Battle of Ostrowno
| date | July 25 and 26, 1812 |
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| place | Ostrowno , Belarus |
| output | French victory |
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Mir - Mogilev - Ostrovno - Kobrin - Klyastitsy - Gorodeczno - Smolensk - Polotsk I - Walutino - Borodino - Tschirikovo - Tarutino - Maloyaroslavets - Polotsk II - Vyazma - Lyachovo - Chaschniki - Smoljany - Krasnoi - Beresina
The Battle of Ostrovno on July 25th and 26th, 1812, was a battle during Napoleon's Russian campaign . The battle between the French IV. Army Corps and the Russian 4th Corps was decided in favor of the French, who were far superior in terms of cavalry, despite the intervention of another Russian division.
Starting position
General Michail Barclay de Tolly wanted to risk a battle near Vitebsk to distract Napoleon and to give the 2nd Western Army under General Prince PI Bagration the opportunity to reach the 1st Western Army. He also hoped to raise the morale of the troops, which after many tactical retreats burned to fight with the French. In order to give his troops a break in the field camp near Vitebsk and to give General Bagration time to bring his troops up, General Barclay de Tolly sent the 4th Corps under the command of Count Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy on the main road from Vitebsk to the west around the pursuing French Cavalry under the King of Naples, Murat .
Troop formations involved
Russian 1st Western Army under General Michail Barclay de Tolly
4th Corps under Lieutenant General Count Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy
- 11th Infantry Division Major General Bachmetew with 4 musketeer regiments and 2 hunter regiments
3rd Corps under Lieutenant General Nikolai Tutschkow
- 3rd Infantry Division under Lieutenant General Pyotr Konownitsyn with 4 musketeer regiments, 2 hunter regiments and 1 Kurland rifle battalion
French Army:
IV Army Corps under Eugène Beauharnais Viceroy of Italy
- 13th division under General Alexis-Joseph Delzons with French 8th light infantry and 84th, 92nd and 106th line regiments as well as 1st Illyrian infantry regiment (Croatians)
- 14th division under General Jean-Baptiste Broussier with the French 18th light infantry regiment and 9th, 35th and 53rd line regiments, as well as the Spanish 1st infantry regiment
- 13. Light Cavalry Brigade under General Philippe-Antoine d'Ornano with French 9th (under Martin Gobrecht ) and 19th Jägerregiment (1000 men), Italian 2nd Jägerregiment (1000 men) and Bavarian 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Chevauleger Regiment (2000 men)
Parts of I. Cavalry Corps under General Nansouty
- 1st Cuirassier Division under General St. Germain
- 1st Light Cavalry Division under General Bruyere with a light cavalry brigade under Piré (French 16th Jägerregiment and 7th and 8th Hussar Regiment)
The battle
East of the village of Ostrowno, the Russian cavalry was taken over by Franz. Hunters (16th regiment) and hussars (8th regiment) pushed back with the participation of cuirassier units of General St. Germain . The Russian cavalry suffered very heavy losses, 30% of the troops deployed had failed. A supporting infantry attack by 10 to 12 battalions of the Russian 11th Division on the left flank of the French could be defused by the timely intervention of troops of the 13th Division under General Delzons. When it got dark, the Russian corps retreated 7 kilometers in the direction of Kakuwjatschino and was replaced by General Konownitsyn's 3rd Division (part of 3rd Corps), which was entrusted with the task of stopping the French.
This unit behaved more carefully and tactically more intelligently than General Ostermann-Tolstoy with his 4th Corps the day before. The occupied positions were good, the back was protected by a thick forest, and a ravine ran parallel to the front. On the heights between the ravine and the forest, General Konownitsyn posted his cannons, which were protected by the undergrowth. The French attack in this area was difficult and costly. The French cavalry attacked on the left, with the infantry of the 13th Division on the right. This division was followed by the 14th division as reserve . This was followed by the Italian troops with the 2nd Jäger Regiment and the Guard under General Lechi (two regiments on horseback, five infantry battalions) and the Illyrian Regiment.
Due to the strong fire of the Russian artillery, the French cavalry attack came to a halt and failed. On the right side, the attack by the 92nd Line Regiment and a rifle battalion also came to a standstill. The Russian counterattack could be repulsed by fresh French cavalry units and the newly added 106th Regiment. The Russian 13th Infantry Division managed to withdraw to Vitebsk at nightfall. The persecution of the Russians by the French took place hesitantly and only got the necessary momentum through the personal arrival of Napoleon. However, the troops available were too weak and were repeatedly prevented from advancing rapidly by wandering Cossack units under the command of General Pahlen .
Effects
On the evening of July 26th, General Barclay de Tolly's quarters received a message from Bagration which fundamentally changed the situation: On July 23, the French under Davout at Saltanowka prevented the 2nd Western Army from moving north via Mogilev to unite with Barclay de Tolly's army. This made it pointless to fight the French. The French were twice as strong as the Russian troops .
On the night of July 27, the troops under Ostermann and Konownitsyn were withdrawn to the right bank of the Luchosa . The next day the Russian rearguard was attacked and defeated again. Barclay de Tolly avoided a new battle, stopped the fight and withdrew his army in three columns to Rudnia and Smolensk . It was only there that the two Russian armies were united.
literature
- Dominic Lieven: Russia against Napoleon , C. Bertelsmann Verlag
- Ludwig August Friederich Liebenstein: Napoleon's war against Russia in the years 1812 and 1813 first part. Verlag der Hermannschen Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main 1819