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Piece of Brick from the Kolotsky monastery in which Napoleon slept the night previous to the battle of Borodino

Object Status:

Unlocated

Accession Date:

December 6, 1821

Primary Source Reference:

Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 117

Additional Source Text:

The donor is described as "of St. Petersburg."

Notes:

The Battle of Borodino took place on 7 Sep 1812 during Napoleon's French invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army with casualties in a ratio 2:3, but failed to gain a decisive victory. The Abbey of Kolotskoi was used as a hospital by the French.

Philadelphian Willilam D. Lewis lived in Russia from 1814 to 1819 representing the interests of his brother's mercantile firm. See Norman E. Saul, "America's First Student of Russian: William David Lewis of Philadelphia," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 96, no. 4 (Oct. 1972): 469-479.