Battle of Borodino
On the 24th of June 1812, Napoleon crossed the Niemen river with his Grande Armée to begin the invasion of Russia. The French force started with 286,000 soldiers but shrank drastically due to starvation and disease before reaching the battlefield. Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly led a delaying operation that traded space for time against the larger French army. This Fabian strategy involved retreating eastwards without giving decisive battle while inflicting maximum damage on the enemy. After the Battle of Smolensk, Tsar Alexander I replaced Barclay de Tolly with General Mikhail Kutuzov on the 29th of August. Kutuzov took command at Tsaryovo-Zaymishche on the 18th of August and ordered preparations for battle despite understanding Barclay's retreat was correct. The ratio of French to Russian forces had shrunk from 3:1 to 5:4 by the time of the confrontation.
Kutuzov established a defensive line near the village of Borodino starting on the 3rd of September. The field was too open with few natural obstacles to protect the center or left flank yet blocked both the Smolensk, Moscow roads. He strengthened the position with earthworks including the Raevsky redoubt in the center-right and three arrow-shaped Bagration flèches on the left. The Russian right wing under Barclay held strong positions virtually unassailable by the French. The 2nd Army under Bagration was expected to hold the weak left flank which lacked terrain advantages. Colonel Karl Wilhelm von Toll later attempted to cover up mistakes in this deployment while historians compounded the issue. Clausewitz complained that Toll's dispositions were so narrow and deep that needless losses were incurred from artillery fire. Three hundred artillery pieces sat silent on the Russian right throughout the battle.
The conflict began on the 5th of September when Marshal Joachim Murat's French forces met Pyotr Konovnitsyn's Russians in a massive cavalry clash. The initial Russian position stretched south of the new Smolensk Highway anchored on its left by a pentagonal earthwork redoubt near Shevardino. Kutuzov stated the fortification was manned simply to delay the advance of the French forces despite being beyond effective gun range. Combat resumed the next day but Konovnitsyn retreated when Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais' Fourth Corps arrived threatening his flank. The Russians withdrew to the Shevardino Redoubt where a pitched battle ensued with heavy casualties. Murat led Nansouty's First Cavalry Corps and Montbrun's Second Cavalry Corps against the redoubt supported by Compans's Division. Prince Józef Poniatowski's Polish infantry attacked the position from the south. The French captured the redoubt at the cost of 4,000, 5,000 French and 6,000 Russian casualties.
The first area of operations focused on the Bagration flèches which were three arrowhead-shaped open-backed earthworks arcing out to the left. The battle began at 06:00 with the opening of the 102-gun French grand battery against the Russian center. Davout sent Compans's Division against the southernmost flèche while Dessaix's Division echeloned out to the left. When Compans exited the woods he was hit by massed Russian cannon fire and both Compans and Dessaix were wounded. Davout personally led the 57th Line Regiment forward until his horse was shot from under him. By 07:30 Davout had gained control of the three flèches but Prince Bagration quickly led a counterattack that threw the French out. Marshal Michel Ney then led a charge by the 24th Regiment that retook them. The French carried out seven assaults against the flèches each time beaten back in fierce close combat. Bagration got hit in the leg by cannonball splinters around 11:00 yet insisted on staying on the field.
At 14:00 Napoleon renewed the assault against the redoubt as Broussier's Morand's and Gérard's divisions launched a massive frontal attack. The Russians sent Likhachyov's 24th Division into battle who fought bravely under the motto Brothers behind us is Moscow. General Caulaincourt ordered Watier's cuirassier division to lead the assault but he was killed when the charge was beaten off by fierce Russian musketry. General Thielmann then led eight Saxon and two Polish cavalry squadrons against the rear of the redoubt forcing horses through embrasures. At 15:30 the Raevsky redoubt fell with most of the 24th Division's troops captured. General Likhachyov was taken prisoner while Barclay drew his sword in self-defense during the fighting. The French attempts to break through further were thwarted by the Russian Guard Cavalry which charged and repelled the assault. Grouchy was wounded when his units tried to break through the Russians while Barclay took part in the fight.
On the morning of the battle around 07:30 Don Cossack patrols from Matvei Platov's pulk discovered a ford across the Kolocha river on the extreme right flank. Platov saw an opportunity to go around the French left flank and into the enemy's rear sending an aide to ask for permission from Kutuzov. Colonel von Toll suggested adding General Uvarov's 1st Cavalry Corps to the operation and presented the plan to the commander-in-chief. Uvarov and Platov set off with just around 8,000 cavalry and 12 guns in total without infantry support. They arrived at the undefended rear of Beauharnais' IV Corps near midday causing panic and consternation. The sudden appearance of masses of enemy cavalry close to the supply train prompted Beauharnais to immediately cancel his attack. This delay contradicted Napoleon's principle that ground may be recovered but time never. The Cossack raid contributed to Napoleon's later decision not to commit his Imperial Guard to battle.
Towards 15:00 after hours of resistance the Russian army was in dire straits while French forces were exhausted. Murat's chief of staff General Augustin Daniel Belliard rode straight to the Emperor's Headquarters telling him the Russian line was breached. Generals Daru Dumas and Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier joined in saying everyone thought the time had come for the Guard to be committed. Marshal Bessières was one of the very few senior generals to strongly advise against the intervention of the Guard. Rapp recommended the Guard be deployed yet Napoleon retorted I will most definitely not; I do not want to have it blown up. He rejected another request from Marshal Ney instead calling Mortier to guard the field without moving forward or backward. Napoleon refused to release his last reserve the Imperial Guard in a location so far away from France despite the ferocity of the Russian defense.
The fighting involved around 250,000 troops and left at least 68,000 killed and wounded making Borodino the deadliest single-day battle of the Napoleonic Wars. The French lost approximately 28,000 soldiers including 6,562 dead and 21,450 wounded while Russians suffered some 52,000 reported dead wounded or missing. Suffering a wound on the battlefield effectively became a death sentence as French forces did not possess enough food for the healthy much less the sick. Kutuzov retreated from the battlefield on the 8th of September allowing Napoleon to capture Moscow which was actually used as bait to trap the French forces. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed his 1812 Overture to commemorate Russia's successful defence against the French invasion. Leo Tolstoy famously described the battle in his novel War and Peace stating the French army was doomed to perish bleeding to death from the mortal wound received at Borodino. A huge panorama representing the battle was painted by Franz Roubaud for the 100th anniversary of Borodino in 1912.
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Common questions
When did Napoleon cross the Niemen river to begin the invasion of Russia?
Napoleon crossed the Niemen river on the 24th of June 1812. This event marked the start of the French invasion of Russia with his Grande Armée.
Who replaced Mikhail Barclay de Tolly as commander of the Russian army before the Battle of Borodino?
Tsar Alexander I replaced Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly with General Mikhail Kutuzov on the 29th of August. Kutuzov took command at Tsaryovo-Zaymishche on the 18th of August and ordered preparations for battle.
What date did the main fighting of the Battle of Borodino occur?
The conflict began on the 5th of September when Marshal Joachim Murat's French forces met Pyotr Konovnitsyn's Russians in a massive cavalry clash. Combat resumed the next day but the major engagements continued through that period.
How many casualties were reported from the Battle of Borodino?
The fighting involved around 250,000 troops and left at least 68,000 killed and wounded making Borodino the deadliest single-day battle of the Napoleonic Wars. The French lost approximately 28,000 soldiers while Russians suffered some 52,000 reported dead wounded or missing.
Why did Napoleon refuse to commit his Imperial Guard during the Battle of Borodino?
Napoleon refused to release his last reserve the Imperial Guard despite requests from Generals Daru Dumas and Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier. He stated I will most definitely not; I do not want to have it blown up and rejected another request from Marshal Ney instead calling Mortier to guard the field without moving forward or backward.