The day of the battle of Borodino on September 8 is brief. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

Battle of Borodino / Image: fragment of the panorama of the Battle of Borodino

September 8 is celebrated in Russia Day of military glory of Russia - Day of the Battle of Borodino Russian army under the command of M.I. Kutuzov with the French army (1812). It was established by Federal Law No. 32-FZ of March 13, 1995 "On the days of military glory and memorable dates in Russia."

The battle of Borodino (in the French version - “battle on the Moscow River”, French Bataille de la Moskowa) is the largest battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 between the Russian and French armies. The battle took place (August 26) on September 7, 1812 near the village of Borodino, located 125 kilometers west of Moscow, writes Calend.ru.

Battle of Borodino 1812

The main battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 between the Russian army under the command of General M. I. Kutuzov and the French army of Napoleon I Bonaparte took place on August 26 (September 7) near the village of Borodino near Mozhaisk, 125 km west of Moscow.

It is considered the bloodiest one-day battle in history.

About 300 thousand people participated in this grandiose battle on both sides with 1200 artillery pieces. At the same time, the French army had a significant numerical superiority - 130-135 thousand people against 103 thousand people in the Russian regular troops.

Prehistory

“In five years I will be master of the world. There is only Russia left, but I will crush it.”- with these words, Napoleon and his 600,000th army crossed the Russian border.

Since the beginning of the invasion of the French army into the territory of the Russian Empire in June 1812, Russian troops have constantly retreated. The rapid advance and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the French made it impossible for the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Infantry General Barclay de Tolly, to prepare the troops for battle. The protracted retreat caused public discontent, so Emperor Alexander I removed Barclay de Tolly and appointed General of Infantry Kutuzov as commander-in-chief.

However, the new commander-in-chief chose the path of retreat. The strategy chosen by Kutuzov was based, on the one hand, on exhausting the enemy, on the other hand, on waiting for reinforcements sufficient for a decisive battle with Napoleon's army.

On August 22 (September 3), the Russian army, retreating from Smolensk, settled down near the village of Borodino, 125 km from Moscow, where Kutuzov decided to give a general battle; it was impossible to postpone it further, since Emperor Alexander demanded that Kutuzov stop the advance of Emperor Napoleon towards Moscow.

The idea of ​​​​the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Kutuzov, was to inflict as many losses as possible on the French troops through active defense, change the balance of forces, save Russian troops for further battles and for the complete defeat of the French army. In accordance with this plan, the battle formation of the Russian troops was built.

The order of battle of the Russian army was composed of three lines: the first was for the infantry corps, the second for the cavalry, and the third for the reserves. The artillery of the army was evenly distributed throughout the position.

The position of the Russian army on the Borodino field was about 8 km long and looked like a straight line running from the Shevardinsky redoubt on the left flank through a large battery on Red Hill, later called the Raevsky battery, the village of Borodino in the center, to the village of Maslovo on the right flank.

The right flank formed 1st Army of General Barclay de Tolly consisting of 3 infantry, 3 cavalry corps and reserves (76 thousand people, 480 guns), the front of his position was covered by the Kolocha River. The left flank was formed by the smaller 2nd Army of General Bagration (34 thousand people, 156 guns). In addition, the left flank did not have such strong natural obstacles in front of the front as the right. The center (the height near the village of Gorki and the space up to the Rayevsky battery) was occupied by the VI Infantry and III Cavalry Corps under the general command Dokhturova. A total of 13,600 men and 86 guns.

Shevardino fight

The prologue of the Battle of Borodino was battle for the Shevardinsky redoubt on August 24 (September 5).

Here, the day before, a pentagonal redoubt was erected, which at first served as part of the position of the Russian left flank, and after the left flank was pushed back, became a separate advanced position. Napoleon ordered to attack the Shevardinsky position - the redoubt prevented the French army from turning around.

To gain time for engineering work, Kutuzov ordered the enemy to be detained near the village of Shevardino.

The redoubt and the approaches to it were defended by the legendary 27th division of Neverovsky. Shevardino was defended by Russian troops consisting of 8,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry with 36 guns.

The French infantry and cavalry, totaling over 40,000 men, attacked the defenders of Shevardin.

On the morning of August 24, when the Russian position on the left was not yet equipped, the French approached it. No sooner had the French forward units reached the village of Valuevo than the Russian chasseurs opened fire on them.

A fierce battle broke out near the village of Shevardino. During it, it became clear that the enemy was going to deliver the main blow to the left flank of the Russian troops, which was defended by the 2nd Army under the command of Bagration.

During the stubborn battle, the Shevardinsky redoubt was almost completely destroyed.

The great army of Napoleon lost about 5,000 people in the battle of Shevardino, the Russian army suffered approximately the same losses.

The battle at the Shevardino redoubt delayed the French troops and gave the Russian troops the opportunity to gain time to complete the defensive work and build fortifications on the main positions. The Shevardinsky battle also made it possible to clarify the grouping of French troops and the direction of their main attack.

It was established that the main enemy forces were concentrated in the Shevardin area against the center and left flank of the Russian army. On the same day, Kutuzov sent Tuchkov's 3rd Corps to the left flank, secretly placing it in the Utitsa area. And in the area of ​​​​the Bagration Flushes, a reliable defense was created. The 2nd Free Grenadier Division of General M.S. Vorontsov occupied the fortifications directly, and the 27th Infantry Division of General D.P. Neverovsky stood in the second line behind the fortifications.

Battle of Borodino

Before the great battle

25-th of August in the area of ​​the Borodino field, active hostilities were not conducted. Both armies were preparing for a decisive, general battle, conducting reconnaissance and erecting field fortifications. Three fortifications were built on a small hill to the south-west of the village of Semenovskoye, called the "Bagration Flushes".

According to ancient tradition, the Russian army prepared for the decisive battle as if it were a holiday. The soldiers washed, shaved, put on clean linen, confessed, etc.

On August 25 (September 6), Emperor Napoleon Bonoparte personally conducted a reconnaissance of the area of ​​the future battle and, having discovered the weakness of the left flank of the Russian army, decided to deliver the main blow to it. Accordingly, he developed a battle plan. First of all, the task was to capture the left bank of the Kolocha River, for which it was necessary to capture Borodino. This maneuver, according to Napoleon, was supposed to divert the attention of the Russians from the direction of the main attack. Then transfer the main forces of the French army to the right bank of the Kolocha and, relying on Borodino, which has become, as it were, the axis of entry, push the Kutuzov army with the right wing into the corner formed by the confluence of the Kolocha with the Moscow River, and destroy it.

To accomplish the task, Napoleon on the evening of August 25 (September 6) began to concentrate the main forces (up to 95 thousand) in the area of ​​​​the Shevardinsky redoubt. The total number of French troops in front of the front of the 2nd Army reached 115 thousand.

Thus, Napoleon's plan pursued the decisive goal of destroying the entire Russian army in a pitched battle. Napoleon did not doubt the victory, the confidence in which, at sunrise on August 26, he expressed the words """This is the sun of Austerlitz""!".

On the eve of the battle, the famous order of Napoleon was read to the French soldiers: "Warriors! Here is the battle you have been longing for. Victory is up to you. We need it; she will give us everything we need, comfortable apartments and a speedy return to the fatherland. Act as you did at Austerlitz, Friedland, Vitebsk and Smolensk. May later posterity proudly remember your exploits in this day. Let them say about each of you: he was in the great battle near Moscow!

The beginning of the great battle

M.I. Kutuzov at the command post on the day of the Battle of Borodino

The battle of Borodino began at 5 o'clock in the morning, on the day of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, on the day when Russia celebrates the salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395.

Decisive battles unfolded for Bagration's flashes and Raevsky's battery, which the French managed to capture at the cost of heavy losses.

Battle scheme

Bagration flushes

At 5:30 am August 26 (September 7), 1812 more than 100 French guns began to bombard the positions of the left flank. Napoleon unleashed the main blow on the left flank, trying from the very beginning of the battle to turn its course in his favor.

At 6 o'clock in the morning after a short cannonade, the French attack on Bagration's flushes began ( flushes called field fortifications, which consisted of two faces 20-30 m long each at an acute angle, the corner with the top facing the enemy). But they came under shotgun fire and were driven back by a flank attack by rangers.

Averyanov. Battle for Bagration's flashes

At 8 o'clock in the morning the French repeated the attack and captured the southern flush.
For the 3rd attack, Napoleon reinforced the attacking forces with 3 more infantry divisions, 3 cavalry corps (up to 35,000 people) and artillery, bringing its strength to 160 guns. They were opposed by about 20,000 Russian troops with 108 guns.

Evgeny Korneev. Cuirassiers of His Majesty. The battle of the brigade of Major General N. M. Borozdin

After heavy artillery preparation, the French managed to break into the southern flush and into the gaps between the flushes. Around 10 am the fleches were captured by the French.

Then Bagration led a general counterattack, as a result of which the flushes were repulsed, and the French were thrown back to the starting line.

By 10 o'clock in the morning, the entire field over Borodino was already covered with thick smoke.

AT 11 o'clock in the morning Napoleon threw in a new 4th attack against the flushes about 45 thousand infantry and cavalry, and almost 400 guns. The Russian troops had about 300 guns, and were inferior in number to the enemy by 2 times. As a result of this attack, the 2nd combined-grenadier division of M.S. Vorontsov, which participated in the Shevardinsky battle and withstood the 3rd attack on flushes, retained about 300 people out of 4,000 in its composition.

Then, within an hour, 3 more attacks from the French troops followed, which were repulsed.

At 12 noon , during the 8th attack, Bagration, seeing that the artillery of the flashes could not stop the movement of the French columns, led a general counterattack of the left wing, the total number of troops of which was approximately only 20 thousand people against 40 thousand from the enemy. A fierce hand-to-hand fight ensued, which lasted for about an hour. During this time, the masses of French troops were driven back to the Utitsky forest and were on the verge of defeat. The advantage leaned towards the Russian troops, but during the transition to the counterattack, Bagration, wounded by a fragment of the cannonball in the thigh, fell off his horse and was taken out of the battlefield. The news of the wounding of Bagration instantly swept through the ranks of the Russian troops and undermined the morale of the Russian soldiers. Russian troops began to retreat. ( Note. Bagration died of blood poisoning on September 12 (25), 1812)

After that, General D.S. took command of the left flank. Dokhturov. The French troops were bled dry and unable to attack. The Russian troops were greatly weakened, but they retained their combat effectiveness, which was revealed during the repulse of the attack of fresh French forces on Semyonovskoye.

In total, about 60,000 French troops took part in the battles for the flushes, of which about 30,000 were lost, about half in the 8th attack.

The French fought fiercely in the battles for the flushes, but all but the last of their attacks were repulsed by the much smaller Russian forces. By concentrating forces on the right flank, Napoleon ensured a 2-3-fold numerical superiority in the battles for flushes, thanks to which, as well as due to the wounding of Bagration, the French still managed to push the left wing of the Russian army to a distance of about 1 km. This success did not lead to the decisive result that Napoleon had hoped for.

The direction of the main attack of the "Great Army" shifted from the left flank to the center of the Russian line, to the Kurgan Battery.

Raevsky battery

The last skirmishes of the Battle of Borodino in the evening took place at the battery of Raevsky and Utitsky Kurgan.

A high mound, located in the center of the Russian position, dominated the surrounding area. A battery was installed on it, which had 18 guns by the beginning of the battle. The defense of the battery was assigned to the 7th Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General N.N. Raevsky, which consisted of 11 thousand bayonets.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, in the midst of the battle for Bagration's fleches, the French launched the first attack on the Raevsky battery.A bloody battle took place on the battery.

Losses on both sides were huge. A number of units on both sides lost most of their composition. The corps of General Raevsky lost more than 6 thousand people. And, for example, the French infantry regiment Bonami retained 300 out of 4100 people in its ranks after the battle for Raevsky’s battery. Raevsky’s battery received the nickname “grave of the French cavalry” from the French for these losses. At the cost of huge losses (the general commander of the French cavalry and his comrades-in-arms fell at Kurgan height), the French troops stormed Raevsky's battery at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

However, the capture of Kurgan height did not lead to a decrease in the stability of the Russian center. The same applies to the flushes, which were only defensive structures of the position of the left flank of the Russian army.

End of the battle

Vereshchagin. End of the Battle of Borodino

After the Raevsky battery was occupied by the French troops, the battle began to subside. On the left flank, the French carried out unsuccessful attacks against Dokhturov's 2nd Army. In the center and on the right flank, the matter was limited to artillery fire until 7 pm.

V. V. Vereshchagin. End of the Battle of Borodino

On the evening of August 26, by 18 o'clock, the battle of Borodino was over. Attacks stopped along the entire front. Until the very night, only artillery skirmishes and rifle fire continued in the advanced jaeger chains.

The results of the battle of Borodino

What were the results of this most bloody of battles? Very sad for Napoleon, because there was no victory here, which all those close to him had been waiting in vain for a whole day. Napoleon was disappointed with the results of the battle: the "Great Army" was able to force the Russian troops on the left flank and center to retreat only 1–1.5 km. The Russian army retained the integrity of the position and its communications, repelled many French attacks, while counterattacking itself. The artillery duel, for all its duration and fierceness, did not give advantages to either the French or the Russians. French troops captured the main strongholds of the Russian army - the Rayevsky battery and the Semyonovsky flashes. But the fortifications on them were almost completely destroyed, and by the end of the battle, Napoleon ordered them to leave and withdraw the troops to their original positions. Few prisoners were captured (as well as guns), Russian soldiers took with them most of the wounded comrades. The general battle turned out not to be a new Austerlitz, but a bloody battle with unclear results.

Perhaps, in tactical terms, the Battle of Borodino was another victory for Napoleon - he forced the Russian army to retreat and give up Moscow. However, in strategic terms, it was a victory for Kutuzov and the Russian army. In the campaign of 1812 there was a radical change. The Russian army withstood the battle with the strongest enemy and its morale only got stronger. Soon its numbers and material resources will be restored. Napoleon's army lost heart, lost the ability to win, the halo of invincibility. Further events will only confirm the correctness of the words of the military theorist Karl Clausewitz, who noted that "victory lies not just in capturing the battlefield, but in the physical and moral defeat of the enemy forces."

Later, while in exile, the defeated French emperor Napoleon admitted: “Of all my battles, the most terrible is what I fought near Moscow. The French showed themselves worthy of victory in it, and the Russians - to be called invincible.

The number of losses of the Russian army in the Battle of Borodino amounted to 44-45 thousand people. The French, according to some estimates, lost about 40-60 thousand people. The losses in the command staff were especially heavy: in the Russian army 4 were killed and mortally wounded, 23 generals were wounded and shell-shocked; in the Grand Army, 12 generals were killed and died of wounds, one marshal and 38 generals were wounded.

The battle of Borodino is one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century and the bloodiest of all that came before it. According to the most conservative estimates of cumulative losses, 2,500 people died on the field every hour. It is no coincidence that Napoleon called the battle of Borodino his greatest battle, although its results are more than modest for a great commander accustomed to victories.

The main achievement of the general battle at Borodino was that Napoleon failed to defeat the Russian army. But first of all, the Borodino field became the cemetery of the French dream, that selfless faith of the French people in the star of their emperor, in his personal genius, which underlay all the achievements of the French Empire.

On October 3, 1812, the English newspapers The Courier and The Times published a report from the English ambassador Katkar from St. Petersburg, in which he said that the armies of His Imperial Majesty Alexander I had won the most stubborn battle of Borodino. During October, The Times wrote about the Battle of Borodino 8 times, calling the day of the battle "a grandiose memorable day in Russian history" and "the fatal battle of Bonaparte." The British ambassador and the press did not consider the retreat after the battle and the abandonment of Moscow as a result of the battle, realizing the impact on these events of a strategic situation unfavorable for Russia.

For Borodino, Kutuzov received the rank of Field Marshal and 100 thousand rubles. The tsar granted Bagration 50 thousand rubles. For participation in the Battle of Borodino, each soldier was given 5 silver rubles.

The meaning of the Battle of Borodino in the minds of the Russian people

The Battle of Borodino continues to occupy an important place in the historical consciousness of very broad sections of Russian society. Today it, along with similar great pages of Russian history, is being falsified by the camp of Russophobic-minded figures who position themselves as "historians". By distorting reality and forgery in custom publications, at any cost, regardless of reality, they are trying to bring to wide circles the idea of ​​a tactical victory for the French with fewer losses and that the Battle of Borodino was not a triumph of Russian weapons.This is because the Battle of Borodino, as an event in which the strength of the spirit of the Russian people was manifested, is one of the cornerstones that build Russia in the minds of modern society precisely as a great power. Throughout the entire modern history of Russia, Russophobic propaganda has been loosening these bricks.

Materials prepared by Sergei Shulyak, fragments of paintings by Russian artists and panoramas of the Battle of Borodino were used.

"This day will remain an eternal monument to the courage and excellent bravery of Russian soldiers, where all the infantry, cavalry and artillery fought desperately. The desire of everyone was to die on the spot and not give in to the enemy."
M.I. Kutuzov
"Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I gave near Moscow. The French in it showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible ..."
Napoleon Bonaparte

Last year, Russia celebrated on a grand scale the 200th anniversary of the victory in the war of 1812 and the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, a battle that demonstrated to the whole world the indomitable desire of the Russian soldier for victory and the readiness to fight for the Fatherland to the last drop of blood. The celebration of the 200th anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 included many festive events, major military historical reconstructions, and the implementation of a number of educational projects, from a series of TV shows on federal channels to open lessons dedicated to the events of 1812 in schools . The anniversary has passed, but this circumstance should not negate the need to keep the memory of those glorious, truly epoch-making events that had a tremendous impact on the course of the entire national economy, making Russia one of the most influential world powers, which it remains to this day. Let's not forget about the exploits of our ancestors, committed on that distant day on the field near the small Russian village of Borodino, whose name has become synonymous with courage and heroism, self-sacrifice and stamina, inherent in our soldier from the ages, selflessly loving his great Motherland. On that day, in the words of our then enemy Napoleon Bonaparte, we "acquired the right to be invincible", and this right remains with us to this day.

Vasily Vereshchagin
Napoleon and his marshals

Alexander Averyanov
Bagration in the Battle of Borodino. Last counterattack

Nikolai Samokish
The feat of the soldiers of General Raevsky near Saltanovka

Alexander Averyanov
Battle of Shevardino

- Tell me, uncle, it's not for nothing
Moscow burned by fire
given to the French?
After all, there were fighting battles,
Yes, they say, what else!
No wonder the whole of Russia remembers
About the day of Borodin!
M. Lermontov "Borodino", 1837

The battle of Borodino (in the French version - “battle on the Moscow River”, French Bataille de la Moskowa) is the largest battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 between the Russian and French armies. The battle took place on September 7 (August 26, old style), 1812, near the village of Borodino, located 125 kilometers west of Moscow.

The battle ended in an uncertain outcome for both sides. The French forces under Napoleon were unable to win a decisive victory over the Russian forces under General Mikhail Kutuzov, sufficient to win the entire campaign. The subsequent retreat of the Russian army after the battle was dictated by strategic considerations and ultimately led to the defeat of Napoleon.

Napoleon later wrote in his memoirs (translated by Mikhnevich):

“Of all my battles, the most terrible is the one I fought near Moscow. The French showed themselves worthy of victory in it, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible ... Of the fifty battles I gave, in the battle near Moscow [the French] showed the most valor and won the least success.

Memoirs of Kutuzov:

“The battle of the 26th, the former, was the most bloody of all those that are known in modern times. The place of the battle was completely won by us, and the enemy then retreated to the position in which he came to attack us.

Battle of Borodino - historical facts

The Russian army stood 125 km from Moscow. Near the village of Borodino, Kutuzov decided to give the French a general battle. On the Borodino field it was easy to take a strong position. Fortifications, structures made of earth and logs were erected here, artillery batteries were placed.

On August 24, French troops approached the Borodino field. The Battle of Borodino was one of the largest battles of its time. Napoleon's troops numbered 135 thousand people and 560 guns, Kutuzov had more than 120 thousand people and 620 guns.

Early in the morning of September 6 (August 26) the great Battle of Borodino began. For 6 hours, the troops under the command of Bagration fought off fierce enemy attacks on the left flank. During the eighth attack, Bagration was mortally wounded. A fierce battle flared up for the center of the Russian position - the Raevsky battery. Several times the battery changed hands.

At the cost of huge losses, the French managed to capture the Rayevsky battery and Bagration's flashes, but Napoleon was convinced that they could not be held, and in the evening he ordered the troops to be withdrawn to their original positions. The heroic actions of the Russian troops prevented the French from reaching the Moscow road. This battle was described by M.Yu. Lermontov in the poem "Borodino".

Battle of Borodino - battle on the Moscow River, fr. Bataille de la Moskova) - the largest battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 between the Russian and French armies. It took place on September 7 (August 26, old style), 1812, near the village of Borodino (125 km west of Moscow).

The 12-hour battle, during which the French managed to capture the positions of the Russian army in the center and on the left wing, ended with the withdrawal of the French army after the cessation of hostilities to their original positions. The next day, the Russian army resumed its retreat.

According to the memoirs of the French general Pele, a participant in the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon often repeated a similar phrase: “The battle of Borodino was the most beautiful and most formidable, the French showed themselves worthy of victory, and the Russians deserved to be invincible.”

The battle of Borodino is read as the bloodiest one-day battle in history.

How it all began

Since the beginning of the invasion of the French army into the territory of the Russian Empire in June 1812, Russian troops have constantly retreated. The rapid advance and the overwhelming numerical superiority of the French made it impossible for the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, General Barclay de Tolly, to prepare troops for battle. The protracted retreat caused public discontent, so Alexander I removed Barclay de Tolly and appointed General of Infantry Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. However, he also had to retreat in order to gain time to gather all his forces.

On August 22 (according to the old style), the Russian army, retreating from Smolensk, settled down near the village of Borodino, 124 km from Moscow, where Kutuzov decided to give a general battle; it was impossible to postpone it further, since Emperor Alexander demanded that Kutuzov stop Napoleon's advance towards Moscow. On August 24 (September 5), the battle took place at the Shevardinsky redoubt, which delayed the French troops and made it possible for the Russians to build fortifications on the main positions.

The number of losses of the Russian army has been repeatedly revised by historians. Different sources give different numbers:

38-45 thousand people, including 23 generals. The inscription "45 thousand" is carved on the Main Monument on the Borodino field, erected in 1839, and is also indicated on the 15th wall of the gallery of military glory of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

58 thousand killed and wounded, up to 1,000 captured. The data on losses are given here on the basis of a summary of the duty general of the 1st Army immediately after the battle, the losses of the 2nd Army were estimated by historians of the 19th century quite arbitrarily at 20 thousand. These data were no longer considered reliable at the end of the 19th century, they are not taken into account in the ESBE, which indicates the number of losses "up to 40 thousand." Modern historians believe that the report on the 1st Army also contained information about the losses of the 2nd Army, since there were no officers responsible for the reports in the 2nd Army. According to the surviving statements from the RGVIA archive, the Russian army lost missing 39,300 people (21,766 in the 1st Army, 17,445 in the 2nd Army), but taking into account the fact that the data sheets are incomplete for various reasons (do not include the loss of the militia and Cossacks), historians increase this number to 45 thousand people.

Alexander I announced the Battle of Borodino as a victory. Prince Kutuzov was promoted to field marshal with an award of 100 thousand rubles. All the lower ranks who were in the battle were granted five rubles each.

The Battle of Borodino is one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century. According to the most conservative estimates of cumulative losses, 2,500 people died on the field every hour. Some divisions lost up to 80% of their composition. The French fired 60,000 cannon and nearly a million and a half rifle shots. It is no coincidence that Napoleon called the battle of Borodino his greatest battle, although its results are more than modest for a great commander accustomed to victories.

The Russian army retreated, but retained its fighting capacity and soon drove Napoleon out of Russia.

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After the withdrawal of the Russian army from Smolensk, Commander-in-Chief Infantry General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov decided, relying on a pre-selected position (near the village of Borodino, located 124 kilometers west of Moscow), to give the French army a general battle in order to inflict as much damage as possible on it and stop the offensive to Moscow. Napoleon I set a goal in the battle of Borodino to defeat the Russian army, capture Moscow and force Russia to conclude peace on favorable terms.

The position of the Russian army on the Borodino field along the front and up to 7 kilometers in depth. Its right flank adjoined the Moskva River, the left flank - to the impenetrable forest, the center rested on the height of Kurgannaya, covered from the west by the Semenovsky stream.

The forest and shrubs in the rear of the position made it possible to covertly deploy troops and maneuver with reserves.

The position was strengthened by fortifications: at the tip of the right flank, near the forest, with a front to the Moscow River, three flushes were built (a field fortification in the form of an obtuse angle facing the enemy with its top); near the village of Gorki, on the new Smolensk road - two batteries, one higher than the other, one for three guns, the other for nine; in the center of the position, at a height - a large lunette (a field fortification open from the rear, consisting of side ramparts and a ditch in front), armed with 18 guns (later called Raevsky's battery); in front and to the south of the village of Semenovskaya - three flashes (Bagration's flashes); the village of Borodino, on the left bank of the Kolocha, was placed on the defensive; a pentagonal redoubt was built on Shevardinsky Hill (a closed rectangular, polygonal or round field fortification with an external moat and parapet) for 12 guns.

Napoleon achieved some success in the battle of Borodino, but he did not solve his main task - to defeat the Russian army in a pitched battle. Kutuzov contrasted the Napoleonic strategy of a general battle with a different, higher form of struggle - achieving victory in a series of battles united by one plan.

In the Battle of Borodino, the Russian army showed examples of tactical art: maneuvering with reserves from the depths and along the front, the successful use of cavalry for actions on the flank, the stubbornness and activity of the defense, continuous counterattacks in the interaction of infantry, cavalry and artillery. The enemy was forced to conduct frontal attacks. The battle turned into a frontal clash, in which Napoleon's chances for a decisive victory over the Russian army were reduced to zero.

The battle of Borodino did not lead to an immediate turning point in the course of the war, but it radically changed the course of the war. To successfully complete it, it took time to make up for losses, to prepare a reserve. It took only about 1.5 months when the Russian army, led by Kutuzov, was able to begin the expulsion of enemy forces from Russia.

Every year on the first Sunday of September on the Borodino field (Mozhaisk district of the Moscow region) the anniversary of the battle of Borodino is widely celebrated. The culmination of the holiday is the military-historical reconstruction of episodes of the Battle of Borodino on the parade ground theater west of the village of Borodino. More than a thousand lovers of military history, who made uniforms, equipment and weapons of the era of 1812 with their own hands, unite in the "Russian" and "French" armies. At the same time, they demonstrate the tactics of warfare, knowledge of the military regulations of that time, possession of firearms and edged weapons. The spectacle ends with a parade of military-historical clubs and the awarding of those who distinguished themselves in battle.

On this day, more than 100 thousand people from Russia and foreign countries who are interested in the military history of the era of the Napoleonic wars gather annually at the Borodino field.

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