Online Encyclopedia

September 1812. Though the battle is remembered chiefly for the terrible losses incurred by both sides, in many respects it is an excellent example of Napoleon's See also:

TACTICAL

tactical methods. After preliminary fighting on the 5th of September both sides prepared for battle on the 6th, Napoleon holding back in the See also:

hope of confirming the enemy in his See also:

RESOLUTION

resolution to fight a decisive battle. For the same See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason the See also:

French right wing, which could have manoeuvred the Russians from their position, was designedly weakened. The See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian right, See also:

bent back at an See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle and strongly posted, was also neglected, for Napoleon intended to make a See also:

DIRECT

direct frontal attack. The enemy's right centre near the village of Borodino was to be attacked by the See also:

VICEROY (from O. Fr. viceroy, mod. viceroi, i.e. Lat. vice, in place of, and roy or roi, king)

viceroy of See also:

Italy, See also:

EUGENE

Eugene, who was afterwards to See also:

roll up the Russian See also:

LINE

line towards its centre, the so-called "great See also:

REDOUBT (Fr. redoute, from Med. Lat. reductus, a place of retreat, refuge, reducere, lead back, retire; the intrusive b is due to the O. Fr. redoubter, to fear, Lat. dubitare, to doubt)

redoubt," which was to be attacked directly from the front by See also:

NEY, MICHEL

Ney and See also:

Junot. Farther to the French right, See also:

DAVOUT, LOUIS NICOLAS

Davout was to attack frontally a See also:

GROUP

group of See also:

field See also:

WORKS

works on which the Russian See also:

LEFT

left centre was formed; and the extreme right of the French army was composed of the weak See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps of See also:

Poniatowski. The See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry corps were assigned. to the various leaders named; and the Guard was held in reserve. The whole line was not more than about 2 M. See also:

long, giving an See also:

AVERAGE

average of over 20 men per yard. When the Russians closed on their centre they were even more densely massed, and their reserves were subjected to an effective See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire from the French field guns. At 6 A.M. on the 7th of September the French attack began.

By 8 A.M. the Russian centre was driven in, and though a furious See also:

COUNTER

counter-attack enabled See also:

Prince See also:

BAGRATION, PETER, PRINCE (1765-1812)

Bagration's troops to win back their See also:

ORIGINAL

original line, fresh French troops under Davout and Ney drove them back again. But the Russians, though they lost ground elsewhere, still clung to the great redoubt, and for a See also:

time the advance of the French was suspended by Napoleon's See also:

order, owing to a cavalry attack by the Russians on Eugene's extreme left. When this alarm was ended the advance was resumed. Napoleon had now collected a sufficient See also:

target for his guns. A terrific See also:

BOMBARDMENT

bombardment by the See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery was followed by the decisive See also:

charge of the battle, made by great masses of cavalry. The horsemen, followed by the See also:

INFANTRY

infantry, charged at See also:

SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

speed, See also:

broke the Russian line in two, and the French squadrons entered the See also:

GORGE

gorge of the great redoubt just as Eugene's infantry climbed up its faces. In a fearful melee the Russian See also:

garrison of the redoubt was almost annihilated. The defenders were now dislodged from their See also:

main line and the battle was practically at an end. Napoleon has been criticized for not using the Guard, which was intact, to See also:

COMPLETE

complete the victory. There is, however, no See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence that any further See also:

EXPENDITURE

expenditure of men would have had See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good results. Napoleon had imposed his will on the enemy so far that they ceded See also:

possession of Moscow without further resistance. That the defeat and losses of the.

Russian field army did not end the See also:

war was due to the See also:

NATIONAL

national spirit of the Russians, not to military miscalculations of Napoleon. Had it not been for this spirit, Borodino would have been decisive of the war without 'the final See also:

BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow of the Guard. As it was, the Russians lost about 42,000 men out of 121,000; Napoleon's army (of which one-See also:

HALF

half consisted of the contingents of subject allies—Germany, See also:

Poland, See also:

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland, See also:

Holland, &c.) 32,000 out of 130,000 (Berndt, Zahl See also:

IM(K2+a2+h2—2 ah cos 0)

im Kriege). On the See also:

side of the French 31 See also:

general See also:

OFFICERS

officers were killed, wounded or taken, and amongst the killed were General See also:

MONTBRUN, LOUIS PIERRE, COUNT (1770-1812)

Montbrun, who See also:

fell at the See also:

head of his cavalry corps, and Auguste See also:

CAULAINCOURT, ARMAND AUGUSTIN LOUIS, MARQUIS DE (1773-1827)

Caulaincourt, who took Montbrun's See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place and fell in the melee in the redoubt. The Russians lost 22 generals, amongst them Prince Bagration, who died of his wounds after the battle, and to whose memory a See also:

MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

monument was erected on the battle-field by the See also:

TSAR, or CZAR

tsar See also:

Nicholas I.

End of Article: BORODINO

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BORODIN, ALEXANDER PORFYRIEVICH (1834–1889)

[next]
BOROLANITE