Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino (Russian pronunciation: [bərədʲɪˈno]) 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.
| Battle of Borodino | |||||||||
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| Part of the French invasion of Russia | |||||||||
Battle of Moscow, 7th September 1812 (painting by Louis-François Lejeune, 1822) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Russia | |||||||||
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| Strength | |||||||||
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103,000–135,000 …see § Opposing forces |
125,000–160,000 …see § Opposing forces | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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28,000–35,000 killed, wounded or captured …see § Casualties |
40,000–53,000 killed, wounded or captured …see § Casualties | ||||||||
Location within Europe | |||||||||
300miles