The Battle of Borodino: who really won? Who won the Battle of Borodino

Each of the great commanders - both Kutuzov and Napoleon - believed that victory remained with him

205 years ago, on September 7 (August 26, Old Style) 1812, a battle took place that everyone remembers, including thanks to Lermontov’s famous work about “Borodin’s Day.” The main characters of this battle are the commander-in-chief of the Russian army Kutuzov and the French emperor, who is also a commander, Napoleon– they recorded a victory for themselves in the end. Moreover, Napoleon objectively noted: “The French in it (the battle - edit.) showed themselves worthy of winning, and the Russians acquired the right to be invincible.” However, for two centuries there have been disputes about who actually won it.

Where it all started

On June 24 (12th Old Style), 1812, Napoleon attacked Russia with 450 thousand soldiers at his disposal. Three hundred thousand people who were part of the active Russian armed forces at that time were dispersed across three armies. The first (largest) was commanded Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly(he was also the Minister of War), the second was headed by Petr Ivanovich Bagration, 3rd managed Alexander Petrovich Tormasov. The first two covered St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the third – the direction to Kyiv.

Napoleon knew the situation very well and decided to quickly defeat the main Russian forces one by one and achieve a quick victory.

In order not to find themselves in the position of mice, which will be caught one by one by an experienced predator, the Russian military leaders decided to immediately make a connection. Barclay de Tolly and Bagration did the almost impossible: having marched 600 kilometers with rearguard battles, they managed to dodge the enemy and united near Smolensk.

Smolensk: test of strength

The main thing that constituted Napoleon's military art was his ability to detect the enemy army and completely defeat it. Without an army, any state is ready to capitulate. Therefore, for Bonaparte, the key moment in the war itself was the general battle. He moved his main forces not to the capital St. Petersburg, which the Russian imperial court was madly afraid of, but, following the Russian armies, to Smolensk.

However, his initial plan for a "lightning march" did not work. French troops were bogged down in endless spaces, losing people and equipment in endless skirmishes with the retreating Russians.

Only 180 thousand reached Smolensk. This is where the battle took place. It lasted more than two days - August 16-18, and claimed the lives of 20 thousand French and 10 thousand Russians, but it was not the general battle that Napoleon dreamed of.

Ancient Smolensk burned like a torch, the surviving residents left the city, and the main forces of the Russian army again eluded Napoleon. Under the influence of some of his marshals, Napoleon proposed AlexandruI make peace: he needed capitulation. But he did not receive an answer to the letter and decided to pursue the Russian troops and defeat them on the outskirts of Moscow.

Shevardinsky redoubt

Almost immediately after the battle in Smolensk, an important event occurred: on August 20, instead of a native of an old Scottish family, the cautious and prudent Barclay de Tolly, who used retreat tactics, was appointed commander-in-chief Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. The people demanded a “Russian commander,” and the tsar, as he himself put it, yielded to the “unanimous desire.”

The cunning Kutuzov hoped to reliably cover the road to Moscow and therefore carefully chose a position for a general battle. In its center was the village of Borodino, located 124 kilometers from Moscow.

Along the front, the Borodino position occupied 8 kilometers. The Shevardinsky redoubt was built in front of it, the purpose of which was to delay the enemy in order to gain time for a better deployment of troops.

On September 5, French columns approached Borodino. They were only a third of the force that crossed into Russia just two months ago - 135 thousand soldiers and 587 guns. The Russians had 120 thousand soldiers and 649 guns. Napoleon ordered on the same day to eliminate the obstacle in front of the main position - the Shevardinsky redoubt. 35 thousand French attacked the twelve thousandth detachment of Lieutenant General A. I. Gorchakova. The redoubt changed hands several times. Our troops, having completed their task of detaining the enemy, retreated at night to the main forces.

Borodin Day and its results

September 7th arrived. At 6 o'clock in the morning, French artillery struck the Russian army. The main events flared up at the Semenov flushes, which defended Bagration’s troops, and the batteries on Kurgan Mountain, where the general commanded Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky. Marshal corps were thrown against Bagration's flushes Davout, Not me, Junot And Murat. A participant in the battle, a French officer, noted that the fighters “walked on blood that the saturated earth refused to absorb.” General Bagration was seriously wounded by a grenade fragment. This led to confusion and allowed the French to take flushes. The new commander of the left flank, General Petr Petrovich Konovnitsyn took his troops beyond the Semenovsky stream and built them for defense. Kutuzov sent him cavalry to help.

And Napoleon threw his main forces at the main stronghold of the entire Borodino position - Raevsky’s battery. The losses on both sides were terrible: the ditches were filled with the bodies of the dead, blocking the way for those going on the assault. General died A. I. Kutaisov, the general was wounded A. P. Ermolov. The French were also missing many generals. By the evening, by the time the fifteen-hour battle ended, Napoleon had failed to achieve decisive success in any of the directions, having lost more than 50 thousand killed, he withdrew his troops to their original positions.

Kutuzov's losses were also enormous - 44 thousand people, but still there were much more forces left.

Officer, poet and future Decembrist Fedor Glinka then noted that the question of victory remained unanswered. But for Kutuzov the main thing was to preserve the main forces. At the Military Council in Fili, he decides to leave Moscow, for which he was mercilessly criticized. But, as history has shown, Kutuzov turned out to be right.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, September 13, 1812, a jubilant Napoleon rode with his retinue onto Poklonnaya Hill . Bonaparte believed that he had won the very victory that would be followed by the surrender of Russia. But this did not happen. In burned-out Moscow there was no food or food, but most importantly, no one asked him for peace. But sitting in Moscow when the Russian winter was approaching, when thousands of urgent matters required his presence in Paris, was pointless. And then Napoleon himself persistently and energetically began to ask to conclude “peace at any cost.” However, the Russian Tsar never gave an answer to his requests.

At the end of November, Napoleon had to leave Russia ingloriously. In total, he lost 570 thousand soldiers here, all the cavalry and all the artillery.

Battle and war

Two centuries have passed, and still the question of who won the Battle of Borodino has not found a clear answer. It is clear that Alexander I, in order to give additional fighting spirit to the troops, not only declared the battle victorious for the Russians, but also generously rewarded everyone - from Kutuzov to the privates. Subsequently, the emperor’s opinion was unanimously supported by Soviet historians, some even asserted that the Russian army then “won a complete strategic and tactical victory.” Foreign scientists have constantly argued and continue to argue with this point of view. And if many Soviet schoolchildren had no doubt that the Russian army won the Battle of Borodino, then French students, for example, know from their textbooks that Napoleon won the battle.

Perhaps the most fair conclusion is Carla von Clausewitz, a participant in the battles on the side of the Russian army, that the Battle of Borodino is one of those that did not receive “full development.”

But this point of view is valid only for the battle itself, and not for the outcome of the war. The strategic victory remained with Kutuzov. It was near Borodino that Russian troops inflicted a crushing blow on the enemy, from which he never recovered - neither in moral terms nor in terms of replenishing his strength.

As you know, August 26 (September 7), 1812 The battle took place near the village of Borodino. In Russia for many years the assertion was unshakable that Kutuzov won this one; the genius of Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov as a commander was beyond doubt.

But in Paris, on the Arc de Triomphe, you can still see a wreath in honor of Napoleon’s victory “in the Battle of Moscow.”

Currently and among Russian historianswe have at least two opinions about the outcome of the Patriotic War 1812 g: classical, which is known to every schoolchild and the so-called« Antikutuzovskaya». Let's try to lift the veil of mystery: who won at Borodino?

So, a word to historians:

“There were 154.8 thousand Russians and 640 guns, enemy - 134 thousand and 587 guns. Despite the fact that Napoleon's army was in the minority, the French constantly attacked and by the evening captured many Russian positions.

The field marshal had used up his reserves by the middle of the day, and the enemy still had the “Old Guard” - about 20 thousand people. » The losses were as follows: the Russian defenders lost 55 thousand people, the attacking French - 34 thousand. Our army left the battlefield, which did not prevent Kutuzov from sending a report of victory to St. Petersburg. The troops, however, were not satisfied; after Borodin, mass desertion and looting began among Russian soldiers.

What was Kutuzov’s plan: to defend Moscow or surrender the city to the enemy, wait until winter and freeze the French to death?

Documents show that 28 August, three days before the Council in Fili and the surrender of Moscow, Kutuzov did not make a final decision: he ordered the Kaluga governor to bring food supplies to the city, as if believing that Moscow was a safer place than Kaluga.

While hostilities were approaching Moscow, Moscow Governor-General Fyodor Rostopchin (in our time this position can be attributed to Mayor Luzhkov) asked what would happen to Moscow. After all, as a mayor, he should have known what to prepare for 200- city ​​of a thousand: for defense or evacuation. But Rostopchin did not receive a clear answer from Kutuzov and, at his own peril and risk, began the evacuation of government institutions: the Senate, the sacristy, the Armory, and archives. The people ran in fear, they didn’t have time to leave the city about 10 thousand Muscovites. The worst thing is that during the retreat they abandoned 22.5 thousand wounded.

Rostopchin was not allowed to attend the council in Fili, because probably by this time Kutuzov had firmly decided to leave Moscow and did not want an influential and eloquent opponent to speak. Kutuzov did not consider it necessary to inform even the emperor about the decision to leave Moscow. Rostopchin reported this to St. Petersburg. 1 September Celebrations on the occasion of the Borodino victory continued in St. Petersburg. Therefore, the news of the surrender of Moscow to the French plunged the capital into shock.

But why today is it only Kutuzov who personifies the victory of Russian weapons in the Patriotic War?

Firstly, after the war 1812 years, the Russian people felt their strength and they needed their hero. These are the main points of the field marshal's theory of censure.

Still, the situation needs to be examined.« without anger and passion».

In fact, Kutuzov unsuccessfully deployed his forces on the Borodino field, which led to greater losses than the enemy. But after Borodin, Napoleon, who had lost fewer soldiers, was left with virtually no cavalry.

So the answer to the question is« Who won the Battle of Borodino?» - the secret of Her Majesty's History.

The point of view of French historians is this. Napoleon in the war 1812 did not suffer a single defeat for a year. Even on the Berezina he withdrew part of his combat-ready troops. But the paradox of history is that, without losing a single battle, he lost the campaign. And Kutuzov, who did not win a single battle, won the war.

We just have to decide what is more important to us?

Literature:

http://humanities.edu.ru/db/msg

The great battle took place on August 26. According to the new style - September 7. The official Day of Military Glory is celebrated on the 8th due to an error in calculations. However, it makes sense to remember such a battle three or four times.

Lermontov’s “Borodino” is a miracle of Russian poetic heroism, we all remember its lines, but we often make mistakes in intonation, starting to recite: “Tell me, uncle, it’s not without reason...” After all, these are bitter lines! Lermontov and his hero mourn that they had to retreat, that they had to give up Moscow, that the heroic generation did not block the enemy’s road to the Mother See. Bitterness lived in Russian hearts throughout the summer of 1812.

Throughout the summer of 1812, Russia languished in anticipation of a general battle. proposed to lie down with bones on the banks of the Vistula, not allowing the enemy into central Russia. This is in the spirit of Peter the Great’s traditions of offensive war, in the spirit of the Suvorov school to which Bagration belonged. But the emperor approved a different tactic; the main task was to save the army during the loss of territories. Russia is not accustomed to defeats - and society poured out all the bitterness, reaching the point of hatred, on the Minister of War, who commanded the 1st Army - on Barclay.

The emperor, who did not have much confidence in the Russian commanders, was forced to nominate Kutuzov in order to restore the morale of the army and, no less important, the capital’s rear.

Not many people in all circles truly loved the cunning Mikhailo Illarionovich. But there was no more authoritative and politically astute commander in the Russian army at that time. It is generally accepted that he did not add anything to Barclay’s strategy, that he did not make the best use of the army’s capabilities under Borodin... But you cannot rewrite history. And the glory of 1812 is largely associated for us with the image of a cautious but brave old man.

With the dream of a decisive battle, the army retreated closer and closer to Moscow. The warriors were ready to defend Belokamennaya steadfastly and selflessly. The militia was ready to join the army. Kutuzov quietly pacified the impulses of the patriots: he counted on a long campaign and did not even treat the Battle of Borodino as “the last, decisive battle.”

So, by the beginning of the battle, Barclay de Tolly’s 1st Army, consisting of 3 infantry, 3 cavalry corps and reserves (76 thousand people, 480 guns), was located on the right flank; the front of its position was covered by the Kolocha River. The left flank was held by Bagration's smaller 2nd Army (34 thousand people, 156 guns). There the landscape was less suitable for defense. It is not surprising that Napoleon struck the main blow precisely on the left flank.

From the first artillery salvo in the early morning of September 7, the French pressed on the left flank. Who stood that morning on the Borodino field, on the hills, in the copses? Students of the invincible Suvorov - Mikhail Kutuzov, Pyotr Bagration, Mikhail Miloradovich, Matvey Platov, Alexey Ermolov, Ivan Dorokhov. Generals accustomed to victories, eagles of the empire.

Perhaps the best commentator on the Patriotic War of 1812 is Fyodor Glinka. Officer, poet, theologian. He wrote about the great Battle of Borodino in detail and at the same time artistically. Captured the elements of the battle. This is how Glinka described one of the key hours of the Battle of Borodino:

“Imagine a chemist’s working temple, imagine how he pours two hostile moistures from two vials into one vessel. Merged together, they hiss, bubble, swirl, until, both decomposed, they become numb, evaporate, leaving almost no traces behind them. Thus, two forces, two armies, Russian and French, merged into one cup of destruction, and, I dare to use the expression: they decomposed chemically, one destroying the other.”

We have become unaccustomed to such a writer's view. He has vigilance without posturing.

The Russian land has never known such an intense battle. The bloodiest battle ensued around the Semyonov flushes, which are more often called Bagrationovs. Three fortifications were hastily built shortly before the battle. Artillery batteries were stationed there, and Bagration’s troops took up defensive positions around them.

The battle near the fortifications lasted six hours; Napoleon sent his main forces here. A powerful blow from the troops of Marshals Davout and Ney made the defenders of the flushes tremble. The French captured the fortifications. But there followed a counterattack by Russian grenadiers and cavalry led by Bagration. Flushes are beaten! 35 thousand French on this piece of land advanced like a hurricane. Bagration had 20 thousand.

Here the cavalrymen of General Dorokhov carried out a fierce counterattack. Here General Bagration was mortally wounded. General Tuchkov died here, having picked up the banner from the hands of a wounded standard bearer.

« As Bagration's troops received reinforcements, they, over the corpses of the fallen, moved forward with the greatest determination to regain their lost positions. We saw how the Russian masses maneuvered like mobile redoubts, studded with iron and throwing down fire... While they had any strength left, these brave soldiers began their attacks again“,” recalled the French general, a participant in the battle.

In the battle for Bagration's flushes, Napoleon lost about 30 thousand. As a result, the enemy occupied the fortifications, but did not break through the defenses. The Russians retreated only 400 steps.

The Russian army retreated to Gorki and began to prepare for a new battle. It seemed that the stubborn battle would continue. But at 12 o'clock at night Kutuzov canceled preparations for a new battle. The commander-in-chief, who called the Battle of Borodino victorious, decided to withdraw the army beyond Mozhaisk in order to make up for human losses and better prepare for new battles. To wait, expecting mistakes from Napoleon, who had lost communications...

The French emperor did not feel like a winner: he understood that the Russian army was not defeated, there were very few prisoners, there was no disorderly retreat of the Russians...

Let us turn again to the notes of Fyodor Glinka:

“The hours were running out. The night came into its own more and more. The sun was setting as a red ball without rays. Some kind of sour, vinegary smell spread in the air, perhaps from the great decomposition of saltpeter and sulfur, perhaps from the evaporation of blood!

The smoke thickened and hung over the field. And in this night, half-artificial, half-natural, between the scattered French columns, still moving with the beating of drums and music, still unfurling their red banners, suddenly (and this was the last time) the earth rang under the hooves of the rushing cavalry. 20,000 sabers and broadswords crossed in different parts of the field. Sparks fell as if from a fire and faded away, like the lives of thousands who died in battle.

This slaughter, resumed for a minute, was the last outbreak of a dying fire, extinguished by blood. It was the King of Naples who rushed with his cavalry to the Russian line. But the day was gone, and the battle died down. The great question: “Who won?” remained unresolved."

In the next chapter of his narrative, Glinka will answer this question: by winter, the disgraced remnants of the Great Army were leaving Russia. They looked least like winners. History answered this question.

Each of us still remembers the lines of this wonderful poem by Lermontov, memorized at school: “It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers Borodin’s Day!” But what kind of day was it? What happened on this day near the village of Borodino, which is located 125 kilometers from Moscow? And most importantly, who ultimately won the Battle of Borodino? You will learn about this and more right now.

Prologue of the Battle of Borodino

Napoleon invaded Russia with large forces - 600 thousand troops. The commander-in-chief of our army, Barclay, avoided decisive battles because he believed that Russian forces were not yet enough. Under pressure from the patriotic mood in society, the tsar removed Barclay and installed Kutuzov, who, however, was forced to continue the strategy of his predecessor.

But social pressure increased, and Kutuzov finally decided to give the French battle. He himself determined the location of the battle with Napoleon - Borodino Field.

The location was strategically advantageous:

1. The most important road to Moscow passed through the Borodino field.
2. On the field there was Kurgan Height (Raevsky’s battery was located on it).
3. Above the field rose a hill near the village of Shevardino (the Shevardinsky redoubt was located on it) and the Utitsky mound.
4. The field was crossed by the Kolocha River.

Preparation for the Battle of Borodino

On August 24, 1812, Napoleon and his army approached the Russian troops and immediately identified the weak points of their position. There were no fortifications behind the Shevardinsky redoubt; this was fraught with the danger of a breakthrough to the left flank and general defeat. Two days later, this redoubt was attacked by 35 thousand French, and defended by 12 thousand Russian soldiers under the command of Gorchakov.

About 200 guns fired at the fortifications, the French constantly attacked, but were unable to take the redoubts. Napoleon chose the following battle plan: attack the left flank - the Semyonov flushes (built behind the Shevardinsky redoubts at the last moment), break through them, push the Russians back to the river and defeat them.

All this was to be accompanied by additional attacks on the Kurgan Heights and the offensive of Poniatowski’s troops on the Utitsa Heights.

The experienced Kutuzov foresaw this enemy plan. On the right he positioned Barclay's army. Raevsky's corps was placed on Kurgan Heights. The defense of the left flank was under the control of Bagration's army. Tuchkov's corps was stationed near the Utitsky mound to cover the road to Mozhaisk and Moscow. However, the most important thing: Kutuzov left a huge reserve in reserve in case of unexpected changes in the situation.

Beginning of the Battle of Borodino

On August 26, the battle began. First, the opponents spoke to each other in the language of guns. Later, the Beauharnais corps unexpectedly invaded Borodino and from its location organized a massive shelling of the right flank. But the Russians were able to set fire to the bridge over Kolocha, which prevented the French advance.

At the same time, Marshal Davout's troops attacked Bagration's flashes. However, here too the Russian artillery was accurate and stopped the enemy. Davout gathered his strength and attacked a second time. And this attack was repulsed by the infantrymen of General Neverovsky.

In this case, infuriated by the failure, Napoleon threw his main striking force to suppress Bagration's flushes: the corps of Ney and Zhenya with the support of Murat's cavalry. Such a force managed to push through Bagration’s flushes.

Concerned by this fact, Kutuzov sent reserves there and the original situation was restored. At the same time, Poniatowski’s French units set out and attacked the Russian troops near the Utitsky Kurgan with the goal of getting behind Kutuzov’s rear.

Poniatowski managed to complete this task. Kutuzov had to weaken the right flank by transferring Baggovut’s units from it to the Old Smolensk Road, which were stopped by Poniatovsky’s troops.

At the same time, Raevsky’s battery passed from hand to hand. At the cost of enormous efforts, the battery was saved. Around noon, seven French attacks were repulsed. Napoleon concentrated large forces at the flushes and threw them into the eighth attack. Suddenly Bagration was wounded, and his units began to retreat.

Kutuzov sent reinforcements to the flushes - the Platov Cossacks and Uvarov’s cavalry, which appeared on the French flank. The French attacks stopped due to the onset of panic. Until the evening, the French attacked and captured all Russian positions, but the cost of losses was so high that Napoleon ordered to stop further offensive actions.

Who won the Battle of Borodino?

The question arises about the winner. Napoleon declared himself such. Yes, it seems he captured all the Russian fortifications on the Borodino field. But he did not achieve the main goal - he did not defeat the Russian army. Although she suffered heavy losses, she still remained very combat-ready. And Kutuzov’s reserve remained completely unused and intact. The cautious and experienced commander Kutuzov ordered a retreat.

Napoleonic troops suffered terrible losses - about 60,000 people. And there could be no talk of a further offensive. Napoleonic armies needed time to recover. In a report to Alexander I, Kutuzov noted the unparalleled courage of the Russian troops, who won a moral victory over the French that day.

Result of the Battle of Borodino

Reflections about who won and who lost that day - September 7, 1812 do not cease to this day. The main thing for us is that this day will forever go down in the history of our state as the Day of Military Glory of Russia. And literally in a week we will celebrate another anniversary - 204 years since the Battle of Borodino.

P.S. Friends, as you probably noticed, I did not set myself the task of describing this great battle of the Patriotic War of 1812 in as much detail as possible. On the contrary, I tried to condense it as much as possible in order to tell you briefly about that day, which, it seems to me, lasted an eternity for the participants in the battle itself. And now I need your help.

Please give me feedback in the comments to the article about in what format it is better to describe other Days of Military Glory of Russia from now on: briefly or in full, as I did with the battle of Cape Tendra? I look forward to your comments under the article.

Peaceful skies above everyone,

Reserve Sergeant Suvernev.

The Battle of Borodino in 1812 is a battle that lasted only one day, but has been preserved in the history of the planet among the most important world events. Napoleon took this blow, hoping to quickly conquer the Russian Empire, but his plans were not destined to come true. It is believed that the Battle of Borodino was the first stage in the fall of the famous conqueror. What is known about the battle that Lermontov glorified in his famous work?

Battle of Borodino 1812: background

This was a time when Bonaparte’s troops had already managed to subjugate almost all of continental Europe, and the emperor’s power even extended to Africa. He himself emphasized in conversations with those close to him that in order to gain world domination, all he had to do was gain control over Russian lands.

To conquer Russian territory, he assembled an army of approximately 600 thousand people. The army rapidly advanced deeper into the state. However, Napoleon's soldiers died one after another under the blow of peasant militias, their health deteriorated due to the unusually difficult climate and poor nutrition. Nevertheless, the advance of the army continued, the French goal being the capital.

The bloody Battle of Borodino in 1812 became part of the tactics used by Russian commanders. They weakened the enemy army with minor battles, biding their time for a decisive blow.

Main stages

The Battle of Borodino in 1812 was actually a chain consisting of several clashes with French troops, which resulted in huge losses on both sides. The first was the battle for the village of Borodino, which is located approximately 125 km from Moscow. On the Russian side, de Tolly took part in it, and on the enemy side, the Beauharnais corps.

The Battle of Borodino in 1812 was in full swing when the battle took place. It involved 15 divisions of French marshals and two Russians, led by Vorontsov and Neverovsky. At this stage, Bagration received a serious wound, which forced him to entrust command to Konovnitsyn.

By the time the Russian soldiers left the flushes, the Battle of Borodino (1812) had already been going on for about 14 hours. A summary of further events: the Russians are located behind the Semenovsky ravine, where the third battle takes place. Its participants are people who attacked flushes and defended them. The French received reinforcements, which became the cavalry under the leadership of Nansouty. Uvarov's cavalry hastened to help the Russian troops, and the Cossacks under the command of Platov also approached.

Battery Raevsky

Separately, it is worth considering the final stage of such an event as the Battle of Borodino (1812). Summary: the battles for what went down in history as the “grave of the French cavalry” lasted about 7 hours. This place really became the grave for many of Bonaparte's soldiers.

Historians remain perplexed as to why the Russian army abandoned the Shevadinsky redoubt. It is possible that the commander-in-chief deliberately opened the left flank in order to divert the enemy's attention from the right. His goal was to protect the new Smolensk road, using which Napoleon’s army would quickly approach Moscow.

Many historically important documents have been preserved that shed light on such an event as the war of 1812. The Battle of Borodino is mentioned in a letter that was sent by Kutuzov to the Russian emperor even before it began. The commander informed the Tsar that the terrain features (open fields) would provide the Russian troops with optimal positions.

Hundred per minute

The Battle of Borodino (1812) is briefly and extensively covered in so many historical sources that one gets the impression that it took a very long time. In reality, the battle, which began on September 7 at half past six in the morning, lasted less than a day. Of course, it turned out to be one of the bloodiest among all the short battles.

It’s no secret how many lives the Battle of Borodino took and its bloody contribution. Historians have not been able to establish the exact number of those killed; they call 80-100 thousand dead on both sides. Calculations show that every minute at least a hundred soldiers were sent to the next world.

Heroes

The Patriotic War of 1812 gave many commanders their well-deserved glory. The Battle of Borodino, of course, immortalized a man like Kutuzov. By the way, Mikhail Illarionovich at that time was not yet a gray-haired old man whose one eye did not open. At the time of the battle, he was still an energetic, albeit aging man, and was not wearing his signature headband.

Of course, Kutuzov was not the only hero who was glorified by Borodino. Together with him, Bagration, Raevsky, and de Tolly entered history. It is interesting that the last of them did not enjoy authority among the troops, although he was the author of the brilliant idea to field partisan forces against the enemy army. If you believe the legend, during the Battle of Borodino, the general lost his horses three times, which died under a barrage of shells and bullets, but he himself remained unharmed.

Who has the victory?

Perhaps this question remains the main intrigue of the bloody battle, since both sides participating in it have their own opinion on this matter. French historians are convinced that Napoleon's troops won a great victory that day. Russian scientists insist on the opposite; their theory was once supported by Alexander the First, who proclaimed the Battle of Borodino an absolute victory for Russia. By the way, it was after him that Kutuzov was awarded the rank of Field Marshal.

It is known that Bonaparte was not satisfied with the reports provided by his military leaders. The number of guns captured from the Russians turned out to be minimal, as was the number of prisoners that the retreating army took with them. It is believed that the conqueror was completely crushed by the morale of the enemy.

The large-scale battle, which began on September 7 near the village of Borodino, has inspired writers, poets, artists, and then directors who covered it in their works for two centuries. You can recall both the painting “The Hussar Ballad” and the famous creation of Lermontov, which is now being taught at school.

What was the Battle of Borodino 1812 really like and how did it turn out for the Russians and French? Buntman and Eidelman are historians who created a laconic and accurate text that covers the bloody battle in detail. Critics praise this work for its impeccable knowledge of the era, vivid images of the heroes of the battle (on both sides), thanks to which all the events are easy to imagine in the imagination. The book is a must read for those seriously interested in history and military affairs.