Napoleons Russian Campaign
The peace between France and Russia in 1807 lasted for five years but was not satisfactory to either side. The Tilsit settlement was thought of by Napoleon as no more than a convenient truce. In 1807 he had been in no position to invade Russia but there was no way that he could tolerate another European power for very long. Napoleon felt that a war with Russia was necessary ‘for crushing England by crushing the only power still strong enough him any trouble by joining her.’ Napoleon began preparing for the war. He secured the support of Austria and Prussia since even though neither was in any position to refuse. Emperor Francis of Austria provided 34,000 men to cover the French but sent secret messages to St. Petersburg assuring Alexander that Austrian hostilities would be kept to a minimum. Prussia though was placed in a less fortunate position. With Berlin occupied by French and most of their 1807 debt to be paid it had no alternative but to provide 25,000 men and supply quarters and rations for the entire army. The rest of Napoleon’s Grand Army came from the many countries under his direct control. The Kingdom of Italy sent 45,000 men, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw 35,000. T . . .
They dispatched an ultimatum to the Czar in St. On December 13th the remaining 400 infantry and 600 cavalry burned the bridge over the Niemen River at Kovno and marched into East Prussia. When the French finally reached Smolensk on November 8th they found that Marshal Victor and his troops had marched north to hold Witetgenstein back and they had taken most of the provisions with them. Russia though made a deal with East Prussia, which allowed the Russian troops to enter East Prussia and by the end of January 1813 the French were behind the Elbe River, far away from Russia. He was faced with many problems at this time. Bibliography Gate, Curtis. The provisions that he arranged for were not intended to provide all that the troops would need as they fought their way to Moscow. He could wait at Vitebsk for a battle or he could continue traveling seeking a battle. He declared in a message to Alexander that ‘I see my first duty as the preservation of the army. The War Of The Two Emperors New York: Random House, 1985. On October 19th hundreds of troops, led by the advance guard of Prince Eugene and his Italian troops, poured out of Moscow in ‘Three Great Columns’ and began moving towards Smolensk. Once most of Kutusov’s positions had been stormed though, Napoleon became sluggish. Napoleon’s chief engineer though, General Eble, thought out a plan for building a temporarily stable bridge over the river. They later though discovered what it really was and decided to move against it, and after a day of fighting Kutusov held the French army at Maloyaroslavets on October 24th. Napoleon’s battle plan was to have a series of frontal attacks.
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