The Moral State of the Russian Army in 1812. From Border Battles to the Battle of Borodino; Моральное состояние Русской армии в 1812 г. От пограничных сражений до Бородинской битвы

The research examines the facts of surrender, desertion and unauthorized abandonment of the battlefield by Russian servicemen on the basis of materials on the fighting of the Patriotic War of 1812 for the period from border battles to the Battle of Borodino inclusive. The authors focus on individual plots of the Battle of Borodino. The paper proves that for the Russian military authorities of the early 19th century. surrenders were an uncomfortable topic, which is therefore poorly reflected in the sources, but the authors managed to find in the array of documentary evidence mentions of rare facts about Russian prisoners of war in the Great Army of Napoleon Bonaparte. Based on these testimonies, the authors conclude that much more than 3,000 Russian soldiers were captured during the specified period. The authors also conclude, based on the analysis of the events of the Battle of Borodino, that the organization and methodology of the battle of the Russian Army in 1812 were qualitatively different. They were inferior to the French side, the authors attribute this to the fact that the Russian Empire remained a semi-feudal state at that time. The authors show in their work that desertion was not a common phenomenon in Russian provinces, but at the same time they note the opportunistic behavior of many landlords during recruitment. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.