| Battle of Berezina | |||||||
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| Part of French invasion of Russia (1812) | |||||||
 Napoleon's crossing of the Berezina an 1866 painting by January Suchodolski oil on canvas, National Museum in Poznań |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 First French Empire |
 Russian Empire |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Napoleon Bonaparte |
Mikhail Kutuzov |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 31,000-40,000 troops+ , 30,000-40,000 stragglers |
61,000 present (31,000 under Chicagov; 30,000 under Wittgenstein); 54,000 under Kutusov were approaching the battle from the east but were still 40 miles away when the combat occurred. The French invasion of Russia in 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. January Suchodolski ( Grodno, September 19, 1797 &ndash March 20, 1875, Boimie near Siedlce) was a Polish Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe Year 1812 ( MDCCCXII) a leap year started on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Barysaw (Бары́саў also transliterated as Barysau, ba'rɨsau̯ Бори́сов Borisov) (population 150700 as of 1999 is a town in Belarus The Empire of the French (1804-1814 also known as the Empire of France, Greater French Empire, First French Empire, French Empire, or The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов ( &mdash) was the Russian Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov or Tchichagov ( &ndash) was a Russian military and naval commander of the Napoleonic wars. Prince Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein (Ludwig Adolph Peter Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein ( January 17 ( January 6) 1769 Pereslavl-Zalessky - June | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 30,000-40,000, (largely stragglers) | 13,000 | ||||||
The Battle of Berezina took place November 26-29, 1812 between the French army of Napoleon, retreating after his invasion of Russia and crossing the Berezina (near Borisov Belarus), and the Russian army under Mikhail Kutuzov, Peter Wittgenstein and Admiral Pavel Chichagov. Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe Year 1812 ( MDCCCXII) a leap year started on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. The French invasion of Russia in 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. Belarus ( Belarusian Беларусь / Biełaruś is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов ( &mdash) was the Russian Prince Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein (Ludwig Adolph Peter Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein ( January 17 ( January 6) 1769 Pereslavl-Zalessky - June Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov or Tchichagov ( &ndash) was a Russian military and naval commander of the Napoleonic wars. The battle ended with a victory for the Russians. The French suffered very heavy losses. Since then "Bérézina" has been used in French as a synonym of disaster. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people A disaster is the impact of a natural or human-made hazard that negatively affects society or environment.
As the surviving masses of the Grande Armee struggled on for the perceived safety of the west, the Russian armies of generals Wittgenstein, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov and Admiral Pavel Chichagov closed in on them. Prince Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein (Ludwig Adolph Peter Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein ( January 17 ( January 6) 1769 Pereslavl-Zalessky - June Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов ( &mdash) was the Russian Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov or Tchichagov ( &ndash) was a Russian military and naval commander of the Napoleonic wars.
The French had suffered a defeat just two weeks earlier during the Battle of Krasnoi. The Battle of Krasnoi ( Krasny) ( November 15 to 18, 1812) was a series of skirmishes fought in the final stage of Napoleon 's However, reinforcements who had been stationed near the Berezina during Napoleon's initial advance through Russia brought the numerical strength of the Grande Armée back up to some 30,000 to 40,000 French soldiers capable of fighting, as well as 40,000 non-combatants. The Russians had approximately 61,000 troops at the Berezina, with another 54,000 under Kutuzov just 40 miles to the east who were approaching the river.
Napoleon Bonaparte's plan was to cross the Berezina River and head for Poland, while his enemies wanted to trap him there and destroy him. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Bonaparte's original plan to cross the frozen river quickly proved to be impossible, as the usually frozen waterway had thawed and was now impassable.
The nearby bridge at Borisov had been destroyed and most of the equipment to build a pontoon bridge had been destroyed only a few days earlier. Fortunately, for the French, the commander of the bridging equipment General Jean Baptiste Eblé had kept crucial forges, charcoal and sapper tools and only needed protection from the Chichagov's force on the far west bank to span the river. Jean Baptiste Eble ( December 21 1758 - December 31 1812) was a French General, Engineer and Artilleryman
Marshal Oudinot was given the task of drawing off the admiral and made a move towards the south. Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio ( 25 April, 1767 &ndash 13 September, 1847) was The plan worked and so Eblé's engineers braved ferociously cold water to construct the vital 100-metre bridge. Cavalry quickly crossed it followed by infantry to hold the bridgehead. The rearguard infantry suffered terrible losses (of the four Swiss Regiments of Oudinots corps, only 300 soldiers survived), but managed to cover both positions and the retreat. This struggle is depicted in the Beresinalied. The Beresinalied, originally known as Unser Leben gleicht der Reise (the incipit is a Lied composed by Friedrich Wilke after
A second structure opened within hours and cannons were taken across it to bolster the defensive perimeter. Their arrival was just in time as Chichagov realised his error and attacked the 11,000 French troops.
By midday of the 27th, Bonaparte and the Imperial Guard were across and the strategy now swung to saving the rearguard, which was fighting against Wittgenstein's arriving army.
One of the spans broke in the late afternoon but more feats of engineering skill had it repaired by early evening. Marshal Davout and Prince Eugene got their corps across leaving Marshal Victor's IX Corps to hold off the enemy on the east bank. Louis-Nicolas d'Avout ( May 10, 1770 &ndash June 1, 1823) better known as Davout, 1st Duc d' Auerstaedt Eugène Rose de Beauharnais Prince Français Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg Claude Victor-Perrin, 1st Duc de Belluno ( 7 December 1764 &ndash 1 March 1841) was a Marshal of France
Boosting his firepower with artillery from across the river, Victor held out until after midnight when his forces were able to join their colleagues and push Chichagov aside and continue the retreat to France.
While some 25,000 French troops and a further 15,000 Russians became casualties, their losses paled next to that of the French stragglers, about 10,000. (Moscow, 1812, Napoleon's Fatal March, Adam Zamoyski, Harper/Collins, 2004, page 480. ) At least 10,000 were massacred by rampaging Cossacks, while another 20,000 died in the near freezing water or were crushed to death in the panic to cross the bridges.