Battle of Borodino. Battle of Borodino On the eve of the great battle

Tell me, uncle, is it not for nothing that Moscow, burned by fire, was given to the French?

Lermontov

The Battle of Borodino was the main battle in the War of 1812. For the first time, the legend of the invincibility of Napoleon's army was dispelled, and a decisive contribution was made to changing the size of the French army due to the fact that the latter, due to large-scale casualties, ceased to have a clear numerical advantage over the Russian army. In today's article we will talk about the Battle of Borodino on August 26, 1812, consider its course, the balance of forces and means, study the opinion of historians on this issue and analyze what consequences this battle had for the Patriotic War and for the fate of two powers: Russia and France.

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Background of the battle

Patriotic War of 1812 initial stage developed extremely negatively for the Russian army, which constantly retreated, refusing to accept a general battle. This course of events was perceived extremely negatively by the army, since the soldiers wanted to take the battle as quickly as possible and defeat the enemy army. Commander-in-Chief Barclay de Tolly understood perfectly well that in an open general battle the Napoleonic army, which was considered invincible in Europe, would have a colossal advantage. Therefore, he chose a retreat tactic in order to exhaust the enemy troops, and only then accept the battle. This course of events did not inspire confidence among the soldiers, as a result of which Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief. As a result, several significant events occurred that predetermined the preconditions for the Battle of Borodino:

• Napoleon's army advanced deep into the country with great complications. Russian generals refused a general battle, but actively got involved in small battles, and also fought very actively fighting partisans. Therefore, by the time Borodino began (late August - early September), Bonaparte’s army was no longer so formidable and significantly exhausted.
• Reserves were brought up from the depths of the country. Therefore, Kutuzov’s army was already comparable in size to the French army, which allowed the commander-in-chief to consider the possibility of actually entering the battle.

Alexander 1, who by that time, at the request of the army, had left the post of commander-in-chief, allowed Kutuzov to make his own decisions, insistently demanded that the general take the battle as soon as possible and stop the advance of Napoleon’s army deep into the country. As a result, on August 22, 1812, the Russian army began to retreat from Smolensk in the direction of the village of Borodino, which is located 125 kilometers from Moscow. The place was ideal to take the battle, since excellent defense could be organized in the Borodino area. Kutuzov understood that Napoleon was only a few days away, so she threw all her strength into strengthening the area and taking the most advantageous positions.

Balance of forces and means

Surprisingly, most historians who study the Battle of Borodino still argue about the exact number of troops on the warring sides. The general trends in this matter are such that the newer the research, the more data showing that the Russian army had a slight advantage. However, if we consider Soviet encyclopedias, then the following data is presented there, which presents the participants in the Battle of Borodino:

• Russian army. Commander - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. He had at his disposal up to 120 thousand people, of which 72 thousand were infantrymen. The army had a large artillery corps, numbering 640 guns.
• French army. Commander - Napoleon Bonaparte. The French emperor brought a corps of 138 thousand soldiers with 587 guns to Borodino. Some historians note that Napoleon had reserves of up to 18 thousand people, which the French emperor retained until the last and did not use them in the battle.

Very important is the opinion of one of the participants in the Battle of Borodino, the Marquis of Chambray, who provided data that France put up the best for this battle European army, which included soldiers with extensive experience in warfare. On the Russian side, according to his observations, they were basically recruits and volunteers, who, in their entirety, appearance indicated that military affairs was not the main thing for them. Chambray also pointed to the fact that Bonaparte had a large superiority in heavy cavalry, which gave him some advantages during the battle.

Tasks of the parties before the battle

Since June 1812, Napoleon had been looking for opportunities for a general battle with the Russian army. The catchphrase that Napoleon expressed when he was a simple general in revolutionary France is widely known: “The main thing is to force battles on the enemy, and then we’ll see.” This simple phrase reflects the entire genius of Napoleon, who, in terms of making lightning-fast decisions, was perhaps the best strategist of his generation (especially after the death of Suvorov). It was this principle that the French commander-in-chief wanted to apply in Russia. battle of Borodino gave me such an opportunity.

Kutuzov's tasks were simple - he needed active defense. With its help, the commander-in-chief wanted to inflict the maximum possible losses on the enemy and at the same time preserve his army for further battle. Kutuzov planned the Battle of Borodino as one of the stages Patriotic War, which was supposed to make a radical change in the course of the confrontation.

On the eve of the battle

Kutuzov took a position that represents an arc passing through Shevardino on the left flank, Borodino in the center, and the village of Maslovo on the right flank.

August 24, 1812 2 days before decisive battle, the battle for the Shevardinsky redoubt took place. This redoubt was commanded by General Gorchakov, who had 11 thousand people under his command. To the south, with a corps of 6 thousand people, General Karpov was located, who covered the old Smolensk road. Napoleon identified the Shevardin redoubt as the initial target of his attack, since it was as far as possible from the main group of Russian troops. According to the plan of the French emperor, Shevardino should have been surrounded, thereby withdrawing the army of General Gorchakov from the battle. To do this, the French army formed three columns in the attack:

• Marshal Murat. Bonaparte's favorite led a cavalry corps to strike Shevardino's right flank.
• Generals Davout and Ney led the infantry in the center.
• Junot, also one of the best generals in France, moved with his guard along the old Smolensk road.

The battle began on the afternoon of September 5th. Twice the French tried unsuccessfully to break through the defenses. Towards evening, when night began to fall on the Borodino field, the French attack was successful, but the approaching reserves of the Russian army made it possible to repel the enemy and defend the Shevardinsky redoubt. The resumption of the battle was not beneficial for the Russian army, and Kutuzov ordered a retreat to the Semenovsky ravine.

Initial positions of Russian and French troops

On August 25, 1812, both sides carried out general preparations for the battle. The troops were putting the finishing touches on defensive positions, and the generals were trying to learn something new about the enemy's plans. Kutuzov's army took up defense in the form of a blunt triangle. The right flank of the Russian troops passed along the Kolocha River. Barclay de Tolly was responsible for the defense of this area, whose army numbered 76 thousand people with 480 guns. The most dangerous position was on the left flank, where there was no natural barrier. This section of the front was commanded by General Bagration, who had 34 thousand people and 156 guns at his disposal. The problem of the left flank became significant after the loss of the village of Shevardino on September 5. The position of the Russian army met the following tasks:

• The right flank, where the main forces of the army were grouped, reliably covered the path to Moscow.
• The right flank allowed for active and powerful attacks on the enemy’s rear and flank.
• The location of the Russian army was quite deep, which left ample room for maneuver.
• The first line of defense was occupied by infantry, the second line of defense was occupied by cavalry, and the third line housed reserves. A widely known phrase

reserves must be maintained for as long as possible. Whoever retains the most reserves at the end of the battle will emerge victorious.

Kutuzov

In fact, Kutuzov provoked Napoleon to attack the left flank of his defense. Exactly as many troops were concentrated here as could successfully defend against the French army. Kutuzov repeated that the French would not be able to resist the temptation to attack a weak redoubt, but as soon as they had problems and resorted to the help of their reserves, it would be possible to send their army to their rear and flank.

Napoleon, who carried out reconnaissance on August 25, also noted the weakness of the left flank of the Russian army's defense. Therefore, it was decided to deliver the main blow here. In order to divert the attention of Russian generals from the left flank, simultaneously with the attack on Bagration’s position, an attack on Borodino was to begin in order to subsequently capture the left bank of the Kolocha River. After capturing these lines, it was planned to transfer the main forces of the French army to the right flank of the Russian defense and deliver a massive blow to the army of Barclay De Tolly. Having solved this problem, by the evening of August 25, about 115 thousand people of the French army were concentrated in the area of ​​​​the left flank of the defense of the Russian army. 20 thousand people lined up in front of the right flank.

The specificity of the defense that Kutuzov used was that the Battle of Borodino was supposed to force the French to launch a frontal attack, since the general front of the defense occupied by Kutuzov’s army was very extensive. Therefore, it was almost impossible to get around him from the flank.

It is noted that on the night before the battle, Kutuzov strengthened the left flank of his defense with the infantry corps of General Tuchkov, as well as transferring 168 artillery pieces to Bagration’s army. This was due to the fact that Napoleon had already concentrated very large forces in this direction.

Day of the Battle of Borodino

The Battle of Borodino began on August 26, 1812 in the early morning at 5:30 am. As planned, the main blow was delivered by the French to the left defense flag of the Russian army.

An artillery shelling of Bagration's positions began, in which more than 100 guns took part. At the same time, General Delzon’s corps began a maneuver with an attack on the center of the Russian army, on the village of Borodino. The village was under the protection of the Jaeger regiment, which could not resist the French army for long, the number of which on this section of the front was 4 times greater than the Russian army. The Jaeger Regiment was forced to retreat and take up defense on the right bank of the Kolocha River. The attacks of the French general, who wanted to move even further into the defense, were unsuccessful.

Bagration's flushes

Bagration's flushes were located along the entire left flank of the defense, forming the first redoubt. After half an hour of artillery preparation, at 6 o'clock in the morning Napoleon gave the order to launch an attack on Bagration's flushes. The French army was commanded by generals Desaix and Compana. They planned to strike at the southernmost flush, going to the Utitsky forest for this. However, as soon as the French army began to line up in battle formation, Bagration's chasseur regiment opened fire and went on the attack, disrupting the first stage of the offensive operation.

The next attack began at 8 o'clock in the morning. At this time, a repeated attack on the southern flush began. Both French generals increased the number of their troops and went on the offensive. To protect his position, Bagration transported the army of General Neversky, as well as the Novorossiysk dragoons, to his southern flank. The French were forced to retreat, suffering serious losses. During this battle, both generals who led the army in the assault were seriously wounded.

The third attack was carried out by the infantry units of Marshal Ney, as well as the cavalry of Marshal Murat. Bagration noticed this French maneuver in time, giving the order to Raevsky, who was in the central part of the flushes, to move from the front line to the second echelon of defense. This position was strengthened by the division of General Konovnitsyn. The attack of the French army began after a massive artillery preparation. The French infantry struck in the interval between the flushes. This time the attack was successful, and by 10 o'clock in the morning the French managed to capture the southern line of defense. This was followed by a counterattack launched by Konovnitsyn’s division, as a result of which they managed to recapture the lost positions. At the same time, General Junot's corps managed to bypass the left flank of the defense through the Utitsky forest. As a result of this maneuver, the French general actually found himself in the rear of the Russian army. Captain Zakharov, who commanded the 1st horse battery, noticed the enemy and struck. At the same time, infantry regiments arrived at the battlefield and pushed General Junot back to his original position. The French lost more than a thousand people in this battle. Subsequently, historical information about Junot's corps is contradictory: Russian textbooks say that this corps was completely destroyed in the next attack of the Russian army, while French historians claim that the general participated in the Battle of Borodino until its very end.

The 4th assault on Bagration's flushes began at 11 o'clock. In the battle, Napoleon used 45 thousand troops, cavalry and more than 300 guns. By that time Bagration had less than 20 thousand people at his disposal. At the very beginning of this assault, Bagration was wounded in the thigh and was forced to leave the army, which negatively affected morale. The Russian army began to retreat. General Konovnitsyn took over command of the defense. He could not resist Napoleon, and decided to retreat. As a result, the flushes remained with the French. The retreat was carried out to the Semenovsky stream, where more than 300 guns were installed. Large numbers of the second echelon of defense, as well as a large number of artillery forced Napoleon to change the original plan and cancel the attack on the move. The direction of the main attack was transferred from the left flank of the Russian army's defense to its central part, commanded by General Raevsky. The purpose of this attack was to capture artillery. The infantry attack on the left flank did not stop. The fourth attack on the Bagrationov flushes was also unsuccessful for the French army, which was forced to retreat across the Semenovsky Creek. It should be noted that the position of the artillery was extremely important. Throughout the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon made attempts to capture enemy artillery. By the end of the battle he managed to occupy these positions.

Battle for Utitsky Forest

The Utitsky forest had an important strategic importance for the Russian army. On August 25, on the eve of the battle, Kutuzov noted the importance of this direction, which blocked the old Smolensk road. An infantry corps under the command of General Tuchkov was stationed here. The total number of troops in this area was about 12 thousand people. The army was positioned secretly in order to suddenly strike the enemy’s flank at the right moment. On September 7, the infantry corps of the French army, commanded by one of Napoleon’s favorites, General Poniatowski, advanced in the direction of the Utitsky Kurgan to outflank the Russian army. Tuchkov took up defensive positions on Kurgan and blocked the French from further progress. Only at 11 o'clock in the morning, when General Junot arrived to help Poniatowski, the French launched a decisive blow on the mound and captured it. Russian general Tuchkov launched a counterattack, and at the cost of his own life managed to return the mound. Command of the corps was taken by General Baggovut, who held this position. As soon as the main forces of the Russian army retreated to the Semenovsky ravine, the Utitsky Kurgan, a decision was made to retreat.

Raid of Platov and Uvarov

At the moment of the critical moment on the left flank of the defense of the Russian army at the Battle of Borodino, Kutuzov decided to let the army of generals Uvarov and Platov into battle. As part of the Cossack cavalry, they were supposed to bypass the French positions on the right, striking in the rear. The cavalry consisted of 2.5 thousand people. At 12 noon the army moved out. Having crossed the Kolocha River, the cavalry attacked the infantry regiments of the Italian army. This strike, led by General Uvarov, was intended to force battle on the French and divert their attention. At this moment, General Platov managed to pass along the flank without being noticed and go behind enemy lines. This was followed by a simultaneous attack by two Russian armies, which brought panic to the actions of the French. As a result, Napoleon was forced to transfer part of the troops that stormed Raevsky’s battery in order to repel the attack of the cavalry of the Russian generals who went to the rear. The battle of the cavalry with the French troops lasted several hours, and by four o'clock in the afternoon Uvarov and Platov returned their troops to their original positions.

The practical significance of the Cossack raid led by Platov and Uvarov is almost impossible to overestimate. This raid gave the Russian army 2 hours to strengthen a reserve position for an artillery battery. Of course, this raid did not bring a military victory, but the French, who saw the enemy in their own rear, no longer acted so decisively.

Battery Raevsky

The specificity of the terrain of the Borodino field was determined by the fact that in its very center there was a hill, which made it possible to control and shell the entire adjacent territory. This was an ideal place to place artillery, which Kutuzov took advantage of. The famous Raevsky battery was deployed in this place, which consisted of 18 guns, and General Raevsky himself was supposed to protect this height with the help of an infantry regiment. The attack on the battery began at 9 am. By striking at the center of Russian positions, Bonaparte pursued the goal of complicating the movement of the enemy army. During the first French offensive, General Raevsky’s unit was deployed to defend Bagrationov’s flushes, but the first enemy attack on the battery was successfully repulsed without the participation of infantry. Eugene Beauharnais, who commanded the French troops in this sector of the offensive, saw the weakness of the artillery position and immediately launched another blow on this corps. Kutuzov transferred all the reserves of artillery and cavalry troops here. Despite this, the French army managed to suppress the Russian defenses and penetrate his stronghold. At this moment a counterattack was launched Russian troops, during which they managed to recapture the redoubt. General Beauharnais was captured. Of the 3,100 French who attacked the battery, only 300 survived.

The position of the battery was extremely dangerous, so Kutuzov gave the order to redeploy the guns to the second line of defense. General Barclay de Tolly sent an additional corps of General Likhachev to protect Raevsky's battery. Napoleon's original plan of attack lost its relevance. The French emperor abandoned massive attacks on the enemy's left flank, and directed his main attack on the central part of the defense, on the Raevsky battery. At this moment, the Russian cavalry went to the rear of the Napoleonic army, which slowed down the French advance for 2 hours. During this time, the battery's defensive position was further strengthened.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, 150 guns of the French army opened fire on Raevsky's battery, and almost immediately the infantry went on the offensive. The battle lasted about an hour and, as a result, Raevsky’s battery fell. Napoleon's original plan hoped that the capture of the battery would lead to dramatic changes in the balance of forces near the central part of the Russian defense. This did not turn out to be the case; he had to abandon the idea of ​​attacking in the center. By the evening of August 26, Napoleon's army had failed to achieve a decisive advantage in at least one sector of the front. Napoleon did not see significant prerequisites for victory in the battle, so he did not dare to use his reserves in the battle. He hoped to exhaust until the last Russian army with their main forces, achieve a clear advantage in one of the sectors of the front, and then bring fresh forces into battle.

End of the battle

After the fall of Raevsky's battery, Bonaparte abandoned further ideas of storming the central part of the enemy's defense. There were no more significant events in this direction of the Borodino field. On the left flank, the French continued their attacks, which led to nothing. General Dokhturov, who replaced Bagration, repelled all enemy attacks. The right flank of the defense, commanded by Barclay de Tolly, had no significant events, only sluggish attempts at artillery bombardment were made. These attempts continued until 7 pm, after which Bonaparte retreated to Gorki to give the army a rest. It was expected that this was a short pause before the decisive battle. The French were preparing to continue the battle in the morning. However, at 12 o'clock at night, Kutuzov refused to further continue the battle and sent his army beyond Mozhaisk. This was necessary in order to give the army a rest and replenish it with manpower.

This is how the Battle of Borodino ended. Until now, historians different countries they argue about which army won this battle. Domestic historians talk about the victory of Kutuzov, Western historians talk about the victory of Napoleon. It would be more correct to say that the Battle of Borodino was a draw. Each army got what it wanted: Napoleon opened his way to Moscow, and Kutuzov inflicted significant losses on the French.

Results of the confrontation

The casualties in Kutuzov's army during the Battle of Borodino are described differently by different historians. Basically, researchers of this battle come to the conclusion that the Russian army lost about 45 thousand people on the battlefield. This figure takes into account not only those killed, but also the wounded, as well as those captured. During the battle of August 26, Napoleon's army lost a little less than 51 thousand people killed, wounded and captured. The comparable losses of both countries are explained by many scholars by the fact that both armies regularly changed their roles. The course of the battle changed very often. First, the French attacked, and Kutuzov gave the order to the troops to take up defensive positions, after which the Russian army launched a counteroffensive. At certain stages of the battle, Napoleonic generals managed to achieve local victories and occupy the necessary positions. Now the French were on the defensive, and the Russian generals were on the offensive. And so the roles changed dozens of times during one day.

The Battle of Borodino did not produce a winner. However, the myth of the invincibility of Napoleonic army was dispelled. Further continuation of the general battle was undesirable for the Russian army, since at the end of the day on August 26, Napoleon still had untouched reserves at his disposal, totaling up to 12 thousand people. These reserves, against the backdrop of a tired Russian army, could have a significant impact on the result. Therefore, having retreated beyond Moscow, on September 1, 1812, a council was held in Fili, at which it was decided to allow Napoleon to occupy Moscow.

Military significance of the battle

The Battle of Borodino became the bloodiest battle in the history of the 19th century. Each side lost about 25 percent of its army. In one day, the opponents fired more than 130 thousand shots. The combination of all these facts later led to the fact that Bonaparte in his memoirs called the Battle of Borodino the largest of his battles. However, Bonaparte failed to achieve the desired results. The illustrious commander, accustomed exclusively to victories, formally did not lose this battle, but did not win either.

While on the island of St. Helena and writing out his personal autobiography, Napoleon wrote the following lines about the Battle of Borodino:

The Battle of Moscow is the most important battle in my life. The Russians had an advantage in everything: they had 170 thousand people, an advantage in cavalry, artillery and terrain, which they knew very well. Despite this we won. The heroes of France are generals Ney, Murat and Poniatowski. They own the laurels of the winners of the Moscow Battle.

Bonaparte

These lines clearly show that Napoleon himself viewed the Battle of Borodino as his own victory. But such lines should be studied exclusively in the light of the personality of Napoleon, who, while on the island of St. Helena, greatly exaggerated the events of past days. For example, in 1817 former emperor France said that in the Battle of Borodino he had 80 thousand soldiers, and the enemy had a huge army of 250 thousand. Of course, these figures were dictated only by Napoleon’s personal conceit, and have nothing to do with real history.

Kutuzov also assessed the Battle of Borodino as his own victory. In his note to Emperor Alexander 1 he wrote:

On the 26th, the world saw the bloodiest battle in its history. Never before recent history I haven't seen so much blood. A perfectly chosen battlefield, and an enemy who came to attack but was forced to defend.

Kutuzov

Alexander 1, under the influence of this note, and also trying to reassure his people, declared the Battle of Borodino as a victory for the Russian army. Largely because of this, in the future, domestic historians also always presented Borodino as a victory of Russian weapons.

The main result of the Battle of Borodino was that Napoleon, who was famous for winning all the general battles, managed to force the Russian army to take the fight, but failed to defeat it. The absence of a significant victory in the general battle, taking into account the specifics of the Patriotic War of 1812, led to the fact that France did not receive any significant advantages from this battle.

Literature

• History of Russia in the 19th century. P.N. Zyryanov. Moscow, 1999.
• Napoleon Bonaparte. A.Z. Manfred. Sukhumi, 1989.
• Trip to Russia. F. Segur. 2003.
• Borodino: documents, letters, memories. Moscow, 1962.
• Alexander 1 and Napoleon. ON THE. Trotsky. Moscow, 1994.

Panorama of the Battle of Borodino

“The RUSSIANS HAVE THE GLORY OF BEING UNDEFEATED”

After the battle of Smolensk, the retreat of the Russian army continued. This caused open discontent in the country. Under pressure public opinion, Alexander I appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army. Kutuzov’s task was not only to stop Napoleon’s further advance, but also to expel him from Russian borders. He also adhered to retreat tactics, but the army and the whole country expected a decisive battle from him. Therefore, he gave the order to look for a position for a general battle, which was found near the village. Borodino, 124 kilometers from Moscow.

The Russian army approached the village of Borodino on August 22, where, at the suggestion of Colonel K.F. Tolya, a flat position with a length of up to 8 km was chosen. On the left flank, the Borodino field was covered by the impenetrable Utitsky forest, and on the right, which ran along the bank of the river. Kolochi, Maslovsky flashes were erected - arrow-shaped earthen fortifications. In the center of the position, fortifications were also built, which received different names: Central, Kurgan Heights, or Raevsky’s battery. Semenov's (Bagration's) flushes were erected on the left flank. Ahead of the entire position, on the left flank, near the village of Shevardino, a redoubt also began to be built, which was supposed to play the role of a forward fortification. However, the approaching army of Napoleon, after a fierce battle on August 24, managed to take possession of it.

Disposition of Russian troops. The right flank was occupied by the battle formations of the 1st Western Army of General M.B. Barclay de Tolly, on the left flank there were units of the 2nd Western Army under the command of P.I. Bagration, and the Old Smolensk Road near the village of Utitsa was covered by the 3rd Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General N.A. Tuchkova. Russian troops occupied a defensive position and were deployed in the shape of the letter "G". This situation was explained by the fact that the Russian command sought to control the Old and New Smolensk roads leading to Moscow, especially since there was a serious fear of the enemy’s outflanking movement from the right. That is why a significant part of the corps of the 1st Army was in this direction. Napoleon decided to deliver his main blow to the left flank of the Russian army, for which on the night of August 26 (September 7), 1812, he transferred the main forces across the river. I pound, leaving only a few cavalry and infantry units to cover my own left flank.

The battle begins. The battle began at five o'clock in the morning with an attack by units of the corps of the Viceroy of Italy E. Beauharnais on the position of the Life Guards Jaeger Regiment near the village. Borodin. The French took possession of this point, but this was their diversionary maneuver. Napoleon launched his main blow against Bagration's army. Marshal Corps L.N. Davout, M. Ney, I. Murat and General A. Junot were attacked several times by Semenov flushes. Units of the 2nd Army fought heroically against an enemy superior in numbers. The French repeatedly rushed into flushes, but each time they abandoned them after a counterattack. Only by nine o'clock did Napoleon's armies finally capture the fortifications of the Russian left flank, and Bagration, who at that time tried to organize another counterattack, was mortally wounded. “The soul seemed to fly away from the entire left flank after the death of this man,” witnesses tell us. Furious rage and a thirst for revenge took possession of those soldiers who were directly in his environment. When the general was already being carried away, cuirassier Adrianov, who served him during the battle (giving him a telescope, etc.), ran up to the stretcher and said: “Your Excellency, they are taking you to treatment, you no longer need me!” Then, eyewitnesses report, “Adrianov, in sight of thousands, took off like an arrow, instantly crashed into the ranks of the enemy and, having hit many, fell dead.”

The fight for Raevsky's battery. After the capture of the flushes, the main struggle unfolded for the center of the Russian position - the Raevsky battery, which at 9 and 11 a.m. was subjected to two strong enemy attacks. During the second attack, E. Beauharnais' troops managed to capture the heights, but soon the French were driven out of there as a result of a successful counterattack by several Russian battalions led by Major General A.P. Ermolov.

At noon, Kutuzov sent the Cossacks cavalry general M.I. Platov and the cavalry corps of Adjutant General F.P. Uvarov to the rear of Napoleon's left flank. The Russian cavalry raid made it possible to divert Napoleon's attention and delayed a new French assault on the weakened Russian center for several hours. Taking advantage of the respite, Barclay de Tolly regrouped his forces and sent fresh troops to the front line. Only at two o'clock in the afternoon did Napoleonic units make a third attempt to capture Raevsky's battery. The actions of Napoleonic infantry and cavalry led to success, and soon the French finally captured this fortification. The wounded Major General P.G., who led the defense, was captured by them. Likhachev. The Russian troops retreated, but the enemy was unable to break through the new front of their defense, despite all the efforts of two cavalry corps.

Results of the battle. The French were able to achieve tactical successes in all main directions - the Russian armies were forced to leave their original positions and retreat about 1 km. But Napoleonic units failed to break through the defenses of the Russian troops. The thinned Russian regiments stood to the death, ready to repel new attacks. Napoleon, despite the urgent requests of his marshals, did not dare to throw in his last reserve - the twenty thousandth Old Guard - for the final blow. Intense artillery fire continued until the evening, and then the French units were withdrawn to their original lines. It was not possible to defeat the Russian army. This is what the domestic historian E.V. wrote. Tarle: “The feeling of victory was absolutely not felt by anyone. The marshals were talking among themselves and were unhappy. Murat said that he did not recognize the emperor all day, Ney said that the emperor had forgotten his craft. On both sides, artillery thundered until the evening and bloodshed continued, but the Russians did not think not only of fleeing, but also of retreating. It was already getting very dark. A light rain began to fall. “What are the Russians?” - asked Napoleon. - “They are standing still, Your Majesty.” “Increase the fire, it means they still want it,” the emperor ordered. - Give them more!

Gloomy, not talking to anyone, accompanied by his retinue and generals who did not dare to interrupt his silence, Napoleon drove around the battlefield in the evening, looking with inflamed eyes at the endless piles of corpses. The emperor did not yet know in the evening that the Russians had lost not 30 thousand, but about 58 thousand people out of their 112 thousand; He also did not know that he himself had lost more than 50 thousand of the 130 thousand that he led to the Borodino field. But that he had killed and seriously wounded 47 (not 43, as they sometimes write, but 47) of his best generals, he learned this in the evening. French and Russian corpses covered the ground so thickly that the imperial horse had to look for a place to put its hoof between the mountains of bodies of people and horses. The groans and cries of the wounded came from all over the field. The Russian wounded amazed the retinue: “They did not emit a single groan,” writes one of the retinue, Count Segur, “perhaps, away from their own, they counted less on mercy. But it is true that they seemed more steadfast in enduring pain than the French.”

The literature contains the most contradictory facts about the losses of the parties; the question of the winner is still controversial. In this regard, it should be noted that none of the opponents solved the tasks set for themselves: Napoleon failed to defeat the Russian army, Kutuzov failed to defend Moscow. However, the enormous efforts made by the French army were ultimately fruitless. Borodino brought Napoleon bitter disappointment - the outcome of this battle was in no way reminiscent of Austerlitz, Jena, or Friedland. The bloodless French army was unable to pursue the enemy. The Russian army, fighting on its territory, was able to restore the size of its ranks in a short time. Therefore, Napoleon himself was most accurate in assessing this battle, saying: “Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I fought near Moscow. The French showed themselves worthy of victory. And the Russians have gained the glory of being undefeated.”

RESCRIPT OF ALEXANDER I

“Mikhail Illarionovich! The current state of military circumstances of our active armies, although it was preceded by initial successes, the consequences of these do not reveal to me the rapid activity with which it would be necessary to act to defeat the enemy.

Considering these consequences and extracting the true reasons for this, I find it necessary to appoint one general commander-in-chief over all active armies, whose election, in addition to military talents, would be based on seniority itself.

Your well-known merits, love for the fatherland and repeated experiences of excellent feats acquire you a true right to this power of attorney of mine.

In choosing you for this important task, I ask almighty God to bless your deeds to glory Russian weapons and may the happy hopes that the fatherland places on you be justified.”

KUTUZOV'S REPORT

“The battle of the 26th was the bloodiest of all those in modern times known. We completely won the battlefield, and the enemy then retreated to the position where he came to attack us; but an extraordinary loss on our part, especially due to the fact that the most necessary generals were wounded, forced me to retreat along the Moscow road. Today I am in the village of Nara and must retreat further to meet the troops coming to me from Moscow for reinforcements. The prisoners say that the enemy loss is very great and that the general opinion in the French army is that they lost 40,000 people wounded and killed. In addition to Divisional General Bonami, who was captured, there were others killed. By the way, Davoust is wounded. Rearguard action occurs daily. Now, I learned that the corps of the Viceroy of Italy is located near Ruza, and for this purpose the detachment of the Adjutant General Wintzingerode went to Zvenigorod in order to close Moscow along that road.”

FROM CAULAINCUR'S MEMOIRS

“Never before have we lost so many generals and officers in one battle... There were few prisoners. The Russians showed great courage; the fortifications and territory which they were forced to cede to us were evacuated in order. Their ranks were not disorganized... they faced death bravely and only slowly succumbed to our brave attacks. There has never been a case where enemy positions were subjected to such furious and systematic attacks and that they were defended with such tenacity. The Emperor repeated many times that he could not understand how the redoubts and positions that were captured with such courage and which we defended so tenaciously gave us only a small number of prisoners... These successes without prisoners, without trophies did not satisfy him... »

FROM THE REPORT OF GENERAL RAEVSKY

“The enemy, having arranged his entire army in our eyes, so to speak, in one column, walked straight to our front; Having approached it, strong columns separated from its left flank, went straight to the redoubt and, despite the strong grapeshot fire of my guns, climbed over the parapet without firing their heads. At the same time, from my right flank, Major General Paskevich with his regiments attacked with bayonets into the left flank of the enemy, located behind the redoubt. Major General Vasilchikov did the same thing to their right flank, and Major General Ermolov, taking a battalion of rangers from the regiments brought by Colonel Vuich, struck with bayonets directly at the redoubt, where, having destroyed everyone in it, he took the general leading the columns prisoner . Major Generals Vasilchikov and Paskevich overturned the enemy columns in the blink of an eye and drove them into the bushes so hard that hardly any of them escaped. More than the action of my corps, it remains for me to describe in a nutshell that after the destruction of the enemy, returning again to their places, they held out in them until against repeated attacks of the enemy, until the killed and wounded were reduced to complete insignificance and my redoubt was already occupied by the General. -Major Likhachev. Your Excellency himself knows that Major General Vasilchikov gathered the scattered remnants of the 12th and 27th divisions and, with the Lithuanian Guards Regiment, held until the evening an important height, located on the left limb of our entire line ... "

GOVERNMENT NOTICE ABOUT LEAVING MOSCOW

“With extreme and crushing heart of every son of the Fatherland, this sadness announces that the enemy entered Moscow on September 3rd. But let the Russian people not lose heart. On the contrary, let each and every one swear to be inflamed with a new spirit of courage, firmness and undoubted hope that all the evil and harm inflicted on us by our enemies will ultimately turn on their head. The enemy occupied Moscow not because he overcame our forces or weakened them. The commander-in-chief, in consultation with the leading generals, decided that it would be useful and necessary to give in for the time of necessity, in order to use the most reliable and best methods to turn the short-term triumph of the enemy into his inevitable destruction. No matter how painful it is for every Russian to hear that the capital city of Moscow contains within itself the enemies of its fatherland; but it contains them empty, naked of all treasures and inhabitants. The proud conqueror hoped, having entered it, to become the ruler of the entire Russian kingdom and prescribe to it such peace as he saw fit; but he will be deceived in his hope and will not find in this capital not only ways to dominate, but also ways to exist. Our forces gathered and now increasingly accumulating around Moscow will not cease to block all his paths and the detachments sent from him for food were exterminated daily, until he sees that his hope of defeating the minds of the capture of Moscow was in vain and that, willy-nilly, he will have to open a path for himself from her by force of arms..."

THEM. Zherin. Injury of P.I. Bagration in the Battle of Borodino. 1816

Napoleon, wanting to support the attacking efforts at the Semyonov flushes, ordered his left wing to strike the enemy at Kurgan Heights and take it. The battery on the heights was defended by the general's 26th Infantry Division. The troops of the corps of the Viceroy of Beauharnais crossed the river. Koloch and began an attack on the Great Redoubt, which was occupied by them.

C. Vernier, I. Lecomte. Napoleon, surrounded by generals, leads the Battle of Borodino. Colorized engraving

At this time, generals and. Having taken command of the 3rd battalion of the Ufa Infantry Regiment, Ermolov regained the heights with a strong counterattack at about 10 o'clock. The “fierce and terrible battle” lasted half an hour. The French 30th Line Regiment suffered terrible losses, its remnants fled from the mound. General Bonnamy was captured. During this battle, General Kutaisov died unknown. French artillery began a massive shelling of Kurgan Heights. Ermolov, having been wounded, handed over command to the general.

At the southernmost tip of the Russian position Polish troops General Poniatovsky launched an attack on the enemy near the village of Utitsa, got stuck in the battle for it and were unable to provide support to those corps of the Napoleonic army that fought at the Semyonov flushes. The defenders of the Utitsa Kurgan became a stumbling block for the advancing Poles.

At about 12 noon, the sides regrouped their forces on the battlefield. Kutuzov helped the defenders of Kurgan Heights. Reinforcement from the army of M.B. Barclay de Tolly received the 2nd Western Army, which left the Semyonov flushes completely destroyed. There was no point in defending them with heavy losses. The Russian regiments retreated beyond the Semenovsky ravine, taking up positions on the heights near the village. The French launched infantry and cavalry attacks here.

Battle of Borodino from 9:00 to 12:30

Battle of Borodino (12:30-14:00)

At about 1 p.m., the Beauharnais corps resumed its attack on Kurgan Heights. At this time, by order of Kutuzov, a raid by the Cossack corps of the ataman and the cavalry corps of the general began against the enemy left wing, where the Italian troops were stationed. The Russian cavalry raid, the effectiveness of which historians debate to this day, forced Emperor Napoleon to stop all attacks for two hours and send part of his guard to the aid of Beauharnais.

Battle of Borodino from 12:30 to 14:00

During this time, Kutuzov again regrouped his forces, strengthening the center and left flank.

F. Rubo. "Living Bridge". Canvas, oil. 1892 Panorama Museum “Battle of Borodino”. Moscow

Battle of Borodino (14:00-18:00)

A cavalry battle took place in front of Kurgan Heights. The general's Russian hussars and dragoons attacked the enemy cuirassiers twice and drove them “all the way to the batteries.” When the mutual attacks here stopped, the parties sharply increased the force of artillery fire, trying to suppress the enemy batteries and inflict maximum damage on them in manpower.

Near the village of Semenovskaya, the enemy attacked the guards brigade of the colonel (Life Guards Izmailovsky and Lithuanian regiments). The regiments, forming a square, repelled several attacks by enemy cavalry with rifle salvoes and bayonets. The general came to the aid of the guards with the Ekaterinoslav and Order Cuirassier regiments, which overthrew the French cavalry. The artillery cannonade continued throughout the field, claiming thousands of lives.

A.P. Shvabe. Battle of Borodino. Copy from a painting by the artist P. Hess. Second half of the 19th century. Canvas, oil. TsVIMAIVS

After repelling the Russian cavalry raid, Napoleon's artillery concentrated a large force of its fire against the Kurgan Heights. It became, as the participants in the battle put it, the “volcano” of Borodin’s day. At about 15 o'clock in the afternoon, Marshal Murat gave the order for the cavalry to attack the Russians at the Great Redoubt with its entire mass. The infantry launched an attack on the heights and finally captured the battery position located there. The cavalry of the 1st Western Army bravely came out to meet the enemy cavalry, and a fierce cavalry battle took place under the heights.

V.V. Vereshchagin. Napoleon I on the Borodino Heights. 1897

After this, the enemy cavalry for the third time strongly attacked a brigade of Russian guards infantry near the village of Semenovskaya, but was repelled with great damage. The French infantry of Marshal Ney's corps crossed the Semenovsky ravine, but its attack with large forces was not successful. At the southern end of the position of the Kutuzov army, the Poles captured the Utitsky Kurgan, but were unable to advance further.

Desario. Battle of Borodino

After 16 hours, the enemy, who had finally captured Kurgan Heights, launched attacks on Russian positions to the east of it. Here the general's cuirassier brigade, consisting of the Cavalry and Horse Guards regiments, entered the battle. With a decisive blow, the Russian guards cavalry overthrew the attacking Saxons, forcing them to retreat to their original positions.

North of the Great Redoubt, the enemy tried to attack with large forces, primarily with cavalry, but had no success. After 5 p.m., only artillery was active here.

After 16 hours, the French cavalry tried to deliver a strong blow from the village of Semenovskoye, but ran into the columns of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Finland regiments. The guards moved forward with the beating of drums and overthrew the enemy cavalry with bayonets. After this, the Finns cleared the edge of the forest from enemy shooters, and then the forest itself. At 19:00 in the evening the gunfire here subsided.

The last bursts of battle in the evening took place at the Kurgan Heights and the Utitsky Kurgan, but the Russians held their positions, themselves more than once launching decisive counterattacks. Emperor Napoleon never sent his last reserve into battle - the divisions of the Old and Young Guards to turn the tide of events in favor of French weapons.

By 6 pm the attacks had ceased along the entire line. Only the artillery fire and rifle fire in the forward lines, where the Jaeger infantry acted bravely, did not subside. The sides did not spare artillery charges that day. The last cannon shots were fired at about 10 pm, when it had already become completely dark.

Battle of Borodino from 14:00 to 18:00

Results of the Battle of Borodino

During the battle, which lasted from sunrise to sunset, the attacking " Grand Army“was able to force the enemy in the center and on his left flank to retreat only 1-1.5 km. At the same time, Russian troops preserved the integrity of the front line and their communications, repelling many attacks by enemy infantry and cavalry, while at the same time distinguishing themselves in counterattacks. The counter-battery fight, for all its ferocity and duration, did not give any advantage to either side.

The main Russian strongholds on the battlefield - Semenovsky flashes and Kurgan Heights - remained in the hands of the enemy. But the fortifications on them were completely destroyed, and therefore Napoleon ordered the troops to leave the captured fortifications and retreat to their original positions. With the onset of darkness, mounted Cossack patrols came out onto the deserted Borodino field and occupied the commanding heights above the battlefield. Enemy patrols also guarded the enemy's actions: the French were afraid of attacks in the night by Cossack cavalry.

The Russian commander-in-chief intended to continue the battle the next day. But, having received reports of terrible losses, Kutuzov ordered the Main Army to retreat to the city of Mozhaisk at night. The withdrawal from the Borodino field took place in an organized manner, in marching columns, under the cover of a strong rearguard. Napoleon learned about the enemy’s departure only in the morning, but he did not dare to immediately pursue the enemy.

In the “battle of the giants,” the parties suffered huge losses, which researchers are still discussing today. It is believed that during August 24-26, the Russian army lost from 45 to 50 thousand people (primarily from massive artillery fire), and the “Grand Army” - approximately 35 thousand or more. There are other figures, also disputed, that require some adjustment. In any case, the losses in killed, died from wounds, wounded and missing were equal to approximately a third of the strength of the opposing armies. The Borodino field also became a real “cemetery” for the French cavalry.

The Battle of Borodino in history is also called the “battle of the generals” due to the large losses in the senior command. In the Russian army, 4 generals were killed and mortally wounded, 23 generals were wounded and shell-shocked. In the Grand Army, 12 generals were killed or died from wounds, one marshal (Davout) and 38 generals were wounded.

The fierceness and uncompromising nature of the battle on the Borodino field is evidenced by the number of prisoners taken: approximately 1 thousand people and one general on each side. Russians - approximately 700 people.

The result of the general battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 (or Napoleon’s Russian Campaign) was that Bonaparte failed to defeat the enemy army, and Kutuzov did not defend Moscow.

Both Napoleon and Kutuzov demonstrated the art of great commanders on the day of Borodin. The “Great Army” began the battle with massive attacks, starting continuous battles for the Semenovsky flushes and Kurgan Heights. As a result, the battle turned into a frontal clash of sides, in which the attacking side had minimal chances of success. The enormous efforts of the French and their allies ultimately proved fruitless.

Be that as it may, both Napoleon and Kutuzov, in their official reports about the battle, declared the result of the confrontation on August 26 as their victory. M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov was awarded the rank of field marshal for Borodino. Indeed, both armies showed the highest heroism on the Borodin field.

The Battle of Borodino did not become a turning point in the campaign of 1812. Here we should turn to the opinion of the famous military theorist K. Clausewitz, who wrote that “victory lies not simply in capturing the battlefield, but in the physical and moral defeat of the enemy forces.”

After Borodin, the Russian army, whose fighting spirit had strengthened, quickly regained its strength and was ready to expel the enemy from Russia. Napoleon’s “great” “army,” on the contrary, lost heart and lost its former maneuverability and ability to win. Moscow became a real trap for her, and the retreat from it soon turned into a real flight with the final tragedy on the Berezina.

Material prepared by the Research Institute (military history)
Military Academy of the General Staff
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

We would be incomplete without a description of the greatest battle of the Patriotic War of 1812.

Napoleon on Borodino Heights

V.V. Vereshchagin, “Napoleon on the Borodino Heights”

This is the day of the Battle of Borodino - August 26, 1812. Napoleon passionately wanted a general battle; he was afraid that the Russians would deceive him here too and leave. He got up at three o'clock in the morning, after a short rest and, despite the cold that he had felt since the evening, he began vigorous activity. His first words were: “What are the Russians doing?”- Having received in response that our troops remained in place, he was very happy and, leaving the tent, said to the many officers who had gathered around him: “Today is a little cold, but clear: this is the sun of Austerlitz”.

Almost throughout the entire battle, Napoleon was at the height of the Shevardinsky redoubt, which was taken from us on August 24. He was not entirely healthy. The artist depicted him sitting on a folding chair. Behind him are the headquarters and retinue; behind them are the guards in full dress uniform.

For the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon was reproached for insufficient energy in leading the battle and insufficient decisiveness in conducting it. This is explained partly by his ill health, and partly by the fact that in 1812 he behaved more like an emperor than a general: he did not dare to expose himself to danger; in the newsletter * about the Battle of Borodino it is said that the Emperor never once exposed himself to danger in this battle; for the same reason, he did not dare to take risks and risk his last reserve - the guard, which, despite the insistence of his generals, he did not bring into battle. As we will see later, he had to retreat from this course of action in the later period of this war.

* During the War of 1812, Napoleon sent 29 bulletins to France, which were compiled on his instructions and with which he notified his country and all of Western Europe about the events of the war. These bulletins, by the way, were very far from the truth.

Can be considered the most important thing in the 1812 campaign. This is a general clash between both sides; their main armies took part in it entirely - the enemy army under the command of Napoleon himself, the Russian army under the command of Kutuzov himself. More than 225,000 soldiers fought to their death here; more than 80,000 of them fell. There was never such a mass of troops and such massive losses in any of the battles of the War of 1812; and indeed, in terms of bloodshed, this is one of the rarest battles in history.

Hess’s picture groups together several of the most important moments of the Battle of Borodino.

Of central interest is the retirement from the ranks of Prince Bagration, the commander-in-chief of our 2nd Army. This episode occupies a central place in the film. Bagration, wounded in the leg, sits on the ground with a bandaged leg and talks to General Konovnitsyn, who stands next to him on horseback. Konovnitsyn turned out to be the eldest of the generals in this section of the position, and Bagration transfers command to him. Physician Villiers runs to the wounded Bagration to provide medical assistance.

The wounded General Vorontsov is immediately brought up on a cart. He commanded a combined grenadier division; in hand-to-hand combat he was wounded with a bayonet, and his division was almost destroyed; in his notes he speaks about his participation in the Battle of Borodino as follows: “My resistance could not last long, but it did not end until the destruction of my division”.

In the left corner of the picture - a square of regiments of the Izmailovsky Life Guards and the Lithuanian Life Guards, under the command of Colonel Khrapovitsky, repels the attack of the enemy cavalry (Nansouty and Montbrun).

Above the square of our guards regiments in the distance in the picture is the Shevardinsky redoubt, near which stands Napoleon and his retinue. From there, Murat's cavalry rushes to the attack and he is with it.

On the right side of the picture is a large fortification of our center (Raevsky’s battery). What was taken by the enemy is taken back by Ermolov. Even further to the right is a large battery of our right flank; here - Barclay de Tolly (on foot) and even further Kutuzov. The village of Borodino is visible ahead of them. Behind him, Uvarov’s 1st Cavalry Corps and Platov’s Cossacks bypass the left flank of the enemy’s position and unexpectedly appear on the flank and partly in the rear of the corps of the Italian Viceroy Eugene Beauharnais.

In fact, all of the listed episodes of the Battle of Borodino did not take place at the same time, but the artist wanted to capture its most important moments in one picture * . Another artist, an artist of words (M. Yu. Lermontov) sang the Battle of Borodino in verse; Here are some wonderful verses from there:

We retreated silently for a long time,

It was a shame, we were waiting for a fight,

The old people grumbled:

“What are we? for winter apartments?

Don't the commanders dare?

Aliens tear up their uniforms

About Russian bayonets?

And then we found a large field:

There is somewhere to go for a walk in the wild!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And only the sky lit up,

Everything suddenly began to move noisily,

The formation flashed behind the formation.

Our colonel was born with a grip:

Servant to the king, father to the soldiers...

Yes, I feel sorry for him: he was struck down by damask steel,

He sleeps in damp ground.

And he said, his eyes sparkling:

"Guys! Isn't Moscow behind us?

We'll die near Moscow,

How our brothers died!

- And we promised to die,

And they kept the oath of allegiance

We are in the Borodino battle.

* It must be said that not all of the listed episodes of the Battle of Borodino are clearly visible in the picture; the last four are not entirely clear, but we name them based on the inscriptions on the frame of this picture hanging in the officers’ collection of the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment.

Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment in the Battle of Borodino on August 26, 1812

At the beginning of the Battle of Borodino, the entire guard was in reserve, but when the enemy launched fierce attacks on Bagration’s fleshes, the Izmailovsky Life Guards, Lithuanian Life Guards and Finnish Life Guards regiments were moved out of the reserve and sent to reinforce the troops operating at these fleshes. Moving from reserves in dense columns (columns to attack), these regiments came under heavy enemy artillery fire, but, regardless of it, bravely rushed into the attack.

A participant in the Battle of Borodino, the French general Pele, vividly describes the attacks of our troops at the Bagration flushes and says: “As reinforcements approached Bagration’s troops, they walked forward over the corpses of the fallen with the greatest courage to take possession of the lost points. Before our eyes, the Russian columns moved like moving trenches, sparkling with steel and flame. Hit by our grapeshot, attacked first by cavalry, sometimes by infantry, these brave warriors suffered enormous losses, but, having gathered their last strength, they attacked us as before.”

The brigades from the regiments of the Izmailovsky Life Guards and the Lithuanian Life Guards were commanded by the commander of the first of them, Khrapovitsky. In the history of the first of these regiments (formed in 1882), its participation in the Battle of Borodino is outlined as follows:

“Colonel Khrapovitsky, having formed the brigade in columns for the attack, moved forward in perfect order at eight o’clock in the morning. On the way, the Izmailovites met a procession with the icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, returning from our left flank. Seeing this as a happy omen for themselves, the soldiers devoutly crossed themselves and moved forward with a strong spirit, despite the fact that enemy shells were already tearing apart their ranks.”

“Of the first victims of the Battle of Borodino, the regimental drummer, who was walking next to Colonel Khrapovitsky, fell. Both of his legs were crushed by the cannonball (this is shown in the picture). Shells fell more and more often into the ranks of the Izmailovites. The bullets were already beginning to whistle loudly and, every now and then, people dropped out of the ranks, but the regiment walked calmly. Here the horse under Colonel Khrapovitsky reared high and, capsizing on its back, remained in place as a victim of an enemy bullet that hit it. Khrapovitsky stood up, and the Izmailovites again saw him calmly riding in front of the regiment on a new horse.”

Then the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment, together with the Life Guards Lithuanian, had to repel a series of violent and furious attacks by numerous French cavalry. They silently allowed the enemy cavalry to come within 50 steps and only then fired at them with faithful, destructive fire, which upset them and put them to flight. According to the testimony of the commander of one of the battalions of the Life Guards of the Lithuanian Regiment, this battalion during one of the attacks on it by enemy cuirassiers did not even open fire, but silently waited for the galloping cavalry, holding their guns in their hands and turning their muzzles from side to side; the resulting flash of bayonets frightened the horses and held them back, and those who jumped up were stabbed in the muzzles with bayonets by the soldiers, then they themselves went on to attack the upset cavalrymen, put them to flight and opened heavy fire on them in pursuit.

The attacks of the enemy cavalry on our infantry were moments of respite for her, since at this time the enemy artillery stopped firing at her.

After repelling the cavalry attacks of the Life Guard. Izmailovsky Regiment was subjected to destructive fire from enemy artillery; It was around noon when the enemy bombarded our positions with shells. The regiment stood unshakably, despising danger and numerous casualties.

A grapeshot bullet hit Colonel Khrapovitsky in the leg, but he remains in service. Having bandaged the wound, he cheerfully rides along the ranks of the brigade and thanks the heroes for their courage and perseverance. But, having toured his battalions, he loses strength and orders himself to be carried to the dressing station.

Soon after, Colonel Kozlyaninov was wounded and forced out of action, as well as many more staff and chief officers and lower ranks. After shelling our positions with artillery, the enemy launched new attacks on them with infantry and cavalry. But the Izmailovites, although they suffered terrible losses, fought back until the end of the battle with the same courage and steadfastness, without yielding to the enemy. They lost in this battle: 28 officers out of 51 and 1135 lower ranks out of 1920, i.e. more than a half.

Having temporarily replaced the wounded Bagration in the main command in the sector of the position where the Life Guard Izmailovsky Regiment was operating, General Konovnitsyn in his report about the battle says this:

“I cannot speak with satisfied praise about the exemplary fearlessness shown this day by the Lithuanian Life Guards and Izmailovsky Life Guards regiments. Arriving on the left flank, they unwaveringly withstood the strongest fire from enemy artillery, which showered their ranks with grapeshot. Despite the losses, they were in the best order, and all ranks, from the first to the last, one before the other, showed their eagerness to die before yielding to the enemy. Three large cavalry attacks by enemy cuirassiers and mounted grenadiers on both regiments were repulsed with incredible success; for despite the fact that the squares built by these regiments were completely surrounded, the enemy was driven away with extreme damage by fire and bayonets... In a word, the Izmailovsky and Litovsky regiments in the memorable Battle of Borodino on August 26 covered themselves with unfading glory in the sight of the entire army.”

The Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment was awarded the Banners of St. George for the Battle of Borodino.

Battle of Borodino August 26, 1812

The picture reproduces an episode of an unexpected attack by our artillery corps under the command of Lieutenant General O.P. Uvarov on the left flank of Napoleon’s army. This action had great importance in the Battle of Borodino, although it did not achieve the goal intended by Kutuzov.

When in the afternoon Napoleon was preparing a decisive attack on our center, Uvarov’s corps, which had previously stood behind our right flank, was moved forward and directed to bypass the left flank of the enemy’s position; Platov moved even further to the right with the Cossacks. The unexpected appearance of Uvarov’s corps on the flank of Napoleon’s army (the Italian Viceroy’s corps was located here), and Platov’s Cossacks in his rear, caused a commotion in the enemy troops and diverted Napoleon’s attention from our center, forcing him to take up his left flank; the attack on our center was suspended and this suspension lasted for two hours; We took advantage of this break to bring order to the troops of our center, upset by the battle, and to strengthen the weakened points of our position with reinforcements.

On the right side of the picture is the left flank of Napoleon's army, namely the viceroy's corps; Borodino is visible, occupied by the troops of his corps; In front of this village is a bridge over the Kolocha River.

Riding a bay horse is Adjutant General, Lieutenant General O.P. Uvarov, a young cavalry general (39 years old) with the Order of St. George, 2nd degree. Behind him, in a Life Cossack uniform, is another young cavalry lieutenant general, Adjutant General Count Orlov-Denisov (37 years old). Our cavalry attacks the enemy infantry and artillery. The enemy fights back, retreats and takes away the guns.

The end of the Battle of Borodino

V.V. Vereshchagin, “The End of the Battle of Borodino”

The battlefield is littered with a pile of bodies. There are more dead than living. Napoleon's soldiers, having occupied the fortifications we had ceded, exclaim: “Vive l"empereur!”

A French author, a participant in the battle (Labaume), describes the Borodino battlefield after the battle as follows: “The middle of the large redoubt presented a terrible picture: the corpses were piled one on top of the other in several rows. The Russians died, but did not give up. In the space of one square league there was no place not covered with dead bodies... Mountains of corpses could be seen, and where they were not, there were fragments of weapons, lances, helmets, armor, cannonballs, covering the ground like hail after a strong thunderstorm...”

After the battle, Napoleon's troops retreated to their previous bivouacs. Napoleon declared the Battle of Borodino his victory. But here is what the condition of the “winners” was like as described by French historians:

“After the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon’s troops spent a terrible night in bivouacs, without lights, among the dead, dying and wounded. Only at dawn did they learn about the Russian retreat. It has hardly ever happened that the winners experienced such an extraordinary feeling after a victory: they were in some kind of stupor. After so many disasters, hardships and labors endured in order to force the Russians to fight, after so many exploits and courage, what are the consequences! - A terrible massacre... and even greater uncertainty than before - how long the war will last and what its outcome will be.

In the evening after the battle, no songs or conversations were heard, sad and silent despondency prevailed. Napoleon himself could not sleep: his soul was not easy. His sleep was restless, or, better said, he did not sleep at all. He exclaimed many times, turning quickly in bed: “quelle journee!” (what a day!). His headquarters at Shevardin was surrounded by the old guard all night: despite the considerable distance from the battlefield, he considered this precaution necessary.

When the next morning he was informed about the retreat of the Russian troops, he said: “Let them retreat; and we will wait a few hours to attend to our unfortunate wounded.”

One French colonel (Fezenzak), appointed regiment commander after the Battle of Borodino, says in his memoirs, “that he did not find the same cheerfulness in the soldiers, did not hear songs and conversations - they were plunged into gloomy silence. Even the officers walked as if submerged in water. This despondency is strange after the victory, which seemed to open the gates to the enemy capital.”.

One of the French historians of the war of 1812 (Marshal Saint-Cyr) spoke about the Battle of Borodino as follows: “The Russians, despite the most stubborn resistance, can be considered defeated only because they retreated, but they were not defeated, they were not thrown back in complete disorder in any part of their position. The body was struck, but not the soul of the army. Their losses were great, even enormous, but they were almost balanced by the losses of Napoleon, and yet a great advantage remained on their side: their losses could be immediately compensated by the reinforcements that they received daily, while the loss in our troops remained irreparable.”.

Napoleon himself subsequently spoke about the Battle of Borodino as follows: “Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I fought near Moscow. In it, the French showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible... Of the fifty battles I have given, in the battle of Moscow the most valor was shown and the least success was achieved.”.

When preparing the material, the book “The Patriotic War of 1812 in the Paintings of Russian Artists” was used, published by I. S. Lapin, Paris. Adaptation for the site: S. Nikolaev.

The main battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 took place on August 26 (September 7) near the village of Borodino near Mozhaisk, 124 km from Moscow. In French historiography, this battle is called the Battle of the Moscow River. His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, having decided to enter into a general battle, proceeded from several factors. He took into account the mood of the army, which was eager to engage the enemy in battle and the understanding of the fact that the ancient Russian capital could not be given up without a battle.

For the battle site, it was necessary to choose a position that would satisfy Kutuzov’s basic requirements. The field had to accommodate the main forces of the army, be able to build them in deep order, allow the troops to maneuver, and have natural obstacles for better defense. In addition, the army should have been able to block the New and Old Smolensk roads leading to Moscow. Quartermaster General Tol discovered this position in front of the city of Mozhaisk. In the center of the field stood the village of Borodino, from which the battle received its name.

Napoleon on the Borodino Heights. Vereshchagin (1897).

The number of armies and the location of Russian troops

The Russian army (the combined 1st and 2nd Western armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration) consisted of about 120 thousand people: 103 thousand regular troops, about 7-8 thousand Cossack and other irregular cavalry, 10 thousand. warriors mainly of the Moscow and Smolensk militias (according to other sources, about 20 thousand militias) and 624 field artillery guns. It is also necessary to take into account that the regular troops included about 15 thousand recruits who underwent only initial military training.

On the day of the battle, the “Grand Army” of the French emperor numbered about 135-136 thousand soldiers with 587 field artillery pieces. In addition, the French army had approximately 15 thousand auxiliary forces (non-combatants), whose combat capability and functions corresponded to the Russian militias. The number of armies opposing each other still causes debate among researchers. The French army had not only a numerical superiority, but also a qualitative one - the French infantry mainly consisted of experienced soldiers, Napoleon had superiority in heavy cavalry. However, these advantages were balanced by the Russian fighting spirit and the high morale of the army.

The position of the Russian army on the Borodino field was about 8 kilometers long. In the south it began near the village of Utitsa, and in the north - near the village of Maslovo. The right flank, approximately 5 km long, ran along the bank of the Koloch River and well covered the New Smolensk Road. In the event of an unfavorable outcome of the battle, Mikhail Kutuzov could only withdraw his troops along this road. Here the Russian position was protected from the flank by a dense forest, which excluded the enemy’s outflanking maneuver. In addition, the terrain here was hilly, intersected by rivers and streams. Natural obstacles were strengthened by a number of fortifications: Maslovsky flushes, gun positions, abatis.

The position on the left flank was more open, so there were more field fortifications here. Semenovsky (Bagrationovsky) flushes were built on the left flank. The Shevardinsky redoubt was located ahead of them. However, the fortifications were not completed at the start of the battle. The center of the Russian army's position was based on the Raevsky Battery (battery of the Kurgan Heights), the French called it the Great Redoubt.

The battle formation of the Russian army was composed of three lines: the first contained infantry corps, the second - cavalry, and the third - reserves. The army's artillery was evenly distributed throughout the position.

On August 24, the battle for the Shevardinsky redoubt took place. During it, it became clear that the enemy was going to deliver the main blow to the left flank of the Russian troops, which was defended by the 2nd Army under the command of Bagration. On August 25 there was a lull, both sides were preparing for the decisive battle, and the construction of defensive structures continued. According to ancient tradition, the Russian army prepared for a decisive battle as if it were a holiday. The soldiers washed, shaved, put on clean linen, confessed, etc. Napoleon Bonaparte personally reconnoitered the positions of the Russian army.

The position of the troops before the Battle of Borodino on August 26, 1812 (map source: http://www.mil.ru/).

Start of battle (5:30–9:00)

At 5:30 am, about 100 French guns opened fire on the positions of the Russian left flank. Simultaneously with the shelling of Russian positions, Delzon's division from the 4th Corps of Beauharnais moved to the village of Borodino (the center of the Russian position). The first to meet the onslaught of the enemy was His Majesty's Life Guards Jaeger Regiment under the command of one of the bravest regimental commanders, Karl Bistrom. For about half an hour, the guards repelled the onslaught of superior enemy forces (the regiment lost more than a third of its strength). Then, under the threat of being outflanked, they were forced to retreat across the Kolocha River. One of the French regiments also crossed the river. Barclay de Tolly threw three regiments of chasseurs into battle. The rangers overthrew the French (the French 106th regiment was almost completely destroyed) and burned the bridge across the river. The battle ended by 8 o'clock in the morning, the French retained the village of Borodino, but they were unable to cross the Koloch River.

The main action took place on Bagration's flushes. Flashes were called field fortifications, which consisted of two faces, each 20-30 m long, at an acute angle, the corner with its apex facing the enemy. They were defended by the 2nd Combined Grenadier Division of General Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. Each flush was defended by one battalion. The French, after an artillery bombardment, attacked the fléches. The divisions of generals Dessay and Compan from the 1st Corps of Davout went on the offensive. From the very beginning the battle became fierce and stubborn. It is still unknown exactly how many enemy attacks followed the Semenov flushes. The fortifications changed hands several times. Napoleon unleashed the main blow on the left flank, trying from the very beginning of the battle to turn the tide in his favor. The battle was accompanied by an artillery duel, in which dozens of guns took part (the French were constantly increasing the number of guns in this direction). In addition, several large clashes of cavalry formations took place on the left flank. The Russian cavalry was not inferior to the enemy, and the “Great Army” lost up to half of its cavalry on the Borodino field. Subsequently, Napoleon was never able to restore the strength of his cavalry.

Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov.

In the first attack, the French infantry overcame the resistance of the rangers and made their way through the Utitsky forest. However, when the divisions of generals Dessay and Compan began to line up on the edge opposite the southernmost flush, they came under heavy fire from Russian artillery and were overturned by a flank counterattack by Vorontsov's rangers. At 8 o'clock the French launched a second attack and captured the southern flush. The commander of the 2nd Army, Bagration, sent the 27th Infantry Division of General Dmitry Petrovich Neverovsky, as well as the Akhtyrsky Hussar and Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiments to help Vorontsov’s division to strike the enemy’s flank. The French were driven out of their fortifications and suffered heavy losses. So, Marshal Davout was shell-shocked, both division commanders - Dessay and Compana - and almost all the brigade commanders were wounded. Russian troops also suffered severe losses: Vorontsov’s combined grenadier division practically ceased to exist, with only about 300 people left in it. Vorontsov himself was wounded in the leg when he led the last battalion of the division in a bayonet attack.

Battle of Borodino from 5:00 to 9:00.

Battle of Borodino (9:00–12:30)

Napoleon intensified the pressure on the left flank: three infantry divisions of Ney’s 3rd Corps and three of Murat’s cavalry corps launched a third attack. The number of artillery barrels in this direction was increased to 160 units.

Bagration expected an enemy attack and ordered the commander of the 7th Infantry Corps, Raevsky (he was defending the central position), to immediately advance the entire second line of his troops to the flushes. He also instructed the commander of the 3rd Infantry Corps, Tuchkov, to immediately send the 3rd Infantry Division of General Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn to the Semenovsky flashes. In addition, at the request of Bagration, Kutuzov sent the reserve Life Guards Lithuanian and Izmailovsky regiments, the 1st Combined Grenadier Division, the regiments of the 3rd Cavalry Corps and the 1st Cuirassier Division to the left flank. At the same time, the 2nd Infantry Corps of Baggovut from the 1st Army began to move from the right flank to the left.

The French, after a heavy artillery bombardment, broke into the southern flush. During this battle, General Neverovsky was wounded. The 2nd Cuirassier Division from Borozdin's 8th Corps overthrew the enemy formations. Moreover, the Russian cavalrymen almost captured the king of the Kingdom of Naples and the commander of the French cavalry, Joachim Murat; he was saved by the infantry. However, in a fierce battle, the French were able to defend the captured fortifications.

The situation was corrected by the attack of Konovnitsyn’s division; he arrived at the flushes at 10 o’clock and knocked out the enemy with a bayonet strike. During this battle, brigade commander Alexander Alekseevich Tuchkov 4th died. He led the attack of the Revel and Murom regiments and was mortally wounded in the chest (they could not take him out of the battlefield and bury him). After Bagration was wounded, Konovnitsyn led the defense of the left flank; the general, while repelling enemy attacks, was wounded twice, but did not abandon his soldiers.

Around the same time, Junot’s 8th Corps passed through the Utitsky forest to the rear of the Semenovsky flushes. The situation was saved by the 1st horse battery of Captain Zakharov, which at that time was moving towards the flushes. Having discovered the enemy, Zakharov deployed his guns and opened fire on the Westphalians who were building. The arriving regiments of Baggovut's 2nd Corps struck with bayonets and overthrew the enemy.

At the 11th hour, Napoleon threw up to 45 thousand bayonets and sabers into a new attack, concentrating up to 400 guns against the Russian left flank. Bagration led his forces - about 20 thousand soldiers - on a counterattack. A brutal hand-to-hand battle ensued, which lasted about an hour. During it, the advantage began to lean in favor of the Russian troops, but Bagration's wound - a cannonball fragment crushed the hero's tibia in his left leg (the hero died of blood poisoning on September 12 (25), 1812) - led to the confusion of the troops and they began to retreat. Konovnitsyn took command. He withdrew the soldiers behind the Semenovsky ravine, the flushes remained with the French. Behind the ravine there were reserve batteries and guards regiments; the French did not dare to attack the new Russian positions on the move. There was a brief lull on the left flank.

Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn.

Battle for the Kurgan Battery. Napoleon, in order to support the attack on the Semenov flushes and prevent the Russian command from transferring troops from the center to the left flank, gave the order to his left wing to strike the Russian troops at Kurgan Heights and capture it. This position was defended by the 26th Infantry Division of General Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich from the 7th Raevsky Corps. At the beginning of the battle, the battery itself had 18 guns. Units of the 4th Corps of the Viceroy of Italy Eugene Beauharnais went on the offensive. Enemy forces crossed the Koloch River and struck the Great Redoubt.

By this point, Raevsky had sent his entire second line to defend Semenovsky flushes. The first enemy attack was repelled by artillery fire. Beauharnais almost immediately launched a second attack. Kutuzov brought into battle the entire horse artillery reserve of 60 guns and part of the light artillery of the 1st Army. However, the enemy, despite heavy artillery fire, was able to break into Russian positions.

At this time, the chief of staff of the 1st Western Army, Alexey Petrovich Ermolov, and the chief of artillery of the entire army, Alexander Ivanovich Kutaisov, were passing by the height. They organized and led a counterattack by the 3rd battalion of the Ufa Infantry Regiment and the 18th Jaeger Regiment. At the same time, the regiments of Paskevich and Vasilchikov hit the enemy flanks. Russian soldiers recaptured the redoubt with a bayonet attack, and the enemy suffered heavy losses. Brigadier General Bonamy was captured. During the battle, Kutaisov died. Ermolov led the defense of the battery until he was shell-shocked, then he handed over command to General Pyotr Gavrilovich Likhachev. Paskevich's division was almost completely destroyed, Raevsky's corps was taken to the rear and replaced by Likhachev's 24th Infantry Division.

Battle for the Utitsky Kurgan. In the very south of the Russian position, the 5th Corps (Polish) of General Poniatowski moved around the left flank of the Russian position and at about 8 o'clock in the morning near the village of Utitsa collided with the 3rd Infantry Corps of General N.A. Tuchkov 1st. At this moment, Tuchkov had already sent Konovnitsyn’s 3rd Infantry Division to Bagration’s disposal and had only one division – the 1st Grenadier Division. The enemy pushed Tuchkov's soldiers out of Utitsa. Russian soldiers retreated to the Utitsky Kurgan. All attempts by the Poles to move forward and capture the mound were repulsed. However, at about 11 o'clock Poniatowski, having received the support of Junot's 8th Corps, was able to capture the Utitsky Kurgan. Tuchkov personally led the counterattack of the Pavlovsk Grenadier Regiment and recaptured the position. But in this attack the brave commander received a mortal wound. He was replaced by Baggovut. He left the position only around one o'clock in the afternoon, when it became known about the fall of Semenov flushes.

Nikolai Alekseevich Tuchkov.

At about 12 noon, Kutuzov and Napoleon regrouped their troops on the battlefield. Kutuzov sent reinforcements to the defenders of Kurgan Heights and strengthened the left flank, where units of the 2nd Army retreated beyond the Semenovsky ravine.

Battle of Borodino from 9:00 to 12:30.

Battle of Borodino (12:30–14:00)

Raid of the Cossacks Platov and Uvarov. At about 13 o'clock in the afternoon, the 4th Corps (Italian) of Eugene Beauharnais resumed the attack on Raevsky's battery. Napoleon, after capturing the Semenov flushes, abandoned the plan to develop an offensive against the left wing of the Russian army. The initial plan of defeating the left Russian flank and reaching the rear of the main Russian forces lost its meaning, since his strike force suffered huge losses, and the Russian defense on the left flank, despite the loss of Semenov’s flushes, remained undefeated. The French emperor decided to shift his focus to the center of the Russian position and capture Kurgan Heights. However, a new attack by French troops on the Kurgan Battery was delayed for two hours, because at that time the Russian cavalry and Cossacks entered the French rear.

Kutuzov, at the critical moment of the loss of the Semenov flashes and the difficult situation in the center of Russian positions, decided on a roundabout raid of the 1st Cavalry Corps of General Fyodor Petrovich Uvarov (about 2.5 thousand sabers with 12 guns) and the Cossack corps of Matvey Ivanovich Platov (8 regiments). The Russian cavalry was supposed to attack the positions of the enemy left wing, where the Italian soldiers were stationed.

Battle of Borodino from 12:30 to 14:00.

The Russian cavalry crossed the Kolocha River near the village of Malaya and attacked French infantry and Italian cavalry in the area of ​​the crossing of the Voyna River near the village of Bezzubovo. The actions of the forces of Uvarov and Platov caused confusion in the enemy camp and forced Napoleon to detach part of the Beauharnais corps (Italian Guard) and the cavalry corps of Grouchy to repel the threat. In addition, Napoleon was careful not to introduce the guard into the battle.

Researchers still argue about the effectiveness of the Russian cavalry raid. Some historians believe that Uvarov and Platov could have done more, but acted hesitantly. However, one cannot deny the fact that this attack delayed the enemy’s decisive blow for two hours and allowed the Russian troops to regroup - Kutuzov strengthened the center and left flank.

Raid of Platov's Cossacks to the rear of Napoleonic army. Artist Zelikhman.

Battle of Borodino (14:00-18:00)

Fall of Raevsky's battery. After repelling the Russian cavalry raid, the French artillerymen opened crossfire from the front and flashes of 150 guns at the Kurgan Battery, and then went on the attack. Raevsky’s battery became, as the participants in the battle put it, a real “volcano” of the Battle of Borodino. It should be noted that the artillery cannonade throughout the battlefield did not subside until the night and claimed the lives of thousands of people.

To attack the 24th Infantry Division P. G. Likhachev, 34 cavalry regiments were concentrated under the command of Murat. At about 15 o'clock in the afternoon, the king of the Kingdom of Naples gave the order to attack the Russians with his entire mass at the Great Redoubt. At the same time, the infantry of Beauharnais went on the offensive. The first to enter the battle was the 2nd Cavalry Corps under the command of the head of Napoleon's main quarters, Auguste de Caulaincourt (the corps commander Louis-Pierre de Montbrun died during the battle for the Semyonovsky flushes). Caulaincourt's cuirassiers broke through the hellish fire, went around Kurgan Heights on the left and rushed to Raevsky's battery. The French cavalrymen were met with fierce fire from the defenders. The cavalry of Barclay de Tolly's 1st Army struck the enemy cavalry, and a fierce clash of cavalry masses took place under the heights. The enemy cuirassiers were driven back with significant losses (the French called Raevsky's Kurgan Battery "the grave of the French cavalry"). The leader of the French vanguard, the brave General Auguste Caulaincourt, like many of his comrades during the Battle of Borodino, found death on the slopes of the mound. It must be remembered that the battles during the Battle of Borodino were very fierce; neither the Russians nor the French wanted to retreat, both sides fought like heroes. Thus, Raevsky’s 7th Infantry Corps had about 10 thousand soldiers at the beginning of the battle, and after the battle the general could muster “barely 700 people.”

French attack on the Raevsky battery and the death of General Caulaincourt. September 7. Hood. A. Adam. Mid-19th century Lithography.

At a time when the French cavalry pinned down the forces of the 24th division and the Russian cavalry, the infantry of General Beauharnais broke into the Raevsky battery. After a bloody battle, the position was captured by the enemy (this event occurred at 4 o'clock). General Likhachev, not wanting to be captured, rushed at the French soldiers, but the general's insignia saved him. He was stunned and captured (the only Russian general that day).

Borodino. Attack on Raevsky's battery. F. A. Roubaud, 1913

The fall of the Kurgan Battery did not break the defense of the center of the Russian army. Russian troops retreated to new positions. At 5 p.m., Napoleon Bonaparte went to the captured battery and came to the conclusion that its center of the Russian army, despite the withdrawal of Russian troops and contrary to the assurances of his retinue, was not shaken and was completely combat-ready. There was no decisive turning point in the battle, so Napoleon refused to bring his last reserve, the guard, into battle. After this, the advance of French troops on the center of the Russian army stopped, the matter was limited to an artillery firefight.

Left flank. The direction of the main attack of the “Great Army” shifted from the left flank to the center of the Russian line, to the Kurgan Battery. However, the enemy did not stop attacking the left flank of the Russian army. After a short break associated with the regrouping of forces, the enemy tried to break through the Semenovsky ravine. To the south of the village of Semyonovskoye the 1st Cavalry Corps of Nansouty was advancing, to the north of the 4th Cavalry Corps of Latour-Maubourg, while the 2nd Infantry Division of General Friant (from the 1st Infantry Corps of Davout) moved from the front to Semyonovskoye.

The Russian left flank at that time was headed by the commander of the 6th Infantry Corps, General Dmitry Sergeevich Dokhturov. He put the upset troops in order and secured a new position. The guards units, which were allocated by Kutuzov to support the left flank, were lined up in a square and successfully repelled the onslaught of enemy cavalry. The 1st Cuirassier Brigade of General N.V. Kretov (from the 2nd Cuirassier Division) came to the aid of the 2nd Brigade of Colonel M.E. Khrapovitsky (Life Guards Izmailovsky and Lithuanian Regiments). The military order cuirassier and Ekaterinoslav cuirassier regiments overthrew the French cavalry. After this battle, the French cavalrymen attacked several more times, but each time their onslaught was repulsed.

The 2nd Infantry Division of Louis Friant takes the village of Semenovskoye with a bayonet attack. However, Russian troops launch a counterattack and recapture the village. The stubborn French general, not wanting to accept failure, again leads his regiments into the attack and is wounded in the chest. His soldiers, after a fierce battle, recapture Semyonovskoye. Friant receives another wound - in the leg and gives up command.

After 16 hours, the French cavalry again tried to launch an offensive on the left flank from the village of Semenovskoye. However, the French ran into the columns of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Finland regiments. The Russian guards, with the beating of drums, launched a bayonet attack and overthrew the enemy troops. At 19:00 in the evening the rifle fire on the left flank subsided. French troops were unable to solve the problem of defeating Russian troops on the left flank.

Battle of Borodino from 14:00 to 18:00.

Completion of the battle and its results

The last battles of the Borodino battle in the evening took place at the battery of the Raevsky and Utitsky mounds. But the Russian troops successfully held their positions and more than once launched decisive counterattacks. The French Emperor Napoleon did not dare to send his last reserves into battle - parts of the Old and Young Guards, in order to try to turn the tide of the battle in favor of the French army at the end of the day. By 6 pm the attacks had stopped along the entire front. Until nightfall, only artillery fire and rifle fire continued in the advanced Jaeger chains.

The Russian army retreated to Gorki and began to prepare for a new battle. However, Kutuzov, when he received more complete data on the army’s losses, decided to withdraw his troops beyond Mozhaisk. At 12 o'clock at night, the troops received an order from the commander-in-chief, who canceled preparations for a new battle. The withdrawal was carried out in an organized manner, in marching columns, under the cover of the rearguard.

Napoleon was in a depressed and anxious mood, he expected that the battle would continue the next day. During the battle, the “Great Army” was able to force the Russian troops on the left flank and center to retreat only 1–1.5 km. The Russian army maintained the integrity of the position and its communications, repelled many French attacks, and itself counterattacked. The artillery duel, for all its duration and fierceness (no ammunition was spared), did not give advantages to either the French or the Russians. French troops captured the main strongholds of the Russian army - the Raevsky battery and the Semyonov flushes. But the fortifications on them were almost completely destroyed, and by the end of the battle Napoleon ordered them to be abandoned and the troops to be withdrawn to their original positions. Few prisoners were captured (as well as guns); Russian soldiers took with them most of their wounded comrades. With the onset of darkness, the Cossacks occupied the dominant heights on the battlefield. Napoleon learned about the departure of the Russian army only in the morning.

In the Battle of Borodino, both armies suffered huge losses. The exact number of losses is unknown at the present time; historians continue to debate about them to this day. On August 24-26, the Russian army lost approximately 38-50 thousand people (especially large losses were from enemy artillery fire). Napoleon's army lost about 35 thousand people, the French cavalry suffered especially - the Borodino field became the “cemetery of the French cavalry.” The fury of the battle is also indicated by the data on losses in the senior command of the two armies. In the “battle of the generals,” 4 Russian generals died or were mortally wounded, 23 were wounded and shell-shocked. The French lost 12 generals killed or died from wounds, another 38 generals and 1 marshal (Davout) were wounded.

The main strategic result of the Battle of Borodino was the fact that Napoleon received the long-desired general battle, but, having made every effort to win, he could not defeat the Russian army and force the Russian military-political leadership to ask for peace. The Grand Army made great efforts to achieve victory, but they proved fruitless. Kutuzov fulfilled the army's desire to give battle to the enemy, but was unable to defend Moscow. Both armies showed the highest courage and heroism in this battle.

In tactical terms, the Battle of Borodino was another victory for Napoleon - he forced the Russian army to retreat and give up Moscow. However, in strategic terms, it was a victory for Kutuzov and the Russian army. A radical change occurred in the campaign of 1812. The Russian army survived the battle with the strongest enemy and its fighting spirit only grew stronger. Soon its numbers and material resources will be restored. Napoleon's army lost heart, lost the ability to win, the aura of invincibility. Further events will only confirm the correctness of the words of the military theorist Carl Clausewitz, who noted that “victory lies not simply in capturing the battlefield, but in the physical and moral defeat of the enemy forces.”

Sources - http://topwar.ru/