Battle of Borodino Timeline

Napoleon with the French Grande Armée began his invasion of Russia on 24 June 1812 by crossing the Niemen river. This massive undertaking set in motion the campaign that would culminate in the Battle of Borodino.

Image source: French invasion of Russia

On the eve of battle, around 250,000 troops of the French Grande Armée and the Russian army converged on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino, setting the stage for one of the bloodiest days of the Napoleonic Wars.

With at least 68,000 killed and wounded among roughly 250,000 engaged troops, Borodino became the deadliest single-day battle of the Napoleonic Wars and one of the bloodiest single-day battles in military history until the First Battle of the Marne in 1914.

The Battle of Borodino or the Battle of the Moskva took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812, during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The fighting involved around 250,000 troops and left at least 68,000 killed and wounded.

Similar difficulties exist with the Battle of Waterloo or battles of the War of 1812 in North America, while the Battle of Borodino offers its own particular challenges to accuracy, making definitive accounts of troop movements and command decisions difficult to establish.

General Kutuzov commanded the Russian army at Borodino. Historian Chandler, writing in 1966, echoed Soviet-era Russian histories in asserting that Kutuzov remained in control of the battle throughout, ordering counter-moves to Napoleon's tactics personally rather than Bagration and Barclay doing so.

Image source: Mikhail Kutuzov

In 1992, in the Russian magazine Rodina, there was a debate between historians Boris Abalikhin and Alexey Vasilyev, the first claiming the battle ended in a draw, the second that the French won a tactical victory.

Since May 1813, at least 29 ships were named Borodino after the battle, beginning a long naval tradition of honoring the engagement and its participants in vessel names.

Following the battle, 24 ships were named in honor of Mikhail Kutuzov, the Russian commander-in-chief at Borodino, reflecting his enduring prestige in Russian naval tradition.

Eighteen ships were named in honor of Matvei Platov, the Cossack leader who played a prominent role in the campaign of 1812 and the Battle of Borodino.

Image source: Matvei Platov

Fifteen ships were named in honor of Pyotr Bagration, the Russian general mortally wounded at Borodino while commanding the left wing of the Russian army.

Image source: Pyotr Bagration

Thirty-three ships were named in honor of the Cossacks, whose harassing tactics against the Grande Armée made them legendary figures of the 1812 campaign.

Image source: Cossacks

Four ships were named in honor of Denis Davydov, the celebrated partisan poet-officer of the Russian army during Napoleon's invasion.

Image source: Denis Davydov

Two ships each were named in honor of Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Jean-Baptiste Bessières and Michel Ney; and one ship each honored the officers of the Marine Guards crew, extending commemoration even to French participants.

Image source: Michel Ney

In 1821, the year the Emperor of the French passed away, the American poet Sumner Lincoln Fairfield published his first poetic work—the poem 'The Battle of Borodino'—in Savannah, USA, bringing the epic clash to an American literary audience.

Image source: Sumner Lincoln Fairfield

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed his 1812 Overture to commemorate Russia's successful defence against the French invasion, including the defence at Borodino. The work remains one of the most famous pieces of classical music ever written.

Image source: 1812 Overture

A huge panorama representing the battle was painted by Franz Roubaud for the 100th anniversary of Borodino in 1912, becoming one of the largest panoramic paintings in the world.

Image source: Franz Roubaud

In 1912, on the initiative of French people, the Russian government sanctioned construction of a monument dedicated to the French soldiers who fell in the Battle of Borodino, marking the centenary of the battle.

A minor planet, 3544 Borodino, was discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1977 and was later named after the village of Borodino.

Image source: 3544 Borodino

A commemorative one-ruble coin was released in the Soviet Union in 1987 to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, and four million were minted.