against the French left wing. Napoleon threw Nansouty's division at Johann Kollowrat's Austrian III Armeekorps in attempt to stop his enemies. The charge drove a wedge between Kollowrat and the neighboring I Reserve Armeekorps, but was ultimately repulsed. The division lost 164 men killed, 436 men wounded, and 1,141 horses destroyed. Doumerc's 9th Cuirassiers lost its colonel and six officers wounded, 31 killed and 55 wounded. Even though the effort failed, it allowed Napoleon to gain the initiative. After this moment in the battle, the Austrian were forced to react to French maneuvers. In the 1812 invasion of Russia, Doumerc led the 3rd Heavy Cavalry Division, a part of the III Cavalry Corps under Emmanuel Grouchy. Detached from its parent corps, the 3rd division fought at the First Battle of Polotsk on 16 to 18 August 1812. On the first day, Marshal Nicolas Oudinot suffered a tactical defeat and was wounded. Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr took over and on the 17th, he maneuvered as if preparing to retreat. The next day, he hurled the VI Corps, consisting of Bavarians, at the Russian left flank. The French II Corps attacked the Russian center while the French cavalry opposed the Russian right. Staring at defeat, the Russian commander Peter Wittgenstein threw in his last reserves, headed by depot squadrons of the Lifeguard Uhlans, Hussars, and Dragoons. The Russian horsemen achieved initial success. But they were checked by a Swiss regiment and broken by a charge of the 4th Cuirassier Regiment led by Frédéric de Berckheim, one of Doumerc's brigadiers. Doumerc led his division at the Second Battle of Polotsk on 18 to 20 October. The 3rd Heavy Cavalry Division, including the 4th, 7th, and 14th Cuirassier Regiments, fought at the Battle of Berezina on 26 to 29 December. On the 26th, Oudinot and 11,000 troops, among them the 3rd Heavy, crossed to the west bank of the Berezina River and prepared to defend the two improvised bridges against a Russian attack. The next day, Pavel Chichagov belatedly realized that Napoleon had tricked him out of position and began attacking the French foothold from the south. On the 28th, Chichagov mounted a full-scale attack. During the action Oudinot was badly wounded and replaced in command by Michel Ney. Doumerc led his heavies in a "brilliant charge" that broke the back of Chichagov's effort and inflicted 2,000 casualties on the Russians. This and other heroic