Napoleon Against Russia : a Concise History of 1812

444 Pages·2005·9.1 MB·English

by  Smith

A wounded casualty is assisted out of the firing line during the
battle of Smolensk by a grenadier and a member of the elite
company, 8th Hussars. Faber du Four. Author’s collection.

First published in Great Britain by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street
Barnsley
S. Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright © Digby Smith, 2004
9781783409587

The right of Digby Smith to be
identified as Author of this Work has
been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical
including photocopying, recording or by any information
storage
and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in
writing.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI UK
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword
Military,
Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select,
Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact:
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS,
England.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Preface
Prologue
Chapter 1 - The invasion of Russia is decided upon
Chapter 2 - The preparations
Chapter 3 - Wilna – Tinseltown
Chapter 4 - After Tinseltown – reality
Chapter 5 - Latvia – a world away
Chapter 6 - The southern sector
Chapter 7 - The centre – Witebsk,
Chapter 8 - The northern flank – Polotzk
Chapter 9 - The southern sector – Podubna/Gorodeczna
Chapter 10 - The central sector – the battle of Smolensk
Chapter 11 - The central sector – from Smolensk to Borodino
Chapter 12 - The central sector — on to Moscow
Chapter 13 - The southern sector — the final phase
Chapter 14 - Summer and autumn in Latvia
Chapter 15 - Moscow — waiting for Godot
Chapter 16 - The northern flank, Polotzk — the finale
Chapter 17 - The central sector in October and November
Chapter 18 - Winter in Latvia – the last phase
Chapter 19 - The central sector – build-up to the Beresina
crossing
Chapter 20 - Wilna - Tinseltown revisited
Chapter 21 - Back to the beginning
Epilogue
Appendix - The diminishing strength of the Grande Armée in
1812
Bibliography
Index
Preface
There are literally scores of personal accounts of this great
historical disaster that have been published to date, many of
them translated into English, mostly from French originals.
Some of them were written by highly-placed officers and
officials of the Grande Armée, who were in close proximity to
Napoleon (undoubtedly the single architect of this great
tragedy), during the whole adventure. They have left
comprehensive accounts of their experiences; sometimes these
are extremely controversial, such as that of Count Philippe de
Segur. His representation of certain aspects of the Emperor’s
character so enraged General Gaspard Gorgaud, one of
Napoleon’s most devoted ADCs, that Gorgaud challenged
Segur to a duel over them, in which the latter was wounded.
All the English-language accounts that I have read so far
concentrate on the fate of the main body of the Grande Armée,
under Napoleon’s direct command, as he drove them on and on
to certain death, either on the road to Moscow, or in the
inevitable, humiliating retreat. It is often a surprise to those
new to the study of this campaign to realise that almost all the
regiments of this central column had lost fifty percent of their
march-in strength of 24 June by mid-August, before any serious
actions had been fought. Astounding - but true.
In selecting our ‘war correspondents’ for this work, I have
been at pains to:
• Select only the best parts of the most genuinely
informative of previously published memoirs.
• Introduce characters new to English-speaking
readers.