Battle of the Berezina

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Battle of the Berezina
The crossing over the Beresina, painting by Peter von Hess
The crossing over the Beresina, painting by Peter von Hess
date November 26-28, 1812
place Studyanka on the Berezina
output Russian victory
Parties to the conflict

France 1804First empire France

Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Russia

Commander

France 1804First empire Napoléon Bonaparte
Nicolas-Charles Oudinot
Claude-Victor Perrin
Michel Ney

Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Pawel Tschitschagow
Michail Kutusow
Peter Wittgenstein

Troop strength
40,000 (plus incapacitated stragglers) 49,000
losses






30,000

General Wassili Vjasemski †
Major General Engelhardt †

unknown

The battle of the Beresina is called the fighting during the retreat of the Grande Armée Napoleons from the troops of Tsar Alexander I over the Beresina (now Belarusian Bjaresina ) from November 26th to 28th, 1812. This battle was the last in the Russian campaign in 1812 before the Withdrawal of the French army over the Niemen on December 14, 1812.

prehistory

After the battles for Smolensk and Borodino , Napoleon reached Moscow on September 14th. He waited in vain for the tsar to accept his offer of peace. On October 19, Napoleon's main army, which had shrunk to 100,000 soldiers, withdrew from Moscow shortly before the onset of winter. Attacks by retreating Russian troops, the onset of winter, disease and poor supplies weakened the French army. After she had left Smolensk on November 13, 1812 , it was necessary to reach the Berezina before the armies of the Russian general Wittgenstein and Admiral Pawel Wassiljewitsch Tschitschagow united in front of the river and blocked the route of retreat.

The remnants of Napoleon's main army were between the two Russian armies. Wittgenstein's army was in the north near Vitebsk. Opposite her stood the 2nd French Corps under Marshal Saint-Cyr and the 9th Corps under Marshal Victor .

On September 29th, Tschitschagow received the order to push the corps of Austrians and Saxons, which stood west of him, into the Duchy of Warsaw . Then his army was to march towards Minsk and on to Borissov . His army consisted of 60,000 men, including the soldiers he took over from General Tormassow , who was to go to the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Field Marshal Kutuzov . Chichagov pushed the Austrians and Saxons back, but could not beat them. Therefore he left 27,000 men, almost half of his army, under General Osten-Sacken . Chichagov set off with the rest of the week in October.

Events through November 20th

Admiral Tschitschagow, by James Saxon .

On November 1, Chichagov wrote a letter to Kutuzov informing him that he intended to be in Minsk on November 19. Kutuzov wrote to Wittgenstein that Chichagov and 45,000 men were only about 75 kilometers away from the Berezina on November 19. He replied to Tschitschagow: “Even if General Wittgenstein is bound by Victor and Saint-Cyr and cannot help you to wrestle the enemy, you should be strong enough to help the fleeing enemy army together with the forces of Lieutenant General Ertel and Major General Lüders beat, which has almost no artillery or cavalry and is harassed from behind by me. "

On the other hand, he wrote to General Yermolov , who was in command of his vanguard at the time : “Brother Alexei Petrovich, do not get carried away and guard your guards regiments. We did our part; Now it's Chitschagov's turn. ”Instead of harassing Napoleon's troops, as he had written Chitschagov, he ordered his troops to rest and stopped after the battle of Krasnoye in Kopys , south of Orsha, about 125 kilometers from the Berezina . He sent a vanguard consisting of two infantry and one cavalry corps under the command of General Miloradovich . Miloradowitsch could only intervene effectively on the Berezina if Chichagov succeeded in stopping Napoleon for at least four days. In front of him were Cossacks under Platov and the so-called flying column under General Yermolov. The flying column consisted of two cuirassier regiments, three line infantry regiments, a few troops of Cossacks and two light infantry regiments of the Guard, the Guard Hunters and the Finland Guard. On November 19 the flying column left Kopys.

Chichagov's vanguard occupied Minsk on October 16. There were large French stores in the city. There were enough supplies to supply the Chichagov army for a month. Napoleon's original plan of retreat to march through Minsk was thus in danger. Because of the strategically important bridge in Borissow , the city absolutely had to be held.

Chichagov ordered General Ertel, to whom the garrison of Mosyr was subordinate, to move to Minsk with his 15,000 men on October 29. This contradicted an order from Kutuzov that he sent on October 28th. Thereafter, Hertel was supposed to cover the transport of supplies from Mosyr to Bobruisk . On November 6, Ertel Chichagov asked for orders on how to behave. On November 15, Ertel received an order from Tschitschagow to leave for Igumen immediately. On the same day Ertel received a letter from Kutuzov with the order to march to Bobruisk, but only if he should not have received any different orders from Chichagov. Ertel found all sorts of excuses for not following Chichagov's orders. According to Lieven, there were once destroyed bridges, then an impending revolt when he left the city and finally even the rinderpest. General Ertel was relieved of command and transferred to General Tutschkow, but due to the delays caused by General Ertel, Tuchkov did not arrive at the Berezina early enough. Tschitschagow wrote to General Osten-Sacken and requested General Essen's corps , which, however, also did not arrive in time. Chichagov did not have 45,000 men at his disposal, as planned by Kutuzov, but only a little more than 30,000 men. Generals Tschaplitz and Lüders joined him with their troops, but Minsk, which had just been conquered, had to be secured. In addition, almost 5,000 prisoners had been taken in Minsk who had to be guarded. A significant number of soldiers remained in Minsk.

Ertel was later tried before a court martial. The court found that Ertel had acted more out of excessive caution than neglect. Kutuzov made him general police chief of all operational armies.

On November 13, the Partouneaux division attacked with the support of the cavalry of the corps Victor Wittgenstein's advance guard under General Alexejew in the battle of Smoljany . After two hours, Alexeyev withdrew, but after three regiments of infantry arrived to assist him, he managed to hold the French off until dark. During the night, Alexejew received further reinforcements under General Jaschwyl , who also took command. The next day the fight resumed with an attack by the French Girard division on the front line of the retreating Russian troops. The village of Smoljany was stormed by the French. In the course of the battle there was heavy fighting for the village, and in the end it remained in Russian hands. In the evening, Victor's troops withdrew beyond the range of the Russian artillery. The next day Victor retired to Tschereia, Wittgenstein to Tschaschniki.

Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev, painting by George Dawe .

Tschitschagow did not know where Wittgenstein was, nor did Wittgenstein know Tschitschagow's current position. Chichagov sent Colonel Chernyshev with some Cossacks to establish a connection. On the way, Chernyshev and his Cossacks managed to free the captured Russian General Wintzingerode . Through Chernyshev, Wittgenstein found out where Chichagov was and what its planning looked like.

The remains of the Minsk garrison under General Bronikowski arrived in Borisov on November 18. Bronikowski left two battalions in Borissow and directed the rest of his weak troops to Weselowo.

Napoleon's main army had been reduced to around 20,000 combat-ready soldiers. There were also a large number of unarmed stragglers and a convoy of civilians and wounded. On November 19, Napoleon reached Orsha . The French army received 36 new cannons from the depot. Napoleon gave the order to burn all superfluous wagons in order to get draft horses for his artillery. The pontoon bridges, which would later have been needed so urgently, also fell victim to this order. 60 carts with pontoons and accessories were burned, freeing 300 draft horses for the artillery. The main army marched on the same day. Marshal Davout stayed behind with the rearguard to pick up Marshal Ney and the remnants of his troops who were still en route to Orsha. The main army was joined by the troops from the depots in Mohilew , Orsha and Gorki , as well as later the corps of Victor and the 2nd Corps, which was now again under the command of Marshal Oudinot . Oudinot, the actual commander of the 2nd Corps, had been wounded in Polotsk . After his wound healed, he relieved Saint-Cyr.

When Yermolov reached Orsha, he was delayed for more than a day because the two bridges over the Dnieper had been burned down on Napoleon's orders. Kutuzov ordered Yermolov to wait for Miloradovich at Tolochin's. Yermolov ignored the order.

The Division Dombrowski watched originally the Russian fortress Bobruisk. It was relocated to protect Borissov and stood between Minsk and the Berezina. After Minsk was taken by Chichagov, Dombrowski withdrew to Borissov, where he arrived on November 20. His division consisted of 5,500 men with 20 cannons. In Borisov a battalion of standing 93 e régiment d'infantry and the 7th Regiment Württemberg under the French Colonel Lalance. In total, Dombrowski was now about 6,500 men available. Of these, an infantry regiment and two squadrons of cavalry under General Pakosch were still on their way to Borissow. On the evening of November 20th they were still half a day's march away. Chichagov was with his army on the way from Minsk to Borissov.

21st November

Early in the morning the Russian vanguard attacked under General Charles de Lambert Borisov. The vanguard consisted of 8,000 men, mostly cavalry. This attack was preceded by an enormous marching performance. According to Lieven, the fighter regiments accomplished what is probably the greatest feat of Russian light infantry in 1812. In the 24 hours before they reached Borissov, they covered a distance of 55 kilometers. The four hunter regiments were commanded by Prince Vasily Vyazemsky.

The Dombrowski's outposts, which stood on the west bank of the Berezina, were surrounded and taken prisoner. The 38th Russian Jägerregiment stormed the entrenchments in front of the left side of the bridge and was thrown back by the 1st Polish Line Regiment under Colonel Malachowski. The 7th Russian Jägerregiment under Major General Engelhardt pushed the Poles back and occupied the entrenchments, while Engelhardt fell. Now the 13th and 38th Russian fighter regiments attacked, but had to retreat. General Lambert was wounded. Mounted Russian artillery under Colonel Magdenko drove up on the west bank of the Berezina and opened fire with grapeshot . The Russian fighter regiments captured the bridge, followed by Russian cavalry, and invaded the city. The fighting did not end until the afternoon.

Almost half of the 3,200 Russian fighters fell or were wounded in the storming of the city. General Vyazemsky was fatally wounded. After heavy fighting, Dombrowski had to withdraw the next day with only 1,500 men. The Polish soldiers near Weselowo were able to save themselves over the Beresina.

According to the Russian account, the enemy lost 1,500 to 2,000 dead and 2,000 to 2,500 prisoners. Chichagov, on the other hand, in his memoirs stated the opponent's losses as 700 dead and 2,300 prisoners. On the Polish side, General Dziewanowski, commander of Dombrowski's cavalry, was wounded and taken prisoner.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Malinovsky, a count of the Chitschagov army on November 21 showed 59 battalions of infantry, 88 squadrons of cavalry and 13 Cossack regiments with 180 guns. Each battalion had a maximum of 350 men, each squadron a maximum of 100 and the artillery a total of 1,000 men. Bogdanowitsch calculates a total strength of 32,800 men. It is not stated whether Malinowski's figures refer to the time before or after the Battle of Borisov. Chichagov wrote in his memoir that he had only 20,000 men to defend the Berezina, including no more than 11,000 infantry. Bogdanowitsch describes this information as doubtful.

On November 21, Platov occupied Orsha with his Cossacks. The French general Corbineau, who was marching on the western bank of the Berezina from the north, was made aware of a ford near Studyanka by a peasant. His cavalry brigade, consisting of Poles and French, passed the ford. Napoleon's headquarters were located near the village of Kamenitsa, five miles west of Orsha and about 14 miles from Borisov. Yermolov approached Orsha. Oudinot reached Bobr. Miloradovich had arrived in the village of Gorjani on his way to Kopys.

Wittgenstein was still with Tschaschniki and Victor with Tschereia. The main army of Kutuzov was located in the Lanniki area and included the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th infantry corps and the 4th cavalry corps. Part of the 8th Infantry Corps marched on Romanowo and Count Oscharowkij on Gorky. Napoleon's army was surrounded on all sides by the Russian army.

22nd of November

Chichagov reached Borisov with his main army on November 22nd and established his headquarters there. Since General Lambert had been wounded, he entrusted General Pahlen with the pursuit of the remnants of Dombrowski's troops.

Chichagov made a remarkable proclamation to his troops:

“Napoleon's army is on the run. The man who brought all evil to Europe is in their ranks. We cut off the path of his retreat. It may well be that the Almighty would like to end his punishment of humanity and deliver him into our hands. So I want everyone to know his description: he is short, stocky, pale, with a short, thick neck, a large head, and black hair. In order to rule out all eventualities, capture all persons of short stature and bring them to me. I'm not talking about rewards for this particular prisoner here. The well-known generosity of our monarch is a guarantee for this. "

Many "Napoleons" were caught in the next few days.

Tschitschagow actually only had to cover the Berezina between Weselowo and Ukoloda with his troops, which meant a distance of a little more than 20 kilometers. On November 22nd, Lieutenant Orlov set off with an order from Kutuzov. Kutuzov ordered Chichagov to be observed on the way to Igumen, which is about 45 kilometers south of Borisov. East of Igumen there was a bridge over the Berezina, 50 kilometers from Borisov. Wittgenstein informed Chichagov that he believed that Napoleon's army would move in the direction of Bobruisk, also far south of Borisov, about 150 kilometers. The Russian Colonel Knorring reported from Minsk that Austrian vanguard troops had been seen near Smorgoni, Novo Swerschen and Swislotsch. Chichagov feared that Napoleon would bypass him south to unite with the Austrian auxiliary corps. He had no information about where Napoleon's troops really were. Prisoners had testified that Napoleon would approach with 100,000 men. This was not meaningful, since these prisoners were previously stationed west of the Berezina and knew even less about the actual situation of Napoleon's main army than Chichagov himself.

Corbineau reached the Oudinot corps and informed the marshal about the ford at Studjanka. When he passed the Berezina there, the river was only three and a half feet deep. On the eastern bank there was mud, which was not passable for vehicles during the prevailing thaw. Victor had left Tschereia on the night of November 22nd. On that day Napoleon learned in Tolochin that Borisov had been conquered by Chichagov.

November 23

General Count Peter von Wittgenstein

The advance guard under General Paul von der Pahlen left Borissov at six in the morning. The main forces were to follow four hours later. On the way a couple of prisoners managed to be taken. They learned from them that the whole French army was only a day's march away. Pahlen informed Tschitschagow and asked for reinforcements, as he was only carrying a small amount of infantry and the terrain was not ideal for cavalry deployment. In total, Pahlen had about 2,800 men. Its infantry included the 7th Jägerregiment, which had already suffered heavy losses when Borissow was taken. The vanguard of Oudinot, led by General Castex, consisted of 2,500 infantry, 1,100 cavalry and carried 12 cannons. A fight broke out near the village of Loschnitza. Castex attacked repeatedly and pushed the Russian forces back. His cavalry cut off Russian fighter regiments 7, 14 and 38. Around 2 p.m. Castex appeared in front of Borisov. The Russian troops fled across the bridge. Although Chichagov had far more troops than Castex, he gave the order to withdraw. With a strong rearguard, he could easily have stopped Castex, as Bogdanowitsch criticized. Castex took 800 prisoners, 500 carts fell into the hands of the French. Most of the soldiers of the three cut off fighter regiments managed to escape via a ford near Brili.

The French Colonel Marbot wrote about the capture of Borisov:

“By the time we got to the center of the city, a lot of precious time had already been lost for us and looking for the exit of the bridge took away even more. No one could be found who could show us, only an old Jew was brought to me; But there was nothing to be got out of this stubborn rascal, because he either really didn't understand us or didn't want to understand us; ... So we were unable to carry out our mission to cross the bridge at the same time as possible with the enemy. When we finally saw it, the enemy was already on the other bank. "

The bridge was therefore impassable.

According to the operations journal of the Chichagov army, the Russian casualties that day amounted to 1,000 men. From the French side they were given as 2,000 men. Chichagov himself wrote in his memoir that the number of dead and wounded was 4,000 men.

At Cholopenitschi, the combined Russian hussar regiment under Colonel Gerngroß, supported by the Cossack regiments Loschtschilin and Panteljejew, attacked the Bergische light cavalry and blew up a square of the 126th French line infantry regiment (Dutch). General Yermolov, who had been held up in Orsha for 36 hours because of the destroyed bridges, was in Pogost, on the way to Kochanow. Platov and his Cossacks were involved in their first skirmishes with the rearguard of the French army on their way to Tolochin. Miloradovich had not yet passed Orsha and Napoleon was in Bobr.

November 24th

The Chichagov army stopped near Borisov. General Tschaplitz received orders to occupy the village of Zembin, north of Borisov. Tschitschagow informed Wittgenstein about the capture of Borisov, the defeat of Pahlen and the loss of the city. He asked Wittgenstein to unite with him in Borissow.

Oudinot gave the order to look for possible crossing points over the Berezina. Ukoloda came into question south of Borissow, and Stachow, Weselowo and Studjanka to the north. Stachow was only about five kilometers from Borisov and was out of the question because of its proximity to Chichagov's troops. At Weselowo the river was deeper than at Studjanka. Oudinot decided on Studyanka and ordered General Aubry, commander of the artillery, to march to Studyanka and begin preparations there. In the evening he reported that, due to the thaw, the river was now five feet deep. On that day, temperatures dropped well below freezing.

Aubry also reported that 8,000 men, coming from the direction of Lepel, were on their way to reinforce Chichagov. Oudinot informed Napoleon that the troops of the Russian general Steinheil were approaching and asked for reinforcements. Steinheil had previously supported Wittgenstein. Napoleon had arrived in Loschnitza that evening and received the report around midnight.

At Baturi, Wittgenstein's vanguard under General Harpe beat the rearguard of Victory under General Daendels .

25. November

Generals Chasseloup and Eblé arrived in Borisov at five in the morning . They left a section of pontoniers to fake a transition. At Ukoloda, too, bridge work was simulated. Chichagov was deceived by this and marched south with his main force. Wittgenstein limited himself to the pursuit of the Corps Victor instead of passing through the Beresina like Steinheil. Tschitschagow left General Langeron with an infantry division and artillery and two dragoons regiments in Borisov . General Tschaplitz stood north of Borisov near Brili. His Dragoon Regiment Kinburn under General Umanz was at Zembin, General Kornilow with the 28th Jägerregiment, two Cossack regiments and four cannons at Weselowo. Tschaplitz had the order, if he saw nothing of the enemy, to march to Shabashevichi and only leave observation posts.

Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, painting by Adolph Northen

Oudinot moved to Studyanka with the 2nd Corps as the vanguard. Napoleon arrived in Borisov that afternoon. He had given orders that the construction of three bridges should begin in Studjanka at 10 p.m. Since the available material was not enough, you had to limit yourself to two. In and around Borisov stood the guard, the remnants of Junot's corps and the von Ney corps, which had been formed from the remains of his previous corps, the remains of Dombrowski's division, Poniatowski's corps and the Mohilew garrison. To the north of it the Corps secured Victor against that of Wittgenstein.

When Tschaplitz noticed troop movements on the east bank in the evening, the Melnikov Cossack regiment received the order to cross the Berezina that night to take prisoners. Melnikov returned with some prisoners and the mayor of one of the nearby villages. According to the prisoners, the whole French army was in the Borisov area. The community leader knew that the army was collecting material for bridges that were likely to be built at Brili or Weselowo.

On the night of November 26, Chichagov reached Shabashevichi, a little more than 10 kilometers south of Borissov and 25 kilometers from Studyanka. The vanguard of Chichagov under Count Orurk faced Ukoloda. When Wittgenstein informed Tschitschagow that he was approaching the Beresina, Tschaplitz received the order to contact Wittgenstein and to march to Zembin for this purpose. Wittgenstein was with Baran, Miloradowitsch had reached Tolotschin and Kutuzov was in the Kopys area, Yermolow in the village of Maljäwka, Platow pressed on the French rearguard and got to Nacha. Tschaplitz retired to Stachow that night.

The battle

November 26th

View from the hill to the Beresina in a north-westerly direction

The water level of the Berezina had risen in the meantime due to the thaw, the ford near Studjanka was hardly passable. On both banks there were broad strips of swamp that hindered the carts. The swamp had frozen through the frost, but not the Berezina. At eight in the morning Napoleon gave Corbineau the order to swim through the river with a squadron of his brigade. With the help of rafts that could carry 10 men each, 400 hunters of the Dombrowski division crossed the river. At the same time, the entire artillery of Oudinot and the guards with at least 40 cannons (in other sources up to 56 cannons) were brought into position on the heights near Studjanka. The Russians on the other side of the river had only one battery of mounted artillery. The east bank of the Beresina was significantly higher than the west bank, which is why the French artillery had a good overview and dominated the terrain. The Russian battery, which also had a shorter range than some of the French cannons, withdrew. Chichagov considered the attack at Studyanka to be a diversionary maneuver.

General Eblé, the commander of the bridge train, had two field blacksmiths, two wagons with coal and six wagons with instruments and iron. In Borissow, the Partouneaux division and the Delaitre cavalry brigade, about 5,000 men in total, remained behind as the rearguard of the 9th Corps. The rest of Victor's troops marched on Studyanka. There, 3 miles north of Borissow, Napoléon had General Eblé and General Chasseloup build two bridges, using the material from torn down houses.

Bridge construction on the Beresina, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema .

Dutch pontoniers and French sappers performed superhumanly under the most difficult conditions . The bridge for the infantry was built under the command of the Dutch captain George Diederich Benthien . The second bridge, for artillery and wagons, was built by Captain Busch's Dutch pontooners. The pontoniers stood up to their chests in the ice-cold water. Anyone who slipped in the muddy bottom of the Berezina was swept away and drowned. The pontooners stood in the water for only 15 minutes and were then released. Even so, a large number of them died of hypothermia . Of 400 Dutch pontooners, only Captain Benthien, Sergeant-Major Schroeder and six men returned to Holland.

At 1 p.m. a bridge for cavalry and infantry was made and the 2nd Army Corps of Oudinot crossed the river. Oudinot and his corps turned south to secure the passage of the army. Tschaplitz now advanced again towards Brili, but did not attack Oudinot, but stayed out of the range of the French artillery. In the afternoon Oudinot attacked Tschaplitz and pushed him back.

A second bridge for guns and wagons was built three hours later. The bridges had no handrails and were partially pushed under the water surface when they crossed. Each of the bridges stood on 23 trestles that were between three and nine feet high. The decking of the large artillery bridge consisted of 15 to 16 inch long billets and of the infantry bridge of a triple layer of boards. The bridges were covered with flax and hay. With their pontoon park, the French could have built a bridge with 15 pontoons in a maximum of two hours.

The frozen Berezina at Studzionka

First the artillery of Oudinot crossed the second bridge, then that of the guards. Tschitschagow, who was still with Schabaschewitzi, sent Major General Rudsewitsch with two fighter regiments, a hussar regiment and a light battery of artillery to the Borissov area as support, in order to be able to operate from there as he ordered according to circumstances. Orurk had sent patrols across the river at Ukoloda, taking several prisoners. The commander of a French squadron testified that the bridges at Studyanka were being built and would probably already be finished. Orurk had the prisoner taken to Chichagov. The orurk thereupon ordered a reliable officer to be sent across the Berezina, who should make contact with some department belonging to the main army. The commandant of this department was to inform Kutuzov that Napoleon would cross the Berezina at Studyanka. Orurk entrusted Major Khrapovitsky with the execution, who met a detachment under Count Osharowsky near Pogost. He doubted the truthfulness of the report, but sent a courier to Kutuzov, who only received the letter after Napoleon's army had crossed the river.

The newly formed vanguard of Wittgenstein under General Wlastow reached Schiskowo, Wittgenstein himself with his main power Kostritza. Napoleon's troops were concentrated at Studyanka on both sides of the river.

At eight o'clock in the evening the bridge for artillery and carts broke.

November 27th

The crossing over the Berezina, from January Suchodolski .

At two in the morning the bridge broke again.

Napoleon himself crossed the river with the guards at noon on the 27th. The departure of the guard was an alarm signal for those who stayed behind. As long as Napoleon and the Guard were with them, they felt safe, now panic broke out. Everyone wanted to cross the bridges as quickly as possible and many ruthlessly paved their way. People were run over and crushed by carts, others trampled by the panicked crowd, including women and children. Hundreds were pushed into the water on the bridges. The artillery bridge broke for the third time at 4:00 p.m. There was a terrible crush by the following carts, whose drivers had not noticed the damage to the bridge. People and wagons fell from the bridge into the river. Chichagov had meanwhile noticed his mistake and moved north.

On November 27, Russian fighters attempted to penetrate the remains of the bridge in Borisov, but were thrown back. During the night, Partouneaux's division left Borissov and marched in the direction of Studyanka. In doing so, she lost her way and came across troops from Wittgenstein's army. After a short struggle, she had to surrender. Only the rearguard of the division, which consisted of one battalion, escaped. Marshal Victor's 9th Corps included, in addition to the Partouneaux division, the Daendels division, consisting of Baden and Berg infantry, the Girard division, consisting of Polish infantry and cavalry from Baden , Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxony and the Grand Duchy of Berg among the generals Fournier and Delaitre. The corps had only marched into Russia in August with 25,000 men, less than a third of the soldiers were still around. The cavalry from Saxony and the Grand Duchy of Berg was assigned to the Partouneaux division and was lost with it.

November 28th

Battle of the Berezina

On November 28 at 8:00 a.m., Chichagov attacked the 14,000-strong corps of Marshals Oudinot and Michel Ney on the western bank, in the forest of Stachow, with 26,000 men . Oudinot was wounded and Ney took command. His corps hardly consisted of French, mostly Poles, including the Polish Vistula region , 1,300 Swiss, the remnants of four former regiments, and a few Italians. They covered the crossing over the bridges for the whole day and repulsed the Russian attacks. After they ran out of ammunition, the Swiss only fought with their bayonets. Both sides suffered considerable losses and 1,600 Russian soldiers were taken prisoner. After the battle, only 300 Swiss people came to roll call, a third of them wounded.

Soldiers of the 12th Polish Infantry Regiment (5th Corps) on the Beresina, by Jan Chełmińsk .

At around 10:00 am, Wittgenstein and his troops attacked on the eastern bank. He had cannons and howitzers bombarded the bridges. Chaos broke out again. The scenes from the previous day were repeated, this time under fire from Russian artillery. Marshal Victor asserted himself all day long with the rearguard of 4,500 Poles, Baden, Hesse and Bergers against a force about five times stronger, but could not prevent the bombardment of the bridges. Around noon, Russian troops tried to bypass Victor's left wing. General Fournier attacked them with the cavalry regiments from Baden and Hesse and prevented the evasion.

In the evening Victor crossed the river with the rearguard after General Eblé had made a kind of trench through the pontoon through the corpses and broken wagons piled up on the bridges.

November 29th

The remnants of his Polish regiments remained on the eastern bank until morning. There were still a large number of wounded, sick and exhausted people lying here who, when Eblé set fire to the bridge at 8:30 a.m. when the Russians approached, they perished in the flames or in the floods. In their panic, some tried to cross the burning bridge, others threw themselves into the river and tried to reach the western bank.

Chichagov

He is the tragic figure of this battle. Although he was completely on his own until November 27th, Wittgenstein only hesitantly pursued Victor, Kutuzov remained standing in Kopys, the reinforcements he sent arrived much too late, Chichagov alone was held responsible for Napoleon's escape. Kutuzov, who was not personally involved in any battle except in Borodino, became Russia's savior. Chichagov was retired and left Russia. The Russian fable poet Krylow wrote the fable "The pike and the rats" on the occasion of the events on the Beresina. It describes how the rats eat the tail of the pike. The pike refers to Admiral Tschitschagow, the rats are Napoleon's soldiers. Generations of Russian children learned that Chichagov let Napoleon escape. It was not until the 20th century that Chichagov was rehabilitated in the Soviet Union. It was agreed that the guilt lay equally with Chitschagow, Kutuzov and Wittgenstein.

In the eyes of Alexander I , the culprit was Kutuzov. On December 24th he thanked the English General Wilson, who was at Kutuzov's headquarters during the retreat of the French army, for his letters and declared: “You have always told me the truth, without you I would have had no means of finding out about it. I know that the field marshal did none of what was his duty. ... All of his successes forced themselves on him. He performed some of his old Turkish pranks. But the Moscow nobility supports him, insisting that he take the first place in the national glory of this war. So I am forced to hand over the Order of St. George, First Class, to this person in half an hour. ... But I do not ask you to attend this ceremony, it would humiliate me too much. However, I have no choice but to bow to necessity. In any case, I will not leave my army, so that the bad leadership by the field marshal will no longer continue. "

consequences

Crossing the Berezina. Bogdan Willewalde , 1891

Of the 70,000 French, barely 40,000 came to the other bank. The rest of the French were defenseless against the attacks of the Cossacks. Some women and children who were on the eastern side early in the morning could still be saved. Many years later the ruins of weapons and other equipment of all kinds could still be seen sticking out of the mud on both sides of the Berezina. An island had formed from the rubble of the artillery bridge and carts that had fallen into the water. Down the river, corpses and mud had washed up into three small mounds.

With difficulty, Marshal Ney was able to collect 3,000 combat-capable men in Vilnius to cover the further escape. Only mistakes by the Russian military leaders prevented a total catastrophe for the French, namely the lack of uniformity in the operations of Chichagov and Wittgenstein and the timidity and slowness of Kutuzov . Bogdanowitsch wrote: “It can be said with certainty that Napoleon owed his salvation in this case solely to the influence of his previous victories, which induced his opponents to operate with the greatest caution and thereby the opportunity to give him a full one To bring defeat, to be missed completely. "

With the transition, Napoleon managed to save the core of his army. The news of the disaster on the Beresina quickly spread across Europe. In Paris, the danger of a coup threatened ever since Napoleon was on the retreat. When rumors surfaced that the French emperor was dead, an attempted coup took place on October 24th. After crossing the Beresina, Napoleon left the remnants of his army in Vilna on December 5 and returned to Paris to save his rule and empire. The command of the remnants of the Grande Army went to Marshal Murat . Napoleon reached Paris on December 18, while the French forces remained on the Nyemen . Two days before Napoleon's arrival, a bulletin of his appeared in Moniteur magazine. In this Napoleon justified the defeat on the Beresina. The defeat was therefore not due to the Russian army, but to the Russian winter . The article ended with the sentence: His Majesty's health has never been better. Since Murat wanted to save his rule in Naples, he too left Vilna so that the Russian army could also take Poland.

reception

The settlement Beresina , founded in Bessarabia in 1814, was named after the battle, and arose with German emigrants in the area. Tsar Alexander I had called German colonists into the country in a manifesto of 1813 in order to cultivate the newly won steppe areas that he had wrested from the Turks in the Russo-Turkish War .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lieven, page 326.
  2. ^ Lieven, page 331.
  3. ↑ after Minard.
  4. ^ Charles de Lambert (1773-1843) was a French royalist who joined the Russian army in 1793.
  5. ↑ Bogdanowitsch, page 238f.
  6. ↑ Bogdanowitsch, page 242.
  7. ^ Lieven, page 327f.
  8. ^ Bertrand Pierre Castex (1771–1842).
  9. ↑ Zamoyski, pages 520, 524 and 601.
  10. ^ Bogdanowitsch, p. 269.
  11. ^ Tarlé, pp. 352f.
  12. ^ Tarlé, p. 371.
  13. ↑ Steger, page 292f.
  14. ↑ Britt, p. 121.

Web links

Commons : Battle of the Berezina  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 54 ° 19 ′ 0 ″  N , 28 ° 21 ′ 0 ″  E