The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov

by Alexander Mikaberidze

  Rayevsky wrote:

  This was a decisive moment […] My guns began to thunder out when the enemy came within range and the smoke hid the French so completely that we could see nothing of their array or ascertain what progress they were making. There was one of my orderly officers standing a little to the left of me, and after another volley331 he cried out, ‘Your Excellency, save yourself!’ I turned around and fifteen yards away I saw French grenadiers pouring into my redoubt with fixed bayonets.

  Rayevsky, with a wounded leg, managed to mount his horse and galloped to the nearby hill to observe the area.332

  The 30th Line was first to reach the redoubt, charging with bayonets. According to François:

  We dashed towards the Redoubt and climbed through the embrasures […] The Russian gunners tried to beat us back with spikes and ramrods and we found them truly formidable opponents as we grappled with them hand-to-hand. At the same time a large number of French soldiers fell into the wolf pits and landed on Russian troops who had already tumbled in. Once inside the redoubt, I fought the Russian gunners with my sword and cut down more than one of them …

  Yermolov noted:

  Our feeble fortification with just a few troops had withstood the concentrated ire of superior enemy forces for [a] long time but there was not a single caisson for any of its eighteen guns and their feeble ire facilitated the French advance. Due to limited space inside the fortification, only [a] small number of infantry could be deployed there at any one time and any troops outside the redoubt were mowed down by canister and scattered.

  In a bloody combat, the French swept through and beyond the redoubt, chasing the survivors before them. Cesare de Laugier, standing on a hill at a distance from the redoubt, could observe it all ‘as a spectator at a circus might make out what is going on in the ring below him’. Seeing the dashing attack of the 30th Line, he was seized with an ‘indescribable anxiety’ and cheered his comrades. Not far from him, von Muraldt (from the Bavarian troops) saw Prince Eugène excited by this initial success and ‘waving his hat in the air and crying ‘The battle is won!’

  This was indeed an important moment in the battle. With the Russian left wing in tatters after the loss of the flèches and Bagration’s wound, the French success in the centre threatened to break the Russian Army into two parts. Pelet reasoned: ‘Had Morand been supported or had he managed to hold ground, the battle would have been lost for the Russians. Their centre would have been pierced and the forces of Barclay and Bagration separated …’ Griois, standing with his guns near the ravine, saw as ‘a grenadier, who had been wounded in this attack, came back, covered in blood and drunk on glory, to confirm for us the happy success, which, by opening the enemy centre and separating his two wings, seemed to decide the victory for us’. The Russian centre was indeed in chaos and Yermolov tells us that he saw crowds of soldiers in complete disorder running from the front line.

  But Morand was not supported and Rayevsky himself later criticized the enemy attack because ‘the [French] became the very cause of their defeat since they had no reserve to support the attacking column’. Bonnamy’s troops could not take advantage of the guns captured inside the redoubt since first, they hardly had time to do it, and second, on Rayevsky’s orders, no caissons were left nearby to supply the guns. Bonnamy’s troops were overextended and unsupported. Morand’s other units were still moving on the plateau in front of the redoubt when they came under attack from the Russians (unclear what units) and Morand himself was wounded in the chin by grapeshot, which briefly halted the advance.333

  According to Gérard’s report, three battalions of the 12th Light were sent forward to protect Morand’s right flank while, on the left, the 7th Light advanced in ‘an open order to the base of the redoubt, where a fierce fighting developed’.334 Thus, only a battalion of the 13th Light was close enough to support Bonnamy’s troops inside the redoubt. It is unclear how long Bonnamy’s troops remained in control of the redoubt, but it could not have been longer than half an hour, since Russian reports imply the counterattack was launched immediately after the redoubt was seized. Thus, Laugier’s elation at seeing the redoubt fall was soon replaced by ‘a feeling of pity as this unfortunate regiment [30th Line] which I had just been admiring was [being] massacred …’

  Rayevsky remembered as ‘Vasilchikov and Paskevich, acting on my earlier instructions, attacked the enemy at once’. Simultaneously, Yermolov happened to be passing in the vicinity of the redoubt. He was sent by Kutuzov to rally the troops on the left wing following Bagration’s injury and was accompanied by his adjutant, Pavel Grabbe, and young General Kutaisov. The latter, Yermolov recalled

  eagerly desired to join me. I pleaded with him to return to his command and reminded him of Prince Kutuzov’s earlier angry reproach that he was never around when he was needed; however, Kutaisov did not accept my advice and stayed with me …

  Divov, who served at the headquarters, also remembered that ‘Kutaisov did not follow Kutuzov’s order to remain with him and went with Yermolov towards the battery …’ Pavel Grabbe, who, as noted, also accompanied Yermolov, was aware of the Russian Commander-in-Chief’s reluctance to let Kutaisov go, and ‘for a long time Kutuzov did not allow Yermolov and Count Kutaisov to leave him, although both of them were bursting to go to Bagration. When Kutuzov finally ordered Yermolov to go there, Kutaisov [defied Kutuzov] and followed him.’ Denis Davydov added:

  Kutaisov decided to accompany Yermolov despite the latter’s arguments to dissuade him, ‘You always rush where you are not supposed to be, do not you remember the Commander-in-Chief’s recent reprimand that no one could find you. I am going to the 2nd Army to act on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief, but what will you do there?’335

  Approaching Rayevsky’s Redoubt, Yermolov found it

  covered with thick smoke and the troops protecting the heights scattered. Many of us knew and, it was indeed obvious, that leaving this important point, as General Bennigsen described it, in the enemy’s possession would result in the most disastrous consequences for us. Therefore, I immediately rushed to this place. Any minute lost could have been fatal for us.

  Yermolov ordered the 3rd Battalion of the Ufa Infantry Regiment to follow him in open order, hoping to halt the fleeing troops. He then directed the 18th, 19th and 40th jägers forward as well:

  Despite the steepness of the slope, I ordered the jäger Regiments and the 3rd Battalion of the Ufimskii Regiment to attack with their bayonets, the Russian soldier’s favourite weapon. The combat was fierce and terrible, and continued for no more than half an hour: we faced tenacious resistance, but seized the Heights, [and] recaptured the guns …

  To motivate his men, Yermolov resorted to a peculiar means of inspiration:

  I happened to have a bunch of the medals of the Military Order with St George ribbons that I threw several at a time and each time throngs of our soldiers went after them. These soldiers showed examples of incredible fearlessness. Suddenness of this incident left not time for thoughts, while we could not ponder retreat once this feat was accomplished. My encounter with the jäger Regiments was completely unforeseen. The venture was no more a reckless audacity and many were jealous of my luck!

  This incident, as recounted by Yermolov, proved to be quite controversial after the war was over, as some participants disputed its veracity while others supported it. The account itself is quite unabashed in taking the sole credit for the recapture of the redoubt and fails to mention other units that contributed to this success. So lets explore other accounts.

  As the redoubt was seized by the French, Barclay de Tolly, who was riding south from Gorki after a heated argument with Kutuzov (discussed in the previous section), noticed a commotion around the redoubt but, as Löwenstern recalled, ‘due to smoke and dust, we could not see what was the cause of this movement.’ Dispatched by Barclay de Tolly to investigate, Löwenstern was surprised to find it in the hands of the French. He sent Lieutenant Vardenburg to notify Barclay de Tolly, who dispatched
two infantry battalions and the Orenburgskii Dragoon Regiment to charge the French left lank, and ‘ordered all artillery located in the vicinity to concentrate its fire on the enemy column’.336 Löwenstern, meantime, noticed a battalion of the Tomskii Infantry Regiment to the right side of the hill and, acting on behalf of Barclay de Tolly, ordered the battalion commander to follow him. Löwenstern continued:

  I forbade the soldiers to yell ‘hurrah’ without my order since they had to ascend the hill and had to preserve their breath. The battalion commander moved on foot; he was a stocky short man but he was burning with a sacred ardour.

  Halfway through their climb, Löwenstern ordered the battalion to give a hearty – and intimidating – ‘hurrah!’, and the soldiers of the Tomskii Regiment ‘charged with a reckless abandonment against everyone they encountered. They made a bayonet charge and a ferocious fight had begun. [By now] General Yermolov, with his entire staff, rushed to this point …’

  As Yermolov and Löwenstern led their battalions in a frontal attack, the 12th and 26th Divisions charged from the flanks. Paskevich later recalled that the ‘combat on the main battery presented a terrifying sight. The 19th and 40th jäger Regiments attacked the enemy from the left flank while Vasilchikov, with several Regiments of his 12th Division, moved from the right lank.’ The Sibirskii and Irkutskii Dragoons charged the fleeing enemy while the Orenburgskii Dragoon Regiment was moved against the French forces trying to rescue the 30th Line.337

  The artillery played a major role in repelling the French attack. As soon as the redoubt was captured, the Russian command diverted the 5th, 9th and 10th Horse companies and six guns of the 4th Horse Company, a total of forty-two guns, to assist in recapturing it. Toll later dispatched the 1st, 2nd and 5th Light companies, totalling thirty-six guns, from Knyazkovo. As Dokhturov reported, Lieutenant Kliber of the 1st Artillery Brigade, commanding the 2nd Light Company, was brought by Colonel Toll to the centre. He was supported by Captain Shishkin’s 1st Light Company and seven guns of the 5th Light Company led by Lieutenant Nagibin. The 48th Light Company, located at Semeyonovskoe, also directed its ire against the French forces. Lieutenant Colonel Sablin commanded the 23rd Light Company, which joined Nagibin’s guns. To the left of the redoubt, Creitz’s cavalry was assisted by twelve guns of the 22nd Light Company; its commander Lieutenant Colonel Karl Girsh was killed in action and the company was led by Lieutenant Smagin. On the right, the Russians had ten guns of the 24th Battery, six guns of the 45th Light, twelve guns of the 12th Light and six of the 13th Light Companies. As Larionov calculated, the Russians managed to concentrate the firepower of a staggering 197 guns on this small sector.

  General Charles-Auguste Bonnamy’s troops were ‘attacked from both flanks and from the front’, as Rayevsky recalled. They fought gallantly but were routed. In less than half an hour, the 30th Line had lost two-thirds of its strength and Bonnamy was captured after receiving thirteen (some claim fifteen or even twenty-two) bayonet wounds. Aleksei Nikitin, who commanded one of the artillery companies, watched as the French ‘filled the trench and wolf pits with their corpses, allowing us to move beyond the battery’. Wolzogen praised the Russian attack, which was

  executed in astonishingly good order. The various columns approached the foot of the hill in an even step to the time of the drum, and not a single cry arose from the troops. All of this so intimidated the French that we could clearly see that many men were fleeing from the ranks and that the garrison of the redoubt was diminishing perceptibly. The French kept up a fire on the advancing columns only from their cannon, which they had not managed to bring forward in any great quantity. Our troops reached the hill and then to a general hurrah they carried the summit and the fortification.338

  As the remnants of the 30th Line fled back, Paskevich ‘took the remaining regiments of the 12th Division and marched beyond the lunette in order to cut off any French troops that still remained around it’. Rayevsky reported that: ‘Vasilchikov and Paskevich pursued the enemy troops into the brushwood so vigorously that barely any of them survived.’339 Although some French sources, including the 18th Bulletin and Prince Eugène’s report, describe a major Russian counterattack, in reality the Russian command was concerned about overextending itself and Yermolov recalled his infantry:

  I feared that, if we were counter-attacked, the enemy would bring strong forces in the wake of our beleaguered crowds [sic] and deprive us of our recently acquired success; so I dispatched my adjutants with a few other officers to recall our troops and, to clear a valley lying in front of us. Following this fierce combat, my battalions were reduced in strength and there was not a single caisson for the guns inside the fortification, yet an enemy attack was imminent.

  Yermolov was soon reinforced by Barclay de Tolly, who, ‘attentively observing the action, saw my perilous position, and, without waiting for my appeal for reinforcements, he immediately dispatched a battery company and two infantry regiments, so that I soon had everything prepared to meet an attack and everything supplied in excess.’340

  The Russian Dragoons engaged Morand’s division and Creitz – leading the Sibirskii, Orenburgskii and Irkutskii Regiments and supported by the 5th Horse Artillery Company of Lieutenant Colonel Kandyba – made several charges against French troops.341 Creitz’s troops had already suffered from the French bombardment and Lieutenant Smagin’s Horse Artillery Company was soon so hard-hit that it was sent back. Nevertheless, Creitz reported: ‘neither the courage of the commander not the precision of its fire could save the company from destruction. Horses and men were struck down, the ammunition boxes blown up and the guns wrecked.’342 Still, his dragoons charged the upcoming French troops, who tried to rescue their comrades but were forced to withdraw.

  Prince Eugène, meantime, saw several lines of Russian infantry advancing ‘to reclaim the redoubt and […] approaching the right of General Morand. Immediately I had Gérard’s division start to form a little beyond and to the right of the first; the 7th Light was placed on the left and I arranged the division of General Broussier to support them.’343 Paskevich also recalled the arrival of Gérard’s division, which ‘revived the combat’.344 Laugier could see the 7th Light form square, ‘and after letting the Russian Dragoons […] advance, it opened a well-nourished fire by files, which, in the twinkling of an eye, covered the terrain with men and horses, dead or wounded, forming a new barrier around these brave battalions’. Sergeant Bertrand was marching with the 7th Light and experienced the carnage of Russian canister first-hand. The regiment barely began its movement when a cannon-ball shattered the head of [the] company commander, while the Russian canister injured several other officers. Bertrand took command and the led his troops forward:

  We were at the bottom of the redoubt […] two battalions seemed to be retreating while two other made a flanking move. The colonel ordered me to remain in place […] [suddenly], a peloton of Russian Dragoons charged from the redoubt shouting ‘hurrah!’

  Bertrand quickly ordered his men to organize a square around him and opened ire at the charging dragoons, who were driven back.

  The role of the Russian cavalry in the fighting around the redoubt became a matter of dispute soon after the battle. Rayevsky disputed Buturlin’s claim that the cavalry supported him. Yermolov’s account, cited above, overlooks the cavalry as well. Other participants do acknowledge the involvement of the dragoons but their contradictory reports only further confuse the picture. Although the details on the French cavalry charges south of the redoubt are sketchy, it is possible to recreate a general sequence of events.

  As the fighting raged around Semeyonovskoye and Rayevsky’s Redoubt, Baggovut’s II Corps was still marching from the right flank to the left. Baggovut personally led the 17th Division, while Eugène of Württemberg commanded the 4th Division. Both divisions initially moved on a local road to the right of Knyazkovo but then the 17th Division proceeded through the woods towards the left flank (see page 139 for its arrival at Utitsa), while the 4th Division was div
erted to the centre.345 Duke Eugène of Württemberg was informed about the French attack on Rayevsky’s Redoubt and ordered to assist in recapturing it. He recalled:

  Toll led me and my four line infantry regiments through the forest near Knyazkovo to the centre, where we were to plug the gap which had opened up in the Russian line. Some cannon-balls reached us even as we were marching through the woods but when we emerged from their cover we found ourselves in the most dangerous of spots.

  The Duke led the 2nd Brigade of Pyshnitsky (Kremenchug and Minsk Regiments) in attack columns (with music and drums beating) but, before it reached the redoubt, he was told that the redoubt had been recaptured. Eugène of Württemberg was then ordered to cover the position south of the redoubt, which was threatened by an approaching enemy column. It is unclear what units were in that ‘mass of enemy infantry’ but most probably troops from Gérard or Morand’s divisions. The Duke directed his troops there but, as he recalled, ‘it was like marching into a hell’. The depth of the French formation could not be seen while ‘their frontage alone was imposing enough’. The French had a battery of artillery moving to their right side but, due to smoke and confusion, Eugène could not count the guns in it. He deployed the Volhynskii Infantry Regiment in line, followed by the Tobolskii Infantry Regiment in columns on both flanks. The 2nd Brigade, in columns, formed the second rank at some distance. ‘We advanced towards the enemy through a hail of artillery ire,’ he recalled, and forced the enemy infantry to fall back. Yet the 1st Brigade suffered heavy casualties from the French artillery ire: both regimental chefs, Major General Rossi and Colonel Schroeder, being wounded. The Duke himself had three horses shot from under him and ‘as the last one fell, a battalion adjutant who had just jumped from his horse to offer it to me, was also killed. The entire horrific, bloody scene was like a nightmare except for such events which convinced me that it was reality’.