Battle of Berezina
From Freepedia
- For other uses, see Battle of Berezina (disambiguation).
Battle of Berezina was held on November 26-29, 1812 between the French army of Napoleon retreating after his invasion of Russia and crossing the Berezina (near Barysau, now Belarus), and Russian army under Kutuzov. The battle ended with a partial victory of Russians and significant losses of French. Since then "Berezina" is used in French as a synonym of catastrophe. see for visual graphic of the army's fate
Events
Starting in November 1812, the Russian winter caused additional hardship to the retreating French army, as soldiers and horses started to die from hunger, frostbite and exhaustion on the march.
The crossing was made on a set of rudimentary bridges that were constructed from the materials that General Éblé and his French engineers secretly kept even after Napoleon had earlier ordered destroyed. First crossed the soldiers, but when the camp-followers attempted to follow, in their panic a large number were trampled by the rest, and the bridges collapsed. This scene was described by Caulaincourt.
Napoleon decided to cross here because the Russians expected him to attempt to cross farther south. Nevertheless, the crossing of the river Berezina brought about another major defeat of French, as Kutuzov, deciding that the time was right for an open battle, attacked and crushed the rearguard part of the French army under Marshal Claude Victor-Perrin that defended the crossing. Other Russian forces attacked the part of French army that have already crossed Berezina, but French cuirassiers counter-attacked and managed to fend off the Russians.
The total loss of French in the battle is estimated by 36,000 killed, including straddlers and camp-followers that were left on the right bank because Napoleon ordered to burn the bridges to stop Russians.
