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BorodinoF.txt
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[
#titre1
Borodino - September 7th, 1812
Epilog
#normal
At 6 in the morning, the battle began by a heavy artillery fire and some
french succeses : Prince EugΦne's Italian divisions captured Borodino,
Marshal Davout made progress with his assault on the Semenovskoe position
and Poniatowski seized Utitza and a good part of the surrounding woods.
Russian reserves were being committed in large numbers, and Kutuzov
desperately began to withdraw many formations from his right wing to
reinforce his left and center. This involved a huge time delay for the
troops to march three miles across shot and shell, through smoke, and
around and through other units.
But a first attack on the Great Redoubt failed and Marshal Davout and
Prince Poniatowski were stopped by russian forces. At 10:00 AM, the
battle had become a meat-grinder, a struggle of attrition - with
NapolΘon holding only his Imperial Guard and cavalry as his sole
reserves. By 12:00 PM Marshal Murat launched his heavy cavalry in
force and overran the flΦches. However, the Russians regrouped on the
Psarevo plateau. By 3:00 PM the redoubt was now firmly in French
hands after a succesfull attack of Eugene's corps supported by
Caulaincourt's cavalry.
At this moment, appeals for the Guard to advance and seize the center
fell on deaf ears. By 3:30 PM, Kutuzov had ordered the Russian Imperial
Guard Corps to counterattack in the center. But they are stopped by a
the french artillery reserve. When the night come, the French have
captured the entire Russian starting positions, but the latter have
merely fallen back to their second line and both armies occupied the
field.
For each side, the looses was very high : 33,000 men for the frenchs and
44,000 for the russians. Overnight, Kutuzov decided to withdraw and to
evacuate Moscow. NapolΘon was left to occupy an almost empty city.
[