Materialy Voenno-Uchenago Arkhiva Generalnago Shtaba, Otechestvennaya Voina 1812 goda, Vol. XII, 1904.
153.
Lt. Gen. Graf Wittgenstein to the Minister of War, 16 June 1812, from Vilkomir, No. 14.
(Voen.-Uchen. Arkhiv, sect. II, No. 1873, pg. 82.)
Lt. Gen. Graf Wittgenstein’s report to the honorable Minister of War, commander-in-chief of the 1st Western Army, Chevalier Barclay de Tolly.
Following my report No. 12 to your excellency of this same date, my rearguard stopped the enemy and he retreated further away from the village of Devaltovo, but he concentrated in great strength and at 2 P.M. again began to advance, and is moving toward Vilkomir in many columns. And so in order to carry out your previous order to avoid a general engagement, the corps de bataille is withdrawing to Perkel, while the rearguard will observe the enemy as long as he is halted, not engaging him in battle. According to what a prisoner reports, they are advancing with their entire 2nd Corps under the command of Marshal Oudinot.
Signed: Lt. Gen. Gr. Wittgenstein.
P.S. Graf Wittgenstein also has little cavalry and I was obliged by the enemy’s advance to give him the Nezhin Regiment. This evening I am separating from Graf Wittgenstein; I hope that perhaps the Nezhin Regiment might again join me, and then I am going a quarter march to Pelshi.
Signed: Lt. Gen. Uvarov.
154.
Lt. Gen. Graf Wittgenstein to the Minister of War, 16 June 1812, from Perkel (1), No. 15.
(Voen.-Uchen. Arkhiv, sect. II, No. 1875, pg. 261.)
Lt. Gen. Graf Wittgenstein’s report to the honorable Minister of War, commander-in-chief of the 1st Western Army, Chevalier Barclay de Tolly.
As I already informed your excellency, at 2 P.M. the enemy, having concentrated in great strength, again began to advance on Vilkomir. My rearguard held him back quite well from 6 A.M. to 4 P.M. for a distance of five versts and was finally forced to yield the area due to the enemy’s numerical superiority. His losses must be very large while at the same time ours are small, but I do not have the report yet but when it is received I will not neglect to report it all in detail. At this time I only have Maj. Gen. Kulnev’s and duty officer Colonel Dibich’s. At twelve at night I arrived at Perkel with the corps de bataille. The enemy halted three versts short of Vilkomir, having crossed the Posventa River, and my rear guard is observing him. Tomorrow I will go to Pokolno; the forces opposite me, as I already reported to you, are the 2nd Corps under the command of Marshal Oudinot.
Signed: Lt. Gen. Gr. Wittgenstein.
(1) Noted: "Received 20 June."
192.
Gen.-Adj. Uvarov to the Minister of War, 18 June 1812, from Antonmesto, No. 24 (1) .
(Voen.-Uchen. Arkhiv, sect. II, No. 1875, pg. 248.)
Commander of the 1st Reserve Cav. Corps, H.I.H. Gen.-Adj. Lt. Gen. Chevalier Uvarov’s report to the commander-in-chief of the 1st Western Army, the honorable Minister of War, Chevalier Barclay de Tolly.
With the corps entrusted to me I came to this place, where I will also encamp overnight. Tomorrow, departing in the morning I will go to Pelushe as indicated in the march route, where I will await orders. It is to be hoped that they will arrive sooner, because the heavy transport of the regiments, such as supply wagons, caissons, and carts, and because we are also carrying a certain amount of forage with us, all of this always has to be sent out in front a whole day ahead of time. Otherwise, with the present bad weather and country roads they will all hinder the corps’ progress and even block it to a standstill on the road. And all the more so for Graf Wittgenstein’s corps, judging from my own experiences with only twelve squadrons, and yet not all the carts are getting through. I was much troubled on account of two guards squadrons which had been at forward posts in front of Vilkomir to observe the enemy but were not able to rejoin us on the appointed day. However, they went to one side along another route and found us again, having (when they took the other route to the side) met with the enemy. Several horses were given up in the Dragoon squadron, while in the Hussar squadron a non-commissioned officer and two troopers have still not arrived. The Nezhin Dragoon Regiment also joined up with me, having been in a fight along with Graf Wittgenstein’s vanguard and suffering small losses in personnel as well as horses.
During the enemy’s advance on our two corps near Vilkomir, he had little artillery but apparently enough cavalry and infantry. I supposed that this was only the forward element, and it made very indecisive flanking movements which gave us the time to cross the Sventukha River, otherwise that crossing in such an unsuitable place could have cost us dearly. The magazines left in Vilkomir were all destroyed. Now I am sending out to locate Graf Wittgenstein’s column, which according to secondhand reports encamped for the previous night at Avaity, but perhaps they went on further, as this is the information I have in particular. With this particular message I am awaiting your excellency’s further orders.
Signed: Gen-Adj. Uvarov.
(1) Noted: "Received 20 June."
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Translated by Mark Conrad, 1996.