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[edit] Summary

Battle of Krasnoi, Nov. 15th - 18th, 1812

The attached map shows the locations of the major bodies of troops involved in the Battle of Krasnoi between Nov. 15th and Nov. 18th.

Numbers 1 through 13 on the map signify:

1. Sunday afternoon, 11/15: Napoleon and his Imperial Guard pass Miloradovich, who's positioned on the highground beside the road. Miloradovich bombards the Guard but doesn’t attack them in force. Simultaneously, Orlov-Denisov Cossack’s harrass the Guard, but dare not engage Napoleon’s veterans in serious combat owing to the intimidating comportment of the French; this incident is the origin of Denis Davidov's famous "...100 gun ship..." quote regarding the Old Guard. The Imperial Guard represents the helm of the Grande Armee's 40 mile long train of troops, stretching east back to Smolensk.

2. Sunday afternoon, 11/15: The Imperial Guard enters Krasnoi, which is occupied by Ozharovsky's flying column, approximately several Cossacks in all. The Imperial Guard chases the Cossacks out of town. Prior to fleeing, the Cossacks blow up several French ammunition caches. Napoleon establishes his 16,000 strong Imperial Guard in Krasnoi, and intends to remain in town for four days so that the rest of army, still located to the east, marching in a long strung out column, can catch up with him.

3. Around 2:00 AM, Monday, 11/16: Napoleon notices the campfires of the rest of Ozharovsky’s force, 3,500 Cossacks and jageurs, south of Krasnoi near Kutkovo. He orders General Roguet to lead the Young Guard on a surprise attack on Ozharovsky, the result being a complete rout of the Russians. Ozharovsky loses half his troops, but is reinforced by Kutusov and takes up position elsewhere.

4. Monday afternoon, 11/16: Eugene’s IV Corps, 6,000 strong, finds the road near Merlino cut by Miloradovich’s troops. In the ensuing combat, Eugene is defeated and loses a third of his troops, all of his canon, and his entire baggage train. General Durosnel, from Krasnoi, attempts to break through to Eugene by leading several battalions of Imperial Guardsmen eastward, but he is driven back by the Russians. Eugene is saved at nightfall, when Kutusov, wary of allowing the fighting to expand into a full battle, orders Miloradovich not to launch a full scale attack on Eugene. Under cover of darkness, Eugene leads his remaining troops on a northern, semicircular retreat through the fields into Krasnoi (see arrows).

5. Monday afternoon, 11/16: Kutusov, who had been marching toward Krasnoi very slowly from the south, finally arrives on the field. His main army, 35,000 strong with over 500 cannon, encamps at Shilova. Kutusov does not attack the weak remnants of Napoleon’s Grande Armee, even in spite of the Russians overwhelming superiority. Under pressure from his subordinate commanders, Kutusov does however agree to launch a three pronged attack on Krasnoi, but not until the following morning. The plan of the attack is for Tormasov, with 20,000 troops, to march west through Kutkovo then north, and to cut the road leading west out of Krasnoi (see arrows near #8 and #10). Galitzin, with 15,000 troops, is to attack northeast through Novoselki and Uvarovo (see arrows near #9). Miloradovich is continue attacking the French east of Krasnoi. Kutusov’s subordinate commanders resent that the attack is not to begin immediately.

6. Around 4:00 AM, Tuesday, 11/17: Davout’s I Corps comes under heavy artillery fire from Miloradovich between Nikolino and Eskovo. The I Corps is now at risk of being annihilated, and Davout’s troops flee from the road.

7. 5:00 AM, Tuesday, 11/17: Napoleon takes decisive action to save Davout, and orders his Imperial Guard to make an aggressive, two-pronged feint in an attempt to fend off the Russians. 5,000 Old Guardsmen march east, toward Miloradovich. 6,000 Young Guardsmen march southeast, in the direction of the main Russian army near Uvarovo. Consequently, Kutusov scuttles his plan to attack the French, deciding that Tormasov must remain near Uvarovo to support Galitzin. Kutusov orders Miloradovich not to pursue Davout, but instead to move his position closer to Uvarovo to support the main Russian army.

7(b). Throughout the morning, Tuesday, 11/17: The French and Russians skirmish at Uvarovo. First the village is captured by the Guardsmen, who then repel two of Galitzin’s counterattacks. A third Russian attack however recaptures the village, decimating the French defenders in the process. For most of the day near Uvarovo the French and Russians are distant enough from each other than no musketfire can be exchanged. The French keep vigil against their enemy, and the Russians, despite their overwhelming strength, are held back by Kutusov. Russian artillery fire has a devastating impact on the Guardsmen, who lack sufficient cannon to return the bombardment. Fully half of the Young Guard falls from Russian cannon shot. Napoleon’s object of saving Davout however is achieved; as a result of this skirmishing the I Corps is able to hurry into Krasnoi. Among the Russian commanders, there is a deep sense of resentment at Kutusov for having aborted the planned attack.

7(c), Around noon, Tuesday, 11/17: Napoleon orders his troops in and around Krasnoi to begin a general retreat, as his intelligence reports indicate that the Russians are beginning to move westward, possibly to cut the western road out of Krasnoi, or to take the strategically important town of Orsha, 25 miles to the west. This decision is made by Napoleon very reluctantly, as it means that the Grande Armee will have to abandon Ney’s III Corps, which is still too far east to be saved from the Russians. A speedy French retreat however is the only alternative to being encircled and destroyed by Kutusov. By 2:00 PM, the IV and I Corps and the Imperial Guard are streaming out of Krasnoi, toward Dobroe. A small French rearguard under Friedrich is left in Krasnoi. Kutusov refuses to allow Galitzin to attack the tattered Young Guard as it withdraws.

8. 2:00 PM, Tuesday, 11/17: Satisfied that Napoleon’s forces are in general retreat, Kutusov finally allows his troops to attack. Tormasov is ordered to commence his westward enveloping movement (#8, see arrows), even though it’s too late to encircle the retiring Grande Armee. Not until 4:00 PM does Tormasov arrive near Dobroe with all his forces, at which point most of the Grande Armee has retreated beyond the reach of the Russians. Prior to this, only Tormasov's small advance guard under Rosen was able to engage the French.

9. 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Tuesday, 11/17: Miloradovich and Galitzin attack Krasnoi from all sides, and Friedrich’s weak rear guard is quickly overwhelmed. The Russians capture masses of abandoned French waggonry, cannon, etc. Large droves of unarmed, starving French troops (stragglers) surrender to the Russians.

10. 3:00 PM, Tuesday, 11/17: The retreating French army drives Rosen's small detachment from the road near Dobroe. At this juncture Kutusov still has the potential to attack, in force, the retreating French columns, but he chooses not to.

11. After 4:00 PM, Tuesday, 11/17: Napoleon and the Grande Armee are in full retreat toward Orsha, safely beyond Kutusov's reach. As a result of his skilled and daring maneuvering on this day, Napoleon is able save 75% of his combatants from being destroyed by the Russians. Note that only half of the Grande Armee was comprised of combatants going into the Krasnoi actions; the other half, nearly 40,000 stragglers, are lost to the Russians along the Krasnoi-Smolensk road between 11/14 and 11/18.

12. 3:00 PM, Wednesday, 11/18: Ney finally arrives near Krasnoi with the 8,000 combatants and 7,000 stragglers of his I Corps. Twice Ney refuses offers of honorable surrender, and in a final combat, his corps is destroyed by Miloradovich.

13. Evening, Wednesday, 11/18: Ney leads 2,000 survivors of his defeated III Corps northward into the forests. This French contingent is pursued by Platov's Cossacks. Two days later, 800 survivors of Ney's corps reunite with Napoleon near Orsha. Ney's epic escape from the Krasnoi disasters ranks among the most celebrated annals of French military history.

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