled warriors into the warriors.

“In the Tula province,” says Sverbeev, for example, “a militia was also recruited, but on a smaller scale against the Moscow one; 30 warriors went from our villages. Here, of course, everyone tried to keep his own interests; older people were given, not of excellent behavior and with bodily defects, allowed, as an exception, for this time in the very rules on the recruitment of militias ”(12).

As for the inner guard, although donations to it were made with the same willingness, their size was much smaller. So, in the Tambov province, for example, the most significant donation is the gift of the Spassky landowner of the village of Zhukova, who donated six cast-iron cannons. Spassky merchant Tolmachev presented one cast-iron cannon without a gun carriage. In general, quite a lot of weapons were donated at that time.

Not without curiosities. In Lebedyansky district, someone donated a gun without a ramrod and an old, rusty saber. “In the turmoil,” Dubasov writes about this, “everything was accepted with gratitude” (13).

The manifesto of July 6 called all of Russia to arms, and all of Russia rose up in response to the call, so that when Alexander issued a manifesto on July 18, limiting the militia to only 17 provinces, this appeal of the sovereign already found widespread armament everywhere. This armament was abolished, although in some places, such as in the Kherson province, it was brought almost to the end. Then all the provinces, excluded from the militia, began to collect money by subscription. The largest donations are as follows: Poltava province donated 3 million rubles; Kievskaya - 4 million; The Pskov province maintained at its own expense the corps of Count Wittgenstein, which cost it about 13 million rubles. The Livland province gathered a militia of 4 thousand people and donated 3 million rubles. In Finland, recently annexed to Russia (barely three years), the (Finnish) government issued an appeal for participation in donations and formed troops. Monetary donations there, not counting things, reached 200 thousand rubles.

In Siberia, "the governors everywhere sent out the manifesto on July 6 and added suggestions about its zealous fulfillment." The results of these suggestions were as follows: over 200,000 rubles were collected in the Perm province, over 100,000 in Tomsk, and about 200,000 in Irkutsk.

“Even nomadic peoples,” writes Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, “were ready to move against the enemy. The Tunguz, having heard already two years later about the invasion of the French, wanted to rush on their deer to the aid of the White Tsar, whom they call the "High Sun" (14).
“There is no city and village left,” continues the same author, “where love for the fatherland would not flare up. They were only waiting for orders to go without exception. All the tribes of the immeasurable Russian Empire merged into one soul and, regardless of the difference in customs, customs, climate, dialect, faith, proved that all of them, by feelings, are kindred to each other. Thousands of deeds of individuals are not counted here: how the elders put on weapons for war, fathers and mothers blessed their sons to overcome enemies; how each and every one brought as a gift to the fatherland that they could, not considering their zeal to be any special distinction or merit.

Describing the incidents connected with the convocation of the militia, one cannot pass over in silence the bold attempt of a certain Roman Medox, who conceived at his own risk to gather the Caucasian-mountain militia and bring it to Russia at the disposal of Emperor Alexander. To this end, he fabricated false documents for himself, in which he demanded assistance from the Caucasian authorities, and went as an impostor to the Caucasus. There, at first, his enterprise went very well. Everyone believed him, and he quickly began to move his work forward. He entered into relations with the mountain foremen and princes and had already finally agreed with some of them, when suddenly his deceit was accidentally discovered, and he was arrested and escorted to Petersburg. There he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress and then spent almost the rest of his life in various prisons and in exile (15).
__________________
Notes:
(1) For the text of the manifesto, see Chap. IV
(2) From the family memories of A.F. Kologrivova (nee Velyaminova-Zernova). 1812 year. // "Russian Archive", 1886, No. 7, S. 339.
(3) Notes by F. W i g e l. Part IV, S. 47. // Moscow, edition of the Russian Archive.
(4) Notes by D.I. S v e r b e v a. (1799 - 1826). Moscow, 1899. T. I. S. 62 - 63.
(5) Ibid. S. 67.
(6) Notes by F. V egel, part IV, p. 47.
(7) L.N. Trefolev. Stories about the Yaroslavl foreman. Imaginary French. // "Russian Archive" 1877, No. 5, S. 52 - 54.
(8) Notes by D.I. Sverbeev. T. I. S. 74 - 75.
(9) Notes by F. V e g e l, Part IV. S. 46.
(10) Acrostic from the list of French marshals. / / "Russian Antiquity". 1874. T. IX. S. 391.
(11) Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky. Description of the Patriotic War.
(12) Notes by D.N. S v e r b e v a. T. I. C. 74.
(13) Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky. Description of the Patriotic War.
(14) Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky. Description of the Patriotic War.
(15) The biography of this remarkable adventurer is interesting. Roman Mikhailovich Medox, son of the British citizen Mikhail Georgievich Medox, was born in Moscow on July 18, 1789. He was an extremely energetic, lively, observant and well-educated person: he spoke seven new and ancient languages, not counting the Caucasian and Siberian dialects. In addition, he had a great knowledge of mathematics, history and natural sciences. After the failure in compiling the Caucasian-Mountain militia of 1812, until the end of the reign of Alexander I, for about 12 years, he sat in the Peter and Paul Fortress, then was exiled to Vyatka, fled from there to the Caucasus, but was caught and exiled as a private to the Siberian battalions, where he was Omsk teacher cadet corps and engaged in biological research. In the 1930s he was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress (the reasons for this new imprisonment are very obscure), where he sat until the accession of Alexander II. In 1855 he was returned to the family of his brother Pavel, a nobleman of the Tula province. Roman Medox died in 1859.