Smolensk to Krasnoye
A tattered remnant of 75,000 made
their way into Smolensk at the beginning of November. Napoleon had hoped
to consolidate the Grand Army here for the winter. But there was to be
no respite here, for news was received of two fresh Russian armies to the
west, closing in on Napoleon's path of retreat. Wittgenstein from the north
and Admiral Tchitchagov from the south were positioning themselves like
the two jaws of a beartrap to crush Napoleon before he could get across
the next major obstacle, the Berezina River.
On 9 November two Russian divisions
captured Augereau's French brigade of two thousand men at Lyakhovo on the
road between Elnia and Smolensk. Kutukov believed that this episode was
peculiarly significant, for it was the first time in the war that an entire
enemy unit had allowed itself to be taken prisoner.
On 12 November the first columns
of the Grand Army trailed out of Smolensk. Disorder was growing in the
ranks; lack of horses forced the abandonment of supply wagons and artillery.The
corps were more than usually strung out, enabling Miloradovich to practically
cut the army in two on the 15th, when he moved up from the south
with his 16,000-strong command and placed himself across the main road
over Krasnoye. Napoleon and the Imperial Guard, who had already passed
through in safety, were able to doubleback and fight their way through
the roadblock to free the trapped troops, but the encounter cost the Grand
Army 6,000 dead and wounded and about 20,000 prisoners.
Retreat
Advance