IThe years of peace after 1809 had seen the ranks of the 21eme swell. It was now part of the I Corps under Marshal Davout, this corps was formed by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th French Divisions, commanded respectively by Generals Morand, Friant, Gudin, Compans, and Desaix. The 21eme formed part of the 3rd Division of the Corps, with the 7th Legere and 12th Ligne. It belonged to Longchamps’ Brigade, and counted an effective strength of 4,344 men.

On the 22nd, the I Corps arrived at Kowno, on the Niemen, it was precisely the day on which Napoleon officially declared war on Russia. On the night of 23-24 June they threw three bridges of boats across the Niemen, Gudin’s Division, preceded by the light cavalry, crossed the river first, and on the 24th, at daybreak, it was ranged in line on the plain in serried columns of battalions. The l Corps, formed the advance-guard of the army. It met Cossacks on the way, who fled at its approach, setting fire to castles and barns. On the 28th the Corps made its entry into Vilna, where the Lithuanians received the soldiers with joy and helped them to repair the bridge over the Vilia.

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Smolensk:

On the 16th August, the I Corps arrived before Smolensk, was placed in the centre of the French army, facing the suburbs of Micislav and Roslave, which were protected by entrenchments and each defended by 7 or 8,000 infantry. The attack on the suburbs of Micislav was confided to General Gudin. The division, led by its general and by Marshal Davout in person, attacked the suburb defended by the division of Kaptsevitch. This was first pushed back with the bayonet as far as the entry to the suburb; the 12eme and 21eme, which formed the head of the column, launched themselves across the streets in pursuit of the Russians and drove them up to the ditches of Smolensk, where they were fired on at point-blank range, only finding, for entry into the town, a few practicable gaps in the wall. The battery of 12 pounders of the Division was directed against the walls. They ejected the enemy from the towers by shells  setting them  on fire. The combat lasted all night; the Russians set the town on fire, and the French entered the following morning.

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Valutino:

On the 18th August, towards the evening, the Regiment set off in pursuit of the Russians who were retreating East. Davout crossed the River Dnieper on the morning of the 19th, and marched partly on the Moscow road, partly on the road to St Petersburg. Gudin’s Division, of which 21eme was a part, followed the Moscow road. The Russians had retired onto the heights of Valutino, at first chased from this position by Marshal Ney, they made their retreat towards a last post which they resolved to keep at all costs. The ground favoured the defence, the Russians taking post behind a muddy stream on top of a long bank covered intermittently with patches of woodland and thick scrub. The road crossed the stream on a little bridge, which they had destroyed. To take the position, it was necessary to force the road, which descended a little to the right into a sort of bog, next cross the stream, the bridge having been destroyed, and finally climb up into the middle of undergrowth full of skirmishers, and cross the bank lined with troops and artillery. Ney pushed back the Russian advanced guards as far as the stream, but to open a passage he needed considerable reinforcements.

Of the five divisions of Marshal Davout, Gudin’s Division was the only one to arrive in time to support Marshal Ney.

 

We shall borrow from M. Thiers the story of the unheard of efforts of General Gudin to force the Russian position in the combat of Valutino. - “General Gudin, arriving towards five o’clock in the afternoon at the little bridge, which had just been replaced, put himself fearlessly at the head of his Division, to take at any price, the sort of cutting which was beyond the little bridge. He formed his Division in columns of attack, while Marshal Ney, with Ledru’s Division, prepared to support him, Razout’s Division occupied the enemy on the left, and, on the right, Murat, galloping with his cavalry, looked for a passage across the marshes.

The signal being given, Gudin launched his columns of infantry, who defiled over the bridge to cries of ‘Vive l’Empereur’, and met without being shaken, on the flank the fire of the skirmishers, and in front, that of the artillery emplaced on the bank. They crossed the bridge at the charge, climbed the bank and met a troop of grenadiers who received them at the point of the bayonet. They threw themselves on the Russians, forcing them to recoil, and succeeded in debouching onto the plateau. There, however, fresh battalions assailed them and obliged them to retreat. The brave Gudin took them back to the assault, and a terrible melee started then in the area between the stream and the foot of the bank.

 

The men collided with each other, wrestled hand to hand and fought with cold steel. In the midst of the awful conflict, Gudin having dismounted, and sword in hand led his soldiers on, he was hit by a ball which shattered his thigh, and falling into the arms of his officers, he designated General Gerard to replace him. This officer, of a rare energy, took command, and leading his soldiers again against the enemy, again climbed the bank and appeared a second time on the plateau. Barclay de Tolly, wishing to make a last effort, launched the brave division of Konovnitsyn against the Divisions of Gudin and Ledru, commanded by Gerard and Ney, in order to push them from the plateau which they had succeeded in conquering. Gerard and Ney received the attack, bending an instant under its violence, but then returning to the charge, they hurled themselves onto the Russian infantry with a fury and put them to rout. At 10 p.m., they were still masters of the opening and the Russians were forced to retire definitively.

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The 7th Legere, the 12th Ligne, 21st Ligne, and the 127th Ligne, which composed the division, had attacked with such impetuosity that the enemy had persuaded themselves that they had been engaged with the Imperial Guard. General Gudin had both his legs carried away by a shell and died two or three days afterwards at Smolensk. He was one of the most distinguished officers of the army. He was commendable for his moral qualities as much as for his bravery and intrepidity.

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Chef de Bataillon Fuzieu, in the uncertainty as to where the position of the enemy was, at the approach of night, having gone alone on reconnaissance, and finding himself face to face with a Russian officer, he clapped him on the shoulder, crying to the soldiers of his battalion to fire, that it was the enemy. Adjutant Lenglet received a shot in the left arm, at the moment when he was making prisoner a Russian general. The brilliant bravery of which he made proof that day gained him the decoration of the Legion of Honour.

 

The day after the combat of Valoutina, the Emperor distributed on the field of battle rewards to all the regiments which had distinguished themselves. The 21eme had for its share twenty-five decorations, shared between six captains, eight lieutenants and Second-Lieutenants, and eleven non-commissioned officers. The choices had been made in a circle, in front of the Emperor, with the acclamation of the troops. These rewards given on the field of battle, in the midst of the dead and dying, of the debris and the trophies of victory, made an imposing spectacle. The enemy had so hurried his march after the combat of Valoutina, that, during the day of the 20th, our troops made eight leagues without finding even cossacks.

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Borodino: 

On the 7th September 1812, at two o’clock in the morning, Napoleon gave his orders to the marshals commanding the army corps. The divisions of Morand and Gerard (Gudin's successor) were placed, for the day, under the orders of Prince Eugene Beauharnais, who had the mission of taking the village of Borodino, and of debouching by three ways onto the heights, while Generals Morand and Gerard, had to march on the Grand Redoubt and capture it. The 21eme was part of Gerard's division.

At 5.30 a.m., the sun rose, and disengaged itself from the thick mist which covered the horizon, and appeared radiant on the field of battle. The assembly was beaten at the head of each regiment; the captains of each company formed their troops into a semi-circle, and themselves read aloud the following order of the day:
“Soldiers, here is the battle which you have desired so much. Henceforward the victory depends on you; it is necessary to us; it will give us abundance, good quarters for the winter, and a prompt return to the Fatherland. Conduct yourselves as at Austerlitz, at Friedland, at Vitepsk, at Smolensk, and the most remote posterity will cite your conduct during this day: they will say of you: he was at that great battle under the walls of Moscow.”

At 6.00 a.m. they were in movement at all points. At 8.00 a.m, the two divisions of Morand and Gerard crossed the Kolocza to execute the orders that they had received. At a critical moment, Morand’s Division captured, alone, the Great Redoubt, even though it was defended by the fire of eight pieces of artillery. During this time, Gudin’s Division had stayed at the foot of the work. But soon the redoubt was retaken by the Russians, and the infantry of Morand was about to be pushed into the ravine which faced it, when the divisions of Gerard and Broussier arrived to help them, they rallied the troops of Morand, engaged in a terrible combat, and stayed masters of the plateau.

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At 3.00 p.m, Prince Eugene concentrated the divisions of Morand and Gerard to attempt to a new effort on the Great Redoubt, of which the Russians had stayed masters. The 9th. Line and the cuirassiers of Caulaincourt penetrated there first, but, to maintain themselves there, these troops had need of the support of other regiments. The Viceroy, at the head of the 17th, 21st, and 35th, had the charge beaten, took his sword in his hand, the soldiers, fired by his example, shook themselves, marched bayonet lowered, attacked the redoubt frontally, and broke in at the moment when the cuirassiers of General Caulaincourt were obliged to abandon it. The Viceroy next had his troops cross the ravine which separated them from the enemy troops, posted beyond, and put them fully to rout. The attacks had succeeded equally well along the whole line of battle, and by night, the Russian army was in full retreat. The losses of the French did not exceed 30,000 men.

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The 21eme had, for its part, a great number of officers killed and wounded.

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Retreat

On 26th October, Davout's Corps was made the rearguard of the army, after having spent over a month in Moscow and the Russians refusing to come to the peace table.

At 8am on the 3rd November, Russian cavalry of Russian commander Miloradovich separated Davout's I Corps from the IV and V Corps of Viceroy Eugene Beauharnais and Poniatowski respectively. They attacked the Vyazma-Fedorovskoye road that linked Davout with IV and V corps. As Russian cavalry attacked from the West, a simultaneous attack came from Platov's Cossacks to the east, supported by some Russian infantry. Davout's infantrymen formed squares to meet the attack from Platov and Paskevich, and his artillerymen set up their pieces to return the Russian cannon fire.
Davout's exhausted, hunger-weakened Corps was bombarded by Russian artillery and was in danger of being overwhelmed and destroyed.
Fortunately, the Russians lacked enough infantry to support their cavalry attacks and was vulnerable to a determined French counterattack. Davot's infantrymen to the east repulsed Platov and Paskevich with steady, disciplined musket-fire. The 21eme was in Gerard's division which was acting as the rearguard of the I Corps, so was likely fighting the cavalry in the east. More importantly, Eugene heard the cannon fire engulfing Davout's position to the rear, and immediately ordered his troops to counterattack and regain possession of the Vyazma-Fedorovskoye road.
Eugene's counterattack fell on the rear of the troops Miloradovich had positioned on the road facing Davout. This counterattack was conducted by two of Eugene's Italian divisions, one division of Poles from the V Corps, and a single regiment of troops sent to the scene by Ney, whose III Corps was positioned in the heights near Vyazma. Davout, upon seeing these troops advancing to rescue him, sent his infantrymen to attack as well. Miloradovich's cavalry and his small body of infantrymen were now attacked from the east and the west, including being enveloped in French artillery shot, and were compelled to retreat from the road. Thanks to Eugene's counterattack, a passageway had been created on the Vyazma-Fedorovskoye road for Davout to continue his retreat.
The Russians at this point had been repulsed at all points, but they were hardly finished with the battle. Having pulled back from Eugene's attack, Miloradovich ordered his troops to reposition themselves parallel to the road. A heavy cannonade was then commenced against Davout's troops as they retreated toward Vyazma. Davout's artillery was unable to respond effectively to the Russian fire, and panic broke out among his troops.

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Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur, an observer of the action on the French side, describes this moment in the battle thus:
"…disorder reigned in the I Corps – the one commanded by Davout. The sudden maneuver, the surprise, and particularly the tragic example of the crowd of unhorsed, unarmed cavalrymen running up and down in blind fright, threw this corps into utter confusion. This spectacle encouraged the enemy, who credited themselves with a victory. Their artillery, superior in strength, galloped into position and, opening an oblique fire on our lines, began mowing our men down, while our own guns were coming back to us at a snail's pace from Vyazma."

The damage wrought by the Russian artillery on Davout's troops was such that many of them were compelled to abandon the road, and to retreat across an open field in their desperation to reach safety behind Eugene's position. By 10 am, when the rest of Miloradovich's infantry arrived, Davout's battered corps had taken shelter behind Eugene. According to Segur, the Russian cannonshot and musketry at this point were "frighteningly effective." The 21eme seem to have suffered heavily from the cannonade. They had, among other officers killed, Lieutenant Charreau and Second-Lieutenant Ragot, among wounded were Captain Ourblain, Lieutenants Delcamp, Second-Lieutenants Belgrand, Lepoutre, Herel, and Gasson. And the amount of rank and file must have been substantial as well.
At 2:00 p.m., Davout, Eugene, and Poniatowski conferred, and they concluded that victory was not possible given the disorganization in the French units caused by the Russian aggression. Soon, the three French corps had retreated into the town of Vyazma.

At 4 p.m., the fighting spread into the town of Vyazma itself, which at this point was consumed by flames. By now the infantry of General Choglokov (from Ostermann-Tolstoy's corps), as well as detachments of Platov's Cossacks were engaging the French in torrid, close quarters combat on the streets of Vyazma. The French were hard pressed, and had to fight desperately to hold the Russians off while evacuating the town.
By 8 p.m., the fighting was over. The corps of Davout, Eugene, and Poniatowski had retreated west of Vyazma, bruised but safe. Ney's rearguard was last to withdraw from the town, suffering heavy losses in a final bayonet fight with a force of Russian grenadiers.
In order to cover their retreat, the French had set large sections of Vyazma on fire, resulting in many wounded from both sides burning to death.

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The Battle of Vyazma represented a defeat of the Grande Armée's rearguard, as French losses in this battle, 6,000 to 8,000 casualties, including 4,000 lost as prisoners to the Russians, were prohibitive. The shock of the Russian attack reduced many French units to a state of disarray, and owing to the speed with which their retreat had to be resumed, order was never restored within them. These disorganised units became easy targets for Cossack raids in the following days.
General Armand de Caulaincourt, the famed memoirist who participated in the events of 1812 from the French side, perhaps best summarised the effects of Vyazma on Davout's proud I Corps with the following rueful words:

"Until then – as long, that is, as it had to withstand alone the attacks of the enemy – the First Corps had maintained its honour and reputation, although it was fiercely attacked and its formation broken by the artillery. This momentary disorder was conspicuous because it was the first time that these gallant infantry broke ranks and compelled their dogged commander to give ground. I have related these painful details because from this incident must be dated our disorganisation and misfortunes. The First Corps, which on taking the field was the largest and finest, a rival to the Guard, was thenceforward the hardest hit; and the evil spread."

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Here the 21eme's journey loses cohesion as the regiment was, along with the rest of I Corps, no longer in a fighting state. The cadres of the I Corps, and in particular, those of the 21eme, gathered at Thorn, and it was towards this rallying point that the soldiers of the Regiment scattered on the roads were directed. On 8th January, 1813, there was a strength of 34 officers and some 150 men in a state to carry arms.