THE RUSSIAN CAMPAGNE 1812

Battle Analysis Briefingby

1LT Rasho

References

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, George F. Nafciger, 1963

The retreat from Moscow, R.F. Delderfield, 1967 Napoleonic Wars, Vincent J. Esposito and John

Robert Elting, 1963 "The Campaign of 1812 in Russia"- Karl von

Clausewitz

OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION STRATEGY AND TACTICS OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW PHASES OUTCOME OF BATTLE KEY EVENTS SUMMARY / LESSONS LEARNED

INTRODUCTION

WHO FOUGHT? La Grande Armée (French and Allies)

Commanded by Napoleon Russia

Commanded by Tsar Alexander I WHEN?

Renaissance period 23 Jun 1812- 14 December 1812

WHERE? Eastern Europe (Russian Empire)

WHY?  Russia's commitment to Napoleon's Continental System was a mere lip-

service.  Differences between France and Russia over influence in Poland and the

Balkans.

INTRODUCTION- Antagonists

1st Corps- Marshal Davout 2nd Corps-Marshal Oudinot 3rd Corps-Michel Ney 4th Corps- Prince Eugene 5th Corps-Prince Poniatowski 6th Corps- Marshal St. Cyr 7th Corps- General Reynier 8th Corps-King of Westphalia 9th Corps Marshal Victor 10th Corps- Marshal Macdonald 11th Corps-Marshal Augereau 12th Corps- Marshal Murat 13th Corps-General Schvartzenberg Old Guard- Marshal Bessieres Young Guard- Marshal Mortier Corps of engineer- General Eble

1st Army- General Barclay de Tolly 2nd Army- Prince Bagration+/Tormasov 3rd Army- General Wittgenstein 4th Army (Danube)- General Tchichagoff Rear guard- Tormasov/Platov/

Miloradovich Irregular forces

Cossacks- Platov Militia- Miloradovich

La Grande Armée- Napoleon

Chief of Staff Marshal Berthier

Russian Army- Tsar AlexanderChief of Staff: Barclay de Tolly/Marshal Kutusoff

400,000-600,000(422,000)/1,800 cannons177,000 horses

200,000-400,000/

Army of twelve languages

Strategy and Tactics

Strategy Strategy of Indirect Approach Strategy of the Central Position

Tactics

1 Battle of maneuver 2. Battle of attrition Reconnaissance Concentrate artillery fire on the gaps Pour exploitation force trough the

gaps Pursue with mobile force

Strategy Strategic defence Retreating and attrition of the

enemy

Tactics Scorched-earth tactics Raid the enemy with light Cosacks

cavalery

La Grande Armée Russian Army

THEATER OF OPERATIONSLEGENDU - Uplands M - MarshesL - Lakelands

Lithuanians

Belarusians

Ukrainians

Napoleon’s Plan

10xxx

13xxx

xxxx

7xxx

11xxx

Mission:Across Niemen river, engage and defeat the enemy and force Tsar Alexander to accept French Peace proposal.

Russian PlanDrissa Camp

Mission: Back the struggle to a considerable distance, thus approaching their reinforcements, gaining time, weakening the enemy by means of detachments which he would be compelled to make, and gaining space for strategical operations upon his flank and rear

The Invasion

Xxxx

XIIIxxx

xxxx

VIIxxx

XIxxx

BORODINO07 Sep 1812

NIEMEN23 Jun 1812

IXxxx

Battle of Borodino/07 Sep 18120630-1600

130,000 86,000 Infantry 28,000 Cavalry 16,000 Artillery and

Engineers 587 Guns

Losses 28,000/36 generals

120,000 72,000 Infantry 17,000 Cavalry 14,000 Artillery and

Engineers 7000 Cossacks 10,000 Militia

640 Guns

Losses 30,000/23 Generals

French Army Russian Army

Next year, after winter the peasants would have to bury a total of 58,521 corpses and the carcasses of 35,478 horses

Retreatingxxxx14 Sep 1812

27 Sep 1812

Xxxx

18 Oct 1812

Berezina23-28

Nov 1812VIIxxx

XIxxx

XIIIxxx

IXxxx

Final disaster

Xxxx

VIIxxx

XIxxx

14 Dec 1812

OUTCOME

French losses:370,000 dead, 200,000 POW1550 cannon, almost all horses and vehicles

the graph of Charles Joseph Minard

Russian losses:150,000 dead, 300,000 wounded

KEY EVENT 1CHANGING IN COMMAND-

DE TOLLY REPLACED BY KUTUZOV Causes

De Tolly was under pressure because he didn’t want to accept decisive battle

Russian’s generals hated him (he was Scot) He lost Battle of Smolensk

Effects He was Russian, strong character, he continued

avoiding of resistance, he was able to avoid pressure He had a lot of experience, he understood Russia better

then any other Russian or French leader His plan was: sacrifice everything, use terrain and time

advantages in order to save army and win battle

KEY EVENT 2VIOLATION OF PRINCIPLE OF WAR-

NAPOLEON HESITATES ON USING RESERVE DURING BATTLE of BORODINO

Causes Marshal Ney broke Russian defense and asked for

reinforcement Earlier that day, French rear was attacked by Cossacks

Effects Delay gave Russians time to retreat, reconsolidate and

reorganize Napoleon missed chance to convert victory into triumph and

end war on the spot He missed chance to change the course of war and possibly the

course of nineteenth century history

KEY EVENT 3EVACUATION AND BURNING OF MOSCOW

Causes Russian’s troops were to weak for new decisive battle Napoleon’s troops were to far from their depots,

logistic became almost impossible Effects

Russians avoided new battle, took position in south in order to close Napoleon’s retreat

French didn’t find supply in Moscow, troops lost discipline

French had to leave Moscow and use the same way for retreating

LESSONS LEARNED

Have a contingency plan. Take the time to imagine what can go wrong, and develop solutions to address it. Napoleon didn’t plan to go deep in Russia, he

expected battle near boundary Follow principles of war.

He had advantage over thy enemy but he allowed him to retreat

Don’t become over-confident Emperor Napoleon 1st vs. General Bonaparte

LESSONS LEARNED

Know when to cut your losses If Napoleon had left Moscow immediately, he

may have returned with a salvageable army“My losses are real but the enemy can take no

credit for them”. Napoleon, January 1813

LESSONS LEARNED

LOGISTICS “When you do battle, even if you are winning, if

you continue for a long time it will dull your forces and blunt you edge…If you keep your armies out in the field for a long time, your supplies will be insufficient. Transportation of provisions itself consumes 20 times the amount transported.”

“The line between disorder and order lies in logistics…”

Sun Tzu

LESSONS LEARNED

JUST KIDDING

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAGNE 1812

QUESTIONS ???