the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

portrayal of Bagration. Professor Polosin’s volume on Bagration is another example
of Soviet propaganda. Though much longer than Borisov or Muravina’s volumes,
Polosin’s work reads more like a novel than a scholarly work and has many
inaccuracies.
Ivan Rostunov’s Peyotr Ivanovich Bagration: ocherk polkovodcheskoi
deyatelnosti is one of the important works on the topic. Published by the Ministry of
Defense of USSR in 1957, this volume provides an overview of Bagration’s military
career in two hundred fifty pages, with emphasis on 1812 Campaign. It briefly
describes Bagration’s earlier campaigns and then concentrates on his involvement in
the “Patriotic War of 1812.” Although earlier campaigns are brief, the author
provided substantial details on 1812. Yet, he avoided discussing Bagration’s conflict
with Barclay de Tolly. Rostunov consulted many Russian primary sources, but no
French, English or Austrian documents. Therefore, his narrative is one-sided and
tends to praise Bagration and the Russian army and overlook other crucial issues. The
Soviet influence is also evident in Rostunov’s criticisms of Prince Peter for
“supporting autocracy and serfdom.” The author described him as a “loyal servant to
the Tsar and the noble class.” 10
Vladimir Gribanov’s book, Bagration v Peterburge, 11 is certainly one of the
best books on Bagration because, unlike other studies, it concentrates on Bagration’s
private life in St. Petersburg. The author worked as the director of Alexander Suvorov
State Museum in St. Petersburg and had intimate knowledge of the archival
documents. Consequently, this is the only volume that provides details of Prince
Peter’s private life in the capital. However, the author fell under the same Soviet
indoctrination and his volume contains many passages aimed at Soviet readers.
A number of Georgian scholars also published volumes on Bagration. 12
However, these works are general surveys and popular histories of Bagration’s career
10 Rostunov, General Bagration, 246-48.
1979)
11 Vladimir Gribanov, Bagration v Peterburge [Bagration in St. Petersburg], (Leningrad,
xviii