Battle of Krasnoi 1812
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 15 November 1812 – 18 November 1812 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1812 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Russia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French invasion of Russia | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | First French Empire, Russian Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 54.5600, 31.4300 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Krasnoi (at Krasny or Krasnoe) unfolded from 15 to 18 November 1812 marking a critical episode in Napoleon's arduous retreat from Moscow. Over the course of six skirmishes the Russian forces under Field Marshal Kutuzov inflicted significant blows from a prepared ambush upon the remnants of the Grande Armée, already severely weakened by attrition warfare. These confrontations, though not escalated into full-scale battles, led to substantial losses for the French due to their depleted weapons and horses.
Throughout the four days of combat, Napoleon attempted to rush his troops, stretched out in a 30 mi (48 km) march, past the parallel-positioned Russian forces along the high road. Both Kutuzov and Napoleon were in tactical control of the battle. During the skirmishes, Ozharovsky's Russian flying column initially suffered a setback, but then Eugène's and Davout's French corps were gradually pushed back and defeated, and finally Ney was repulsed; he escaped encirclement by leading his corps across the ice to the north and thus outflanking Kutuzov's army. Despite the Russian army's superiority in horse and manpower, Kutuzov hesitated to launch a full offensive, according to Mikhail Pokrovsky fearing the risks associated with facing Napoleon head-on.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Krasnoi (revision 1375167856), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the French invasion of Russia
- Battle of Berezina 1812
- Battle of Borodino 1812
- Battle of Chashniki 1812
- Battle of Klyastitsy 1812
- Battle of Liaskowa 1812
- Battle of Maloyaroslavets 1812
- Battle of Mir (1812) 1812
- Battle of Ostrovno 1812
- Battle of Saltanovka 1812
- Battle of Smolensk (1812) 1812
All 20 battles of the French invasion of Russia →
Browse more: battles in Russia · Europe · 19th century battles