7 September 1812, 2 to 6 pm
The fall of the great redoubt
At 2 pm the divisions of Broussier, Morand and Gérard attack the great redoubt from the front, with cavalry on both flanks. Auguste de Caulaincourt leads Watier’s division of cuirassiers against the open back of the redoubt and is killed. Saxon and Polish cavalry under Johann von Thielmann break in from behind, and at 3:30 the redoubt falls with most of the 24th Division, whose commander Pyotr Likhachyov is captured.
French cuirassiers charging into the great redoubt, painting by Albrecht AdamWikimedia Commons, Albrecht Adam, Public domain (Adam-Borodino French cuirassiers.jpg)
The Russian Guard cavalry stops the French beyond the redoubt, and the Russians form a new line on the next ridge. Napoleon refuses requests to commit the Imperial Guard, and from 4 to 6 pm the Russian Guard stands in squares under artillery fire. Around Utitsa the Poles and the Russians skirmish for the rest of the day.
Napoleon at Borodino, painting by Vasily Vereshchagin, 1897Wikimedia Commons, Vasily Vereshchagin, Public domain (Vereshagin.Napoleon near Borodino.jpg)
About 250,000 men take part in the battle, and at least 68,000 are killed or wounded. French documents count about 28,000 French killed and wounded, other estimates reach 42,000, and 49 French generals are among them. Russian losses are put at 44,000 to 53,000, and on 8 September Kutuzov retreats towards Mozhaysk.
Sources
- Alexander Mikaberidze, The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov (2007).
- Christopher Duffy, Borodino and the War of 1812 (1972).
- Richard K. Riehn, 1812: Napoleon’s Russian Campaign (1990).
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