Battle
Take the works, let the army withdraw
Military history
At Borodino, the French captured Bagration’s flèches and the Great Redoubt after costly assaults. The Russians counterattacked, shifted their reserves and formed a new line behind the lost positions. In the north, a cavalry diversion slowed Eugène’s effort; in the south, the woods contained Poniatowski. Napoleon held back his infantry reserve. The French kept the field, but the Russian army resumed its retreat toward Moscow.
After summer retreats, Kutuzov accepted battle on the road to Moscow. The Kolocha protected part of the Russian right, but the left near the Outitsa woods remained more exposed. Fieldworks strengthened this uneven line.
On 5 September, the French captured the forward work at Shevardino. The Russian left fell back toward the flèches and Semionovskoye. The 6th was spent on reconnaissance, preparations and bridges before the general battle.
In the north, Borodino commanded crossings of the Kolocha. In the center, the Great Redoubt dominated a height. Farther south, the flèches, the Semionovsky ravine and the Outitsa woods required separate attacks; no local success by itself closed the Russian road east.
The Russians drew troops from their right and counterattacked threatened positions. Uvarov and Platov’s intervention later diverted Eugène’s attention. By the time the works fell, both armies were badly worn and a new Russian line still stood.
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Military history
Notice : fonds VUA, dossier 3561, feuillets 52–58 ; édition de 1947, pp. 163–173.
Locate the Russian report held in the archives. Only the bibliographic notice was reviewed; it does not replace reading the document.
View ↗Rapport du 3/15 septembre : Kolocha et Voïna, attaque, résistance adverse et ordre de retour.
Uvarov’s diversion phase and the distinction among local success, French response and absence of decisive envelopment.
View ↗Rapport du 10 septembre : ponts préparés, village, attaque de Morand, contre-attaques, diversion au nord et assaut final.
French perspective on Borodino, Raevsky Redoubt and the sequence of attacks; times are compared with the syntheses.
View ↗Sections En marche vers Borodino, 7 septembre, la bataille de Borodino et Vers Moscou.
Relational topography, general course, strength estimates and limits of the French victory.
View ↗Notice de musée sur la hauteur de Kourgane et le secteur de Raïevski, référence héritée.
Map landmarks, role of the central redoubt, Russian reinforcements and counterattacks.
View ↗Notice russe sur les hauteurs de Semionovskoïé : ouvrages, Vorontsov, Davout et Ney, Bagration blessé, ravin et Friant.
Geography of the flèches, sequence of assaults and a cautious limit on final occupation of the heights.
View ↗Sections Le contexte de 1822-1824 et analyse du tableau ; composition postérieure à la bataille.
Understand pictorial groupings of scenes. This article’s account of a redoubt held until night contradicts Eugène’s report and does not settle the tactical chronology.
View ↗Étude archéologique, pages 1–2 et 6–9 dans la référence antérieure : travaux, emplacements et capacités de la batterie ; non relue intégralement lors de cette reprise.
Specialist check of the fortification and explicit treatment of disagreement over the number of guns; it is not used to invent a phase strength.
View ↗Introduction du portail de compléments à The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon versus Kutuzov.
Identify the specialist work and its report corpus. This introduction does not provide a detailed casualty balance by side.
View ↗Étude de V. N. Kolesnik, PDF de sept pages, référence cartographique héritée.
Reference retained but not reviewed during this revision because it did not load. The new map is based on West Point maps that were examined.
View ↗The Russian Campaign, cartes 116, 117 et 118 ; images NapWars116-01.jpg, NapWars117-01.jpg et NapWars118-01.jpg examinées.
Kolocha course, old and new roads, positions of the works, corps sectors, northern diversion and the new Russian line.
View ↗Notice de la reconstitution de 2011 : emploi du 21e Jägers à Outitsa, habit vert, équipement noir, shako 1808 et fusil.
Depiction of Russian light infantry in the wooded sector; no regiment number added to the figure.
View ↗Notice de la reconstitution de 2011 : cuirasse non peinte, casque à crinière, épaulettes rouges et sabre droit.
French cuirassier silhouette; heavy cavalry’s role in the final assault cross-checked against Eugène’s report.
View ↗Shako, uniforme avant le règlement Bardin, havresac, fusil et giberne ; lecture faite lors de Wagram dans cette même reprise.
Reuse of a French campaign silhouette with shako and pre-Bardin coat, plausible in 1812.
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