Tsardom of Russia: Battle of Borodino
Borodino (1812)
Background: The French Army, led by Napoleon invaded Russia on June 16, 1812. Napoleon saw Russia as a thorn in his side that needed to be defeated to make himself even more powerful. As the French pushed onward they faced light resistance, but found most of the country side burned or destroyed by the Russian to slow the advances of the French. The French continued there push toward Moscow winning a number of small battles like the Battle of Shevardino Redoubt where the French pushed back a good sized force of Russians. By September it looked like Napoleon was going to be able to conquer all of Russia and continue his campaign for world domination.
Purpose of the Battle: By September, Napoleon was looking for a major victory that he could use to push all the way to Moscow and crush the Russians. The Russians needed this battle to stop or slow the French advance and make them leave Russia for good.
The Battle: By the time the Battle of Borodino came, the Russians found themselves prepared for the task at hand. What Napoleon did not know was that heavy training was given to many battalions in the way of modern warfare, which allowed them to equally match up against the French. Napoleon still did not care and decided to attack the Russians at the town of Borodino. The Russian position was heavily fortified and consisted of many earthworks forcing Napoleon to have to make a heavy attack on there position if he was going to defeat them. Napoleon advanced on the Russian position on September 7th, 1812, and forced his troops on the fortified redoubts controlled by the Russians. The battle began with high hopes, both sides advanced onto each other with high ideas of nationalism pushing them on. The fighting was fierce and both armies began to tire as the day went on trying to attack and counter attack the new formations and positions taken. By the end of the battle, over 70,000 troops combined died, making it the most bloody battle of the Napoleonic wars. Overall the battle was won by Napoleon but it was more of a Pyrrhic victory if anything. By the Russian point of view the battle allowed them to slow napoleon down and continue there resistance upon the French until winter would set in.
A picture of the battered French Armee pushing against the Russian positions.
The Russians and French fighting each other at a major redoubt
Aftermath: After the battle, Napoleon moved pushed his advance all the way to Moscow where he would capture the city a few weeks after Borodino. However even though Napoleon had the victory at the Battle of Borodino he did not decisively defeat the Russians causing him to retreat from Moscow after the city burned from unknown causes. During the Russian winter Napoleon retreated from the destroyed city with his army in shambles and the cold winter destroying his army, Napoleon lost the Invasion of Russia.
Commanders: Napoleon Bonaparte-French
Michel Ney-French
Mikhail Kutuzov-Russian
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly-Russian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M64UU9AaIYs Video of the battle of Borodino
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/napoleonicwars/p/Napoleonic-Wars-Battle-Of-Borodino.htm
http://www.wtj.com/archives/lejeune1.htm
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_borodino.html
Background: The French Army, led by Napoleon invaded Russia on June 16, 1812. Napoleon saw Russia as a thorn in his side that needed to be defeated to make himself even more powerful. As the French pushed onward they faced light resistance, but found most of the country side burned or destroyed by the Russian to slow the advances of the French. The French continued there push toward Moscow winning a number of small battles like the Battle of Shevardino Redoubt where the French pushed back a good sized force of Russians. By September it looked like Napoleon was going to be able to conquer all of Russia and continue his campaign for world domination.
Purpose of the Battle: By September, Napoleon was looking for a major victory that he could use to push all the way to Moscow and crush the Russians. The Russians needed this battle to stop or slow the French advance and make them leave Russia for good.
The Battle: By the time the Battle of Borodino came, the Russians found themselves prepared for the task at hand. What Napoleon did not know was that heavy training was given to many battalions in the way of modern warfare, which allowed them to equally match up against the French. Napoleon still did not care and decided to attack the Russians at the town of Borodino. The Russian position was heavily fortified and consisted of many earthworks forcing Napoleon to have to make a heavy attack on there position if he was going to defeat them. Napoleon advanced on the Russian position on September 7th, 1812, and forced his troops on the fortified redoubts controlled by the Russians. The battle began with high hopes, both sides advanced onto each other with high ideas of nationalism pushing them on. The fighting was fierce and both armies began to tire as the day went on trying to attack and counter attack the new formations and positions taken. By the end of the battle, over 70,000 troops combined died, making it the most bloody battle of the Napoleonic wars. Overall the battle was won by Napoleon but it was more of a Pyrrhic victory if anything. By the Russian point of view the battle allowed them to slow napoleon down and continue there resistance upon the French until winter would set in.
A picture of the battered French Armee pushing against the Russian positions.The Russians and French fighting each other at a major redoubt
Aftermath: After the battle, Napoleon moved pushed his advance all the way to Moscow where he would capture the city a few weeks after Borodino. However even though Napoleon had the victory at the Battle of Borodino he did not decisively defeat the Russians causing him to retreat from Moscow after the city burned from unknown causes. During the Russian winter Napoleon retreated from the destroyed city with his army in shambles and the cold winter destroying his army, Napoleon lost the Invasion of Russia.
Commanders: Napoleon Bonaparte-French
Michel Ney-French
Mikhail Kutuzov-Russian
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly-Russian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M64UU9AaIYs Video of the battle of Borodino
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/napoleonicwars/p/Napoleonic-Wars-Battle-Of-Borodino.htm
http://www.wtj.com/archives/lejeune1.htm
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_borodino.html
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