On the night of October 20, 1917, former Military Ataman General M. Babych and with him 50 Cossack hostages were shot in the Pyatigorsk prison...

In Yekaterinodar in 1919, a rare day passed without a funeral service for the dead - there was a civil war, typhoid and cholera epidemics were raging. And yet, the funeral service, held on April 3 in St. Catherine’s Cathedral, stood out from the general series. The last ataman of the Kuban region, Mikhail Babych, was buried. An entire era went to the grave with him - the era of pre-revolutionary Yekaterinodar and the Kuban Cossacks. July 22, 2004 marked the 160th anniversary of the birth of this courageous and extraordinary man, who did a lot for the prosperity of his native Kuban.

The future ataman was born in 1844 in Yekaterinodar in the family of General Pavel Babych, a hero of the Russian-Turkish and Caucasian wars. From a young age, he followed in his father's footsteps - in 1862 he began serving as a cadet in the Tarutino battalion, and already in 1864, 19-year-old Mikhail received his first award - the St. George Cross, 4th degree - for distinction in the capture of the village of Sochi. After that, he fought in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78 and participated in the conquest of Central Asia. Was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, White Eagle, St. Vladimir 2nd and 3rd degree and many other awards.

Mikhail Pavlovich met 1889 as a colonel. He served as commander of the Novo-Bayazet reserve infantry regiment, ataman of the Ekaterinodar department, and military governor of the recently annexed Kara region. Then he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. But above all awards and titles for Mikhail Pavlovich was the desire to benefit his native land, the Kuban region. And finally such an opportunity presented itself. On February 25, 1908, Mikhail Babych became the appointed ataman of the Kuban Cossack army. In the entire history of the army, this was the first ordered ataman from the hereditary Kuban Cossacks.

In a difficult time for Kuban, he accepted this post. Kuban was shaken by the consequences of the revolution of 1905-1906. The terror of anarchists and Socialist-Revolutionaries was rampant in Yekaterinodar, and groups were active: “Avengers”, “Bloody Hand”, “Raven”, “Flying Party” and others. Often, members of these organizations had a very vague idea about anarchism and socialism, which did not stop them from extorting money from wealthy citizens, organizing robberies in the streets and killing everyone who had the courage to disobey the “expropriators.” All the city's entrepreneurs fell under the power of this “revolutionary mafia” and were even afraid to complain about the extortionists to the police, fearing brutal reprisals. The situation was aggravated by the fact that the former ataman, Lieutenant General Mikhailov, could not or did not want to stop the vile antics of the terrorists.

Mikhail Babych took the path of a radical solution to the problems of the region. The new chieftain introduced a curfew in the city, which, in view of the “continuous terrorist actions by malicious individuals,” prohibited going out into the streets from 8 pm to 4 am and walking in groups. Despite the separate condemnation of such a “violation of human rights,” the majority of the townspeople were content: finally, order began to be restored in the Kuban. Feeling the iron grip of the Cossack general on their throats, the bandits-“expropriators” began to leave for more fertile lands. Of course, some terrorists still tried to show off: for example, the Socialist-Revolutionaries-maximalists and anarchist-communists carried out M.P. Babych received a death sentence. But then it remained only an impotent threat of fanatics. The revolutionaries will have the opportunity to carry out the sentence later.

While Mikhail Babych continued to strengthen law and order in his domain. After the situation in the Kuban region stabilized, Mikhail Pavlovich lifted the curfew. The time has come to improve the region, shaken by revolutionary upheavals. During his tenure, Mikhail Babych did a lot for his native land. Thanks to the initiative of the ataman and his wife Sofia Iosifovna, a music school was opened in Yekaterinodar; on October 5, 1911, in the village of Tamansk, a monument to the “First Zaporozhye Cossacks” who landed here at the end of the 18th century was unveiled. On July 7, 1908, Babych issued the order: “...to establish the Kuban Military Ethnographic and Natural History Museum in Yekaterinodar. This museum should clearly present: the nature of the region, the past and present life of the entire population in all its manifestations of thought and work.”

Ataman Babych cared not only about the cultural, but also about the economic well-being of the city. In the same 1908, he issued an order to establish fixed prices for bread and meat products in order to stop widespread speculation. Those who failed to comply with this order were subject to “a fine of up to 3,000 rubles or arrest of up to three months.”

...The First World War began. And in this difficult time of severe trials for Russia, Mikhail Pavlovich tried to help the Fatherland with everything he could. He could not fight himself: the years were no longer the same. But the ataman supported his fellow countrymen who fought the German, Austrian and Turkish armies. He tried to complete the Cossack regiments on time and took a direct part in their equipment and collection. Having heard about the feat of Captain Tkachev, who carried out aerial reconnaissance over the enemy and received the Order of St. George, Mikhail Babych stated that “... he was the first of our valiant eagles pilots to receive this highest rank. I am sincerely glad to report this to the glorious Kuban army, whose sons not only on earth, but also in the air, cover themselves with unfading glory.”

Ataman Babych was confident in the victory of Russian weapons. He even refused to celebrate his 70th birthday, saying: “We will defeat Germany, then we will celebrate.” But after the February Revolution and the abdication of Nicholas II, Babych was broken by what seemed to him to be a national catastrophe. With an appeal to the citizens of Kuban, in which the ataman called on “to be imbued with the spirit of the greatest humility, following the example of our kind, meek tsar, unparalleled in world history,” Mikhail Pavlovich finally compromised himself before the new revolutionary government, and on March 11, 1917, a decree was issued on his removal from office .

Mikhail Pavlovich left his native Kuban and settled with his family in Minvody. But in vain he hoped to find peace here. The security officers arrested him several times, but quickly released him, not finding any corpus delicti in the old man’s activities. But still, the Bolsheviks were haunted by the very personality of the emperor’s faithful servant, the “damned counter-revolutionary.”

On the night of August 6–7, an armed detachment led by the chief of counterintelligence, sailor Ruban, came to Babych’s apartment. Another thorough but fruitless search was carried out. Despite this, the old Cossack was taken and taken to Pyatigorsk. Here Babych was tried and sentenced to death. The old general was forced to dig his own grave. After this, the chieftain was shot.

Afterwards, the body of the old Cossack was taken to the then capital of Ekaterinodar and buried in the Catherine Cathedral.

Many years have passed since then, but the memory of General Babych, a true Kuban patriot, is still alive to this day among grateful descendants. And it was not without reason that on August 4, 1994, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the spot where the ataman’s ancestral house stood.

Mikhail Pavlovich Babich(July 23, 1844 - October 18, 1918, near Pyatigorsk) - Russian cavalry general, ataman of the Kuban Cossack army (1908-1917).

Orthodox. From the nobles of the Kuban Cossack army. Born into the family of a Kuban Cossack, a hero of the Russian-Turkish and Caucasian wars, the famous Lieutenant General Pavel Denisovich Babych (1801-1883). Brother of Georgy Babich.

He was sent to be raised in the Mikhailovsky Voronezh Cadet Corps.

In 1862 he was sent to combat service in the Tarutino 67th Infantry Regiment.

In 1863 he took part in the last battles of the Caucasian War, then served in various military units. In 1864, for his distinction during the capture of the village of Sochi, cadet M. Babich received his first award - the St. George Cross, 4th degree.

Participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. He distinguished himself in combat as part of the Erivan detachment, for which he received the rank of captain; in 1880-1881 he fought under the command of General M.D. Skobelev during the Akhal-Teke expedition. Was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, White Eagle, St. Vladimir 2nd and 3rd degree and many other awards.

In 1888 he was appointed commander of the 4th Kuban Plastun battalion. From 1893 he again commanded Russian infantry regiments.

In May 1897, M. P. Babych was transferred to his homeland and appointed ataman of the Ekaterinodar department of the Kuban region.

In 1899 - senior assistant to the head of the Kuban region and ataman of the Kuban Cossack army with the rank of major general.

On December 1, 1906, he was appointed to the post of military governor of the Kars region. He held this position until February 3, 1908.

On November 17, 1914, for his impeccable 50 years of service in the officer ranks, he was promoted to cavalry general.

On March 26, 1917, the Provisional Government of Russia M.P. Babych was “dismissed from service according to a petition for poor health, with a uniform and a pension.”

Returned to live in Pyatigorsk. Here he was arrested by the Bolsheviks, taken to the forest and hacked to death near Mount Beshtau along with a group of hostages, former tsarist generals, including N.V. Ruzsky, R.D. Radko-Dmitriev and others (however, his name is not on the list of hostages) . According to other sources, he was hacked to death by the Reds near Kislovodsk on August 7, 1918. In April 1919, Babich was reburied in the Ekaterinodar Military Cathedral.

Of all the former Kuban Atamans, Babich was the only hereditary Cossack. In this post he proved himself to be an experienced administrator who sought to raise the cultural and economic level of the Cossack population of Kuban. Under him, the number of public and military craft schools increased many times, a mud bath was built in the village of Tamansk and a monument to the Black Sea Cossacks, pioneers of the 1792 landing, was erected; In Yekaterinodar, Babich opened a school for ensigns for honored Cossack sub-squires, and contributed to the construction of the Kuban-Black Sea and Armavir-Tuapse railways. He was the chairman of the commission for the construction of a monument to Catherine II in Yekaterinodar.

Awards

• Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class. (1873);
• Order of St. Anne 3rd class. with swords and bow (1878);
• Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd class. (1885);
• Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class. (1889);
• Order of St. Anne 2nd class. (1892);
• Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class. (1895);
• Order of St. Stanislaus 1st class. (1905);
• Order of St. Anne 1st class. (1908);
• Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class. (1911);
• Medal “In memory of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the House of Romanov” (1913);
• Order of the White Eagle (VP 06.12.1914)
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (VP 6.12.1915)

Mikhail Babych is the last ataman of the Kuban region, a person who deserves attention because of his symbolic significance in the history of Kuban. A convinced monarchist, a man who devoted most of his life to military service, led the region for nine years, influenced the culture and historical heritage of Kuban, was removed from office after the February Revolution and then brutally killed during the Civil War. We figured out his biography.

Mikhail Pavlovich Babych is a native Kuban Cossack. Born in the village of Novovelichkovskaya in 1844 in the family of a lieutenant general, a participant in the Russian-Turkish and Caucasian wars. In 1894, at the age of 50, he married 25-year-old Sofia Iosifovna Stashevskaya, the daughter of a state councilor and nobleman. The marriage produced two daughters.

Military service

After graduating from the Voronezh Cadet Corps and the Caucasian Training Company, Babych, having started as a cadet in 1862, began to gradually move up the career ladder and receive military orders. His path to the rank of ataman looked like this:

1877 - received the rank of captain during the events of the Russian-Turkish War
1880-1881 - fought in Central Asia during the Akhal-Teke expedition
1889 — appointed colonel
1897 - transferred to his homeland and appointed ataman of the Ekaterinodar department, which included the modern territories of Krasnodar and Goryachy Klyuch, Seversky and Dinskaya districts, part of the Ust-Labinsk region, Takhtamukaisky and Teuchezhsky districts of Adygea
1899 - senior assistant to the head of the Kuban region and ataman of the Kuban Cossack army with the rank of major general
1906-1908 - served as military governor of the Kars region, located on the territory of modern Turkey, in 1907 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general
1908 - appointed head of the Kuban region and ataman of the Kuban Cossack army

Contemporaries about the personality of the ataman

Contemporaries described Babych as a good administrator and an unquestioning person. The Cossacks sincerely called Babych their own father - “ready father.” Occupying a high position, he always helped those who turned to him for help.

Babych received visitors to his house every day, seven days a week, regardless of the social status of his guests. Kuban Cossack Colonel Eliseev wrote that the ataman was truly modest. During one of their meetings at Babych in the very center of Yekaterinodar there was neither a convoy nor even a Cossack orderly, and he was dressed in an ordinary dark gray combat Circassian coat with a black beshmet.

In 1914, Babych turned 70 years old, but he did not celebrate either his anniversary or the 50th anniversary of his service in the officer ranks. Contemporaries attribute to him the following words: “We will defeat Germany, then we will celebrate.” In the same 1914, for distinguished service in the rank of officer, he was promoted to the rank of infantry general.

Protection of the historical heritage of Kuban

Babych attached great importance to the protection of historical monuments of the Kuban region. He controlled the village atamans so that they monitored the safety of ancient burial mounds, punished robbers, and collected money from treasure hunters, which was subsequently sent to charity.

On July 7, 1908, Babych issued the order: “...to establish the Kuban Military Ethnographic and Natural History Museum in Yekaterinodar. This museum should clearly present: the nature of the region, the past and present life of the entire population in all its manifestations of thought and work.”

After the death of Evgeny Felitsyn, the founder of the current Krasnodar State Historical and Archaeological Museum, the entire museum library, collected documents and photographs began to disperse into private collections. In 1909, Mikhail Babych issued an order to complete Felitsyn’s personal archive and transfer it to the military museum.

In the village of Tamansk, by his order, in 1911, a monument was erected to the first Cossacks who landed on Taman. There, with the funds allocated to them in 1908, a mud bath was built on the Tuzla spit, which was originally intended for sick military class, but treatment could also be given to non-residents. The mud bath was destroyed during the Great Patriotic War.

With the assistance of Babych and his wife Sofia, a music school was opened in Yekaterinodar. He chaired the commission for the construction of the monument to Catherine II. He opened a school for warrant officers for honored Cossack sub-squires. During his reign many schools were built. The gymnasium, built on the family estate in the village of Novovelichkovskaya with money from the Babych family, is still in operation.

The fate of the punished ataman after the February Revolution

Ataman Babych learned about the coup d'etat in Petrograd in 1917 on March 1 and tried to delay the telegram. But the message fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks and was read out at a meeting of workers that same day.

On March 7, the ataman’s speech appeared in the Kuban Gazette, where he called on “all residents of his dear and native land for complete calm” and emphasized that the most important task of the new government now is to win the First World War. At the same time, the fragment about the greatness of the Tsar was deliberately omitted by the editors of the newspaper.

On March 13, 1917, Babych was dismissed from service by the Provisional Government. The official documents stated “according to the request, due to poor health, with a uniform and a pension,” but the City Duma, a few days before his resignation, discussed the need to send a representative of the Council of Workers’ Deputies to Petrograd to resolve the issue of removing the highest authority in Yekaterinodar. In the eyes of the new government, Mikhail Babych was too strongly associated with the previous regime and monarchy to remain as head of the region.

On March 15, a note appeared in the newspaper “Leaflet of the War” that General Babych with his wife and children left Yekaterinodar. According to data provided by F.I. Eliseev, the family left for Kislovodsk. Afterwards, searches were constantly carried out in the new house of the 74-year-old general, he was arrested several times, but was released due to the lack of evidence of a crime.

On the night of August 6-7, 1918, an armed detachment led by sailor Ruban, the head of counterintelligence, burst into Babych’s house. Another unsuccessful search was carried out, after which the general was taken to Pyatigorsk, where he was sentenced to death. There, at the foot of Mount Beshtau, the tsarist general was tortured, forced to dig his own grave, and the sentence was carried out. The wife of the former chieftain, Sofia Iosifovna, was even denied her request to serve a memorial service for her husband.

Afterwards, in 1919, by order of General Denikin, the remains of the Cossack were found in someone else’s grave and taken in a zinc coffin to Yekaterinodar. Identification was carried out by teeth and hair. After the funeral service, reburial was carried out with military honors in the tomb of the Cathedral of St. Catherine the Great Martyr.

Hereditary Kuban Cossack, Punished Ataman of the Kuban Cossack Army, who dedicated his life to the development of Kuban.

Born on July 22, 1844 in the family house in Ekaterinodar on Bursakovskaya Street, 1 (corner of Krepostnaya). Mikhail Pavlovich Babych, the son of one of the valiant officers who conquered the Western Caucasus - Pavel Denisovich Babych, about whose exploits and glory the people composed songs. All fatherly qualities were bestowed on Mikhail. From a very early age the boy was prepared for military service. After successfully graduating from the Mikhailovsky Voronezh Cadet Corps and the Caucasian Training Company, young Babych began to gradually move up the military ranks and receive military orders. In 1889 he was already a colonel. On February 3, 1908, a decree was issued appointing him, already with the rank of lieutenant general, as the appointed ataman of the Kuban Cossack army. With a harsh hand and harsh measures, he restores order in Ekaterinodar, where at that time terrorist revolutionaries were rampant. Under the constant threat of death, Babych fulfilled his responsible duty and strengthened the economy and morality in Kuban. In a short period of time, they did a lot of general cultural and good deeds. The Cossacks called the ataman “Ridny Batko”, since each Cossack personally felt his care, his zeal. M. Babych’s general cultural activities were appreciated not only by the Russian population. He was deeply respected by other nationalities living in the Kuban. It was only thanks to his cares and efforts that the construction of the Black Sea-Kuban railway began and the attack on the Kuban floodplains began. On March 16, 1917, the official newspaper reported for the last time about the former Nakazny Ataman Mikhail Pavlovich Babych. In August 1918, he was brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks in Pyatigorsk. The body of the long-suffering general was buried in the tomb of Catherine's Cathedral. The memory of the great patriot and guardian of the Kuban land, M. P. Babych, the last Ataman of the Order, is alive in the hearts of the Russian people. A street in Krasnodar is named after Ataman Babych. Of all the former Kuban Atamans, Babich was the only hereditary Cossack. In this post he proved himself to be an experienced administrator who sought to raise the cultural and economic level of the Cossack population of Kuban. Under him, the number of public and military craft schools increased many times, a mud bath was built in the village of Tamansk and a monument to the Black Sea Cossacks, pioneers of the 1792 landing, was erected; In Yekaterinodar, Babich opened a school for ensigns for honored Cossack sub-squires, and contributed to the construction of the Kuban-Black Sea and Armavir-Tuapse railways. He was the chairman of the commission for the construction of a monument to Catherine II in Yekaterinodar.

Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class. (1873);

Military service Years of service: 1862-1917 Affiliation: Russian empire Russian empire Type of army: Kuban Cossack Army,
army infantry Rank: General of Infantry Commanded: 156th Elisavetpol Infantry Regiment,
Novobayazet Reserve Infantry Regiment Battles: Caucasian War
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) Awards:

Mikhail Pavlovich Babich(July 23 (August 4) - October 18, near Pyatigorsk) - Russian infantry general, head of the Kuban region and ataman of the Kuban Cossack army (1908-1917).

Biography

Orthodox. From the nobles of the Kuban Cossack army. Born in the village of Novovelichkovskaya, in the family of a Kuban Cossack, hero of the Russian-Turkish and Caucasian wars, famous Lieutenant General Pavel Denisovich Babych (1801-1883). Brother of Georgy Babich.

In 1862 he was sent to combat service in the Tarutino 67th Infantry Regiment.

In 1863 he took part in the last battles of the Caucasian War, then served in various military units. In 1864, for distinction during the capture of the village of Sochi, cadet Mikhail Babich received his first award - the St. George Cross, 4th degree.

Awards

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Notes

Literature

• Zalessky K. A. Who was who in the Second World War. Allies of Germany. Moscow, 2003
• Likhonosov V.I. Our little Paris. Unwritten memories. Moscow, 1989

Links

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Excerpt characterizing Babich, Mikhail Pavlovich

Meanwhile, the Russian emperor had already lived in Vilna for more than a month, making reviews and maneuvers. Nothing was ready for the war that everyone expected and for which the emperor came from St. Petersburg to prepare. There was no general plan of action. Hesitation about which plan, out of all those that were proposed, should be adopted, only intensified even more after the emperor's month-long stay in the main apartment. The three armies each had a separate commander-in-chief, but there was no common commander over all the armies, and the emperor did not assume this title.
The longer the emperor lived in Vilna, the less and less they prepared for war, tired of waiting for it. All the aspirations of the people surrounding the sovereign seemed to be aimed only at making the sovereign, while having a pleasant time, forget about the upcoming war.
After many balls and holidays among the Polish magnates, among the courtiers and among the sovereign himself, in June, one of the Polish general adjutants of the sovereign came up with the idea of ​​giving a dinner and ball to the sovereign on behalf of his general adjutants. This idea was joyfully accepted by everyone. The Emperor agreed. The general's adjutants collected money by subscription. The person who could be most pleasing to the sovereign was invited to be the hostess of the ball. Count Bennigsen, a landowner of the Vilna province, offered his country house for this holiday, and on June 13 a dinner, ball, boat ride and fireworks display were scheduled at Zakret, Count Bennigsen's country house.
On the very day on which Napoleon gave the order to cross the Neman and his advanced troops, pushing back the Cossacks, crossed the Russian border, Alexander spent the evening at Bennigsen’s dacha - at a ball given by the general’s adjutants.
It was a cheerful, brilliant holiday; experts in the business said that rarely so many beauties gathered in one place. Countess Bezukhova, along with other Russian ladies who came for the sovereign from St. Petersburg to Vilna, was at this ball, darkening the sophisticated Polish ladies with her heavy, so-called Russian beauty. She was noticed, and the sovereign honored her with a dance.
Boris Drubetskoy, en garcon (a bachelor), as he said, having left his wife in Moscow, was also at this ball and, although not an adjutant general, was a participant for a large sum in the subscription for the ball. Boris was now a rich man, far gone in honor, no longer seeking patronage, but standing on an even footing with the highest of his peers.
At twelve o'clock at night they were still dancing. Helen, who did not have a worthy gentleman, herself offered the mazurka to Boris. They sat in the third pair. Boris, coolly looking at Helen's shiny bare shoulders protruding from her dark gauze and gold dress, talked about old acquaintances and at the same time, unnoticed by himself and others, never for a second stopped watching the sovereign, who was in the same hall. The Emperor did not dance; he stood in the doorway and stopped first one or the other with those gentle words that he alone knew how to speak.
At the beginning of the mazurka, Boris saw that Adjutant General Balashev, one of the closest persons to the sovereign, approached him and stood un-courtly close to the sovereign, who was speaking with a Polish lady. After talking with the lady, the sovereign looked questioningly and, apparently realizing that Balashev acted this way only because there were important reasons, nodded slightly to the lady and turned to Balashev. As soon as Balashev began to speak, surprise was expressed on the sovereign’s face. He took Balashev by the arm and walked with him through the hall, unconsciously clearing three fathoms of wide road on both sides of those who stood aside in front of him. Boris noticed Arakcheev's excited face while the sovereign walked with Balashev. Arakcheev, looking from under his brows at the sovereign and snoring his red nose, moved out of the crowd, as if expecting that the sovereign would turn to him. (Boris realized that Arakcheev was jealous of Balashev and was dissatisfied that some obviously important news was not conveyed to the sovereign through him.)
But the sovereign and Balashev walked, without noticing Arakcheev, through the exit door into the illuminated garden. Arakcheev, holding his sword and looking around angrily, walked about twenty paces behind them.
While Boris continued to make mazurka figures, he was constantly tormented by the thought of what news Balashev had brought and how to find out about it before others.
In the figure where he had to choose ladies, whispering to Helen that he wanted to take Countess Pototskaya, who seemed to have gone out onto the balcony, he, sliding his feet along the parquet floor, ran out the exit door into the garden and, noticing the sovereign entering the terrace with Balashev , paused. The Emperor and Balashev headed towards the door. Boris, in a hurry, as if not having time to move away, respectfully pressed himself against the lintel and bowed his head.
With the emotion of a personally insulted man, the Emperor finished the following words:
- Enter Russia without declaring war. “I will make peace only when not a single armed enemy remains on my land,” he said. It seemed to Boris that the sovereign was pleased to express these words: he was pleased with the form of expression of his thoughts, but was dissatisfied with the fact that Boris heard them.
- So that no one knows anything! – the sovereign added, frowning. Boris realized that this applied to him, and, closing his eyes, bowed his head slightly. The Emperor again entered the hall and remained at the ball for about half an hour.
Boris was the first to learn the news about the crossing of the Neman by French troops and thanks to this he had the opportunity to show some important persons that he knew many things hidden from others, and through this he had the opportunity to rise higher in the opinion of these persons.

The unexpected news about the French crossing the Neman was especially unexpected after a month of unfulfilled anticipation, and at a ball! The Emperor, at the first minute of receiving the news, under the influence of indignation and insult, found what later became famous, a saying that he himself liked and fully expressed his feelings. Returning home from the ball, the sovereign at two o'clock in the morning sent for secretary Shishkov and ordered to write an order to the troops and a rescript to Field Marshal Prince Saltykov, in which he certainly demanded that the words be placed that he would not make peace until at least one the armed Frenchman will remain on Russian soil.
The next day the following letter was written to Napoleon.
“Monsieur mon frere. J"ai appris hier que malgre la loyaute avec laquelle j"ai maintenu mes engagements envers Votre Majeste, ses troupes ont franchis les frontieres de la Russie, et je recois a l"instant de Petersbourg une note par laquelle le comte Lauriston, pour cause de cette aggression, annonce que Votre Majeste s"est consideree comme en etat de guerre avec moi des le moment ou le prince Kourakine a fait la demande de ses passeports. Les motifs sur lesquels le duc de Bassano fondait son refus de les lui delivrer, n "auraient jamais pu me faire supposer que cette demarche servirait jamais de pretexte a l" aggression. En effet cet ambassadeur n"y a jamais ete autorise comme il l"a declare lui meme, et aussitot que j"en fus informe, je lui ai fait connaitre combien je le desapprouvais en lui donnant l"ordre de rester a son poste. Si Votre Majeste n"est pas intentionnee de verser le sang de nos peuples pour un malentendu de ce genre et qu"elle consente a retirer ses troupes du territoire russe, je regarderai ce qui s"est passe comme non avenu, et un accommodement entre nous sera possible. Dans le cas contraire, Votre Majeste, je me verrai force de repousser une attaque que rien n"a provoquee de ma part. Il depend encore de Votre Majeste d"eviter a l"humanite les calamites d"une nouvelle guerre.