The Battle of Smolensk was the first major battle of the French invasion of Russia. It took place on 16–18 August 1812 and involved about 45,000 men of the Grande Armée under Emperor Napoleon I against about 30,000 Russian troops under General Barclay de Tolly. Napoleon occupied Smolensk by driving out Prince Pyotr Bagration's Second Army. The French artillery bombardment burned the city to the ground. Of 2,250 buildings, 84% were destroyed with only 350 surviving intact. Of the city's 15,000 inhabitants, about 1,000 were left at the end of the battle inside the smoking ruins. With over 15,000 casualties, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the invasion.
The Battle of Valutino took place on 19 August 1812, between a corps of French and allied troops led by Marshal Ney, about 35,000 strong, and a strong rear-guard of General Barclay de Tolly's Russian army of about 25,000, commanded by the general himself. The Russians were strongly posted in marshy ground, protected by a small stream, about 20 kilometers east of Smolensk. The French, attacking resolutely, captured the Russian position in the face of considerable physical obstacles.
The Battle of Maloyaroslavets took place on 24 October 1812 as part of the French invasion of Russia. It was Kutuzov's decisive battle to force Napoleon to retreat northwest over Mozhaisk to Smolensk on the devastated route of his advance with a higher probability of starvation. Kutuzov's next attack against the remnants of the Grande Armee, the Battle of Krasnoi, began on 15 November 1812, three weeks later.
The Battle of (the) Berezina took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Wittgenstein and Admiral Chichagov. Napoleon was retreating back toward Poland in chaos after the aborted occupation of Moscow and trying to cross the Berezina River at Borisov. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive as, despite heavy losses, Napoleon managed to cross the river and continue his retreat with the surviving remnants of his army.
The Battle of Tarutino was a part of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In the battle Russian troops under the command of Bennigsen defeated French troops under the command of Joachim Murat. The battle is sometimes called the Battle of Vinkovo or the Battle of Chernishnya after the local river. Many historians claim that the latter name is more fitting because the village of Tarutino was 8 km from the described events.
The Battle of Klyastitsy, also called Battle of Yakubovo and Battle ofOboiarszina, was a series of military engagements that took place on 30 July, 31 July 1812, and 1 August 1812 near the village of Klyastitsy on the road between Polotsk and Sebezh. In this battle the Russian vanguard under the command of Yakov Kulnev and the whole corps of Peter Wittgenstein stood up to the French corps under the command of Marshal Nicolas Oudinot with heavy losses on both sides. The result was a minor Russian victory, their forces managing to capture the disputed village of Klyastitsy. The French partially retreated along their communication lines after the battle, and fended off Russian pursuers.
In the First Battle of Polotsk, which took place on 17–18 August 1812, Russian troops under the command of Peter Wittgenstein fought French and Bavarian troops led by Nicolas Oudinot near the city of Polotsk, halting Oudinot's advance toward Saint Petersburg. The First Battle of Polotsk should be distinguished from the Second Battle of Polotsk which took place during the same campaign two months later.
The Second Battle of Polotsk took place during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In this encounter the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein attacked and defeated a Franco-Bavarian force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. In the aftermath of this success, the Russians took Polotsk and dismantled Napoleon's operations in Belarus. Wittgenstein's victory set the stage for the Battle of Berezina in November, in which three Russian armies converged on Napoleon from separate directions.
At the Battle of Smoliani, the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein defeated the French forces of Marshal Claude Victor and Marshal Nicholas Oudinot. This battle was the last effort of the French to reestablish their northern flank in Russia, known as the "Dwina Line". Previously, the French had been defeated in this sector at the Second battle of Polotsk and at the Battle of Czasniki
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon to force the Russian Empire back into the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. Napoleon's invasion of Russia is one of the best studied military campaigns in history and is listed among the most lethal military operations in world history. It is characterized by the massive toll on human life: in less than six months nearly a million soldiers and civilians died.
The Battle of Kobrin, or the Battle of Kobryn, was a battle that took place on 27 July 1812 between the Russian and Saxon forces in the city of Kobrin (Kobryn) at the initial stage of the French invasion of Russia. The battle was a clear victory of the Russian forces.
The Battle of Gorodechno was a battle between an army of the Austrian and Saxon allies of Napoleonic France under the command of the Prince of Schwarzenberg and Russian troops under Alexander Tormasov at Gorodechno, a town in Kobryn Uyezd, Grodno Governorate. The battle was ultimately won by France's allies when Tormasov was forced to retire.
The Battle of Shevardino took place on 5 September 1812, between French and Russian troops, with a victory of the French army.
The Battle of Swolna took place 11 August 1812 near the village of Swolna where Oudinot ran at the river Svolna into the Russians.
The First Battle of Krasnoi was a battle fought on 14 August between Ney's French troops and Neverovsky's Russian troops. It ended with a victory for the French, but the Russians retreated in good order to Smolensk.
The Battle of Liaskowa took place 9 November 1812 near the village of Liaskowa, where 3,500 Cossacks under the command of Vasily Vasilyevich Orlov-Denisov surrounded 2,000 soldiers of the Grande Armée under Jean-Pierre Augereau.
The Battle of Wolkowisk took place 14-16 November 1812 near the village of Wolkowisk, where 35,000 Austrian, Saxon and French soldiers under Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg defeated 27,000 Russian soldiers under Fabian Gottlieb von der Osten-Sacken.
The Battle of Kaidanowo was fought on Sunday, 15 November 1812, near the village of Kaidanava, part of the Russian Empire at the time. A Lithuanian, Württembergian, and French force under General Franciszek Ksawery Kossecki of 1,300-2,000 was defeated by seasoned Russian forces led by General Charles de Lambert of about 3,800-4,000.
The Battle of Loschniza took place on 23 November 1812, between parts of the French army and parts of the Russian armies. The French army under Oudinot defeated the Russian troops under Chichagov.
The Battle of Nowo Schwerschen was fought on Friday, 13 November 1812, near Nowo Schwerschen, part of the Russian Empire at the time. An unexperienced Lithuanian force under General Franciszek Ksawery Kossecki was defeated by seasoned Russian forces led by Count Lambert from Admiral Chichagov's Army of the Danube.
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