The battle of Smolensk (16-17 August 1812) was the disappointing end to one of Napoleon's most impressive manoeuvres, an outflanking move that promised to bring him the decisive battle he desired but ended with a costly and unsuccessful attack on the walls of Smolensk.
For the first month and a half of his invasion of Russia Napoleon attempted to keep the Russian armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration apart and defeat them individually. His final attempt to achieve this, the manoeuvre on Vitebsk, failed in late July and on 4 August the Russian armies met up at Smolensk on the Dnieper River. Napoleon was now to their north-west, spread out between Vitebsk on the Dvina in the north and Orsha on the Dnieper in the south. He serious considered over-wintering at Vitebsk, but was eventually tempted to resume the advance east.
In early August Napoleon developed the plan for his famous manoeuvre of Smolensk. The Dnieper flows west from Smolensk to Orsha then turns south and flows towards Kiev. Napoleon decided to move his army across the Dnieper east of Orsha, then advance east along the south bank of the river. This would bring him to Smolensk while the Russians were still on the north bank of the river, and allow him to cut the roads to Moscow. The Russians would either have to offer battle on ground of Napoleon's own choice or retreat north, abandoning Moscow without a battle.
On 7 August the Russians briefly threatened to disrupt Napoleon's plans when they began a short-lived offensive between the Dnieper and the Dvina. On the following day the Cossacks won a minor victory over French cavalry at Inkovo. This alerted Napoleon to the Russian plans, and also alarmed Barclay de Tolly, who feared that it would trigger an overwhelming French attack. He stopped his advance west and instead moved north-west from Smolensk, then halted. Napoleon had cancelled his move on Smolensk, but by 10 August it was clear that the Russians were no longer a threat north of the Dnieper. The move to the Dnieper resumed, and on the night of 13-14 August General Eblé's engineers built four bridges across the river. By the morning of 14 August most of Napoleon's army had crossed to the south bank and the advance east began.
The great plan was disrupted by a single Russian division commanded by General Neverovsky. Bagration had posted this division at Krasnyi, west of Smolensk on the south bank of the Dnieper. All afternoon on 14 August Murat's cavalry threw itself at the stubborn Russians, but Neverovsky's men refused to break and instead conducted an impressive fighting withdrawal. This stopped Napoleon's cavalry reaching Smolensk late on 14 August, and also gave the Russians time to rush reinforcements into the city. By dawn on 15 August the leading troops from General Rayevsky's VII Corps entered the city from the west, where they joined Count Bennigsen's existing garrison and the survivors of Neverovsky's rearguard action.
The French largely wasted 15 August. Napoleon held a review of part of his army to celebrate his birthday, but the French missed their best chance to capture Smolensk.
In 1812 the main part of Smolensk was on the south bank of the Dnieper. The smaller New Town, or St. Petersburg suburb, was on the north bank, connected to the Old Town on the south bank by a bridge. The Old Town was protected by a four mile long medieval town wall, protected by 32 towers, an earthwork fort called the 'Royal Citadel' in the south-east and a more modern covered way and glacis. The fortifications weren't in great condition, the walls couldn't carry cannons, and there were suburbs outside the defences, so the French probably didn’t expect the city to hold out for long. Rayevsky realised that his main task was to delay the French and give Bagration and Barclay de Tolly time to reach the city and so he deployed most of his men outside the suburbs. The bulk of his infantry (23 battalions) were posted to the west and south of the Old City, with two infantry battalions and the cavalry in the east and four battalions within the city to act as a reserve. The Russians had 72 guns. 18 were massed in the Royal Citadel and the rest were spread out around the towers.
By dawn on 16 August Murat's cavalry were in contact with the Russian outposts and by 10am all of the cavalry and Ney's III Corps were in place, with Murat to the east of the Old City and Ney to the west, opposite the Krasnyi suburb. Napoleon himself still didn’t show any real sense of urgency. He spent the day to the west waiting for confirmation for news that the bridge over the Dnieper at Katan had been destroyed to protect the French left and rear against any possible Russian counterattack. He finally reached Smolensk at 1pm, and some limited fighting then began. At one point the 46th Line nearly captured the Royal Citadel when the garrison were distracted by a threatened attack towards the river bridge, but when the day ended the Russians still held most of the suburbs.
The night of 16-17 August saw reinforcements arrive on the French side, with Davout's and Poniatowski's corps both arriving. Within Smolensk Rayevsky was withdrawn to the north bank to rejoin Bagration's army and was replaced by Dokhturov's troops from Barclay de Tolly's army. Bagration was camped to the east of the town and Barclay de Tolly was approaching from the west.
The main French attack came on 17 August. This time three corps were involved, but the attacks weren't very effective. The suburbs were eventually taken but the massive medieval walls turned out to be much more effective than anyone had expected. The French artillery did massive damage to the Old Town, helping trigger a fire that destroyed most of the city, but the Russians held on to the walls.
It isn't entirely clear why Napoleon chose to launch a frontal assault on the city. The Russians were more worried by the possibility that the French were simply mask the city, move east and cut the roads between Smolensk and Moscow. This would almost certainly have been a more effective tactic than the one Napoleon chose, and this possibility was the main reason why the Russians decided to abandon Smolensk.
During the night of 17-18 August Dokhturov retreated to the New Town and destroyed the bridge over the Dnieper. At about 2am on 18 August the French realised that the Old Town had been deserted and men from I and III Corps rushed into the burning city. A force of Württembergers and Portuguese even managed to wade the Dnieper near the bridge ruins, but Bagration's rearguard was able to pin them down.
Early on 18 August most of Bagration's army began to move east to guard the Moscow road against a possible French outflanking manoeuvre. Barclay de Tolly followed late on 18 August, but Bagration had moved very quickly and a dangerous gap developed between the two armies. Luckily for the Russians Napoleon wasted another day on 18 August, and the pursuit didn't really begin until 19 August. Even then there was brief chance that the French could have won a major victory. Bagration had failed to properly guard an important crossroads at Lubino, eighteen miles to the east of Smolensk. When Napoleon realised that the Russians were heading east he sent General Junot east along the south bank of the river with orders to cross at Prudichevo and seize the crossroads. This would prevent Barclay de Tolly from escaping to the east and allow the main army to catch him. Junot did eventually get across the river, but refused to attack. This left Ney and Murat to attack the Russian rearguard at Valuntino, but the Russians held their ground and Barclay de Tolly was able to slip away to the east.
Both sides suffered heavy losses at Smolensk. The Russians lost around 12,000-14,000 men and the French 10,000-12,000. Napoleon had missed yet another chance to force the battle he desired, and just as at Vitebsk he now had to decide what to do next. He considered stopping at Smolensk or returning to Vitebsk, but eventually decided to continue with the march on Moscow. By now the Russians had decided to stand and fight, and Napoleon would get his battle at Borodino on 7 September 1812.
Vita vya Smolensk (16-17 Agosti 1812) vilikuwa mwisho wa kukatisha tamaa kwa moja ya maneuvers ya Napoleon ya kuvutia zaidi, hatua ya outflanking ambayo iliahidi kumletea vita ya kuamua alitaka lakini kumalizika na kushambulia gharama kubwa na kushindwa juu ya kuta za Smolensk. Katika miezi ya kwanza na nusu ya uvamizi wake wa Urusi, Napoleon alijaribu kuweka majeshi ya Urusi ya Barclay de Tolly na Bagration mbali na kuwashinda mmoja mmoja. Jaribio lake la mwisho la kufanikisha hili, maneuver ya Vitebsk, ilishindwa mwishoni mwa Julai na mnamo Agosti 4, majeshi ya Urusi yalikutana huko Smolensk kwenye Mto Dnieper. Napoleon alikuwa sasa kaskazini magharibi mwao, akitawanyika kati ya Vitebsk kwenye Dvina kaskazini na Orsha kwenye Dnieper kusini. Alifikiria kwa uzito kukaa wakati wa majira ya baridi kali huko Vitebsk, lakini hatimaye alishawishiwa kurudia mwendo wa mashariki. Mwanzoni mwa Agosti Napoleon alianzisha mpango wa operesheni yake maarufu ya Smolensk. Mto Dnieper unapita magharibi kutoka Smolensk hadi Orsha kisha unageuka kusini na kuenea kuelekea Kiev. Napoleon aliamua kuhamisha jeshi lake kuvuka Dnieper mashariki mwa Orsha, kisha kusonga mashariki kando ya ukingo wa kusini wa mto. Ili kumleta Smolensk wakati Warusi walikuwa bado kwenye ukingo wa kaskazini wa mto, na kumruhusu kukata barabara za Moscow. Warusi walipaswa kupigana katika eneo ambalo Napoleon mwenyewe angechagua au kurudi kaskazini, wakiacha Moscow bila kupigana. Mnamo Agosti 7, Urusi ilitisha kwa muda mfupi kuvuruga mipango ya Napoleon wakati walianza mashambulizi ya muda mfupi kati ya Dnieper na Dvina. Siku iliyofuata, Wakosaki walipata ushindi mdogo dhidi ya wapanda-farasi Wafaransa huko Inkovo. Hii ilimfanya Napoleon awe na wasiwasi juu ya mipango ya Urusi, na pia Barclay de Tolly, ambaye aliogopa kwamba ingechochea shambulio kubwa la Ufaransa. Alisimamisha mwendo wake kuelekea magharibi na badala yake akahamia kaskazini-magharibi kutoka Smolensk, kisha akasimama. Napoleon alikataa hatua yake ya Smolensk, lakini kufikia Agosti 10 ilikuwa wazi kwamba Warusi hawakuwa tena tishio kaskazini mwa Dnieper. Meli hiyo ilijengwa tena usiku wa Agosti 13 hadi 14 na wahandisi wa Jenerali Eblé walijenga madaraja manne ya kuunganisha mto huo. Asubuhi ya Agosti 14, jeshi la Napoleon lilikuwa limevuka mpaka wa kusini na kuanza kusonga mbele kuelekea mashariki. Mpango huo mkubwa ulivurugwa na kikosi kimoja tu cha Urusi kilichoongozwa na Jenerali Neverovsky. Bagration alikuwa ameweka mgawanyiko huu huko Krasnyi, magharibi mwa Smolensk kwenye ukingo wa kusini wa Dnieper. Baada ya siku kadhaa, askari wa Murat walianza kupigana na Warusi, lakini askari wa Nevorovsky walikataa na wakarudi nyuma. Hii ilizuia wapanda farasi wa Napoleon kufikia Smolensk mwishoni mwa Agosti 14, na pia iliwapa Warusi wakati wa kukimbilia kuimarisha mji. Katika mapambazuko ya 15 Agosti, majeshi ya Kiongozi kutoka Jenerali Rayevsky's VII Corps aliingia mji kutoka magharibi, ambapo walijiunga na Count Bennigsen's garrison na waokokaji wa hatua ya nyuma ya Neverovsky. Wafaransa walipoteza nguvu zao kwa kupigana na jeshi la Ufaransa mnamo Agosti 15. Napoleon alishinda vita vya Smolensk, lakini Ufaransa ilikosa nafasi ya kuishinda. Mnamo mwaka wa 1812, Smolensk ilikuwa katika ukingo wa kusini wa Dnieper. Jiji jipya, au kitongoji kidogo cha St. Petersburg, kilikuwa kwenye ukingo wa kaskazini, na kilikuwa kimeunganishwa na Jiji la Kale kwenye ukingo wa kusini kwa daraja. Jiji la Kale lililindwa na ukuta wa mji wa enzi za kati wenye urefu wa maili nne, uliohifadhiwa na minara 32, ngome ya ardhi inayoitwa 'Royal Citadel' kusini mashariki na njia ya kisasa iliyofunikwa na glacis. Ngome hazikuwa katika hali nzuri, kuta hazikuweza kubeba makombora, na kulikuwa na vitongoji nje ya ulinzi, kwa hivyo Wafaransa labda hawakutarajia mji kushikilia kwa muda mrefu. Rayevsky alitambua kwamba kazi yake kuu ilikuwa kuwakomesha Wafaransa na kuwapa Bagration na Barclay de Tolly muda wa kufika mjini, kwa hiyo akaweka watu wake wengi nje ya vitongoji. Kikosi kikubwa cha askari wa miguu (23 battalion) kilikuwa kiko upande wa magharibi na kusini mwa mji wa Old Town, na vikosi viwili vya askari wa miguu na wapanda farasi walikuwa mashariki na vikosi vinne vilikuwa ndani ya mji ili kuwa hifadhi. Waingereza walikuwa na bunduki 72. 18 walikusanyika katika ngome ya kifalme, na wengine walienea kuzunguka minara. Kufikia asubuhi ya 16 Agosti, jeshi la wapanda farasi la Murat lilikuwa likishirikiana na kambi za Urusi, na kufikia saa kumi asubuhi jeshi lote la wapanda farasi na jeshi la tatu la Ney lilikuwa limesimama, na Murat alikuwa mashariki mwa Jiji la Kale na Ney alikuwa magharibi, kinyume cha Krasny. Napoleon mwenyewe bado hakuonyesha hisia yoyote ya dharura. Alitumia siku hiyo magharibi akingojea uthibitisho wa habari kwamba daraja juu ya Dnieper huko Katan lilikuwa limeharibiwa ili kulinda upande wa kushoto na nyuma wa Ufaransa dhidi ya shambulio lolote linalowezekana la Urusi. Mwishowe alifika Smolensk saa 1 mchana, na mapigano machache yakaanza. Wakati mmoja, Jeshi la 46 lilikaribia kuuteka ngome ya Royal wakati kikosi cha askari kilipotatanishwa na tishio la mashambulizi kuelekea daraja la mto, lakini wakati siku ilipokwisha, Warusi walikuwa bado wanashikilia sehemu kubwa ya vitongoji. Usiku wa 16-17 Agosti, vikosi vya Davout na Poniatowski vilikuja kuimarisha jeshi la Ufaransa. Baada ya Smolensk, Rayevsky alirudi kwenye ukingo wa kaskazini ili kujiunga tena na jeshi la Bagration na alibadilishwa na majeshi ya Dokturov kutoka jeshi la Barclay de Tolly. Bagration alikuwa amepiga kambi mashariki mwa mji na Barclay de Tolly alikuwa akikaribia kutoka magharibi. Mashambulizi ya kwanza ya Ufaransa yalianza tarehe 17 Agosti. Wakati huu vikosi vitatu vilihusika, lakini mashambulizi hayakuwa na matokeo sana. Mwishowe vitongoji vilitwaliwa lakini kuta kubwa za enzi za kati zilithibitika kuwa zenye matokeo zaidi kuliko mtu yeyote alivyotarajia. Makombora ya Ufaransa yaliharibu sana mji wa Old Town, na kusababisha moto ambao uliharibu sehemu kubwa ya mji, lakini Warusi walishikilia kuta. Haijulikani waziwazi ni kwa nini Napoleon alichagua kushambulia jiji hilo mbele. Urusi ilihisi wasiwasi zaidi na uwezekano wa kuwa Ufaransa ilikuwa tu kufunika mji, kuhamia mashariki na kukata barabara kati ya Smolensk na Moscow. Hii ingekuwa mbinu bora zaidi kuliko ile iliyotumiwa na Napoleon, na uwezekano huo ndio uliokuwa sababu kuu ya Warusi kuachana na Smolensk. Katika usiku wa 17-18 Agosti, Dostoevsky alirudi New Town na kuharibu daraja juu ya Dnieper. Karibu saa mbili asubuhi, tarehe 18 Agosti, Wafaransa waligundua kwamba mji wa zamani ulikuwa umeharibiwa na watu kutoka vikosi vya I na III walikimbilia ndani ya mji uliokuwa ukiwaka moto. Kikosi cha Wurtembergers na Wareno hata kilifaulu kuvuka Dnieper karibu na magofu ya daraja, lakini walinzi wa nyuma wa Bagration waliweza kuwazuia. Katika siku za mapema za Agosti 18, jeshi la Bagration lilianza kusonga kuelekea mashariki ili kulinda barabara ya Moscow dhidi ya uwezekano wa Ufaransa ya kuingilia. Barclay de Tolly aliwafuata mwishoni mwa Agosti 18, lakini Bagration alikuwa amehamia haraka sana na pengo hatari lilitokea kati ya majeshi hayo mawili. Kwa bahati nzuri kwa Warusi, Napoleon alitumia siku nyingine mnamo Agosti 18, na kufuatilia hakukuanza hadi Agosti 19. Hata wakati huo kulikuwa na uwezekano mdogo kwamba Wafaransa wangeweza kupata ushindi mkubwa. Bagration alikuwa ameshindwa kulinda vizuri makutano muhimu ya barabara huko Lubino, maili kumi na nane mashariki mwa Smolensk. Napoleon alipogundua kuwa Urusi ilikuwa ikisonga upande wa mashariki, alimtuma Jenerali Junot upande wa mashariki kwenye ukingo wa kusini wa mto huo, akiwa na amri ya kuvuka Prudichovo na kuchukua makutano hayo. Hilo lingemzuia Barclay de Tolly kutoroka kuelekea mashariki na kuruhusu jeshi kuu limkamate. Hatimaye Junot alivuka mto huo, lakini alikataa kushambulia. Ney na Murat walianza kushambulia jeshi la Urusi huko Valentino, lakini Warusi walishikilia nafasi yao na Barclay de Tolly aliweza kutoroka kuelekea mashariki. Pande zote mbili zilipata hasara kubwa huko Smolensk. Urusi ilipoteza watu 12,000 hadi 14,000 na Ufaransa 10,000 hadi 12,000. Napoleon alikuwa amepoteza nafasi nyingine ya kulazimisha vita alivyotaka, na kama vile Vitebsk sasa alikuwa na kuamua nini cha kufanya baadaye. Alifikiria kuacha Smolensk au kurudi Vitebsk, lakini hatimaye aliamua kuendelea na maandamano juu ya Moscow. Wakati huo, Urusi ilikuwa imepiga vita na Napoleon alipigana vita vya Borodino mnamo Septemba 7, 1812.