EVENING BELL:
The feat of the passing day

On October 4, 1813, during the Battle of Leipzig, grenadier Leonty Korennoy received the highest military honors from Napoleon.

The chronicle of events was reconstructed by the historical journal Rodina.

"A battalion of the Life Guards Finland Regiment was attacked by significantly superior enemy forces. And, retreating in battle, found itself pinned against a high stone wall. Most of the soldiers climbed over, but almost all the wounded officers remained on this side of the wall. Korennoy helped them climb over, while he himself, with a handful of brave men, remained to cover his retreating comrades...

Soon he was left alone, in a bloodied uniform, pinned against the wall. But he continued to parry and strike. When his bayonet broke, he took hold of his rifle by the muzzle and fought back with the butt. The shocked French shouted at the lone brave man to surrender. But Leonty had no intention of throwing down his weapon.

The enemy did not know that this Russian hero had earned his first St. George medal for bravery in the Battle of Borodino.

When, having received 18 bayonet wounds, Leonty was ultimately defeated; out of respect for the brave man, the French soldiers refrained from finishing him off. They placed him on a stretcher and took him to the dressing station...

There, Napoleon learned of his heroic deed.

The next day, the Russian guardsman's name was included in an order issued to the French army, signed by the Emperor. Korennoy was hailed as a hero and a role model for French soldiers. By Napoleon's personal order, he was released from captivity...

For his courage, Korennoy was promoted to ensign and became the regiment's standard-bearer. He was awarded a silver medal with the inscription "For Love of the Fatherland." Regimental poets composed a song about the hero.

And in 1903, when the regiment celebrated its centennial, the command erected a bronze monument to their fellow soldier at the entrance to the ceremonial building housing the officers' mess. Right up until the October Revolution, officers entering a meeting would doff their caps and salute the soldier...

And this is the soldier the little Macro-Napoleon was going to defeat?