Napoleono pėdsakai Jotvos žemėje
ENThere are a few tracks of Napoleon's Invasion of Russia (1812) in Yotvingia. It is known relatively a lot about the march of the troops of the Great Emperor through the territory of Sudovia. The event is presented in the memoirs of priest Bonaventūras Butkevičius who was a prelate and an administrator of the episcopate of Seinai. There is a description of the march of the Napoleon's Great Army through Seinai. The town was occupied by 3 distinct formations and totally looted. The huge contribution (penalty), which had to be paid by the evening, was imposed on the residents because of the inadequate welcoming of the "guests". The soldiers sacked the town and its residents, destroyed buildings, gardens, crops, fields and meadows. Several soldiers died after the revel organized in the basement of the monastery in Seinai. Local clergy were accused of their death; therefore Bonaventūras Butkevičius was afraid of being shot and secretly went to Rudamina, later to Vilkaviškis. He had an opportunity to directly encounter the Emperor, to see military manoeuvres of the Great Army, to hear the appeal of the general to his soldiers and to witness the declaration of war on Russia. Some extracts of Bonaventūras Butkevičius' memoirs were published in Russia and in the Lithuanian press in 1921.
