the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

enemy forces against you [in the direction of Porechye]…. I would be glad to coordinate
my actions with [the 1 st Western Army] but [Barclay] is making twenty changes in a
minute. For God’s sake, please do not change the strategy every minute; [we] must have
some kind of system to act.” 40 In another letter, Prince Peter continued his criticism. “It is
impossible to be more helpful to the enemy than [Barclay] is at the moment. In fact, I do
not know what he does or thinks about?” 41 In another letter, he told Arakcheyev,
I am being treated without frankness and with unpleasantness beyond the
power of words…. I cannot get along with the Minister. For God’s sake,
send me anywhere, if only to command a regiment in Moldavia or in the
Caucasus. But I do not want to be here. The whole headquarters is so full
of Germans that a Russian cannot breathe and the whole thing does not
make any sense. I swear to god, they drive me mad with their changes
every few minute…. My 40,000 men are called an army, and I am ordered
to extend them like a thread and pull in all directions. 42
Bagration’s accusation of constant changes was not exaggerated. It seemed that
Barclay de Tolly was incapacitated by the situation; vacillation and doubts beset him,
while orders and counter-orders reflected his state of mind. Barclay de Tolly’s maneuvers
during 8-13 August were inconceivable. 43 This hesitation gave Napoleon enough time to
40 Bagration to Yermolov, 10 August 1812, Russkii Invalid, 169 (August 1912): 5.
41 Ibid., 5.
42 Bagration to Arakcheyev, 10 August 1812, Correspondence of Bagration, 226.
43 His aide-de-camp, Löwernstein admitted, “For the first time I did not support his
decisions.” Eugene Tarle wrote that “his [Barclay’s] army moved aimlessly, now towards
Rudnya, now away from Rudnya”, while other Russian historians observed that due to Barclay’s
indecision, the Russian armies lost precious time in senseless maneuvers. Löwernstein,
Waldemar. Zapiski [The Notes], Russkaya Starina, 1900, N 11, 358. Tarle, Napoleon’s Invasion
of Russia, 138. Troitsky, 1812: The Glorious Year of Russia 107; Beskrovny, The Patriotic War
of 1812, 31; Zhilin, Destruction of the Napoleonic army in Russia, 121; Muratov, Historical
Survey of Patriotic War and its Reasons, 70.
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