| Battle of Tarutino | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench invasion of Russia | |||||||
 Battle of Tarutino, byPeter von Hess | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Russian Empire |  French Empire Duchy of Warsaw | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mikhail KutuzovL. A. von Bennigsen (WIA)V. Orlov-DenisovC. G. Baggehufvudt †Mikhail Miloradovich |  Joachim MuratJózef Poniatowski | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 90,000 in total[1] 36,000 engaged[2] | 20,000[3]–26,000[4] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 500–1,500[a] killed, wounded, captured or missing | 2,000–4,500[b] killed, wounded, captured or missing 36–38 guns[2][7] | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Tarutino (18 October 1812;[c]Russian:Тарутинское сражение) was a part ofNapoleon's invasion of Russia. In the battle,Russian troops under the general command ofBennigsen (as part ofKutuzov's army), on instructions from Kutuzov, launched a surprise attack and defeatedFrench troops under the command ofJoachim Murat.[11][4][2] However, despite the pleas ofMiloradovich andYermolov, Kutuzov did not extend his own well-turned offensive, and Murat was not pursued as Bennigsen decided not to use the available forces for this purpose. The Russian infantry, stuffed with new recruits, performed heavy-handedly in this battle, and the Russians were also hampered by night delays. All this led to the Russians not being able to achieve greater success, despite their numerical superiority and surprise method. The Tarutino battle led to a breakdown in relations between Kutuzov and Bennigsen, who lost his influence in the army for certain time.[12] In any event, the lost battle convinced Napoleon to commence the disastrous French retreat from Russia.
The battle is sometimes called theBattle of Vinkovo (French:Bataille de Winkowo) or theBattle of the Chernishnya (Russian:Сражение у реки Чернишни) after the local river. Many historians claim that the latter name is more fitting because the village ofTarutino was eight kilometres (5.0 mi) from the described events.
After thebattle of Borodino,Kutuzov realized that the Russian army would not survive one more large engagement and ordered his soldiers to retreat to the south of Moscow to reinforce his army. At first it retreated in the south-east direction along the Ryazan road. When the army reached theMoskva River it crossed it and turned to the west to the Old Kaluga road. The army pitched camp in a village of Tarutino nearKaluga. At the same time small units ofCossacks continued moving along the Ryazan road misleading French troops under the command of Murat. When he discovered his error he did not retreat but made camp not far from Tarutino in order to keep his eye on the Russian camp, while Napoleonoccupied Moscow.[13]
On 18 October 1812 Kutuzov ordered Bennigsen andMiloradovich to attackMurat's corps (20,000 men)[3] with two columns stealthily crossing the forest in the dead of night.Partisan detachments ofIvan Dorokhov andAleksandr Figner to cut off the French retreat routes. Bennigsen's main force included three columns led byVasily Orlov-Denisov,Karl Gustav von Baggehufwudt andAlexander Osterman-Tolstoy respectively. The other column was supposed to play an auxiliary role. In the darkness most of the troops got lost. By the morning only Cossack troops under the command of GeneralVasily Orlov-Denisov reached the original destination, suddenly attacked the French troops and captured the French camp with transports and cannons. Russian II and III Infantry Corps also had some success. When stronger forces of the Russians emerged from the forest, namely IV Infantry Corps, they came under French fire and suffered casualties, and since these Russian units came late the French were able to recover: the continuing disorder among the French was prevented by the appearance of Murat himself, and counterattacks by the French cavalry restored the balance. Murat was forced to retreat to escape being surrounded, but the Russian generalBaggehufwudt was killed, while Bennigsen was concussed in the leg and he stopped an advance.[14][5] The French forces suffered at least 2,000 dead and wounded, 12 cannons, 20 caissons, 30 train-waggons had been taken, two generals killed,[9][10][15][7] the Russians lost 500 dead or more.[16][8][2]
Bennigsen and Kutuzov did not dare to continue to build on their success: Bennigsen did not want to continue the fight with the force he had, and Kutuzov disposed a withdrawal to the Russian camp to avoid encountering "a strong French reinforcement sent by Napoleon." In a letter toAlexander, Bennigsen blamed Kutuzov for everything, losing all of his influence in army (instead of answering the letter, Alexander simply forwarded it over to Kutuzov). But the battle was still a great victory for the Russians, boosting the morale of their forces, destroying valuable French cavalry units, and proving that Napoleon's once formidable army could be beaten on the battlefield. One day later, Napoleon started his own retreat from Moscow on 19 October 1812 southwards in direction of Kaluga.[17][12]The next major battle was theBattle of Maloyaroslavets.
Bennigsen would continue his service after Kutuzov's death inBolesławiec on 28 April 1813; he would lead the so-called "Army of Poland" in theWars of Liberation.
The battle is depicted inLeo Tolstoy'sWar and Peace. In the novel, Tolstoy claims that while the battle did not achieve any of its goals, it was exactly what the Russian army needed at the time, in that it exposed the weakness of the French army and gave Napoleon the push needed to begin his retreat.[18]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Media related toBattle of Tarutino at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Siege of Burgos | Napoleonic Wars Battle of Tarutino | Succeeded by Second Battle of Polotsk |