Where was Kutuzov during the Battle of Borodino. battle of Borodino

Biggest Event Patriotic War 1812 happened on August 26, 125 kilometers from Moscow. The battle on the Borodino field is one of the bloodiest battles XIX century. Its significance in Russian history is colossal, the loss of Borodino threatened with complete surrender Russian Empire.

The commander-in-chief of the Russian troops, M.I. Kutuzov, planned to make further French offensives impossible, while the enemy wanted to completely defeat the Russian army and capture Moscow. The forces of the parties were practically equal to one hundred and thirty-two thousand Russians against one hundred and thirty-five thousand French, the number of guns was 640 against 587, respectively.

At 6 o'clock in the morning the French began their offensive. In order to clear the road to Moscow, they tried to break through the center of the Russian troops to bypass their left flank, the attempt ended in failure. The most terrible battles took place on the flashes of Bagration and the battery of General Raevsky. Soldiers were dying at the rate of 100 per minute. By six o'clock in the evening, the French captured only the central battery. Later, Bonaparte ordered the withdrawal of forces, but Mikhail Illarionovich also decided to retreat to Moscow.

In fact, the battle did not give victory to anyone. The losses were huge for both sides, Russia mourned the death of 44 thousand soldiers, France and its allies 60 thousand soldiers.

The king demanded to give another decisive battle, so the entire general staff was convened in Fili near Moscow. This council decided the fate of Moscow. Kutuzov opposed the battle, the army was not ready, he believed. Moscow was surrendered without a fight - this decision became the most correct in the last.

Patriotic War.

Battle of Borodino 1812 (about the Battle of Borodino) for children

The Battle of Borodino in 1812 is one of the major battles of the Patriotic War of 1812. It went down in history as one of the bloodiest events in the nineteenth century. The battle took place between the Russians and the French. It began on September 7, 1812 near the village of Borodino. This date is the personification of the victory of the Russian people over the French. The significance of the Battle of Borodino is enormous, since if the Russian Empire were defeated, this would result in complete surrender.

On September 7, Napoleon with his army attacked the Russian Empire without declaring war. Due to the unpreparedness for battle, the Russian troops were forced to retreat inland. This action caused complete misunderstanding and indignation on the part of the people, and Alexander was the first to appoint M.I. Kutuzov.

At first, Kutuzov also had to retreat in order to gain time. By this time, the Napoleonic army had already experienced significant losses and the number of its soldiers had decreased. Taking advantage of this moment, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, the soldier, decides to give the final battle near the village of Borodino. On September 7, 1812, in the early morning, a grandiose battle began. Russian soldiers held the enemy's blow for six hours. Losses were colossal on both sides. The Russians were forced to retreat, but still managed to retain the ability to continue the battle. Napoleon did not achieve his main goal, he could not defeat the army.

Kutuzov decided to use small partisan detachments in the battle. Thus, by the end of December, Napoleon's army was practically destroyed, and the rest of it was put to flight. However, the result of this battle is controversial to this day. It was not clear who to consider the winner, since both Kutuzov and Napoleon officially declared their victory. But still, the French army was expelled from the Russian Empire, without capturing the desired land. Later, Bonaparte will remember the Battle of Borodino as one of the most nightmarish in his life. The consequences of the battle turned out to be much harder for Napoleon than for the Russians. The morale of the soldiers was finally broken. The huge losses of people were irreplaceable. The French lost fifty-nine thousand men, forty-seven of whom were generals. The Russian army lost only thirty-nine thousand people, twenty-nine of whom were generals.

Currently, the day of the battle of Borodino is widely celebrated in Russia. On the battlefield, reconstructions of these military events are regularly held.

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The date of the Battle of Borodino, August 26, 1812 according to the old style or September 7 (8) according to the new style, will forever remain in history as the day of one of the greatest victories of Russian weapons. This is the Day of military glory of Russia!

The reasons for the battle near Borodino are quite diverse. The appointed commander of the Russian troops, General Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov, as far as possible, avoided the battle planned by Napoleon Bonaparte in conditions unfavorable for the Russian army. The reason for this unwillingness to give a general battle was the serious superiority of Bonaparte's army in numbers and experience in military operations. Systematically retreating deep into the country, Kutuzov forced the French to disperse their forces, which contributed to the reduction of Napoleon's Great Army. However, the retreat to Moscow could seriously undermine the already low morale of Russian soldiers and provoke disapproval in society.


For Bonaparte, it was important to capture the key positions of the Russians as quickly as possible, but at the same time maintain the combat effectiveness of his own army.


Realizing the seriousness of the task and the danger of Napoleon as a commander, Kutuzov carefully chose the place of battle. And, in the end, he deployed an army on the lands near the village of Borodino. This area, covered with a large number of ravines, streams and streams, minimized the numerical superiority French army and a significant superiority of artillery. In addition, it greatly hampered the possibility of detours and made it possible to block all roads leading to Moscow (the Gzhatsky tract, the Old and New Smolensk roads).


Kutuzov, making plans for the Battle of Borodino, focused on the tactics of exhausting the enemy, great importance at the same time, he gave the reliability of the hastily built fortifications.


Even summary The battle of Borodino will take a long time. It became the most cruel and bloody in the 19th century. Defeat meant complete surrender for Russia, and for Napoleon a grueling and long military campaign.
The Battle of Borodino was started by the French artillery, which opened fire along the entire front at about 6 o'clock in the morning. At the same time, the French columns began to take up places to attack.
The Life Guards Jaeger Regiment was attacked first. And the French immediately ran into stubborn resistance, but, nevertheless, the regiment was forced to surrender its positions and retreat across the Koloch River.


Located on the left flank, the Bagrationov flashes were occupied by artillery and the 2nd consolidated division of Major General Vorontsov. Chains of chasseurs were put up ahead, the chasseur regiments of Prince Shakhovsky covered the flask from the bypass. Behind was stationed the division of Neverovsky, also a major general. The Semyonov heights were occupied by the division of Major General Duka. From the French side, the attack on this sector was carried out by the troops of the corps of General Junot, Marshals Murat (cavalry), Davout, Ney. Their total number reached 115 thousand soldiers.


Flesh attacks launched by the French at 6 and 7 am were repulsed. Moreover, the battle in this area was distinguished by incredible intensity. During the Battle of Borodino, 3 attacks were also made. Bagration's flashes were reinforced by the Lithuanian and Izmailovsky regiments, the division of Major General Konovnitsyn and cavalry units (1st cuirassier division and 3rd cavalry corps). But the French, preparing a massive offensive, concentrated considerable forces, including 160 guns. 3 attack, launched at about 8 am and the next, 4, undertaken at 9 o'clock, also choked. During the 4th attack, Napoleon managed to briefly occupy the flushes, but the French were driven out of their positions. The dead and wounded warriors who remained on the battlefield were terrible picture. Further attacks, as well as attempts to bypass the already dilapidated flushes, were unsuccessful.


Only when the retention of these fortifications ceased to be appropriate, the Russian troops under the command of Konovnitsyn retreated to Semenovskoye, where a new line of defense was occupied - the Semenovsky ravine. The troops of Murat and Davout were already exhausted, but Napoleon did not take the risk and refused their request to bring the Old Guard, the French reserve, into battle. Even a later attack by the heavy cavalry under Nansouty was unsuccessful.
The situation in other directions was also difficult. The battle of Borodino was still far from over. At the time when the battle for the capture of flushes was going on, the French attacked the Kurgan height with the Raevsky battery located on it, one of the many heroes who showed unprecedented courage to defend their homeland. Despite the attacks of superior forces under the command of Eugene Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson, the battery was able to hold the height until reinforcements arrived, and then forced the French troops to retreat.
Will not complete description The battle of Borodino without mentioning the fact that the Polish units of the Poniatow detachment, Lieutenant General Tuchkov, prevented the Russians from bypassing the left flank. He, having taken up positions on the Utitsky mound, covered the Old Smolensk road. During the battles for this height, Tuchkov was mortally wounded. Polish troops were not able to take the mound during the day. In the evening they were forced to retreat behind the village of Utitskoye and take up a defensive position.

On the right flank, events developed just as tensely. Ataman Platonov and Lieutenant General Uvarov made a distracting cavalry raid deep into the Great Army at about 10 am, which helped to ease the pressure on the Russian defenses along the entire front. Ataman Platonov, having gone to the rear of the French to the village of Valuevo, forced the French emperor to temporarily suspend the offensive in the center, which gave the Russian troops a break. Uvarov's corps operated no less successfully in the area of ​​the village of Bezzubovo.
More clearly, the actions of the Russian and French troops can be represented using the scheme of the Battle of Borodino. From 6 pm, the battle gradually began to subside. The last attempt to outflank the Russian positions was made at 9 pm. But, in the Utitsky forest, the French were met by the arrows of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment. Realizing that it would not be possible to break the resistance of Kutuzov's troops, Napoleon ordered to leave all the captured fortifications and retreat to their original positions. Bloody battle of Borodino lasted over 12 hours.

Losses in the Battle of Borodino are enormous. The Great Army of Napoleon lost about 59 thousand wounded, missing and killed, among them 47 generals. Russian army under the command of Kutuzov lost 39 thousand soldiers, including 29 generals.
The results of the Battle of Borodino, surprisingly, still cause serious controversy. The fact is that both Napoleon Bonaparte and Kutuzov officially announced their victory. But answering the question of who won the Battle of Borodino is not difficult. Kutuzov, despite the huge losses and the subsequent retreat, considered the battle of Borodino an undoubted success of Russian weapons, largely achieved due to the stamina and unparalleled personal courage of soldiers and officers. History has preserved the names of many heroes of the Battle of Borodino in 1812. These are Raevsky, Barclay de Tolly, Bagration, Davydov, Tuchkov, Tolstoy and many others.
Napoleon's army suffered huge irreparable losses, without achieving any of the goals set by the Emperor of France. The future of the Russian company became very doubtful, the morale of the Great Army fell. Such was the outcome of the battle for Bonaparte.


Russian historian Mikhnevich reported the following review of Emperor Napoleon about the battle:
“Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I fought near Moscow. The French showed themselves worthy of victory in it, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible ... Of the fifty battles I have given, in the battle of Moscow, the French showed the most valor and won the least success.

R. Volkov "Portrait of M.I. Kutuzov"

You will not see such battles! ..
Worn banners like shadows
Fire gleamed in the smoke
Damask steel sounded, buckshot screeched,
The hand of the fighters is tired of stabbing,
And prevented the nuclei from flying
A mountain of bloody bodies ... (M.Yu. Lermontov "Borodino")

background

After the invasion of the French army under the command of Napoleon into the territory of the Russian Empire (June 1812), Russian troops regularly retreated. The numerical superiority of the French contributed to the rapid advance into the depths of Russia, this deprived the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Infantry General Barclay de Tolly, of the opportunity to prepare troops for battle. The long retreat of the troops caused public indignation, in connection with this, Emperor Alexander I appointed General of Infantry Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. However, Kutuzov continued to retreat. Kutuzov's strategy was aimed at 1) exhausting the enemy, 2) waiting for reinforcements for a decisive battle with the Napoleonic army.

On September 5, the battle took place at the Shevardino redoubt, which delayed the French troops and made it possible for the Russians to build fortifications on the main positions.

V.V. Vereshchagin "Napoleon on the Borodino Heights"

The battle of Borodino began on September 7, 1812 at 5:30 and ended at 18:00. Fighting during the day took place on different areas positions of Russian troops: from the village of Maloye in the north to the village of Utitsy in the south. The most difficult battles took place for Bagration's flashes and on the Raevsky battery.

On the morning of September 3, 1812, having begun to concentrate in the area of ​​​​the village of Borodina, M.I. Kutuzov carefully examined the surrounding area and ordered the construction of fortifications to begin. concluded that this area was most suitable for a decisive battle - it was impossible to postpone it further, since Alexander I demanded that Kutuzov stop the French advance towards Moscow.

The village of Borodino was located 12 kilometers west of Mozhaisk, the terrain here was hilly and crossed by small rivers and streams that formed deep ravines. East End the fields are elevated over the western. The Koloch River, which flowed through the village, had a high steep bank, which was a good cover for the right flank of the Russian army. The left flank, approaching the swampy forest, overgrown with bushes, was poorly accessible to cavalry and infantry. This position of the Russian army made it possible to cover the road to Moscow, and woodland made it possible to hide reserves. Best place it was impossible to pick up for a decisive battle. Although Kutuzov himself was aware that the left flank was weak point, but he hoped to "correct the situation with art."

Start of the fight

Kutuzov's idea was that, as a result of the active defense of the Russian troops, the French troops would suffer as much as possible big losses to change the balance of power and further defeat the French army. In accordance with this, the battle formation of the Russian troops was built.

In the village of Borodino there was one battalion of Russian guards rangers with four guns. To the west of the village there was a combat outpost of rangers of army regiments. East of Borodino, 30 sailors guarded the bridge over the Kolocha River. After the withdrawal of Russian troops to the eastern coast, they were supposed to destroy it.

The corps under the command of E. Beauharnais, Viceroy of Spain, sent one division from the north and another from the west to the battle near Borodino.

The French imperceptibly, under the cover of the morning fog, approached Borodino at 5 am, and at 5-30 they were noticed by the Russians, who opened artillery fire. The guards moved on the French with bayonets, but the forces were not equal - many of them died on the spot. The rest retreated beyond Kolocha, but the French broke through the bridge and approached the village of Gorki, where command post Kutuzov.

But Barclay de Tolly, having sent three regiments of chasseurs, drove the French away, the bridge over the Kolocha was dismantled.

The French who survived and retreated to Borodino set up here artillery battery, from which they fired at the Raevsky battery and at the battery near the village of Gorki.

Battle for Bagration's flashes

J.Dow "Portrait of P.I. Bagration"

Bagration had at his disposal about 8,000 soldiers and 50 guns (the 27th infantry division of General Neverovsky and the consolidated grenadier division of General Vorontsov) to protect the flashes.

Napoleon had 43,000 men and more than 200 guns (seven infantry and eight cavalry divisions under the command of marshals Davout, Murat, Ney and General Junot) to strike at the flushes. But even these troops were not enough, additional reinforcements came, as a result, the Napoleonic army fought for the Bagrationian fleches, consisting of 50 thousand soldiers and 400 guns. During the battle, the Russians also brought up reinforcements - 30 thousand soldiers and 300 guns made up the number of Russian troops.

For 6 hours of battle, the French made eight attacks: the first two were repulsed, then the French managed to temporarily capture three flushes, but they could not gain a foothold there and were driven back by Bagration. This defeat worried Napoleon and his marshals, as the French were clearly outnumbered. The French troops were losing confidence. And so the eighth attack of the flushes began, which ended with the capture of it by the French, then Bagration put forward all his available forces for a counterattack, but he himself was seriously wounded - Lieutenant General Konovnitsyn took command. He raised the spirit of the army, broken by the wound of Bagration, withdrew the troops from the fleches to the eastern bank of the Semenovsky ravine, quickly installed artillery, built infantry and cavalry, and delayed the further advance of the French.

Semenov position

10 thousand soldiers and artillery were concentrated here. The task of the Russians in this position was to delay the further advance of the French army and block the breakthrough, which was formed after the French occupied the Bagration fleches. This was a difficult task, since the main part of the Russian army was made up of those who had already fought for Bagration's flushes for several hours, and only three guards regiment(Moscow, Izmailovsky and Finland) arrived from the reserve. They lined up in a square.

But the French did not have reinforcements, so the Napoleonic marshals decided to attack in such a way as to hit the Russians on both sides in the crossfire of artillery. The French attacked fiercely, but were constantly repulsed, most of them died from Russian bayonets. Nevertheless, the Russians were forced to retreat east of the village of Semenovskoye, but soon Kutuzov gave the order to attack the cavalry of the Cossack regiments of Platov and Uvarov, which diverted part of the French troops from the center. While Napoleon was regrouping his troops on the left wing, Kutuzov gained time and pulled his forces to the center of the position.

Raevsky battery

J. Dow "Portrait of General Raevsky"

The battery of Lieutenant General Raevsky had strong position: it was located on a hill, where 18 guns were installed, there were 8 infantry battalions and three regiments of chasseurs in reserve. The French tried twice to attack the battery, but failed, but there were heavy losses on both sides. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the French again began to attack Raevsky's battery and two regiments managed to go around it from the north side and break in. A fierce hand-to-hand fight began, Raevsky's battery was finally taken by the French. Russian troops retreated in battle and organized defenses 1-1.5 kilometers east of the Raevsky battery.

Fights on the Old Smolensk road

After a long break, the battle began again on the Old Smolensk road. The regiments of the 17th division, the Vilmanstrad and Minsk regiments of the 4th division and 500 people of the Moscow militia participated in it. The French could not withstand the attacking actions of the Russian troops and retreated, but then Poniatowski's infantry and cavalry forces struck from the left flank and from the rear. Russian troops at first successfully resisted, but then retreated along the Old Smolensk road and settled east of the Utitsky mound, in the upper reaches of the Semenovsky stream, adjoining the left flank of the 2nd Army.

End of the Battle of Borodino

V.V. Vereshchagin "The End of the Battle of Borodino"

For 15 hours the French army fought with the Russian forces, but could not achieve success. Its physical and moral resources were undermined, and with the onset of darkness, the Napoleonic troops withdrew to their starting line, leaving Bagration's flashes and Raevsky's battery, for which there was a stubborn struggle. Only the forward detachments of the French remained on the right bank of the Kolocha, while the main forces retreated to the left bank of the river.

The Russian army firmly occupied positions. Despite significant losses, her morale did not drop. The soldiers were eager to fight and burned with the desire to finally defeat the enemy. Kutuzov was also preparing for the upcoming battle, but the information collected at night showed that half of the Russian army was defeated - it was impossible to continue the battle. And he decides to retreat and surrender Moscow to the French.

The meaning of the battle of Borodino

Under Borodino, the Russian army under the command of Kutuzov dealt a severe blow to the French army. Its losses were enormous: 58 thousand soldiers, 1600 officers and 47 generals. Napoleon called the battle of Borodino the most bloody and terrible of all the battles he had given (a total of 50). His troops, which won brilliant victories in Europe, were forced to retreat under the pressure of Russian soldiers. The French officer Laugier wrote in his diary: “What a sad sight the battlefield presented. No disaster, no lost battle can equal the horrors of the Borodino field. . . Everyone is shocked and crushed."

The Russian army also suffered heavy losses: 38 thousand soldiers, 1500 officers and 29 generals.

The battle of Borodino is an example of the military genius of M.I. Kutuzov. He took everything into account: he successfully chose positions, skillfully deployed troops, provided strong reserves, which gave him the opportunity to maneuver. The French army, on the other hand, conducted a mainly frontal offensive with limited maneuvers. In addition, Kutuzov always relied on the courage and stamina of Russian soldiers, soldiers and officers.

The battle of Borodino was a turning point in the Patriotic War of 1812, it was of great international importance, which influenced the fate of European countries. Defeated near Borodino, Napoleon was never able to recover from the defeat in Russia, and later he was defeated in Europe.

V.V. Vereshchagin "On high road- French retreat

Other assessments of the Battle of Borodino

Emperor Alexander I announced the battle of Borodino as victory.

A number of Russian historians insist that the outcome of the Battle of Borodino was indefinite, but the Russian army won a "moral victory" in it.

F. Roubaud "Borodino. Attack on the Raevsky Battery"

Foreign historians, as well as a number of Russian ones, consider Borodino as an undoubted Napoleon's victory.

However, everyone agrees that Napoleon failed crush the Russian army. French failed destroy the Russian army, force Russia to capitulate and dictate peace terms.

Russian troops inflicted significant damage on Napoleon's army and were able to save forces for future battles in Europe.

The history of this war is tragic, like the history of any other war, but events of 1812 had their own characteristics.

Napoleon Bonaparte did not take into account the mentality of the Russian people, which in the war against the invader shows extraordinary courage and heroism, and 1812 - year of the battle of Borodino- confirmation of this.

Causes of the Patriotic War of 1812

If you write briefly about the causes of the war, then main reason there were ambitions of Napoleon, the rivalry between France and England, in which Russia, under a peace treaty with France, had to support a trade blockade against England, while losing huge profits from trade with England. The official reason for the war of 1812 was Russia's systematic violation of the peace treaty.

Start of the War of 1812

On the night of June 24, 1812, Napoleon's "Great Army" invaded Russia in four streams. The central group led by Napoleon moved to Kovno and Vilna, special corps in the direction of Riga - Petersburg and Grodno-Nesvizh, and the corps under the command of the Austrian general K. Schwarzenberg attacked the Kiev direction.

Against the 600,000th army of Napoleon, 280,000 Russian soldiers of four armies were put up. The first army under the command of M.M. Barclay de Tolly in the Vilna region, the second army under the command of P.I.Bagration near Bialystok, near Riga, the corps of P.Kh. Wittgenstein covered the direction to St. Petersburg, the third army under the command of A.P. Tormasova and the fourth under the command of P.V. Chichagov covered the southwestern borders.

The course of the Patriotic War of 1812

Napoleon's calculation was to defeat the dispersed Russian armies one by one at the western borders of Russia. Russian command under these conditions, it decided to withdraw and unite the first and second armies, pull up reserves and prepare for a counteroffensive. Thus, on August 3, after heavy fighting, the armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration joined in Smolensk.

Smolensk battle of 1812

The battle for Smolensk took place on August 16-18. Napoleon pulled 140 thousand people to the city, and there were only 45 thousand defenders of Smolensk. After selflessly repelling enemy attacks, in order to preserve the Russian army, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Barclay de Tolly, decided to leave Smolensk, despite the fact that General Bagration was against leaving the city. At the cost of heavy losses, the French occupied the burned and destroyed city.

Napoleon wanted to complete the campaign of 1812 in Smolensk and through the captured Russian general P.L. Tuchkova sent a letter to Alexander I with an offer of peace, but there was no answer. Napoleon decided to advance on Moscow.

On August 20, under pressure from public opinion, Alexander I signed a decree on the creation of a single command for all active Russian armies and on the appointment of M.I. Kutuzov.

In general, it is worth noting some features of the commanders of 1812.

Generals of 1812

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly - came from a burgher German family, so at the court of Alexander I they saw him as a "German". The nobles, society and the army condemned him for retreats. He himself wrote in his memoirs that he should have been shown other ways to save the army and the Fatherland as a whole. Mikhail Bogdanovich was a really smart and talented commander, although his actions were never appreciated.

Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration - as Napoleon said about him - is the best general of the Russian army. During the battle of Borodino, he was wounded in the leg and died three weeks later.

Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov is a brilliant strategist and commander. After Mikhail Illarionovich was appointed commander in chief, he chose a position near the village for a general battle with the enemy. Borodino - 130 km from Moscow. Kutuzov and the Battle of Borodino are two complementary words.

Battle of Borodino

If writing about Battle of Borodino briefly, then you can use the words of Napoleon, who often repeated that it was beautiful and formidable, in it the French showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians deserved to be invincible.

The battle began on September 7, 1812 at half past five in the morning with a distracting attack by the French division on Borodino. An hour later it was applied main blow Napoleon on the left flank - Bagration's flushes ( field fortifications in the form of directed at the enemy sharp corners). Napoleon's goal was to break through them, go behind the lines of the Russian army and force it to fight with an "inverted front". Despite the fierce attacks of the French on the Russian left flank, Napoleon did not succeed in fulfilling his plan.

The Battle of Borodino lasted 12 hours and is considered one of the bloodiest one-day battles.

Napoleon's goal to defeat the Russian army was not achieved, and the losses incurred by the Russian army did not allow a new battle, so M.I. Kutuzov gave the order to retreat to Moscow.

Then M.I. Kutuzov decided to cede Moscow to the enemy, as it was a disadvantageous position from a military point of view.

Leaving Moscow, the Russian army moved first along the Ryazan road, and then turned sharply to the west - to Starokaluga. Along the Kaluga road, 80 km from Moscow, the famous Tarutinsky camp was created, which played a decisive role in the war against Napoleon.

Having plundered Moscow, Napoleon with his army began to move towards Kaluga, where Kutuzov's army blocked the way. A major battle took place, as a result of which Napoleon was forced to turn to the Smolensk road. No more than half of the "Great Army" reached Smolensk, and after crossing the Berezina River, a significant part of the retreating army still died. An important role in the defeat of Napoleon's army was played by partisan movement 1812.

Results of the Patriotic War of 1812

On January 7, 1813, the last French soldier left Russia and on the same day a decree was issued to end the war.

The main outcome of the war is the virtually complete destruction of Napoleon's army, to be precise, 550 thousand French soldiers were destroyed in a year, and this figure still does not fit in the minds of historians.

It was possible to capture the positions of the Russian army in the center and on the left wing, but after the cessation of hostilities, the French army withdrew to its original positions. Thus, in Russian historiography, it is believed that the Russian troops "won victory", but the next day, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, M.I. help from the French army.

According to the memoirs of the French General Pele, a participant in the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon often repeated a similar phrase: “ The battle of Borodino was the most beautiful and most formidable, the French showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians deserved to be invincible» .

It is considered the bloodiest in history among one-day battles.

background

The alignment of forces at the beginning of the battle

Number of troops

If we evaluate the qualitative composition of the two armies, then we can refer to the opinion of the Marquis of Chambray, a participant in the events, who noted that the French army had superiority, since its infantry consisted mainly of experienced soldiers, while the Russians had many recruits. In addition, the advantage of the French gave a significant superiority in heavy cavalry.

Starting position

The idea of ​​​​the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Kutuzov, was to inflict as many losses as possible on the French troops through active defense, change the balance of power, save Russian troops for further battles and for the complete defeat of the French army. In accordance with this plan, the battle order of the Russian troops was built.

The starting position, chosen by Kutuzov, looked like a straight line running from the Shevardinsky redoubt on the left flank through the large battery on Krasny Kholm, later called the Raevsky battery, the village of Borodino in the center, to the village of Maslovo on the right flank. Leaving the Shevardinsky redoubt, the 2nd Army pushed back its left flank across the Kamenka River, and the army's battle formation took the form of an obtuse angle. Both flanks of the Russian position occupied 4 km each, but were unequal. The right flank was formed by the 1st Army of Infantry General Barclay de Tolly, consisting of 3 infantry, 3 cavalry corps and reserves (76 thousand people, 480 guns), the front of his position was covered by the river Kolocha. The left flank was formed by the smaller 2nd Army of Infantry General Bagration (34,000 men, 156 guns). In addition, the left flank did not have such strong natural obstacles in front of the front as the right. After the loss of the Shevardinsky redoubt on August 24 (September 5), the position of the left flank became even more vulnerable and relied only on 3 unfinished flushes.

Thus, in the center and on the right wing of the Russian position, Kutuzov placed 4 out of 7 infantry corps, as well as 3 cavalry corps and Platov's Cossack corps. According to Kutuzov's plan, such a powerful grouping of troops reliably covered the Moscow direction and at the same time made it possible, if necessary, to strike at the flank and rear of the French troops. The battle order of the Russian army was deep and allowed for wide maneuvers of forces on the battlefield. first line order of battle Russian troops were infantry corps, the second line - cavalry corps, and the third - reserves. Kutuzov highly appreciated the role of the reserves, pointing out the battle in the disposition: “ The reserves must be kept as long as possible, for the general who still retains the reserve is not defeated.» .

To accomplish the task, Napoleon on the evening of August 25 (September 6) began to concentrate the main forces (up to 95 thousand) in the area of ​​​​the Shevardinsky redoubt. The total number of French troops in front of the front of the 2nd Army reached 115 thousand. For distracting actions during the battle in the center and against the right flank, Napoleon allocated no more than 20 thousand soldiers.

Russian and Soviet sources point to Kutuzov's special plan, which forced Napoleon to attack precisely the left flank. The historian Tarle quotes Kutuzov's exact words:

However, on the eve of the battle, the 3rd Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General Tuchkov 1st was withdrawn from the ambush behind the left flank on the orders of Chief of Staff Bennigsen without the knowledge of Kutuzov. Bennigsen's actions are justified by his intention to follow a formal battle plan.

The course of the battle

Battle for the Shevardino Redoubt

On the eve of the main battle, in the early morning of August 24 (September 5), the Russian rearguard under the command of Lieutenant General Konovnitsyn, located at the Kolotsky Monastery, 8 km west of the location of the main forces, was attacked by the enemy's vanguard. A fierce battle ensued, lasting several hours. After the news was received about the enemy's bypass movement, Konovnitsyn withdrew troops across the Kolocha River and joined the corps occupying a position near the village of Shevardino.

A detachment of Lieutenant General Gorchakov was stationed near the Shevardinsky redoubt. In total, under the command of Gorchakov there were 11 thousand units of troops and 46 guns. To cover the Old Smolensk road, 6 Cossack regiments of Major General Karpov 2nd remained.

The enemy, covering the Shevardinsky redoubt from the north and south, tried to encircle the troops of Lieutenant General Gorchakov.

The French twice broke into the redoubt, and each time the infantry of Lieutenant General Neverovsky knocked them out. Twilight was descending on the Borodino field, when the enemy once again managed to seize the redoubt and break into the village of Shevardino, but the Russian reserves approached from the 2nd Grenadier and 2nd Combined Grenadier Divisions recaptured the redoubt.

The battle gradually weakened and finally stopped. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Kutuzov, ordered Lieutenant General Gorchakov to withdraw troops to the main forces behind the Semyonovsky ravine.

The Shevardinsky battle gave the Russian troops the opportunity to win time to complete the defensive work at the Borodino position, made it possible to clarify the grouping of the French forces and the direction of their main attack.

Beginning of the battle

The commander of the 1st Western Army, Barclay de Tolly, sent the 1st, 19th and 40th chasseur regiments to help, who counterattacked the French, threw them into Kolocha and burned the bridge across the river. As a result of this battle, the French 106th regiment suffered heavy losses.

Bagration flushes

Around the same time, the French 8th Westphalian Corps of Divisional General Junot made its way through the Utitsky Forest to the rear of the fleches. The situation was saved by the 1st cavalry battery of Captain Zakharov, which at that time was heading to the area of ​​the fleches. Zakharov, seeing the threat to the flashes from the rear, hastily deployed his guns and opened fire on the enemy, who was building up to attack. The 4 infantry regiments of the 2nd corps of Baggovut, who arrived in time, pushed Junot's corps into the Utitsky forest, inflicting significant losses on it. Russian historians claim that during the second offensive, Junot's corps was defeated in a bayonet counterattack, but Westphalian and French sources completely refute this. According to the memoirs of direct participants, Junot's 8th Corps participated in the battle until the very evening.

By the 4th attack at 11 o'clock in the morning, Napoleon concentrated about 45 thousand infantry and cavalry against the flushes, and almost 400 guns. Russian historiography calls this decisive attack the 8th, taking into account the attacks of Junot's corps on the flushes (6th and 7th). Bagration, seeing that the artillery of the fleches could not stop the movement of the French columns, led a general counterattack of the left wing, the total number of troops of which was approximately only 20 thousand people. The onslaught of the first ranks of the Russians was stopped and a fierce hand-to-hand combat lasting over an hour. The advantage leaned towards the Russian troops, but during the transition to the counterattack, Bagration, wounded by a fragment of the cannonball in the thigh, fell off his horse and was taken out of the battlefield. The news of the wounding of Bagration instantly swept through the ranks of the Russian troops and had a huge impact on the Russian soldiers. Russian troops began to retreat.

On the other side of the ravine were untouched reserves - the Life Guards of the Lithuanian and Izmailovsky regiments. The French, seeing a solid wall of Russians, did not dare to attack on the move. The direction of the main attack of the French shifted from the left flank to the center, to the Rayevsky battery. At the same time, Napoleon did not stop the attack on the left flank of the Russian army. To the south of the village of Semyonovsky, the cavalry corps of Nansouty advanced, north of Latour-Maubourg, while the infantry division of General Friant rushed from the front to Semenovsky. At this time, Kutuzov appointed the commander of the 6th Corps, Infantry General Dokhturov, as the head of the troops of the entire left flank instead of Lieutenant General Konovnitsyn. The Life Guards lined up in a square and for several hours repulsed the attacks of Napoleon's "iron horsemen". The cuirassier division of Duki, in the north, the cuirassier brigade of Borozdin and the 4th cavalry corps of Sievers were sent to the aid of the guards in the south. The bloody battle ended with the defeat of the French troops, who were thrown back behind the ravine of the Semyonovsky stream.

The offensive of the French troops on the left wing was finally stopped.

The French fought fiercely in the battles for the flushes, but all but the last of their attacks were repulsed by the much smaller Russian forces. By concentrating forces on the right flank, Napoleon ensured a 2-3-fold numerical superiority in the battles for flushes, thanks to which, as well as due to the wounding of Bagration, the French still managed to push the left wing of the Russian army to a distance of about 1 km. This success did not lead to the decisive result that Napoleon had hoped for.

Battle for the Utitsky Kurgan

On the eve of the battle on August 25 (September 6), on the orders of Kutuzov, the 3rd Infantry Corps of General Tuchkov 1st and up to 10 thousand warriors of the Moscow and Smolensk militias were sent to the area of ​​the Old Smolensk Road. On the same day, 2 more Cossack regiments of Karpov 2nd joined the troops. To communicate with the flushes in the Utitsky forest, the chasseur regiments of Major General Shakhovsky took up a position.

According to Kutuzov's plan, Tuchkov's corps was supposed to suddenly attack from an ambush the flank and rear of the enemy, who was fighting for Bagration's flushes. However, in the early morning, Chief of Staff Bennigsen pushed Tuchkov's detachment out of the ambush.

Raid of the Cossacks Platov and Uvarov

At the critical moment of the battle, Kutuzov decided to raid the cavalry of the generals from the cavalry of Uvarov and Platov to the rear and flank of the enemy. By 12 noon, Uvarov's 1st Cavalry Corps (28 squadrons, 12 guns, a total of 2,500 horsemen) and Platov's Cossacks (8 regiments) crossed the Kolocha River near the village of Malaya. Uvarov's corps attacked the French infantry regiment and the Italian cavalry brigade of General Ornano in the area of ​​the crossing over the Voina River near the village of Bezzubovo. Platov crossed the Voina River to the north and, going to the rear, forced the enemy to change position.

Raevsky battery

A high mound, located in the center of the Russian position, dominated the surrounding area. A battery was installed on it, which had 18 guns by the beginning of the battle. The defense of the battery was assigned to the 7th Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General Raevsky.

Around 9 a.m., in the midst of the battle for Bagration's fleches, the French launched the first attack on the battery with the forces of the 4th Corps of Viceroy of Italy Eugene Beauharnais, as well as the divisions of Generals Moran and Gerard from the 1st Corps of Marshal Davout. By influencing the center of the Russian army, Napoleon hoped to hinder the transfer of troops from the right wing of the Russian army to the Bagration fleches and thereby ensure his main forces a quick defeat of the left wing of the Russian army. By the time of the attack, the entire second line of troops of Lieutenant General Raevsky, on the orders of Infantry General Bagration, was withdrawn to defend the flashes. Despite this, the attack was repulsed by artillery fire.

Kutuzov, noticing the complete exhaustion of Raevsky's corps, withdrew his troops to the second line. Barclay de Tolly sent the 24th battery to defend the battery infantry division Major General Likhachev

After the fall of the Bagration fleches, Napoleon abandoned the development of an offensive against the left wing of the Russian army. The original plan to break through the defenses on this wing in order to reach the rear of the main forces of the Russian army lost its meaning, since a significant part of these troops failed in the battles for the fleches themselves, while the defense on the left wing, despite the loss of the fleches, remained intact . Drawing attention to the fact that the situation in the center of the Russian troops had worsened, Napoleon decided to redirect his forces to the Raevsky battery. However, the next attack was delayed for 2 hours, since at that time Russian cavalry and Cossacks appeared in the rear of the French.

Taking advantage of the respite, Kutuzov moved Lieutenant General Osterman-Tolstoy's 4th Infantry Corps and Major General Korf's 2nd Cavalry Corps from the right flank to the center. Napoleon ordered to intensify the fire on the infantry of the 4th Corps. According to eyewitnesses, the Russians moved like machines, closing ranks as they went. The path of the 4th Corps could be traced on the trail of the bodies of the dead.

Having received the news of the fall of Raevsky's battery, at 17 o'clock Napoleon moved to the center of the Russian army and came to the conclusion that its center, despite the retreat and contrary to the assurances of the retinue, was not shaken. After that, he refused requests to bring the guards into battle. The French attack on the center of the Russian army stopped.

As of 18:00, the Russian army was still firmly located in the Borodino position, and the French troops did not manage to achieve decisive success in any of the directions. Napoleon, who believed that a general who does not retain fresh troops by the day following the battle will almost always be beaten", and did not introduce his guard into the battle. Napoleon, as a rule, brought the guards into battle at the very last moment, when the victory was prepared by his other troops and when it was necessary to deliver the last powerful blow to the enemy. However, assessing the situation by the end of the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon saw no signs of victory, so he did not take the risk of bringing his last reserve into battle.

End of the battle

After the Raevsky battery was occupied by the French troops, the battle began to subside. On the left flank, Divisional General Poniatowski carried out unsuccessful attacks against the 2nd Army under the command of General Dokhturov (the commander of the 2nd Army, General Bagration, was by that time seriously wounded). In the center and on the right flank, the matter was limited to artillery fire until 7 pm. Following Kutuzov's report, they claimed that Napoleon had retreated, withdrawing troops from the captured positions. Having retreated to Gorki (where there was one more fortification), the Russians began to prepare for a new battle. However, at 12 midnight, an order from Kutuzov arrived, canceling preparations for the battle scheduled for the next day. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army decided to withdraw the army beyond Mozhaisk in order to make up for human losses and better prepare for new battles. Napoleon, faced with the staunchness of the enemy, was in a depressed and anxious mood, as evidenced by his adjutant Armand Caulaincourt (brother the deceased general Auguste Caulaincourt):

Chronology of the battle

Chronology of the battle. Most significant fights

Designations: † - death or mortal wound, / - captivity,% - wound

There is also an alternative point of view on the chronology of the Battle of Borodino. See, for example, .

The result of the battle

Russian casualty estimates

The number of losses of the Russian army has been repeatedly revised by historians. Different sources give different numbers:

According to the surviving statements from the RGVIA archive, the Russian army lost 39,300 people killed, wounded and missing (21,766 in the 1st Army, 17,445 in the 2nd Army), but taking into account the fact that the data of the statements for various reasons is incomplete (does not include the loss of the militia and the Cossacks), historians usually increase this number to 44-45 thousand people. According to Troitsky, the data of the Military Registration Archive of the General Staff give the figure 45.6 thousand people.

French casualty estimates

A significant part of the documentation of the Grand Army was lost during the retreat, so the assessment of French losses is extremely difficult. The question of the total losses of the French army remains open.

Later studies have shown that Denier's data are grossly underestimated. So, Denier gives the number of 269 killed officers of the Grand Army. However, in 1899, the French historian Martignen, on the basis of surviving documents, established that at least 460 officers known by surname were killed. Subsequent research increased this number to 480. Even French historians admit that " since the information given in the statement about the generals and colonels who were out of action at Borodino is inaccurate and underestimated, it can be assumed that the rest of Denier's figures are based on incomplete data.» .

For modern French historiography, the traditional estimate of French losses is 30 thousand with 9-10 thousand killed. The Russian historian A. Vasiliev points out, in particular, that the number of losses of 30 thousand is achieved by the following methods of calculation: losses in avant-garde affairs and the approximate number of sick and backward, and b) indirectly - by comparison with the Battle of Wagram, equal in number and in the approximate number of losses among the command staff, despite the fact that the total number of French losses in it, according to Vasilyev, is precisely known (33,854 people, including 42 generals and 1,820 officers; at Borodino, according to Vasiliev, 1,792 people are considered to have lost command personnel, of which 49 were generals).

The losses of the generals of the parties in killed and wounded amounted to 49 generals among the French, including 8 killed: 2 divisional (Auguste Caulaincourt and Montbrun) and 6 brigade. The Russians lost 23 generals, however, it should be noted that 70 French generals participated in the battle against 43 Russians (a French brigadier general is closer to a Russian colonel than to a major general).

However, V.N. Zemtsov showed that Vasiliev's calculations are unreliable, since they are based on inaccurate data. So, according to the lists compiled by Zemtsov, “ on September 5-7, 1,928 officers and 49 generals were killed and wounded", that is, the total loss of command personnel amounted to 1,977 people, and not 1,792, as Vasiliev believed. The comparison of data on the personnel of the Great Army for September 2 and 20, carried out by Vasiliev, also, according to Zemtsov, gave incorrect results, since the wounded who returned to duty after the battle were not taken into account. In addition, Vasiliev did not take into account all parts of the French army. Zemtsov himself, using a technique similar to that used by Vasiliev, estimated the French losses for September 5-7 at 38.5 thousand people. The figure used by Vasilyev for the loss of French troops at Wagram is also controversial - 33,854 people - for example, the English researcher Chandler estimated them at 40 thousand people.

It should be noted that to the several thousand killed should be added those who died from wounds, and their number was enormous. In the Kolotsk Monastery, where the main military hospital of the French army was located, according to the testimony of the captain of the 30th line regiment C. Francois, 3/4 of the wounded died in the 10 days following the battle. French encyclopedias believe that among the 30 thousand victims of Borodin, 20.5 thousand died and died of wounds.

Grand total

Cartographic department of the RSL. Poltoratsky. Military-historical atlas of the wars of 1812, 1813, 1814 and 1815 / Tutorial For military educational institutions. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the first private lithography in Russia by Poltoratsky and Ilyin. 1861

The battle of Borodino is one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century and the bloodiest of all that came before it. According to the most conservative estimates of cumulative losses, about 2,000 people died on the field every hour. Some divisions lost up to 80% of their composition. The French fired 60,000 cannon shots and nearly a million and a half rifle shots. It is no coincidence that Napoleon called the battle of Borodino his greatest battle, although its results are more than modest for a great commander accustomed to victories.

The death toll, counting those who died of wounds, was much higher than the official number killed on the battlefield; the victims of the battle should also include the wounded, who later died. In the autumn of 1812 - in the spring of 1813, the Russians burned and buried the bodies that remained unburied on the field. According to military historian General Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, a total of 58,521 dead bodies were buried and burned. Russian historians and, in particular, employees of the museum-reserve on the Borodino field, estimate the number of people buried on the field at 48-50 thousand people. According to A. Sukhanov, 49,887 dead were buried on the Borodino field and in the surrounding villages (without including French burials in the Kolotsky Monastery). Both commanders chalked up the victory. According to Napoleon's point of view, expressed in his memoirs:

This paragraph was dictated in 1816; a year later, in 1817, Napoleon described the Battle of Borodino as follows:

Memory

Spaso-Borodino Monastery

100th anniversary

200th anniversary of the battle

On September 2, 2012, solemn events dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the historical battle took place on the Borodino field. They were attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and former French President Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, as well as descendants of the participants in the battle and representatives of the Romanov dynasty. Several thousand people from more than 120 military historical clubs in Russia, Europe, the USA and Canada took part in the reenactment of the battle. The event was attended by over 150 thousand people.

see also

Notes

1. ; The quotation as presented by Mikhnevich was compiled by him from a free translation of Napoleon's oral statements. The primary sources do not convey a similar phrase of Napoleon in this form, but the review in Mikhnevich's edition is widely cited in modern literature.
2. Extract from the notes of General Pele on the Russian war of 1812, "Readings of the Imperial Society for the History of Antiquities", 1872, I, p. 1-121
3. Some of the bloodiest one-day battles in history ("The Economist" Nov 11th 2008) . archived
4. , With. 71 - 73
5. "Patriotic War and Russian Society". Volume IV. Borodino. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
6. , p. 50
7. Bibliography of N. F. Garnich
8. Chandler, David (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. Vol. 1
9. Thiry J. La campagne de Russie. P., 1969
10. Holmes, Richard (1971). Borodino. 1812
11. M. Bogdanovich History of the Patriotic War of 1812. - S. 162.
    Bogdanovich's data are repeated in ESBE.
12. E. V. Tarle. "Napoleon's invasion of Russia", OGIZ, 1943, p. 162
13. Zemtsov V.N. Battle of the Moscow River. - M., 2001.
14. Troitsky N. A. 1812. The Great Year of Russia. M., 1989.
15. Chambray G. Histoire de I'expedition de Russie.P., 1838
16. V. N. Zemtsov "Battle of the Moscow River" M. 2001. pp. 260 −265
17. Dupuy R. E., Dupuy T. N. The World History wars. - T. 3. - S. 135-139.
18. Clausewitz, Campaign in Russia in 1812: “... on the flank where it was necessary to expect an enemy attack. Such, undoubtedly, was the left flank; one of the advantages of the Russian position was that this could be foreseen with complete certainty.
19. Borodino, Tarle
20. , With. 139
21. Tarle, "Napoleon's Invasion of Russia", OGIZ, 1943, p. 167
22. Dupuy R. E., Dupuy T. N - "The World History of Wars", Book Three, p. 140-141
23. Caulaincourt, "Napoleon's Campaign in Russia", ch.3. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
24. Count Philippe-Paul de Segur. Hike to Russia. - M.: "Zakharov", 2002