Battle of Smolensk (1812)

The First Battle of Smolensk took place on August 17 1812, between 175,000 French under Napoleon Bonaparte and 130,000 Russians under Prince Bagration, of whom about 50,000 and 60,000 respectively were actually engaged. Bagration's corps occupied the town of Smolensk, which Napoleon attacked, carrying two of the suburbs. During the night the Russians set fire to the place and evacuated it, having lost in the action about 11,000 killed and wounded. The French lost 9,000.

Prelude

Since almost the beginning of the Russian campaign Napoleon and the Grande Armee were engaged in fight and fade battles with the Russians. Whenever encountered, the Russians would put up a defence for a short time before withdrawing. In an attempt to confront the enemy, Napoleon devised the Smolensk Manoeuvre in an attempt to sweep behind the enemy and defeat them once and for all. On August the 14th 1812 forces under the command of Joachim Murat, Marshal Davout, Michel Ney, and Eugene of Savoy crossed the river Dnieper at Rassna on bridges constructed in the middle of the night. The plan was to rush toward the city of Smolensk, take it without a fight, and march north to the rear of the main Russian forces which were under the overall command of General Barclay. This would have been the case, but conflicting orders and a breakdown in communication led the Russian General Ivanovitch Bagration to disobey his orders to march west, instead he went south to Smolensk. When the French forces arrived at the city on the 16th of August they found it heavily garrisoned with Russian troops. These were further reinforced with the arrival of Barclay and the main Russian army.

Related Topics:
Napoleon - Grande Armee - Joachim Murat - Marshal Davout - Michel Ney - Eugene of Savoy - General Ivanovitch Bagration

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