A little bit of history…
     On the 20th of November 1805 Russian guard cavalry excelled in the battle of Austeritz. The two squadrons of the Horse Guards overthrew and captured the standard (the eagle) of the 4th line regiment of the French army, which tried to attack the Russian Foot Guards. The Horse Guards private Gavrilov picked up the standard from the French standard bearer, fallen out of step. The next moment Gavrilov was thrust by the enemy’s bayonets, the trophy, however, was grasped by another private Omelchenko and taken out of the battlefield.
    During the century followed the battle, some battle-painters depicted this heroic episode of the battle, which was actually lost by Russians. The works by Charlemaine, Willevalde and Mazurovsky, presented here, are now housed in Artillery museum in Saint-Petersburg and in museum-panorama «The Borodino battle» in Moscow.     

A.I.Sharleman. The capturing of the French 4th line regiment’s standard by the Life-Guard Horse regiment  in the battle of Austerlitz. 1805. (1852)

  B.P.Villevalde. The heroism of the Life-Guard Horse regiment in the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. (1884)

V.V.Mazurovsky. The heroism of the Horse Guards in the battle of Austerlitz. (1910-1912)