November, 3 (October,22),1812
(Zhilin "The Patriotic War Of 1812", Moscow,1988;
Beskrovny L.G. "Russian Military Art Of XIX Century", Moscow,1974;
E.V.Tarle, Complete Works, Volume VII., Moscow 1959)
The battle at the town of Viazma, on November 3rd. showed the aggressive nature of the Russian army. This was the situation: Napoleon, with the Guard, was already in Semlevo village, past the town of Viazma . The Corps of Marshal Ney that had been left in Viazma had to let all the other troops pass and then follow them as the rear-guard. Beauharnais's Corps and Poniatowsky were approaching Viazma - 6 or 7 kilometers to go. The rear-guard Corps of Marshal Davout was near the village of Fedorovskoe, 17 kilometers from Viazma.
The battle at Viazma
(by unknown artist)
When Napoleon reached Viazma, he received a report telling of a another failure of the French Corps of Saint-Syr and Oudinot, at the Western Dvina river. Pressured by the Russian troops of Wittgenstein, the French left Polortsk for Chashniki where they were defeated on October 31st. (October,19). This was fraught with danger, because the right flank of the retreating French army was unprotected.
The disposition of the Russian forces was the following. The troop of Ataman Platov with the 26-th Infantry Division that followed the enemy with constant fightings stopped not far from the village Fedorovskoe. The Russian vanguard under the command of General Miloradovich (the 2-nd and 4-th Infantry, the 2-nd and 4-th Cavalry Coprs and five cossack regiments) moved from the village Egorievskoe to Viazma and on November,2 came to the Smolensk road and stayed for the night in the village Spasskoe. The main forces of the Russian army was coming to the village Dubrova, 26 kilometers far from Viazma.
 Marshal Saint Syr |
Early on the morning of November 3rd., three columns of Miloradovich's men set out from Spasskoe village and at 8 a.m. came to the Smolensk road near Maximovo village. The Russian cavalry suddenly rushed to the attack of the retreating French column, crushing it and capturing the road.
The fighting with the advanced detachments Davout began with strong artillery fire, and the French were also attacked from the rear by the cossacks of Platov. These Russian forces, along with the 26th Infantry Division, dislodged the French from Fedorovskoe. Meanwhile, the balance of the Infantry of Miloradovich's vanguard arrived and blocked the road to Viazma. The French troops were surrounded - their situation almost hopeless - they were on the verge of total destruction.
Learning of this, Marshals Beauharnais and Poniatowsky stopped their movement to Viazma and hurried to the rescue of Davout's troops. This made serious trouble for the Russians, now under fire from two sides. Their cavalry and infantry were forced to fall back from the road.
But this did not improve the situation of Davout's Corps. General Miloradovich took positions along the road and opened artillery and rifle fire at the moving enemy columns. The French suffered terrible losses and took flight.
Marshals Beuharnais and Poniatowsky were afraid of the Russian army approaching Viazma where the big transports of the French army were located, so they urgently organized a defense taking a position on the hills adjacent to the town. The retreating Davout stopped there too. Now large forces of Russian infantry joined Miloradovich, and Ataman Platov with his Cossack regiments and the 26th infantry Division joined as well. The Cuirassier Divisions of General Uvarov were marching to reinforce Miloradovich as well. About 2 p.m., all the Russian forces attacked the enemy. A fearful battle developed, and the French were overrun and thrown back to Viazma. The assault of the town began about 4 p.m. Miloradovich's troops, the Cossacks of Platov and partisans of Seslavin and Figner all stormed the town at the same time. The Pernovsky regiment under the command of Major-General Choglokov especially distinguished itself in the attack on Viazma.
The battle at Viazma
(from the picture by Hess)
During the military operations from Maloyaroslavets to Viazma, the French lost about 30 thousand officers and men.
The battle at Viazma speeded up the demoralization and loss of discipline in the French army. An Aide-de-Camp of Napoleon, Count Segur, wrote with bitterness, that during the retreat every Corps acted on its own, as if there were no General Staff and common orders. Panic and poor discipline "Spread through the army like an infectious disease. Despair and lack of discipline passed from one to another" (2)
So in the first week of military operations the Russians had inflicted a serious defeat on the French. Not because of factors of Nature (frost or snow), but as a result of aggressive military operations by the Russian army and partisan detachments. In particular, the battles at Maloyaroslavets and Viazma, and the numerous surprise raids of partisan detachments caused enormous enemy losses.
Napoleon tried to encourage his troops, to inspire them with confidence in the happy result of this maneuver. He still held the illusion that Alexander would parley with him. He pounced on panic-mongers and argued that the Russian army was in much worse than condition than their own. And the weather had been so good it reminded him of the happy autumn he spent in Fountainbleau. And really the weather was fine. Snow did not fall until November 2nd, and the first frosts (to 12 C) began when the French army was approaching Smolensk.
- Field-Marshal Kutuzov, p.219
- The Moscow campaign Of 1812., p.119
