| During Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia,
the Tsar's army retreated in order to lay waste to the country side
from the advancing French. As the Russians retreated towards Moscow,
the French Army was drawn further from their base of supplies. The
Russian commander Kutuzov, finally turned and offered battle to the
French near the village of Borodino. Here on September 7,1812 the
Russian Army stood off repeated French attacks. Each time that Kutuzov's
positions looked hopeless he brought up fresh units of his Grenadiers
to reinforce the wavering lines. At the end of the day French casualties
exceeded 30,000 men while the Russians total was near 40,000.
Napoleon later remembered, the great battle before Moscow (Borodino)
was the most terrible of all. He could have committed his treasured
Imperial Guard, but being so deep in Russia, he dared not risk the
last of his reserves. For the Russians, their blind obedience to
the Tsar coupled with the iron discipline gave their Grenadiers
the tenacity to stand firm and perish if necessary rather than retreat.
This resolution that the Russian would rather die than retreat mystified
Napoleon.
After the battle, Kutuzov ordered a retreat and gave up Moscow
to the French. But time was on the Russians side and with winter
approaching Napoleon had no choice but to retreat. The destruction
of the French Army as they traversed the cold wastelands of the
Russian steppes resulted in one of the greatest tragedies the wold
had ever seen. The Russian Grenadiers would provide more examples
of their steadfast bravery in the following campaigns of 1813 and
1814 when Europe defeated Napoleon.
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