In the history of Russia there were many heroes whose details of life are almost unknown. This rule applies not only to distant bygone days, but also to a very recent era. Vasilisa Kozhina, whose biography is just an example of such a "white spot", belongs to this glorious series.
Folk heroes of 1812
The Patriotic War of 1812 gave the world a large number of heroic names. This is due to the fact that the bloodshed for the first time in a very long time went directly through the territory of Russia. She was defended not only by the regular army, but also by the people's militia. One way or another, but from the war of 1812 the descendants were left with two famous female names. This is Nadezhda Durova and Vasilisa Kozhina, whose biography is almost unknown.
At the same time, the first of them served in the cavalry, due to which a lot of documentary evidence remained about her. Kozhina was a peasant by origin, which, of course, could not but affect her image. For example, in the USSR, people knew her only by a small footnote in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
The personality of Vasilisa Skinina
A brief biography of Vasilisa Kozhina contains the following facts. She was a native of Sychevsky county in Smolensk province. The peasant woman was the elder (wife of the elder) of a local farm called Gorshkov. Her life, in fact, was determined by the scarcity of sources about early peaceful life. It is not even known exactly when the national heroine Kozhin was born (approximately in 1780).
Smolensk province was on the path of Napoleon, who was going to Moscow. The French army burned many villages. She used scorched earth tactics. Behind the front line there were many settlements. Residents of this region mainly went to partisans to fight aggressors. Was among these volunteers and Vasilisa Kozhina. The biography of the elder contains many blank spots, but there is still information about her active role in organizing the local militia.
Partisan detachment
Kozhina’s detachment consisted mainly of women and adolescents. The men who inhabited the villages had already joined the army. After the French occupied the western provinces, the former state power here became untenable. There was no one to organize partisans. People who were not authorized to do this, but the most ordinary people, were residents of towns and villages. Was among these leaders and Vasilisa Kozhina. The biography of the peasant woman before that was not remarkable. However, by nature, the elder had a lively and stubborn character. These qualities helped her to gather people.
However, simply grouping for a partisan detachment was not enough. People needed weapons. Usually, braids, axes, pitchforks — tools of ordinary rural equipment — acted in his capacity. The active phase of the actions of the detachment Kozhina began with the retreat of the French from Moscow.
Napoleon "sat out" in the capital and unwittingly gave strategic initiative into the hands of the Russians. Soon, the "Great Army" went on a hasty journey home. The return journey ran through the devastated Smolensk province, whose native was Vasilisa Kozhina. Biography, children, old relationships - all these circumstances from a peaceful life have lost their meaning. Now the woman had to become harsh and merciless.
French traps
The French in retreat lost their famous discipline. The army began to suffer from epidemics, famine and cold weather. The harsh winter climate in Russia hurt strangers who crossed the border of the empire in summer in thin overcoats. In addition, the soldiers had to return along roads that they themselves had ravaged a few months earlier.
Often undernourished, French troops detached themselves from the main army and set off for the hinterland to find food. They hoped to find at least some food in the abandoned peasant farms. Instead, close groups of partisans waited for the interventionists in the villages. One of the largest such companies was directed by Vasilisa Kozhina. Biography, the people's memory of heroin - all these questions, researchers began to study much later. At that time, hardly anyone knew about her.
Attitude to the peasant partisan movement
Very quickly, rumors spread in the French army about the leader of the partisan detachment, mercilessly cracking down on the invaders. That is why there are so many legends and so few facts around Kozhina’s personality. After World War II, no one collected and systematized data on the peasant resistance movement to the French. When the historians of the next generations realized, it was too late.
Partly this fact explains the stinginess with which Kozhina was spoken of in Soviet textbooks. For the USSR, with its experience of World War II, it was not accepted to hush up people's exploits among ordinary inhabitants of the country.
In Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, the serfdom reigned. It was based on the wealth and splendor of the aristocracy with its balls and evening parties. The peasants were treated as second-class people, so it never occurred to anyone to emphasize the exploits of ordinary rural residents. When the war ended, the partisans who fought heroically returned to the noble estates and continued their slave labor.
Revenge for the husband
Of all the popular images of the war of 1812, it was Vasilisa Kozhina who became most known. Biography, family and other facts of her life are almost unknown. Researchers outlined the age of a woman in the range from 30 to 40 years. Vasilisa had a husband who worked as a village headman . When the French intervention began, he was killed.
Apparently, precisely because of a sense of revenge, Kozhina entered the path of a ruthless war with uninvited guests. This happened when the French were already retreating to their homeland. In the first months of the war, peasant resistance was rather passive. The serfs mostly hid in the forests and burned their farms so that they would not go to the enemy.
Active resistance
The French and their allies at first also did not deal with the poor. They only selected food or fodder for horses. However, when Napoleon began to suffer defeats, the atmosphere in his army was noticeably heated. The soldiers were embittered due to lost battles, inconvenience, disgusting climate and poor organization of the campaign. Their fury spread on the peasants who fell under a hot hand.
Mutual hatred grew, and with it the size of partisan detachments, one of which was led by Vasilisa Kozhina. Biography, film incarnations in modern TV series and many other interesting facts related to the elder are now of interest to many citizens of our country. However, in 1812 she was only a simple Russian woman. And even after the war, during her lifetime, she was not as famous as she is now. It was time that made Kozhina a national heroine and a character of folklore.
Note in the "Son of the Fatherland"
At first, Kozhina only organized ambushes on the roads. When the Russian army began to advance west, Vasilisa managed to contact the headquarters. She began to capture the French and transfer them to the disposal of regular troops.
The biography of Vasilisa Kozhina was first publicly mentioned in a short article by the magazine "Son of the Fatherland" in the same 1812. The material was called "Starostikha". It is this definition that is imprinted in the people's memory. It has become synonymous with the image of Kozhina.
The note described the case of a small French detachment captured by partisans. The aliens gathered to lead to a neighboring city to transfer to the Russian army. The main escort was Kozhina. One of the French was annoyed that a woman, and even a peasant woman, was trying to lead him. He refused to obey the order of the elder. Then Kozhina hit the disobedient oblique on the head, and he fell dead under her feet.
Two wings of partisan movement
Today, a photo and biography of Vasilisa Kozhina is in every Russian history textbook dedicated to the 19th century. She became the head of the peasant partisan movement, and this despite the fact that then there was another “official” army of partisans, led by no less famous Denis Davydov.
The relationship between these two different formations was extremely complex. Detachments of Cossacks and regular army often suffered from the same peasants. The villagers could mistake their compatriots for the French and attack them from a road ambush. The reason for this was military suits sewn in the European manner. The leader of the partisans and Cossacks Denis Davydov even abandoned his uniform. He changed into ordinary peasant clothes and grew a beard so that it would be easier for him to find a common language with the villagers.
Leather rewards and memory
After the war, guerrilla leaders were awarded state awards. The special commission was then interested in the biography of Vasilisa Kozhina. Personal life and the detailed facts of her biography were almost unknown. Nevertheless, officials found the elder and handed her a medal, as well as a cash allowance.
Such single awards could not please the peasants. At the end of the war, rumors became popular among them that Tsar Alexander I would soon abolish serfdom. For the long-awaited release, it was only necessary to complete the defeat of Napoleon. However, serfdom lasted another 50 years. In his youth, Alexander Pavlovich was a liberal. He wanted to carry out reforms, but was afraid of the resistance of the nobility.
Vasilisa Kozhina, with the advent of peace, returned to her native province. She died in 1840 at the age of approximately 60 years. In the XIX century, several luboks that became popular works of art were dedicated to her. Today, the streets of cities and railway stations are named after Kozhina.