Battle of Smolensk (1812)

Battle for Smolensk

Part of: Napoléon's Russian campaign

Battle of Smolensk , by Peter von Hess

date	17./18. August 1812
place	Smolensk , Central Russia
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	Russia
Commander
Napoleon Bonaparte	Michel Barclay de Tolly
Troop strength
175,000, including about 45,000 in combat	130,000, including about 35,000 in combat
losses
700 killed approx. 3,100 wounded	4,300 killed approx. 7,500 wounded 2,000 prisoners 200 cannons

The battle for Smolensk took place on August 5th ^July. / August 17,  1812 ^greg. and August 6th ^jul. / August 18,  1812 ^greg. Took place in 1812. As part of Napoleon's Russian campaign , the Battle of Smolensk marks the first major battle between the Napoleonic forces and the two now united Russian western armies.

prehistory

On June 24, 1812, the French Grande Armée crossed the River Nyemen at Kovno . After Napoléon's invasion, the Russian army had to withdraw because it was vastly outnumbered. General Barclay de Tolly , commander of the 1st Russian Western Army, moved with his army to Vitebsk , where he wanted to unite with the 2nd Western Army. Before that, however , he was involved in heavy fighting on July 25th and 26th near Ostrowno . Since the 2nd Russian Western Army under General Bagration was defeated at Mogilew ( Battle of Saltanovka ) on July 23, a decisive battle originally planned by the Russian High Command near Vitebsk was no longer possible. The road to Vitebsk to the north was closed to Bagration's troops and he had to go back east. Napoleon's main army reached Vitebsk and marched towards Smolensk, where Bagration and Barclay de Tolly retreated.

The Grande Armée lost a large part of the troops in the first few weeks, mainly due to illness, exhaustion and desertion ; the losses of horses were particularly severe due to a lack of supplies. The I, V and VIII Corps were under the command of Marshal Davout , who advanced with the southern group on Orsha . The main power advancing to the north under Napoleon was composed of the Guard Corps as a reserve, the II., III. and IV. Corps as well as Joachim Murat's cavalry.

On August 7th, the Barclay army marched in the direction of Rudnja and on the following day met French cavalry under General Sebastiani at Inkowo , who withdrew after a battle with Cossacks under General Platow . French engineers under General Eblé erected several pontoon bridges at Chomino, Rossasna and Dubrovna over the Dnieper on the night of August 13-14, and at daybreak the 175,000-strong Grande Armée advanced rapidly towards Smolensk.

Pursuit battle of Krasnoy on August 14th

On August 14, the French III. Corps under Ney in battle from Krasnoi to the rearguard of the Russian 7th Corps under General Rajewski . The 27th Division (7,200 men, 1,500 horsemen and 14 cannons) under General Newerowski , which was attacked several times by Murat's cavalry, suffered considerable losses and lost almost all of its artillery. Newerowski had squares formed, was able to fight his way back to Smolensk with about 7,000 men in all-round combat with the constantly attacking French cavalry and closed the gates behind him. Neverowski wanted to defend the old fortress Smolensk and asked Prince Bagration for reinforcements, which arrived on the morning of August 15 and took up position on the south bank of the Dnieper near Smolensk. General Barclay ordered the 6th Corps under General Dmitri Dochturow , with his troops, to join the Bagration army as soon as possible. Bagration withdrew with the 8th Corps ( Borosdin ) towards Dorogobusch , parts of the main army under Barclay de Tolly took over the flank protection on the northern bank of the Dnieper. Initially only the Russian and 7th Corps under Rajewski and a cavalry division under General Kreutz with about 30,000 men remained behind to defend Smolensk. These should try to stop Napoléon's army and secure the retreat of the main army.

The battle

Smolensk was an interesting target of strategic importance not only as a supply base, but also as a "sacred symbol" for the Russians. Since the fortifications of Smolensk were in a dilapidated condition, Marshal Ney , who led the vanguard of the Napoleonic forces, decided to "take the city out of the movement".

The first French attack on the southern suburb began on August 16 and was repulsed by Rajewski's troops. Ney was unable to achieve his goal due to the lack of siege artillery on the first attempt. In the evening the 2nd Grenadier Division under Prince Karl von Mecklenburg arrived as reinforcements on the Russian side . Napoleon had already expected the confrontation with the entire main Russian power, he was indignant because his army now had to attack again instead of being offered the decisive battle by the enemy. The Commander-in-Chief Barclay let General Rajewski's troops through the VI on the night of August 17th. Corps under Dochturow and by the 3rd Division of General Konownitsyn from III. Relief Corps ( Tutschkow ).

August 17th

Plan of the Battle of Smolensk

After the full arrival of the French attack troops, which amounted to about 45,000 men, the district south of the Dnieper was attacked with the following semicircular line-up.

• The left wing formed the III. Corps (under Ney) and was based on the Dnieper with the 11th Division ( Razout ), behind which parts of the 10th ( Ledru ) and 25th Divisions ( Marchand ) secured the road to Krasnoi.
• In the center between Krasnojer and Chaslojewitscher Strasse, the 1st Corps (under Davout) marched on the left with the 3rd ( Gudin ) and 4th Divisions ( Dessaix ). The 5th ( Compans ), 1st ( Morand ) and 2nd Division ( Friant ) followed to the right.
• On the right wing the Polish V Corps (under Poniatowski ) was assigned, which was more densely packed because of the terrain and was therefore more effectively exposed to Russian artillery fire. On the left stood the 18th division (Kaminieczki), in the middle the 17th division ( Dombrowski ) and on the right the 16th division of General Zajaczeck .
• Behind the I. Corps, the Guard Corps under Lefebvre and Mortier was available as a reserve. Behind the right wing the cavalry divisions of the King of Naples secured under Generals Nansouty , Montbrun and Grouchy , whose task after a victory was to cut off the Russian retreat. The IV. Corps of the Italian Viceroy Beauharnais was also available, while Junot's VIII. Corps was too far apart because of incorrect marching dispositions .

The main target of the attacks on August 17th by Ney's troops was the so-called royal bastion, where the Russian 26th Division under General Paskevich was defending. Marshal Davout's troops, with the support of the Poles, attacked the Molokhov Gate stubbornly, won the moat and drove the Russians back into the city. The Count of Lobau had 60 cannons aimed at the city center and launched a bombardment. Since the city consisted mostly of wooden houses, fires quickly spread. On the French side, the Polish General Grabowski , General Zajączek , the French General Friant and the Württemberg General von Koch were wounded. The Russian 4th Division under Prince Eugene of Württemberg had also arrived to support Dochturow, which temporarily relieved the already crisis situation.

Storming the city

On the evening of August 17th, the French artillery finally broke through the inner defensive ring of the northern city, which was then stormed by French troops on August 18th. However, the Russians had already largely evacuated the city by this time and set fire to all magazines and warehouses as they withdrew. On the Russian side, Generals Skalon and Balla fell , and General Bucholtz was badly wounded. The last Russian troops withdrew on the morning of August 18th. Most of the city had been destroyed by the fires.

losses

The details vary widely. The Russian casualties are given as up to 15,000 men, including five generals. Barclay de Tolly gave the Russian losses as more than 6,000 men. Then there are the burnt offerings among the city's residents. Officially, the French reported about 4,000 dead and wounded. With only 700 deaths reported, including the Krasnoi skirmish , that number is very likely too low. Eckart Kleßmann gives the French losses as 10,000 and the Russian as 6,000 men.

consequences

Napoleon's hope to put the Russian troops in battle and thus to destroy them at Smolensk was not fulfilled. Although he had conquered Smolensk, the city was as good as worthless to him due to the fire and without supplies. On August 19, Barclay de Tolly succeeded in throwing back the French troops chasing him on the north bank of the Dnieper in the battle of Walutino . The French General Gudin was fatally wounded, the Russian General Tutschkow was seriously wounded in captivity. The Russian army withdrew further inland, forcing Napoleon to continue his march towards Moscow with longer and longer supply lines.

literature

• Hanns Eggert Willibald von der Lühe: Militair-Conversations-Lexikon, Volume 7, Adorf 1839, pp. 681-683
• Eckart Kleßmann : Napoleon's Russian campaign in eyewitness reports , Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1972, ISBN 3-423-00822-9 .
• Friedrich Steger: The campaign of 1812 . Chronicle based on contemporary sources, Phaidon Verlag, Essen 1985, (first edition 1845).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.lexikus.de/bibliothek/Betrachtungen-ueber-den-Krieg-im-Jahre-1812/Ueber-Napoleons-Angriff-auf-Smolensk
2. ^ Friedrich Steger: Campaign 1812, p. 100

Web links

• Description of the battle on histofig.com ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) in the Internet Archive on archive.org, as of September 27, 2007