# Canonical recap data for Battle of Borodino (1812)
# Source: https://recap.at/1812/battle-borodino
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: battle-borodino
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1812/battle-borodino"
title: Battle of Borodino
aliases:
- Battle of Moscow
- Borodino
- 7 September 1812
subtitle: Battle of Borodino
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1812-09-07
datePrecision: day
year: 1812
decade: 1810
country:
name: Russia
slug: russia
summaryShort: The Battle of Borodino or the Battle of Moscow took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812, during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée fought against the Imperial Russian Army.
summaryLong: The Battle of Borodino or the Battle of Moscow took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812, during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The Grande Armée fought against the Imperial Russian Army.
lede: On 7 September 1812, Napoleon's Grande Armée clashed with the Russian Imperial Army near the village of Borodino, west of Moscow. Neither side achieved a decisive victory, but the battle proved a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars-the Russian army's survival meant Napoleon could not knock Russia out of the conflict, and his invasion ultimately collapsed.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Battle_of_Borodino.jpg/1280px-Battle_of_Borodino.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Battle of Borodino"
importance: 50
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: 7 September 1812
- label: Location
  value: approximately 120 km west of Moscow
- label: French force
  value: ~135,000–140,000 troops
- label: Russian force
  value: ~120,000–130,000 troops
- label: Estimated combined casualties
  value: 50,000–70,000 killed, wounded, or missing
- label: French commander
  value: Napoleon Bonaparte
- label: Russian commander
  value: Mikhail Kutuzov
- label: Days until Moscow occupied
  value: 5 days after battle
timeline:
- date: 1812-06-24
  title: Napoleon crosses the Neman River
  description: The Grande Armée launches its invasion of Russia with approximately 680,000 men, the largest military force assembled to that point.
- date: 1812-08-26
  title: Kutuzov assumes Russian command
  description: General Mikhail Kutuzov is appointed commander-in-chief of Russian forces, replacing Mikhail Barclay de Tolly.
- date: 1812-09-05
  title: Russians position at Borodino
  description: The Russian army takes defensive positions along the Moskva River near the village of Borodino, choosing ground to halt Napoleon's advance.
- date: 1812-09-07
  title: Battle of Borodino fought
  description: The Grande Armée and Russian Imperial Army engage in daylong combat. French gain ground but fail to achieve a decisive breakthrough or force Russian capitulation.
- date: 1812-09-12
  title: Kutuzov orders retreat to Moscow
  description: Despite holding defensive lines, Kutuzov orders a strategic withdrawal toward Moscow to preserve the army and deny Napoleon a trapped opponent.
- date: 1812-09-14
  title: Napoleon enters Moscow
  description: French forces occupy Moscow, but find the city largely evacuated. Extensive fires break out across Moscow in the following days, destroying much of the city.
- date: 1812-10-19
  title: Grande Armée begins retreat
  description: Napoleon orders withdrawal from Moscow as supplies run critically low and winter approaches, beginning a catastrophic retreat that decimates his army.
- date: 1812-12-14
  title: Remnants of Grande Armée cross Neman River
  description: The invasion officially ends as survivors recross the river into Lithuania; estimated 400,000+ men are dead, captured, or missing.
sources:
- url: ""
  title: Battle of Borodino
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Borodino marked the beginning of the end for Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Though tactically inconclusive, the battle's strategic outcome-a Russian army that refused to break-forced Napoleon into Moscow with no way to end the war on favorable terms. The Grande Armée's subsequent retreat through winter sealed his fate.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia met its first major test at Borodino. The battle changed nothing and everything.
wikidataQid: Q184320
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260517161401/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Borodino"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-17
  label: Battle of Borodino
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Borodino"
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Estimated combatant strength (Grande Armée)
  thenValue: ~130,000
  thenYear: 1812
  nowValue: Total Russian Army personnel ~~1,000,000
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Direct numerical comparison is imprecise; reflects relative scale of military forces across two centuries
- metric: Distance from field to Moscow
  thenValue: ~110 kilometers
  thenYear: 1812
  nowValue: ~110 kilometers
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Geography unchanged; travel time reduced from weeks to hours by modern transport
- metric: Estimated casualties as percentage of force engaged
  thenValue: ~20-27% in single day
  thenYear: 1812
  nowValue: "Typical modern combat operations: 5-15% daily casualty rates for engaged units"
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Reflects differences in firepower dispersion, fortification engineering, and medical evacuation
consequences:
- title: Grande Armée retreat from Moscow begins
  year: 1812
  description: On 19 October, Napoleon ordered withdrawal from an abandoned Moscow, beginning a catastrophic retreat through winter conditions that would decimate his remaining forces over the following two months.
- title: Treaty of Teplitz signed
  year: 1813
  description: On 9 September, Russia, Prussia, and Austria formed a formal coalition against Napoleon, directly emboldened by their success in repelling the 1812 invasion and the Grande Armée's proven vulnerability.
- title: Battle of Leipzig (Battle of Nations)
  year: 1813
  description: Fought 16-19 October near Leipzig, Germany, this larger engagement involved roughly 600,000 troops combined and resulted in Napoleon's decisive defeat, effectively ending his control of continental Europe and directly flowing from the momentum gained at Borodino and Moscow.
- title: Abdication of Napoleon
  year: 1814
  description: On 11 April, Napoleon formally abdicated and was exiled to Elba, directly resulting from the coalition's advance following their 1812 victory and subsequent military successes through 1813-1814.
- title: Congress of Vienna convenes
  year: 1814
  description: Beginning in September, European powers met to reshape the continent after Napoleon's defeat. Russian territorial gains and influence, secured partly through their 1812 defensive victory, became central to the new balance of power.
culturalContext:
topMusic: []
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: The Battle of Borodino became a foundational myth in Russian national identity during the 19th century, representing the moment when Russian resolve and homeland defense proved stronger than French military dominance. Tolstoy's treatment in War and Peace (1869) elevated it from historical event to philosophical symbol about the limits of individual genius against collective national will. By the Soviet era, Borodino's celebration intensified as an archetypal story of defensive victory against invaders-a narrative repeatedly invoked during World War II as historical precedent for Soviet resistance.
gallery:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260509104715/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Battle_of_Borodino.jpg/1280px-Battle_of_Borodino.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Battle_of_Borodino.jpg/800px-Battle_of_Borodino.jpg"
  caption: Battle of Borodino
  credit: Wikipedia · "Battle of Borodino"
  width: 330
  height: 265
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Borodino-Desarno-Large.jpg/1280px-Borodino-Desarno-Large.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Borodino-Desarno-Large.jpg/800px-Borodino-Desarno-Large.jpg"
  caption: Borodino-Desarno-Large
  credit: Auguste-Joseph Desarnot
  width: 725
  height: 508
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Napoleon%27s_letter_to_Hogendorp_%28October_16%2C_1812%2C_RGADA%29_by_shakko.jpg/1280px-Napoleon%27s_letter_to_Hogendorp_%28October_16%2C_1812%2C_RGADA%29_by_shakko.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Napoleon%27s_letter_to_Hogendorp_%28October_16%2C_1812%2C_RGADA%29_by_shakko.jpg/800px-Napoleon%27s_letter_to_Hogendorp_%28October_16%2C_1812%2C_RGADA%29_by_shakko.jpg"
  caption: Napoleon's letter to Hogendorp (October 16, 1812, RGADA) by shakko
  credit: "user:shakko"
  width: 4328
  height: 2998
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Borodino_map_%28August_25%2C_1812%29.jpg/1280px-Borodino_map_%28August_25%2C_1812%29.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Borodino_map_%28August_25%2C_1812%29.jpg/800px-Borodino_map_%28August_25%2C_1812%29.jpg"
  caption: Borodino map (August 25, 1812)
  credit: Александр I
  width: 850
  height: 551
translations:
es:
lede: "El 7 de septiembre de 1812, la Grande Armée de Napoleón chocó con el Ejército Imperial Ruso cerca de la aldea de Borodino, al oeste de Moscú. Ninguno de los bandos logró una victoria decisiva, pero la batalla resultó ser un punto de inflexión en las Guerras Napoleónicas: la supervivencia del ejército ruso significó que Napoleón no pudiera eliminar a Rusia del conflicto, y su invasión finalmente se derrumbó."
summaryShort: La Batalla de Borodino o la Batalla de Moscú tuvo lugar en las afueras de Moscú cerca de la aldea de Borodino el 7 de septiembre de 1812, durante la invasión de Rusia por Napoleón. La Grande Armée se enfrentó al Ejército Imperial Ruso.
summaryLong: La Batalla de Borodino o la Batalla de Moscú tuvo lugar en las afueras de Moscú cerca de la aldea de Borodino el 7 de septiembre de 1812, durante la invasión de Rusia por Napoleón. La Grande Armée se enfrentó al Ejército Imperial Ruso.
generatedAt: "2026-06-08T10:29:55.396Z"
fr:
lede: "Le 7 septembre 1812, la Grande Armée de Napoléon s'affronta à l'armée impériale russe près du village de Borodino, à l'ouest de Moscou. Aucun des deux camps n'obtint une victoire décisive, mais la bataille s'avéra un tournant dans les guerres napoléoniennes : la survie de l'armée russe signifiait que Napoléon ne pouvait pas éliminer la Russie du conflit, et son invasion finit par s'effondrer."
summaryShort: La bataille de Borodino ou la bataille de Moscou se déroula à la périphérie de Moscou près du village de Borodino le 7 septembre 1812, lors de l'invasion de la Russie par Napoléon. La Grande Armée combattit contre l'armée impériale russe.
summaryLong: La bataille de Borodino ou la bataille de Moscou se déroula à la périphérie de Moscou près du village de Borodino le 7 septembre 1812, lors de l'invasion de la Russie par Napoléon. La Grande Armée combattit contre l'armée impériale russe.
generatedAt: "2026-06-08T10:29:57.887Z"
de:
lede: Am 7. September 1812 prallten Napoleons Grande Armée und die Russische Kaiserliche Armee in der Nähe des Dorfes Borodino, westlich von Moskau, aufeinander. Keine Seite errang einen entscheidenden Sieg, doch die Schlacht erwies sich als Wendepunkt in den Napoleonischen Kriegen – das Überleben der russischen Armee bedeutete, dass Napoleon Russland nicht aus dem Konflikt ausschließen konnte, und sein Invasionsunternehmen kollabierte letztendlich.
summaryShort: Die Schlacht von Borodino oder die Schlacht von Moskau fand am 7. September 1812 in der Nähe von Moskau beim Dorf Borodino während Napoleons Invasion Russlands statt. Die Grande Armée kämpfte gegen die Kaiserlich Russische Armee.
summaryLong: Die Schlacht von Borodino oder die Schlacht von Moskau fand am 7. September 1812 in der Nähe von Moskau beim Dorf Borodino während Napoleons Invasion Russlands statt. Die Grande Armée kämpfte gegen die Kaiserlich Russische Armee.
generatedAt: "2026-06-08T10:30:00.490Z"
