What is Bagration's flash

Bagration flash is a concept that became a symbol of the heroism of a Russian soldier, his courage, military training. Eight times the famous generals of Napoleon, having a huge preponderance in manpower, tried to take these self-made field fortifications. The battle for Bagration's flushes allowed the Russian soldiers to stand on the Borodino field. Our famous ancestors let the invincible Napoleon understand that the Russian soldiers intend to fight to the end and did not intend to simply pass the enemy to their capital.

The concept of

Before that, in detail, to highlight the battles for Bagration's flushes, let us briefly say about the concept.

Flush - an ancient form of field fortification, consisting of two facades. The approximate length of each was 20-30 meters. Each was at an angle, forming an arrow directed toward the enemy. Hence the name: from French, the term is translated as "arrow". Flushes were a kind of temporary field mini-fortresses, which were erected on the most important directions. They contained a sufficient number of people and guns, which allowed to withstand the onslaught of superior enemy forces. As a matter of fact, on an equal place grew fortified areas, which it was necessary to take by storm superior forces.

Historical and strategic names

Bagration's flushes - 4 field artillery fortifications at the height - were near the village of Semenovskoe. They were created to strengthen the position of the second Western Army, Peter Ivanovich Bagration. On the strategic maps of the Russian command they are called "Semenovsky flushes", and their historical name - Bagration's flushes - was received in honor of the famous hero of the battle. PI Bagration won his wounds here, which turned out to be fatal.

Bagration's flushes: position on the Borodino field

Why did Napoleon not abandon attempts to capture a powerful defensive redoubt? The fact is that the great French commander planned to inflict his main attack with infantry, with the support of artillery on the flank, near the village of Semenovskoe. By such decisive actions, he hoped to crush the Russian defense on the flank and enter the rear of our army.

The forces of the parties

A successful flank attack in the rear of the Russian army would have allowed us to squeeze our main forces into the river. This would allow them to be completely destroyed. This understood and Kutuzov: on a narrow strip and created three artillery fortifications. In total Bagration allocated for this sector of the front 50 guns and 8 thousand soldiers.

Napoleon allocated 40 thousand people for a powerful flank attack. He believed that this should be enough to break through the defensive flank reinforcement. However, the great commander this time greatly miscalculated: the narrow space in front of the defensive line did not allow to take advantage of the numerical advantage. Also, the French did not take into account the fortitude of Russian soldiers, who, unlike European campaigns, this time defend their native land from enemy aggression.

Attacks on flash

The battles for the Bagration flashes started simultaneously with the attack of the enemy near the village of Borodino - about 6 o'clock in the morning. Half a kilometer southwest of the fortifications was the village of Utica. Between her and the flushes in the forest hiding Russian huntsmen to prevent the French from getting around the fortifications through the forest.

Even before the battle, Marshal Davout on the edge of the Utitsky forest began to build columns for the attack. Here, our artillery fired its first salvo at the enemy almost at point-blank range, from a 500-meter-long dynasty, preventing the enemy from forming freely into the columns. The French began to incur significant losses before the battle began. The enemy also organized three batteries of 102 guns a kilometer from the flush and began their shelling. However, all the attention of Russian artillery was riveted to the infantry columns.

When approaching a distance of 200 meters, the Russian artillery moved to frequent fire with grape shot. In fact, the guns turned into machine guns, which at point-blank shot the columns of the enemy.

It must be understood that the tactics of the battle in that period were very different from the following epochs: in the battle to the sounds of the drums there were marching columns of soldiers. If the French, for example, crawled or moved by running, they would have taken the fortified area at once. However, battles always took place in open areas of the terrain, the Napoleonic column structure always gave advantages. Here the situation was different: on a narrow section of the terrain there were defensive redoubts that, like a machine gun, "mowed" the enemy columns.

After the Russian guns began to exterminate the ranks of the French with grape shot at close range, the latter began to doubt the advisability of further attack. The last straw was the weapons salvo of the rangers from the forest. The enemy began to retreat. However, marshals and generals again sent soldiers into the attack.

And the battle took place: the French attacked, retreated, rebuilt, then again attacked, bearing huge losses. The Russians, on the other hand, did not suffer heavy losses in the first hours of the battle. Our infantry was inspired to see that the enemy was suffering losses.

In total, eight attacks on Bagration's flushes were taken. The French not only lost their strength to take defensive lines, but also spent all their reserves, which were necessary for the development of success in the event of a breakthrough in defense. The marshals were discouraged, Napoleon was greatly oppressed, and his troops lost faith in their invincibility. The Russians continued to hold their positions.

Eighth attack

By lunchtime it became clear that the main blow of the French was aimed at the Bagration flags. About 400 guns began to be pulled together to the Russian defensive redoubts. An additional 45,000 people were thrown in addition. Bagration could put up only 15 thousand people and 300 guns.

Kutuzov also understood the importance of this sector of the front. He ordered the light cavalry to bypass the enemy from the flank and hit the rear along the enemy. This was necessary in order to hinder the reserve of the French, not to let them throw all their forces at Bagration. At the same time, an order was given to transfer all forces to the flank, but this required time. The French rushed to a swift attack. This time, a significant advantage allowed to break into flushes. Bagration also threw all his forces to them, hand-to-hand fighting was started, in which the commander himself was mortally wounded. Flushes were taken, but Napoleon's entire plan became understandable: after this, the Russian troops began to form a defense, based on the exact plans of the enemy.

Bagration's flushes: "War and Peace"

The most important events of the battle of Borodino are reflected in LN Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. Bagrationov flushes in it somewhere "lost." All the main events of the battle of Borodino are associated with the battle of the Rayevsky battery, in which one of the main characters, Pierre Bezukhov, takes part.

Contradictory in the novel it is said about Bagration himself: "He is stupid, but he has experience, an eye and determination ..." (Volume 3, part 1, chapter VI.), But at the same time "... the best is Bagration himself Napoleon recognized this ... ". In the novel, the concept of "stupidity" is opposed to the concepts of "determination, courage". L.N. Tolstoy makes it clear to the descendants that Bagration is a brave man, a brave warrior, but as a general he is not capable of cold-blooded calculation and successful command. Indirectly it was confirmed in the battle: Bagration threw all his reserves on flushes and himself went on the attack at the head of his army, receiving a fatal wound.

Results

In the article, we highlighted what Bagration's flushes are: the definition of distance, described the significance of the battle for them for the outcome of the battle of Borodino, the strength of the parties. Yes, despite the heroism of the Russian soldiers, they lost the battle. However, this is the very case about which they say: "To lose the battle, but to win the whole war."