The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov Read online

  I am proud to dedicate this book to my Uncle Aleko (Alexander) Mikaberidze, who played an important role in my life. He shaped my character and provided guidance and advice whenever I need it. With a flamboyant character, intense eyes, and superb moustaches, he would have made an ideal cavalry general of the Napoleonic Wars. I will forever cherish his love and friendship.

  First Published in Great Britain in 2007 by

  Pen & Sword Millitary

  an imprint of

  Pen & Sword Books Ltd

  47 Church Street

  Barnsley

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  Copyright © Allexander Mikaberidze 2007

  ISBN 978-1-84884-404-9

  ePub ISBN: 9781848849709

  PRC ISBN: 9781848849716

  The right of Allexander Mikaberidze to be identified as Author of this

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  Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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  Contents

  Author’s Note

  List of Maps, Diagrams and Illustrations

  Preface

  Acknowledgements

  Background

  The Road to Borodino

  Preparing for Battle

  Campaign Chronicle

  2–7 August: Mutiny of the Generals

  7–14 August: Offensive at Last!

  14–19 August: Napoleon Strikes Back – The Battles of Krasnyi, Smolensk and Lubino

  20–29 August: The Retreat Continues

  29–31 August: Looking For a New Commander

  1–4 September: Arrival at Borodino

  5 September: Prelude to Borodino – The Battle of Shevardino Armies and Leaders

  6 September: Eve of the Bloodbath

  7 September: The Battle of Borodino Phase One (6am to 12am)

  – Northern Sector – The Village of Borodino

  – Southern Sector – The Bagration Flèches

  – Central Sector – The First Assault on Rayevsky’s Redoubt

  – Extreme Southern Sector – The Old Smolensk Road and Utitsa

  The Battle of Borodino Phase Two (12am to 6pm)

  – Northern Sector – The Cavalry Raid

  – Southern Sector – The Fight for Semeyonovskoe

  – Central Sector – The Second Assault on Rayevsky’s Redoubt

  – Extreme Southern Sector – The Old Smolensk Road and Utitsa

  The Battle of Borodino Phase Three (6pm to 12pm)

  Aftermath

  Kutuzov Retreats

  A Pyrrhic Victory

  Casualties

  To Moscow and Back

  Appendices

  Orders of Battle

  Glossary

  Notes and Sources

  Select Bibliography

  Index

  Author’s Note

  I faced several challenges while working on this book. Dates in original Russian documents are given in the Julian calendar, which was effective in Russia at the time. Thus, for the Russians, Borodino was fought on 26 August 1812, while for the French (and Posterity) the battle occurred on 7 September. In my narrative, I have converted dates into the familiar Gregorian calendar, although some Julian-style dates remain in quoted extracts.

  Similarly, French and Russian sources use different systems for weights and measures (e.g. toises, lieue, versta, pud etc.) and again I have endeavoured to render these intelligible to the modern reader (for those who are interested, explanations of these terms, among others, may be found in the glossary at the end of the book).

  Meanwhile, readers should not be surprised to see Roman numerals attached to the surnames of Russian officers. This system was adopted by the Russian Army to differentiate between officers sharing the same surname. Thus we have Tuchkov IV, Ditterix III, Ilovaisky X, Grekov XVIII etc.

  Another point to bear in mind is the use of Polish lancers by both the French and Russian Armies at Borodino. In order to distinguish these units I have opted to call those in French service ‘Lancers’ and those in Russian service ‘Uhlans’ (from the Polish ‘Uan’).

  Russian regimental names are given in Russian transcription in the text, while the Order of Battle contains their generally accepted English translations in parentheses. Although named after specific locations, Russian regiments had no relation with these places, which is often (incorrectly) assumed when translating their names into English. Thus the Life Guard Lithuanian or Finland Regiments were not staffed with recruits from Lithuania or Finland, as might be assumed. Also, if one follows this principle, then Izmailovsk should be translated as Izmailovo, Akhtyrsk as Akhtyrka, Preobrazhensk as Preobrazhenskoye etc. Therefore, I made a decision to use transcribed regimental names: e.g. Akhtyrskii, Izmailovskii, Preobrazhenskii and so on.

  Finally, the word ‘tsar’ is often used as the popular designation of the Russian ruler, although technically it is incorrect when applied to sovereigns of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I have chosen to use the term ‘Emperor’ because this was the official title of Russian monarchs since 1721, when Peter the Great adopted it. The official title of a Russian emperor specifically stated that he was ‘By the grace of God, the Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias’.

  List of Maps, Diagrams and Illustrations

  Maps

  1 Russia 1812

  2 Dispositions in June 1812

  3 Smolensk to Borodino

  4 The Borodino Battlefield

  5 Borodino: Three Positions of the Russian Army

  6 Borodino: Initial Positions of Army Corps

  7 Borodino: Early Afternoon

  8 Rayevsky’s Redoubt: First Assault

  9 Rayevsky’s Redoubt: Second Assault

  10 Borodino to Moscow

  Diagrams

  Shevardino Redoubt

  Maslovo Fortiications

  Gorki Nine-Gun Battery

  Cross-Section of the Southern Flèche

  Northern Flèche

  Southern Flèche

  Rear Flèche

  Rayevsky’s Redoubt

  Illustrations (between pages 136 and 137)

  Emperor Alexander I

  Mikhail Illarionovich Golenischev-Kutuzov

  General Barclay de Tolly

  General Count Bennigsen

  General Prince Bagration

  General Baggovut

  General Tuchkov

  General Osterman-Tolstoy

  General Dokhturov

  General Uvarov

  General Korf

  Ataman Platov

  General Golitsynr />
  General Rayevsky

  General Vorontsov

  General Sievers

  General Karpov

  General Löwenstern

  Emperor Napoleon I

  Marshal Berthier

  Armand de Caulaincourt

  Auguste de Caulaincourt

  General Montbrun

  Marshal Bessières

  Marshal Davout

  Marshal Ney

  Prince Poniatowski

  General Junot

  Marshal

  General Nansouty

  General Grouchy

  General Latour-Maubourg

  French Tirailleur and Voltigeur

  French Fusilier-Grenadier

  French Chasseur à Cheval

  Polish Lancer (Ulan) of the Vistula Legion

  Horse Artillery of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard

  French Carabinier

  Red (Dutch) Lancer of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard

  French Chevau-léger

  Icon Procession on the Eve of Battle

  Kutuzov at His Command Post at Gorki

  Counter-Attack of the Life Guard Lithuanian Regiment

  Napoleon Views the Battle of Borodino

  Combat at the Bagration Flèches

  Borodino Battle-Array

  Battle of Borodino

  Battle of Borodino

  Bagration wounded

  Kostenetsky’s Exploit

  Death of Auguste de Caulaincourt

  General Tuchkov Leading the Charge on the Old Smolensk Road

  Ney Leading III Corps Against the Bagration Flèche

  Napoleon Directing His Troops at Borodino

  Council of War at Fili

  Napoleon on the Heights Overlooking Moscow

  Earthworks of Rayevsky’s Redoubt

  View of the Northern Flèche

  View of the Left Flèche

  Shevardino Redoubt

  Russian Veteran

  Preface

  ‘Every nation has critical moments when the strength and nobility of its spirit can be measured,’ wrote prominent Russian writer Vissarion Belinsky. For Russia, one such moment was at Borodino on 7 September 1812. The battle – with over 280,000 men present on both sides and between 75,000 and 80,000 casualties – proved to be one of the largest battles of the 19th century and one of the bloodiest battles in military history. Its importance in military, political, social or cultural terms can hardly be overestimated.

  Despite voluminous research on the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Borodino still requires additional study, especially with the fast approaching 200th anniversary of the battle. Most of the available material consists of memoirs and general studies of the 1812 campaign, which naturally prohibits detailed analysis of the battle itself. Among the English language books published in the last three decades, those by Holmes, Duffy and Smith deal specifically with the battle but utilize a limited number of non-French sources. There are also studies by Palmer, Curtis, Zamoyski, Riehn, Nicolson, Britten, James and Nafziger, but the general nature of their books limits discussion of the battle; still, Curtis, Zamoyski and Riehn were able to consult a variety of Russian sources to provide a Russian perspective of the conflict. In France, Hourtoulle produced the most recent, albeit brief, account of the battle, while Castelot, Thiry and Tranié studied the Russian campaign in general. However, their works share the common deficiency of describing the battle largely from the French perspective.

  Russian historiography of Borodino is, unquestionably, the most extensive and counts in dozens of volumes. Yet, such overabundance of studies is not without its weakness. The battle was often discussed in overly patriotic tones and exploited for ideological purposes. Many Soviet studies are biased in their interpretation of events, and some even contain deliberate exaggeration or distortion of the facts. Pressure was often exerted on Soviet historians to conform to the official line. During and after the Second World War the Soviet government, under Joseph Stalin, tried to portray the struggle against the Nazi invader in the same terms as that against Napoleon’s Grand Army, and historians followed this ‘formula’ for decades.

  Prominent historians Zhilin, Beskrovny and Garnich set the tone and spent their careers fighting the ‘evils of bourgeois historiography’ that was critical of Russian actions in 1812. Kutuzov was gradually turned into a mythical figure dominating his epoch and contemporaries, while Borodino became a masterpiece of the Russian military art and Kutuzov its prime architect. Thus, in Beskrovny’s version of the battle, ‘Kutuzov prevented Napoleon from making any manoeuvres or achieving any success.’1 Meanwhile, Garnich claimed that the Russians won Borodino so decisively that they pursued the routed French forces for over 7 miles after the battle!2

  Such views dominated Soviet historiography for almost four decades and prevented attempts to study the battle in a critical light. Scholars sought to best themselves in glorifying Russian actions and Kutuzov’s role in them, often leading to comical incidents. At one scholarly meeting at the University of Leningrad, a scholar presenting his paper was interrupted by an angry fellow historian who told him, ‘Comrade Stalin showed us that Kutuzov was two heads above Barclay de Tolly, while your paper shows he was only one head above him.’3 In the same way, some scholars took Stalin’s hypothesis at face value and sought to prove it by an outlandish formula: Kutuzov was two heads above Barclay de Tolly, who was one head above any French marshal and on a par with Napoleon: therefore Kutuzov was two heads above Napoleon! Such opinions and characterizations survived well into the 1980s and even the early 1990s, when historians continued to eulogize: Borodino remained the ‘complete strategic and tactical victory’ for the Russians, Kutuzov was ‘a better military commander than Napoleon’, and his military genius ‘far superior to Napoleon’s’.4

  Among dissenters were Kochetkov, Shvedov, and Troitsky, who tried to bring much needed impartiality and objectivity into the Russian historiography but were largely ignored. Although passionate emotions about Borodino and Kutuzov were essentially abandoned in the 1990s, some Russian writers still follow this path, refusing to criticize Kutuzov or Russian actions because it is not patriotic.5 Nowadays, Bezotosny, Popov, Vasiliev, Zemtsov, Tselorungo and others, have begun a new wave of Borodino research, their books contributing to the demolition of long held views and preconceptions on the battle. Their collective effort resulted in one of the most outstanding Napoleonic publication in any language: Otechestvennaia voina 1812 goda: Entsiklopediia (2004), a massive encyclopaedia of over 1,000 entries that will remain a standard work on this topic for many years to come. Unfortunately, such works remain largely unknown and under-utilized outside Russia.

  Thus the present book seeks to blend primary sources and material from various countries and produce a balanced account of the battle. This is a daunting task and I only hope to have succeeded in it. The battle will be covered from both sides, but the emphasis will be made on the Russian experiences. To meet the requirements of this series, I had to eliminate many details, but much information will be made available at the Napoleon Series website (www.napoleon-series.org).

  The book opens with a general overview of the political situation in Europe and the causes of war. It then traces the opening moves of the main Russian and French forces in July and August 1812, describing events in closer detail as they move closer to the showdown at Borodino. The book covers actions involving only major combatant forces and excludes the northern and southern fronts, which are out of its scope. The battle narrative is divided into three phases and four sectors. Such division is tentative in nature and is simply utilized for better organization of the material. The inal sections deal with the aftermath of the battle, casualties, and the subsequent history of the 1812 campaign.

  The superfluity of primary sources – over 150 were consulted for this book – also reveals the limited value of personal testimonies about battles, especially as complex as Borodino. While major points of the battle are beyond dispute, careful comparison of statements a
nd testimonies from participants reveal great differences and contradictions regarding details. This is especially true with respect to the timing of various attacks and manoeuvres, which differs widely in testimonies as a result of the confusion on the battlefield and/or memory lapses of participants writing years, if not decades, after the battle. This does not mean that memoirs should be ignored, but rather approached in a conscientious manner. They provide a unique insight into the human experiences of that war, and the horrendously savage nature of the Battle of Borodino, the like of which their authors had never experienced before.

  Acknowledgements

  I was first introduced to the Battle of Borodino as a pupil in a Soviet elementary school, and I well remember the feeling of joy at discovering that Prince Peter Bagration was my compatriot from Georgia (then a Soviet republic). In later years I began researching Bagration’s career for my doctoral study at Florida State University, which proved useful when I began writing this book.

  I am grateful to Professor Donald D. Howard for his unwavering support and guidance during my stay at FSU. I was able to utilize the Napoleonic Special Collections of the Strozier Library (FSU), which remains one of the best collections in the United States. Special thanks to Interlibrary Loan Sections of Mitchell Library at Mississippi State University and to Marie Crusinberry of Santa Barbara Public Library, whose efficiency in locating materials proved to be indispensable. I am indebted to Jeff Graceffo, who sent me dozens of documents after my departure from FSU.

  Living in the age of the Internet provides a unique opportunity to meet fellow scholars, and I was blessed to befriend many outstanding individuals at the Discussion Forum of the Napoleon Series website (www.napoleon-series.org), where I have been active for the past ten years. Steven H. Smith, Tony Broughton, Rory Muir and Robert Goetz generously shared their time and expertise and helped me procure obscure materials. Alain Chappet, Uwe Wild, and Fausto Berutti helped me with French, German and Italian materials, while Jerry McKenzie and Terry Doherty were helpful in clarifying some details of the French order of battle. Robert Mosher kindly sent me dozens of photographs of the battlefield. Michael Hopper volunteered to edit the manuscript and his amazing dedication and numerous insightful comments helped me to improve it.