First Battle of Krasnoi

First Battle of Krasnoi
Part of the French invasion of Russia
Belarusian Polatsak (Połacak)
Date 14 August 1812 Location Krasnoi, southwest of Smolensk 54°33′22″N 31°25′29″E / 54.55611°N 31.42472°E / 54.55611; 31.42472 Result French victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Michel Ney	Dmitry Neverovsky[1]
Strength
20,000[2]	6,000-7,000[2][3]
Casualties and losses
500 killed, wounded or captured[2][3]	1,500 killed, wounded or captured[2][3]

The First Battle of Krasnoi was a battle fought on 14 August between Ney's French troops and Neverovsky's Russian troops. It ended with a victory for the French, but the Russians retreated in good order to Smolensk.

Prelude[]

Bagration had reinforced Neverovsky's troops with some cavalry and ordered him to cover Krasnoi and especially westwards the direction of Orsha.^[1]

Battle[]

Ney drove him out of Krasnoi and captured part of his artillery, the first trophies of the entire campaign. Neverovsky assembled his 6,000 to 7,000 men into a huge square Ney's cavalry could not break. The square moved across the field over a palisade fence and Ney's cavalry could not follow. Neverovsky's troops were able to get away in good order but left 1,500 men behind.^[3]

Aftermath[]

Neverovsky returned to Smolensk and reported.^[3] The battle of Smolensk started only two days later.

Notes[]

References[]

• Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 9 April 2021.
• Riehn, Richard K. (1990). 1812 : Napoleon's Russian campaign. Retrieved 9 April 2021.

This article about a battle of the Napoleonic Wars is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t