28 November 1812
Battle on both banks
On 28 November the Russians attack on both banks. On the west bank Chaplits, reinforced with infantry from Chichagov’s army, pushes Oudinot back towards Brili. Oudinot is wounded and Ney takes command, and a charge by Jean-Pierre Doumerc’s cuirassiers drives the Russians back. About 25,000 men fight there until nightfall.
Dutch soldiers at the Berezina, by Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht, 1910Wikimedia Commons, Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht, Public domain (Dutch Soldiers at the Battle of Berezina.jpg)
On the east bank Wittgenstein attacks Victor’s IX Corps at 5 am and pushes it back in eight hours of fighting. At 1 pm Russian guns reach a position on the flank from which they can fire on the bridges. The shells fall on the crowd of stragglers, who rush for the bridges or try to swim the icy river, and one of the bridges breaks under the press.
The crossing of the Berezina, lithograph by Victor AdamWikimedia Commons, Victor Adam, Public domain (Biarezina. Бярэзіна (V. Adam, 1801-50).jpg)
Sources
- David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (1966).
- Adam Zamoyski, Moscow 1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March (2004).
- Paul Britten Austin, 1812: The Great Retreat (1996).
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