BorodinoSeptember 7, 1812

The battle opened with the quick storming of the town of Borodino by the French IV Corps. Delzon's division pushed across the bridge, but was repulsed and driven back across the Kalatasha, ending serious fighting on this part of the line. French I and III Corps seized the Fleches from the Russian VIII Corps, were driven out, re-took them, etc., as first one side and then the other attacked and counterattacked, drawing in the French VIII and the Russian II Corps as the morning wore on, until a final French attack (supported by IV Cavalry Corps) finally secured the position. Retiring behind Semyonvk Creek, the Russians (now including elements of the IV and V Corps) very slowly and grudgingly gave up ground into midafternoon, when the fighting petered out due to fatigue on both sides. Meanwhile, the French V Corps attacked the Russian HI Corps. Heavy fighting here was over by noon, with Utitz in French hands, but the nearby entrenchments still held by the Russians. Around 1100 hours, the French IV corps, redeployed since their morning attack, started assaults on the Great Redoubt. Morand's division took it, then Likhachev's division re-took it. Due to a threat from the Russian Cossacks and I Cavalry Corps on the French left that forced Eugene to redeploy, both sides let the fighting degenerate into a monster artillery duel until about 1400 hours. Then, the French II Cavalry and IV Corps went forward, stormed the Great Redoubt, and held it against all counterattacks. By 1600 hours, both armies were shot to pieces, and Napoleon refused to commit his Guard to rupture the sagging, but still intact, Russian line. Kutusov withdrew that night, and Napoleon claimed a victory. French losses were from 28,000 to 40,000, and estimates of Russian losses go as high as 60,000. The battle cost Russia the city of Moscow, which the pursuing French took on the heels of the retreating Russians, but it cost Napoleon his last opportunity to finish the campaign with one decisive victory.