First Battle of Krasnoi
Battle between France & Russia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The First Battle of Krasnoi was fought on 14 August [O.S. 2 August] 1812 at Krasny between Ney and Murat's French troops and Neverovsky's Russian division, which consisted largely of fresh conscript soldiers.[3] It was part of the French invasion of Russia.
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| First Battle of Krasnoi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the French invasion of Russia | |||||||
The crossing of the Dniepr by Christian Wilhelm von Faber du Faur | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Empire |
 Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Michel Ney[1] Joachim Murat |
Dmitry Neverovsky[2] Pyotr Bagration[a] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
approx. 20,000[b] • 15,000 cavalry • 5,000 infantry |
6,000–7,000[1][3] • up to 5,500 infantry • up to 1,500 cavalry 14 cannon[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 500[1][3] |
700 killed or wounded 800 captured[1][3] 7 cannon[1] | ||||||
205miles
slavets
It ended with a victory for the French, but the Russians retreated in good order to Smolensk, having managed to close the city gates before the upcoming battle, when reinforcements would arrive for Neverovsky and a decisive French success would be prevented.[4]
Prelude
Battle
Ney's infantry in cooperation with Murat's cavalry drove him out of Krasnoi and captured part of his artillery, the first trophies of the entire campaign. Neverovsky assembled his 5,500 to 6,000 infantrymen into a huge square Murat's cavalry could not break. The square moved across the field over a palisade fence and Murat's cavalry could not follow. Neverovsky's troops were able to get away in good order but left 1,500 men behind.[5][1]
- Battle maps
Battle of Krasnoi August 2nd (14) 1812. (Sketch of troop movements)
Battle of Krasnoi August 2nd (14) 1812. (Map of troop movements)
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Aftermath
Neverovsky returned to Smolensk and reported.[3] The battle of Smolensk started only two days later.
