Once, all officers would remove their caps and salute as they passed by his monument, and even Napoleon admired his feat. The name of this Russian soldier is Leonty Korennoy. In 1808, this stately, tall, and physically strong peasant was drafted into the army. His comrades respected him for his fairness and kindness, jokingly calling him Uncle Korennoy.

Uncle Korennoy first participated in battle on August 26, 1812, during the famous Battle of Borodino. At a critical moment, when the French pushed our troops from their positions, Leonty gathered a handful of surviving but frightened soldiers and, shouting 'Hooray,' led them into a counterattack. The assault ended in victory! For his bravery and decisiveness in battle, Leonty Korennoy was awarded the Order of St. George.

However, his greatest feat occurred in October 1813 during the Battle of Nations near Leipzig. Under heavy enemy pressure, Korennoy's battalion found itself blocked against a stone wall. They fought to the last man until only Korennoy remained on his feet. He helped the wounded climb over the fence and stayed to cover them. Time and again, he fought off the French with his bayonet, and when the bayonet broke, he took a rifle as a club and continued to fight. The French shouted at him to 'surrender!', but Leonty Korennoy had no intention of raising his hands.

Finally, bleeding from numerous wounds, he fell to the ground. The French, struck by his fury and selflessness, chose not to finish off the Russian grenadier and carried him to a field hospital. There, they counted 18 bayonet wounds on his body! A few days later, Bonaparte arrived. He was introduced to Uncle Korennoy and told of his feat. Napoleon ordered a decree to be issued, in which Korennoy was held up as an example to French soldiers of valor and fearlessness. Later, Bonaparte ordered Leonty to be released from captivity. In Russia, a monument was erected in his honor, which, unfortunately, was destroyed during the Civil War.