A letter of Commander Poincaré, Russia 1812 …

The officer had been commander of arms at Vyazma since the end of August 1812 or early September. He disappeared during the retreat. His letter shows, as he remarks to Marshal Berthier, that the peasant revolt ‘is taking on a gravity which deserves attention’ …

Vyazma, 16 October 1812.

Your Highness,

Except for the time when I had the honour of reporting to you that seven caissons had been burnt by the Russians, the road from Smolensk to Vyazma had been secured. But today, in the course of the 16th, three events, which have succeeded each other in a short period of time, clearly prove that the core of the insurgents is taking on a scale which deserves attention.

A detachment of 50 hussars of the 1st Westphalian Regiment, commanded by an officer in charge of a sum of 18,000 francs and many supplies for his regiment, was captured three leagues from this place. Six prisoners of war, leaving this morning from this place, escorted by 60 Illyrians who intended to return to Smolensk, were also taken. A herd of oxen also fell into the hands of the insurgents, and three soldiers were killed.

I immediately sent 50 men of the Hesse-Darmstadt Regiment to the very location where this herd was captured. As this detachment has not yet returned, I am in the dark as to the result, and will inform His Highness of the outcome in my report tomorrow.

P.S. It is also said, but I cannot confirm this, that the commander of the post at Semlewo, being informed that the road was not free, dispatched men to investigate and found out that his reconnaissance was captured.

Source : Arthur Chuquet, 1812 – La Guerre de Russie : Notes et Documents, third volume, Fontemoing et Cie Editeurs, 1912, pp. 31-32.