The Battle of Borodino

      Before 1812, Russia under Tsar Alexander I had signed a peace treaty with Napoleon's France known as the Treaty of Tilsit. This treaty made France and Russia briefly allied with each other against primarily Great Britain. However, part of the deal was Russia not trading with Britain. Not long after the ink was dry, Tsar Alexander came to realize that he could not survive without trading with Britain, causing a backlash from Napoleon and renewed war. Napoleon Responded with an invasion of Russia, aimed at taking the city of Moscow and succeeding. Napoleon failed to realize that Moscow was not Russia and Alexander never planned on talking terms with France.

Mikhail Kutuzov

     Count Michael Barclay de Tolly was unable to make a stand against Napoleon's Grand Armee column of around 285,000 men and continually retreated, scorching the earth. Frustrated with Barclay's performance, Alexander replaces Barclay with Mikhail Kutuzov. Kutuzov chooses the small village of Borodino to take up positions to defend Moscow. Using earthworks and hills, the Russian army was able to hold its own for much of the day, although it suffered up to 40 percent casualties out of up to 160,000 men. The Russian army's confidence however was on the rise. At the end of the day, The Russian's were not in disarray and were not demoralized, having held their own against the great Napoleon. It was at Borodino where Napoleon and his generals admitted lamentably that the invasion of Russia had failed. Too many french casualties were incurred and Napoleon's supply lines had become dangerously thin. The taking of Moscow was not much of a triumph for Napoleon and indeed proved fruitless. Weeks later when Napoleon finally retreated out of Russia, The army was strong enough to harass the French army all the way back to the Baltic and french held territory. The invasion of Russia ultimately crippled France and paved the way for Napoleon's exile to Elba. Even though Moscow had been surrendered and burned to the ground, Russia survived and regained her strength and military status.





Sources

Hickman, Kennedy. "Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Borodino." About.com.  2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.