| Battle of Shevardino | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the French invasion of Russia | |||||||
 The Attack of the Shevardino Redoubt by Nikolay Samokish, 1910 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Empire  Kingdom of Italy  Kingdom of Naples  Duchy of Warsaw |  Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 36,000 [1] | 20,000 [1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4,000 [1] | 6,000 [1] | ||||||
The Battle of Shevardino took place on 5 September 1812 (24 August = old style), between French and Russian troops, with a victory of the French army. [1]
The initial Russian position, which stretched south of the new Smolensk Highway (Napoleon's expected route of advance), was anchored on its left by a pentagonal earthwork redoubt erected on a mound near the village of Shevardino. Kutuzov stated that the fortification was manned simply to delay the advance of the French forces. [2] [3]
The conflict began on September 5 when Marshal Joachim Murat's French forces met Konovnitzyn's Russians in a massive cavalry clash, the Russians eventually retreating to the Kolorzkoi Cloister when their flank was threatened. Fighting resumed the next day but Konovnitzyn again retreated when Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais' Fourth Corps arrived, threatening his flank. The Russians withdrew to the Shevardino Redoubt, where a pitched battle ensued. Murat led Nansouty's First Cavalry Corps and Montbrun's Second Cavalry Corps, supported by Compans's Division of Louis Nicolas Davout's First Infantry Corps against the redoubt. Simultaneously, Prince Józef Poniatowski's Polish infantry attacked the position from the south. [3] The French captured the redoubt, at a cost of 4,000 [1] French and 6,000 Russian casualties. [1] The small redoubt was destroyed and covered by the dead and dying of both sides. [4]
The unexpected French advance from the west and the fall of the Shevardino redoubt threw the Russian formation into disarray. Since the left flank of their defensive position had collapsed, Russian forces withdrew to the east, constructing a makeshift position centered around the village of Utitsa. The left flank of the Russian position was thus ripe for a flanking attack. [5] The Battle of Borodino would begin two days later.
Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was a Russian general and prince of Georgian origin, prominent during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
The Battle of Borodino took place near the village of Borodino on 7 September [O.S. 26 August] 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army, but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon fought against General Mikhail Kutuzov, whom the Emperor Alexander I of Russia had appointed to replace Barclay de Tolly on 29 August [O.S. 17 August] 1812 after the Battle of Smolensk. After the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon remained on the battlefield with his army; the Imperial Russian forces retreated in an orderly fashion southwards. Because the Imperial Russian army had severely weakened the Grande Armée, they allowed the French occupation of Moscow, using the city as bait to trap Napoleon and his men. The failure of the Grande Armée to completely destroy the Imperial Russian army, in particular Napoleon's reluctance to deploy his Imperial Guard, has been widely criticised by historians as a huge blunder, as it allowed the Imperial Russian army to continue its retreat into territory increasingly hostile to the French. Approximately a quarter of a million soldiers were involved in the battle, and it was the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars.
Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky was a Field Marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as a military officer and a diplomat under the reign of three Romanov monarchs: Empress Catherine II, and Emperors Paul I and Alexander I. Kutuzov was shot in the head twice while fighting the Turks and survived the serious injuries seemingly against all odds. He defeated Napoleon as commander-in-chief using attrition warfare in the Patriotic war of 1812. Alexander I, the incumbent Tsar during Napoleon's invasion, would write that he would be remembered amongst Europe's most famous commanders and that Russia would never forget his worthiness.
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The Battle of Tarutino was a part of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In the battle, Russian troops under the general command of Bennigsen, on instructions from Kutuzov, launched an attack and defeated French troops under the command of Joachim Murat. The battle is sometimes called the Battle of Vinkovo or the Battle of the 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.
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The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812, was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continental blockade of the United Kingdom. Widely studied, Napoleon's incursion into Russia stands as a focal point in military history, recognized among the most devastating military endeavors globally. In a span of fewer than six months, the campaign exacted a staggering toll, claiming the lives of nearly a million soldiers and civilians.
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Media related to Battle of Shevardino at Wikimedia Commons
