First Battle of Krasnoi

First Battle of Krasnoi
	Part of the French invasion of Russia
	; The crossing of the Dniepr ; by Christian Wilhelm von Faber du Faur
Date	14 August 1812
Location	Krasnoi, southwest of Smolensk, Russian Empire54°33′22″N 31°25′29″E / 54.55611°N 31.42472°E
Result	French victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Michel Ney; Joachim Murat	Dmitry Neverovsky; Pyotr Bagration
Strength
approx. 20,000; • 15,000 cavalry; • 5,000 infantry	6,000–7,000; • up to 5,500 infantry; • up to 1,500 cavalry; 14 cannon
Casualties and losses
500	700 killed or wounded; 800 captured; 7 cannon

French invasion of Russia

330km
205miles

Krasnoi

15

Pultusk

14

Gorodeczno

13

Drohiczyn

12

Tauroggen

11

Riga

10

Tilsit

9

Warsaw

8

Berezina

7

Maloyaro-
slavets

6

Moscow

5

Borodino

4

3

Vitebsk

2

Vilna

1

Kowno

current battle

Prussian corps

Napoleon

Austrian corps

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.

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

Bagration had reinforced Neverovsky's division with some cavalry and left it at an advance position around Krasnoi (Krasny) to cover westwards in the direction of Orsha.^[2]

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)

Aftermath

Neverovsky returned to Smolensk and reported.^[3] The battle of Smolensk started only two days later.

Explanatory notes

^ Strategic control
^ Including Murat's 15,000 cavalry and Ney's 5,000 infantry. Bodart claimed ca. 20,000 total for Ney and Murat.^[1]^[2]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Bodart 1908, p. 435.
^ ^a ^b ^c Riehn 1990, p. 212.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Riehn 1990, p. 213.
^ Mikaberidze 2016, p. 298.
^ Riehn 1990, pp. 212–213.

References

Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
Riehn, Richard K. (1990). 1812 : Napoleon's Russian campaign. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070527317. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
Mikaberidze, Alexander (2016). Leggiere, M. (ed.). Napoleon and the Operational Art of War. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-27034-3.

External links

Media related to First Battle of Krasnoi at Wikimedia Commons

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[3] Strategic control

[4] Including Murat's 15,000 cavalry and Ney's 5,000 infantry. Bodart claimed ca. 20,000 total for Ney and Murat.^[1]^[2]

[FOOTNOTEBodart1908435-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Bodart 1908, p. 435.

[FOOTNOTERiehn1990212-2] Riehn 1990, p. 212.

[FOOTNOTERiehn1990213-5] Riehn 1990, p. 213.

[FOOTNOTEMikaberidze2016298-6] Mikaberidze 2016, p. 298.

[FOOTNOTERiehn1990212–213-7] Riehn 1990, pp. 212–213.

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