the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

with considerable success. 82 The Grand Vizier remained in the vicinity of Silistra, where
he concentrated forces from Bulgaria and Serbia. Bagration initially assumed the Turks
would attack his army, but his patrols intercepted the Grand Vizier’s letter revealing the
Turkish preparations for invasion of Little Wallachia. Therefore, Bagration reinforced
Miloradovich at Bucharest with several battalions and assigned additional forces to
protect bridge at Girsov. Meantime, the weather had changed and it snowed. General
Langeron described the appalling conditions of the Russian troops, many of whom had
no tents and slept on the ground.
The people and horses starved [to death]; roads got so bad [because of
snow and sleet] that the convoys could hardly travel. [Besides], the roads
were covered with numerous corpses of oxen… Our conditions were so
dreadful that Bagration was preparing to cross the Danube to save his
army and cavalry from the imminent destruction. 83
However, Bagration faced Alexander’s opposition to the crossing of the Danube.
On 17 November, Alexander severely reprimanded him for the withdrawal. He rejected
Bagration’s plan to withdraw to the northern bank of the Danube and, disregarding the
army’s condition, ordered to launch offensive against Silistra without delay. Alexander
was more concerned about the political situation in Europe. Napoleon had recently
defeated Austria and imposed the Treaty of Schönbrunn. Now, Alexander feared both
France and Austria would intervene in his relations with Turkey. 84 Therefore, he wanted
Bagration to continue campaign and defeat the Turkish army. Considering Bagration’s
intention to renew hostilities in early spring, Alexander wrote, “The spring inundation of
82 Major General Essen III began the siege on 14 November 1809. After nine days of
bombardment, Pasha of Braila began negotiations. The fortress was surrendered on 2 December
1809. The Turkish garrison of 5,000 men was allowed to march out of Braila. The Russians
captured 205 bronze guns, 87 flags, 1,300 barrels of gunpowder, 1,700 caissons, over 200,000
musket balls and some 40,000 shells. Bagration to Alexander, No. 1,186, 12 December 1809,
Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, 136; Langeron acknowledged 96
flags and 205 cannon, including 14 mortars. He noted that the Turkish garrison (1,100 cavalry,
4,100 infantry) and 11,300 Muslim residents of Braila were allowed to leave town. Langeron,
Recollections, Russkaia starina, 135 (1908): 418-22.
83 Langeron, Recollections, Russkaia starina, 135 (1908): 417.
84 Alexander to Bagration, No. 238, 6 November 1809, Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Russo-
Turkish War of 1806-1812, 136-37. The complete text is in Voennii sbornik, 1 (1865): 18-20.
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