If not for Prince Józef Poniatowski, for at least some of the officers and soldiers of the Grand Army, the march to Russia would have ended much earlier. The front guard, led by Marshal Murat, was in mortal danger - fortunately, the Pole entered action at the right moment.
On October 18, 1812, at Tarutino, during Napoleon's tragic expedition to Russia, Prince Józef Poniatowski gave great proof of his skills. Under the pressure of Tsar Alexander I, Field Marshal Mikhail Ilarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov attacked the then advanced units of the Grand Army's front guard, commanded by Marshal Joachim Murat. And had it not been for the fact that the Polish prince turned out to be a prudent commander, they would undoubtedly have smashed the French into small pieces.
The tragic effects of drunkenness
How did it come about? Well, on the eve of the battle, a transport of food, vodka and Russian women from Moscow reached the Murata camp, which were supposed to make the lonely Napoleonic soldiers' company pleasant. Although Polish soldiers did take part in the event, they returned to their positions on Poniatowski's orders. And good, because it turned out that only he posted the guards - Murat got drunk and did not give the appropriate orders. As a result, the entire camp of Napoleonic troops was at the mercy of the Russians in the event of an attack.
The vigilant Poles, on the other hand, not only warned about the Russian troops approaching the camp, but also began to repel the attack. Prince Józef made perfect use of the interaction of cavalry, infantry and artillery. He ordered the attacking Russians to fire, while the Polish cavalry rushed to repel the Cossacks.
You can read about the greatest leaders in our history in the book "Polish bogos w ie war ” .
Had it not been for him, the entire vanguard of the Grand Army would have been crushed to dust. Poniatowski turned a certain defeat into a victory - even the Russian II commander was killed in the fighting. Corps, General Karl Fedorowicz Baggehuffwud. Unfortunately, on the Polish side it was not without casualties - the Chief of Staff of the 5th Corps of Napoleonic forces, General Stanisław Fiszer, died on the battlefield.
Though victorious, the Battle of Tarutino forced Napoleon to leave Moscow. The Polish Corps was on the right wing of the Grand Army during the march. Poniatowski commanded him until October 29, when he was injured and, having handed over the leadership to General Zajączek, he returned to the country. It was reactivated only during Napoleon's retreat, when his troops reached Smolensk.
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You can read about the secret of the successes of our greatest leaders in the book "Polish gods of war" . The above text is an excerpt from the chapter devoted to Józef Poniatowski.
The title, lead, illustrations with captions, bolds and subtitles come from the editorial office. The text has undergone some basic editing to introduce more frequent paragraph breaks.
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