Chapter VI The Strategic Stalemate from End of August to mid-October 1812 “The Daily Life” ollowing wounds received on For his part, Wittgenstein was August 17th, Oudinot was also forced to inaction because of the F evacuated to Vilna and it was weakness of its Corps. It can be Gouvion St. Cyr who took command estimated that the Russian general the next day and won the battle. For had under his command, on the his victory on the 18th, he was evening of August 18, barely 12,000 appointed Marshal of the Empire by infantrymen, 2,200 horsemen and decree of August 27th, 1812. General 1,400 artillerymen. Because of the Maison, will be appointed general de weakness of his battalions, he will division on August 21st and will take have to reorganize them. For example, the head of the 8th infantry division. on August 25th, the six depot After the relatively shallow battalions of Grenadiers were merged attempt to pursue the Russians and into three battalions (Leib and the fighting of August 23rd, where the Arakseiev together, St Petersburg and Bavarian general Siebein was mortally Tauride, Pavlov and Ekaterinoslav). wounded, St. Cyr will remain quite The forces of Wittgenstein will inactive, concentrating his two corps increase quite regularly until the of army on Polotsk and its vicinity. His beginning of October: thanks to the forces declining steadily, he will return of the wounded, first; the strengthen (but with delay) his arrival of men from the depot of the positions by building some redoubts, regiments belonging to the 1st Corps, trying to form a sort of entrenched afterwards; and also because of the camp in front of the walls of Polotsk. arrival of some new units. On August It is true that the will of the Emperor 24th, two infantry depot battalions of has been executed: Wittgenstein has the guard (about 1,000 men) will been repulsed from the Dwina and he arrive at Siwochina; On the 26th, is unable to threaten the left flank or Rodianov’s Cossacks (a little less than the rear of the Grande Armée en route 400 cavalrymen) came to reinforce to Moscow. At least, for the moment… Wittgenstein. In early October, before the arrival of the great reinforcements promised by Kutusov on September © 1995 – 2018 The Napoleon Series 19th, Wittgenstein could already count The most affected men of this on about 22,000 men, 6,000 more dramatic situation will be the than the evening of August 18. What Bavarians. Indeed, according to the will be nearly the same numbers of St future general Marbot, during this Cyr at the same time. period of waiting and inaction, the The main Russian forces will French, the Swiss, the Croats, the stay in Siwochina. But Wittgenstein Portuguese will work tirelessly to will send cavalry everywhere to improve their conditions: they made oppose the French patrols and their quarters more salubrious, spent outposts (three squadrons of light treasure of ingenuity to provide cavalry at Velyj, for example; the supplies The Bavarians, demoralized, converged cuirassiers at Gramoscha, will make no serious effort to upgrade etc.). And his efforts will succeed their situation. It must be said that admirably in preventing the French they were already in a state of from obtaining good supplies. In exhaustion before the first battle of addition, the insecurity caused by Polotsk. And the deaths of generals these cavalry pickets will play an Deroy on August 23rd, and Siebein the important role in the morale of the next day, will not help to improve the Franco-Bavarians. morale of the Bavarian soldiers Thus, while the Russians will have no problem of supply, the Excerpt from a letter from Lorencez th scarcity of resources and the disease to Oudinot, September 5 : “Marshal St. Cyr often repeats to me were the common lot of the Gouvion that he hopes given back to you shortly, St Cyr forces and will induce a your II Corps. For him, we will have to find constant diminution of the Franco- a new, because his VI Corps is shortly, fully Bavarian forces. If St Cyr could still in the Dwina. It’s not an image; they have count on 32,000 men at the end of so much died, that they don’t bother August, there were only a little less burying them; they bowled them in the than 28,000 in mid-September. For river and the river rejected them on the banks; there is about 2,000 from here to the example, the Swiss were 2,825 levels of Ghamzeleva. Nothing is more combat-capable on September 15, deplorable than this, and what is not less while another 1,200 are in hospitals sad is that it is not permissible to warn M. and ambulances. de Wrede of the disorder of his hospitals, Then, before the second battle without rearing up.” of Polotsk, in mid-October, the On September 27th, in a letter to combat-capable forces of St Cyr fell to Oudinot, convalescing at Wilna, 22,000 men (about 2,000 of whom are General Maison wrote: “The Bavarians reinforcements). are no longer of this world.” Despite It can be seen that, on average, this, it seems that discipline was good more than 2,000 soldiers were lost per enough, because there was only one week (nearly 300 per day), between case of desertion noted in September the end of August and mid-October. among the Bavarians. But perhaps it © 1995 – 2018 The Napoleon Series was because Bavarians had no force to Maison settled east of Polotsk, in desert and no expectation of success different villages or small castles quite of this act! It was not the case of other far from Polotsk (Sirotino, Ravno for units present: at the end of example). The advantage of these September, some 80 soldiers waited cantonments was that this area had for judgment for desertion, almost not undergone the passage of exclusively from the 128th (Hanseatic) numerous troops, unlike the north line and the Portuguese regiments. and north-west areas of Polotsk. The units of the 9th division Merle received Excerpt from a letter from a Swiss also several separated cantonments: rd soldier of the 3 Swiss infantry the 4th Swiss regiment was for instance st regiment, dated August 31 , 1812 assigned to guard the city of Polotsk, “Our Swiss regiments are reduced while the 1st and 2nd Swiss regiments to very little without having been often in action. The strongest would have had their quarters near Ghamzelovo difficulty in presenting 600 men under (practically in contact with the arms; Ours is the weakest. If our Colonel Russians); the 3rd Swiss was in saw his regiment in this way, it would Sosnitza. probably cause him much trouble. To tell The left bank of the Dwina from the truth, our regiments are not in very Polotsk and along the Ouzacz (or good odor near the generals. Most of our Uzacz) was granted to the VI Corps. soldiers cruised, and, eternal robbers, got caught by the Cossacks, while, on an The Bavarians also had to provide other hand, most of them desert for the garrisons to hold a line of posts along enemy or for other units; In general, it is the Dwina, which required about 1,500 with sorrow that I must say that our Swiss men. regiments do not do honor ...” The cavalry had to send its men in an area from the Obol river in the Gouvion St. Cyr attests that he south, to the Polota stream in the had taken measures to allow the troops north. to live correctly in the field. From According to Gouvion St Cyr, August 23rd, the cantonments were the resources able to be requisitioned organized by divisions around the city. in the various cantonments would allow regular subsistence to the The II Corps was granted the troops: meat, flour, fodder. right bank of the Dwina to make its Unfortunately, the state of exhaustion requisitions. The 6th division Legrand was such that it was too late for many had to settle along the Polota as far as units, especially the Bavarians, to take Jourevitchi, situating at about 10 miles advantage of these provisions. in the north-east of Polotsk. Probably In addition, this distribution of the for fear of incessant enemy incursions supply zones between the different (he would be close to the Russian troops did not always go well. In cantonments), general Legrand particular, the cavalry quickly finding refused to settle there and returned no more food in the area reserved for closer to Polotsk. The 8th division it, spread further north and east and in © 1995 – 2018 The Napoleon Series areas normally assigned to the cattle, still in burning one of the infantry of the 8th division. villages of this barony, have destroyed Thus in a letter of September precious resources in grains and oats 27th addressed to Lorencez, chief of which were also destined for my staff of the II Corps, general Maison division. This is not the first time I complained of the exactions of the have to complain about their French cuirassiers: : “I have the honor neighborhood. General Doumerc had to address you here, my dear General, made me hope for the restitution of a letter from my commissary of wars; the grains taken to Laroche, by you will see by its contents that the violating my storing, but I never heard cuirassiers, not satisfied with having of them again. I beg you to take orders taken out all that I had gathered with from the Marshal to inform General much trouble at Ravno, brandy and Doumerc that he had to respect the resources of others, and thus not to Letter from Gouvion-Saint-Cyr to abuse force to remove them.” the Duke of Bassano, October 3rd: And here is the letter of the “The rains having severely Commissary of War Coffin, dated on damaged the roads and swelled the Dwina, 25th of September: “The barony of the Cossacks can no longer pass this river Ravno has suffered singularly since it almost everywhere, as they did when the was occupied by the 3rd Division of the waters were extremely low.