Not all the published memories of eyewitnesses of the events are equally accessible to readers today. We have a whole set of memoirs of 1812 . (from well-known and high-profile names and possessing primarily literary and narrative merits), which for commercial reasons are constantly reprinted by large publishers. A significant number of very interesting memoirs were printed before 1917. not even separate books, but appeared in historical journals .. Complete sets of these journals are stored only in specialized or central libraries of the country, and the modern reader, due to ignorance or for technical reasons, does not have the opportunity to get acquainted with the publications of these almost forgotten periodicals. Actually, so the idea of this book was born - to acquaint our contemporaries with the memoir literature of the era of 1812 .. which once excited the reading public and aroused great interest. And it was decided to start with the main historical pre-revolutionary magazine of the Russian Empire - "Russian antiquity", and for this purpose selected only some of the notes that appeared at different times on the pages of this publication. The military-political events were justifiably the focus of attention. Therefore, we are especially interested in the memories of officials who played an important role in the events described (V.) R. Marchenko, I. and . Sanglen, D. P. Runic, S. and . Maevsky), who gave his interpretation of the mechanism of decision-making and revealed the background of behind-the-scenes intrigues in power structures The memories of junior officers (P.) are fairly well presented. M. Sukhanin, F. F. Berg, P. A. Kolzakov, E. M. Horses, and ...................................... M. Cossacks), who captured the hardships of military campaigns, the bitterness of the losses of comrades, the bitterness of retreat, the joy of victories, as well as recorded the details of army everyday life and the simple military life of that era. The memorial complex clearly creates an idea of the geography of events: the Baltic, Polish, Russian provinces, Siberia, Germany, France about the main military battles of that era: near Smolensk, Borodino, Tarutino, Maloyaroslavets, Krasno, Kulm, Leipzig, Kraon, Paris . A significant part of the names of the officers who left behind their memoirs published here are very familiar to readers who are interested in and know the events of the era of 1812. But there are those whose lives were unknown even to researchers .. For example, some of the memories were signed only by the surname - Sukhanin .. And only archival searches allowed us to establish his identity - this is Peter Maximovich Sukhanin (1st), the lieutenant of the 1st Artillery Brigade - and present the service milestones of the hero of the past. A significant place is occupied by memories that came out of the pen of civilians - they covered not the military, but the "internal" aspects of the country's life. Of course, first of all we are talking about the Moscow events of 1812 (F. Becker, G. I. Kozlovsky). It was the central nerve of the country's life at the time (SeptemberOctober 1812.) ): the exodus of the population from the "white stone" capital, the famous fire, especially the disasters of the Muscovites remaining in the city . About wanderings and overcoming the hardships of a provincial official in Vitebsk, who found himself in the territory occupied by the enemy, tells with lively humor in his life story G. and . Dobrynin, but especially valuable memories of the landowner A. and . Zolotukhina, who led her husband to the militia, her screaming emotional experiences and sorrows, her worldview at that critical moment in Russian history If possible, the introductory articles of the editorial board of the journal "Russian Antiquity" are saved, and the author's and editorial footnotes are given at the end of the page. All modern notes are placed at the end of the publication of each memory.