Battle of Berezina
| Battle of the Berezina | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the French invasion of Russia | |||||||
Napoleon's crossing of the Berezina, a 1866 painting by January Suchodolski, oil on canvas, National Museum, Poznań | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
|
French Empire Duchy of Warsaw Italy Naples Bavaria Westphalia Württemberg Saxony Hesse | Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Napoleon I Nicolas Oudinot Claude Victor-Perrin Michel Ney |
Peter Wittgenstein Pavel Chichagov Yefim Chaplits | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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~36,000 effectives At least 40,000 stragglers 250–300 guns |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Total: 50,000–60,000 20,000 to 30,000 combatants 30,000 noncombatants |
10,000 killed 10,000 wounded | ||||||
330km
205miles
205miles
15
Pultusk
14
Gorodeczno
13
Drohiczyn
12
Tauroggen
11
Riga
10
Tilsit
9
Warsaw
8
Berezina
7
Maloyaroslavets
6
Moscow
5
Borodino
4
Smolensk
3
Vitebsk
2
Vilna
1
Kowno
current battle
Prussian corps
Napoleon
Austrian corps
The Battle of (the) Berezina (or Beresina) took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's Grande Armée and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Wittgenstein and Admiral Chichagov. Napoleon was retreating toward Poland in chaos after the aborted occupation of Moscow and trying to cross the Berezina River at Borisov. The outcome of the battle was inconclusive as, despite heavy losses, Napoleon managed to cross the river and continue his retreat with the surviving remnants of his army.