More than 200 years have passed since the time when Napoleon's army invaded Russia. Here the great commander, who brought many European countries to their knees, knew all the bitterness of an inglorious defeat. Leaving burnt and plundered Moscow, the French exported a huge amount of unique values. The fate of most of the looted treasures remains unknown at the present time.
After the hard battle of Borodino, the Russian army needed to regroup and accumulate forces. Further hostilities could be disastrous for the troops. At the council held in the village of Fili, a difficult, but at that time the only correct decision was made - to leave Moscow without a fight.
And where are the keys to Moscow?
The very next day, Napoleon stood on Poklonnaya Hill, surrounded by his retinue, and looked with curiosity at the Russian capital. He was informed that the Russian army was retreating to the Volga, and the French commander headed towards the city gates.
At the entrance to the capital, the emperor had to be accompanied by divisional guards, his own retinue and the guards gendarmerie. At the Dorogomilovsky gate, Napoleon was impatiently waiting for the delegation, which was to present him with the keys to the city. He was ready to conclude a truce with Alexander the First on his own terms.
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But for some reason no one was in a hurry with the keys, and the great commander became nervous. It took 30 minutes and it became clear that the keys were a bummer. All residents at that time left their hometown. The emperor broke out in abuse, and then entered the city without any pathos. At that moment, it dawned on Napoleon that the victory, in which he seemed to have already believed, was actually very illusory and was under a very big question.
Another thing is European capitals, where every time he was greeted with incredible honor and awe. Both the representatives of the most notorious families and the first beauties tried to win Napoleon's favor. And here empty streets, abandoned palaces and stray dogs awaited him.
Then fires spread throughout the city. At first, numerous looters were accused of them. Then it became clear that this action was quite organized. There was nothing to put out the fires, there was not a single pump in the whole city. In revenge for the poor reception and organized arson, Napoleon allowed his troops to plunder the Russian capital.
A little time passed and it became clear that cold and hungry times awaited the French in Moscow. In the second half of October, Bonaparte's army began to leave the plundered and burned city. The emperor decided to go to Kaluga.
The amount of loot is uncountable
At that time, Bonaparte's army was strong. It consisted of 15 thousand horsemen, over 90 thousand infantrymen and about 10 thousand non-combatants. A wagon train with looted goods moved behind the army. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the French exported over 320 poods of silver and about 19 poods of gold (for reference, 1 pood equals 16.38 kg).
In addition to the above, the wagon train contained rare paintings, unique jewelry, ancient weapons, icons in fine gold frames and much more. The Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral was turned into a smelting shop by the French. There they melted items made of precious metals into ingots, on which the letter "N" flaunted, glorifying Napoleon.
Bonaparte gave the order to take out all the trophies from the Kremlin, to take everything valuable from the churches, to tear down the gilded cross that stood on the dome of the Cathedral of Ivan the Great. The French dragged everything that only survived after the fire. The infantrymen bent under the weight of their knapsacks, and each marshal had his own trophy wagon train. In a word, in Russia Napoleon's army became famous not so much for its ability to fight as for its ability to loot!
Where did they hide the treasures?
Under the onslaught of the Russians, the French had to turn onto the Smolensk road, which at that time was almost completely destroyed. The emperor ordered his subordinates to get rid of the least valuable. Hunger began, and almost simultaneously with it, the first frosts hit. And then there was the Cossacks and the partisans who were tortured by their constant raids! It became unbearably difficult to drag the backpacks with the stolen goods, and the soldiers often drowned their trophies in a river or lake, and sometimes buried them in some conspicuous place, hoping to later return for the stolen goods.
The trophy wagons are also depleted. So one of the participants in the campaign recalled that on the section of the route from Dorogobuzh to Smolensk, nothing remarkable happened, except that he had to drown his prey in Lake Stoyachoy. All the trophies became a burden to the French. From that time on, they had to deal not with enrichment, but with saving their own lives.
Lake Stoyachee (or Semlevskoe) has become a priority object for treasure searches. In the 19th century, the first searches were organized by Governor-General N. Khmelnitsky, but his efforts did not lead to anything. In the 20th century, several expeditions went to the lake, but the result was again zero.
At the same time, the analysis of the water showed a multiple excess of the norm for the content of silver, gold, copper and tin. The depth of the lake in some places reaches 21 meters, of which 14 meters is solid silt. Obviously, the chance to find some kind of treasure is quite real. But some researchers deny the presence of jewelry in Lake Semlevskoe.
If there are no treasures in the Standing Lake, then you need to look for them in other places. During the retreat, the French army lost most of the plundered goods. So, for example, in the middle of October a train, which received the name "Golden", set off from Moscow. It consisted of 360 wagons under a reinforced escort. The viceroy named E. Beauharnais led the campaign. True, when he met in Smolensk with Bonaparte's army, no convoy was observed with him. More than 300 carts seemed to have sunk through the ground.
During the retreat, the emperor stopped near the village of Motygol. There he was informed about the loss of horses and the inability to get new ones. Behind Bonaparte was a wagon loaded with barrels of gold. Napoleon ordered the cart to be abandoned and the kegs to be buried. So they did, and so that the place could be found later, a large peaked stone was laid nearby.
Many years passed, and a Frenchman came to these parts, who was looking for a noticeable boulder. The stone was found in the foundation of a house under construction, but no one knew where it came from. Obviously, the barrels filled with gold are still kept in the ground.