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 ???