On June 27, the day the treaty was ratified, Alexander I ordered five insignia of the Order of St. Andrew to be delivered to Napoleon Bonaparte to award the French Emperor himself, his brother Jerome, Murat, Talleyrand and Berthier. In response, Duroc passed from Napoleon five insignia of the Legion of Honor to award the tsar and those who participated in drafting the treaty: Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, Baron Budberg, Princes Kurakin and Lobanov-Rostovsky. Wearing the sashes they received, both emperors rode to meet each other halfway, in the street, where a battalion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and a battalion of the Old Guard were lined up in front of each other. After exchanging their letters of ratification, the battalions marched past Their Majesties.
After the parade was over,
Napoleon rode up to the Preobrazhensky Battalion and said to Alexander: “Your
Majesty, allow me to award the Order of the Legion of Honor to the bravest, the
one who has performed best in this campaign.” “I ask Your Majesty’s permission
to consult with the commander, ” Alexander I replied, and, calling Colonel Kozlovsky, asked whom he should grant it to? “To whom you command, ” was the
reply. “But he needs an answer, doesn’t he?” Kozlovsky, without hesitation,
summoned the nearest soldier — the right flank grenadier Lazarev. The soldier
stepped out of the ranks and stood still. Napoleon took off his Order of the
Legion of Honor and, pinning it to Lazarev’s uniform, said: “You will remember
this day — when we, your sovereign and I, became friends.” Then, turning over
his shoulder to Berthier, who was standing behind him with a notebook in his hands, the emperor ordered that Lazarev be
given a pension for life with an annual payment of 1,200 francs. Alexander I, returning home, in turn sent Napoleon the Star of St. Andrew to award the bravest of the French. In the evening, the emperors embraced for the last time and parted amid the cheers of the soldiers and citizens of Tilsit, with Alexander I promising Napoleon to visit him in Paris. The French emperor stood on the bank of the Neman until the tsar got off on the opposite bank.
