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The Battle of Borodino, 1812: the bloodiest day

Napoleonic · 7 September 1812 · France vs Russia · ~7 min read · Updated September 2026

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By Echoes of Battle

The Battle of Borodino, 7 September 1812, painted by Louis Lejeune: French cavalry and infantry advance beneath the smoke of the Russian redoubts

At a glance

French EmpireNapoleon Bonaparte
vs
Russian EmpireMikhail Kutuzov
Date
7 September 1812
Location
Borodino, Russia
Period
Napoleonic
Outcome
Pyrrhic French victory
By the numbers
SideStrengthCasualtiesKilled
French Empire~130,000~35,000not reliably recorded
Russian Empire~120,000~45,000not reliably recorded

Rounded historical estimates; separate figures for the killed are not reliably recorded.

Balance of forces

French Empire~130,000
Russian Empire~120,000

Approximate strength; estimates vary.

Quick answer

Who won the Battle of Borodino?

Napoleon held the field at Borodino on 7 September 18121, in the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars, with around 70,000 men killed or wounded1. It was a hollow victory: the Russian army escaped intact, and the march on Moscow would soon help destroy the French army.

On 7 September 1812, about seventy miles west of Moscow1, some 250,000 men fought the bloodiest single day of the entire Napoleonic era. By nightfall around 70,000 lay dead or wounded. Napoleon held the field at Borodino, yet the victory would help destroy him.

The road to Moscow

Napoleon had invaded Russia in June2 with the largest army Europe had ever assembled. The Russians refused the great battle he needed, trading space for time and burning the land behind them3. At last, to shield Moscow, General Kutuzov turned and dug in on the low ridges around the village of Borodino.

Full-length portrait of Kutuzov in uniform and cloak pointing ahead
Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, painted by George Dawe in 1829 for the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. Public domain

The redoubts

The day became a grinding assault on Russian earthworks: the Bagration flèches and the great Raevsky redoubt. Both sides fed men and guns into the same few hundred yards for hours. More than a thousand cannon turned the center into a furnace that veterans would remember for the rest of their lives.

Battle map of Borodino with French units in blue and Russian units in red
Borodino at about 6.30 am on 7 September 1812: the Russian line with the Bagration flèches and the Raevsky redoubt, and the opening French moves. US Military Academy atlas. Public domain
Napoleon won the ground and lost the campaign. After one more clash at Maloyaroslavets, he would not seek battle again before the snows came.

The Guard that never moved

By late afternoon the Russians had been pushed back but not broken. Napoleon, far from home and unwilling to gamble his last reserve, refused to commit the Imperial Guard for the killing blow.1 Kutuzov's army withdrew in good order, still an army.4

What the day decided

A week later Napoleon entered Moscow, only to find it abandoned5 and soon in flames. No peace came. When he finally ordered the retreat, winter, hunger and the Cossacks did what the Russians had not managed at Borodino. The bloodiest day of the wars had been, for Napoleon, a victory in name alone.

Painting of Napoleon on a white horse with his staff before the burning Kremlin
Napoleon in Burning Moscow, painted in 1841 by Albrecht Adam, who had marched into Russia with the Grande Armée in 1812. Public domain

A victory that destroyed an army

Borodino was the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic Wars, and it settled almost nothing. Napoleon held the field and the road to Moscow lay open, but the Russian army withdrew intact rather than broken, refusing the decisive defeat he needed. A week later the French entered a Moscow that had been all but abandoned, and within days much of the city burned. With no Russian surrender, no supplies and winter closing in, Napoleon began the retreat in October5. The Grande Armée that had crossed into Russia over half a million strong2 staggered back a fraction of its size; Borodino won the ground but broke the army that stood on it.

Frequently asked questions

Why did Napoleon's victory at Borodino in 1812 help destroy him?

At Borodino in 1812 Napoleon held the field, but Kutuzov's army withdrew in good order and was still an army. A week later Napoleon entered an abandoned, burning Moscow, no peace came, and the retreat that followed was ruined by winter, hunger and the Cossacks, making the bloodiest day of the wars a victory in name alone.

Why did Napoleon refuse to commit the Imperial Guard at Borodino in 1812?

By late afternoon at Borodino in 1812 the Russians had been pushed back but not broken, and Napoleon, far from home and unwilling to gamble his last reserve, refused to send in the Imperial Guard for the killing blow. As a result Kutuzov's army was able to withdraw intact.

When and where was the Battle of Borodino fought, and how costly was it?

The Battle of Borodino was fought on 7 September 1812 west of Moscow between Napoleon's France and Kutuzov's Russia. With some 250,000 men engaged and around 70,000 dead or wounded by nightfall, it was the bloodiest single day of the Napoleonic era.

What was the fighting at Borodino in 1812 like?

The Battle of Borodino in 1812 became a grinding assault on Russian earthworks such as the Bagration flèches and the great Raevsky redoubt, with both sides feeding men and guns into the same few hundred yards for hours. More than a thousand cannon turned the center into a furnace that veterans remembered for the rest of their lives.

Was Borodino in 1812 really a victory for Napoleon?

Napoleon held the ground at Borodino in 1812, but it proved a victory in name alone because the enemy army survived and he went on to lose the campaign. After one more clash at Maloyaroslavets, he would not seek battle again before the snows came, and the invasion of Russia ended in disaster.

Who won the Battle of Borodino?

The Battle of Borodino in 1812 was a costly French tactical victory in which Napoleon held the field, but Kutuzov's Russian army withdrew intact, and the outcome proved a victory in name alone that helped doom the invasion of Russia.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

  1. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Borodino” ↩ a b c d
  2. Adam Zamoyski, 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow (HarperCollins, 2004). ↩ a b
  3. Dominic Lieven, Russia Against Napoleon: The Battle for Europe, 1807 to 1814 (Allen Lane, 2009). ↩
  4. Alexander Mikaberidze, The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon Against Kutuzov (Pen & Sword Military, 2007). ↩
  5. dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “Rosja uczciła 200. rocznicę zwycięstwa nad Wielką Armią Napoleona” ↩ a b
  6. Wikipedia, “Battle of Borodino”

Take command at Borodino

Borodino is one of 40 battles in Echoes of Battle, told scene by scene, with a real-time tactical mode in the works, and pinned to the real ground before Moscow.

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