the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

Vasilievich arrived, [bringing] a battery that suddenly opened a
devastating fire at the enemy. The enemy wavered. Alexander Vasilievich
rode along our lines and commanded “Forward!” 108
Suvorov reinforced Rosenberg and Bagration with reserves 109 and ordered an
attack. The arrival of the fresh Russian forces decided the outcome of the battle.
Bagration described how “the bayonet attack routed the enemy, and many, very many of
them perished. The darkness fell at that moment, and the enemy, repulsed at every
direction, retreated; the fighting was over.” 110 Dombrowski succeeded in rallying his
troops to cover the retreat of the main forces and repulsed Bagration’s attempts to pursue
them. 111 A Russian soldier later wrote, “The French opened a heavy fire from behind the
orchard fences; we broke down the fences and advanced…with bayonets. [We thought
the French would] fall back, [since] they were not Russians [to stand and fight]. But we
learned that the French were masters of fighting [mastera dratsia]. They resisted even
Suvorov for three days.” 112
Both sides suffered high casualties. The French losses were over 1,400 men; the
17 th and 55 th Demi-brigades were decimated; Generals Rusca, Victor and Dombrowski
were wounded. 113 The Poles had some 400 captured, one gun and flag before retreating
108
Razskazi starogo voina o Suvorove, 137-38; Suvorov to Paul, 30 June 1799,
Correspondence of Suvorov, 254.
109 The reserve comprised of 8 th Jager Regiment, a battalion of Arkhangelogorod Regiment
and the Cossacks. “Kratkaya zametka o voennikh deistviakh russkikh vcpomogatelnikh voisk v
Italii pod komandovaniem Suvorova” [Brief Note About the Military Actions of Russian
Auxiliary Troops in Italy under Command of Suvorov] , Moskovitianin, 3 -5, (1844), 94-95.
110 Razskazi starogo voina o Suvorove, 137-38;
111 Dabrowski, Generala Henryka Dabrowskiego pamietnik, 87; Pachonski, Legiony Polskie,
508; Chodzko, Histoire des légions polonaises en Italie, 177-78.
112 “Recollections of the Russian Soldier,” in Russian Military Prose of XIX Century, 172-73.
113 Clausewitz, Die Feldzuge von 1799, V, 461; “Journal of Military Actions of the Allied
Armies” showed the French casualties as 1,400 killed, 335 captured and 2 flags. In
Correspondence of Bagration, 28-29. Suvorov reported French casualties as 1,000 killed, 334
wounded and 2 flags. Suvorov to Paul, 30 June 1799, Correspondence of Suvorov, 254.
Weinzierl, based on Victor’s and Berthier’s reports, acknowledged that Victor’s troops were “all
but destroyed.” Career of Victor, 125.
90