the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

Bagration’s detachment made a great sacrifice to save the army. The battlefield
was littered with corpses of the French and Russian soldiers. A French officer recalled
that while preparing a place to sleep, his troops “dragged a number of Russian corpses
together, face to the ground, with a layer of hay spread on top [of them].” 151 Another
Frenchman, Marceline Marbot, visited the battlefield the day after the action and was
appalled by the view of destruction:
This unlucky town had been so completely burnt that we could not find a
single house to take shelter in. During our compulsory stay in the place we
were appalled by a horrible spectacle. The wounded, especially the
Russians, had during the fight taken refuge in the houses, where they were
soon retaken by the fire. At the approach of this new danger all who were
able to move had fled; but many, wounded in the legs or otherwise
severely injured, were burnt alive under the ruins. Some had endeavored
to escape by crawling on the ground, but the fire had pursued them into
the streets, and one might see thousands of poor fellows half reduced to
ashes; some of them were even yet breathing. The corpses of men and
horses killed in the fight had also been roasted, so that from the unhappy
town of Hollabrünn emanated a horrible and sickening odor of roasted
flesh, perceptible at some leagues' distance. 152
The Russians suffered heavy casualties at Schöngrabern. Bagration reported, that
out of 6,000 men he led into action, 1,479 men were killed and missing; 931 men were
wounded, but only 194 men were evacuated, and the rest (737 men) left to the mercy of
the French. The officer corps was hit particular hard, loosing 30 killed, 24 missing and 39
seriously wounded left on the battlefield. 153 Bagration also lost eight guns whose
around 3,000 men left, and he could not have lost 2/3 of his troops in a minor engagement with
the French advance guard. Histoire des Armées Francaises, III, 270-71.
151 Souvenirs de Guerre du General Baron Pouget (Paris, 1895), 69
152 Marbot, Memoirs, 185.
153 Bagration to Kutuzov, 17 November 1805, Correspondence of Kutuzov, 165. Bagration
reported the following losses:
Killed Missing Wounded
244