What if the Russians had won at Borodino in 1812?

What the title says. IOTL, Napoleon won a hard-fought (arguably Pyrrhic) victory, the Russian army withdrew to preserve itself, and he entered Moscow only to have to retreat as the winter set in, with infamous results.

However, what if the positions had reversed, with the Russians halting and/or crushing the French-Allied attack either at the first defence lines (Utitza village, the Bagration fleches and the Kolocha River) or the second (the Utitza mound, Semeonovskoe and/or the Great Redoubt)? The POD could be one or more of several different things:

-Kutuzov realizes/finds out that Napoleon is going to attack only on his left and centre and doesn't start the battle with much of his army in the wrong place, or manages to redeploy them early enough.
-Napoleon is even more ill and either makes even more bad decisions or fails to show up, messing up the chain of command.
-Kutaisov, the Russian artillery commander, doesn't die early in the battle, and ensures that the artillery reserves that sat around doing nothing all day IOTL get deployed forward and smash the French advance.
-The weather reduces visibility to the point where the French artillery has nothing to shoot at whereas the Russian is still able to fire at attacking units at point-blank range.

My interest in this battle as a POD stem from having played it out several times in Battleground:Napoleon in Russia. The AI in that game is rather poor, so a human player can win the Borodino scenarios quite easily as either side, but fighting defensively as the Russians is easier to the point of being dull (bring up all the reserve artillery to one part of the battlefield, concentrate fire to wipe out units and make the French rout, repeat). I tend to get bored and make a glorious charge into the French that would never have worked in real life. :D

Anyway, a search for 'Borodino' turned up several 'Napoleon wins big at Borodino' type scenarios, but none where the Russians win. I don't know if that's because it's considered ASB or just because no-one has brought it up. Arguably the outcome of the campaign would have been almost identical, with the French retreating back towards Smolensk a few weeks earlier - which might actually work to their advantage, with winter not having set in yet. On the other hand, if the Russian win was decisive enough, the Grande Armee might disintegrate more comprehensively, maybe resulting in Napoleon losing more allied nations' support afterwards or even being captured and/or deposed.
 
Last edited:
I have to say the important part is simply what happens to Napoleon himself. Is he killed, captured, or does he get away? If he gets away it's a rather small change; killed, and France probably settles down and stays Imperial til, say, 1848. Capture him, and it goes pear-shaped- Alexander will treat him well and eventually release him, but depending on the timing and terms someone else might very well be running France by the time it's a done deal.
 
Well, the last two times I won Borodino as the Russians in B:NIR, Napoleon failed to escape in both instances, once being wounded by a volley fired into his command post (and, presumably, subsequently captured, since the command post was overrun soon after), and the second time being captured by cavalry as he tried to escape. In the first instance, at least, realistically he would almost certainly have made a run for it before I got near the command post. In the second case, if the ludicrously jammy/game-mechanics-exploiting combined-arms charge that basically smashed the entire French centre by mid-morning (it started as just a hit-and run spoiler-attack!) had really happened - which it almost certainly couldn't have - it just might have occurred quickly enough for Napoleon to be unable to escape.

Here's a summary of how the alternate Battle of Borodino would have gone down, based on my recollections of that game and modified a bit to be less ASB, although as you can see, it's still pretty implausible (in particular, it presupposes too-good communications and coordination among the Russians). I'll maybe post an extended, more believable version at some point.

Link to map of the initial dispositions IOTL - http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Borodino_battle.htm#borodinodeployment4

Phase 1: The Poles advance towards Utitza, harassed by Cossacks, while Prince Eugene's troops advance on Borodino. The French centre holds position opposite the fleches while artillery bombards them. The Russian troops on the far right redeploy against Eugene while those on the far left consolidate to defend Utitza. The reserve artillery is moved to take up positions around the fleches and in Semeonovskoie overlooking them, while the infantry from the Guards division and the forces initially deployed behind the fleches and Great Redoubt redeploy for an attack through/around the woods between the two. The cavalry from these formations also deploy around the fleches to support the attack.
Phase 2: The Poles are repulsed from Utitza with heavy losses and retreat into the woods. A stalemate develops around Borodino as Russian forces cross the Kolocha and attempt to drive Eugene's troops back. The Russian counterattack in the centre is launched with a view to disordering and demoralizing the French centre. The Russian cavalry overrun the forward French artillery batteries with a surprise charge, utilizing the terrain to conceal themselves until the last moment. Unable to be restrained, the forward cavalry units press forward into the infantry behind, causing a rout. At the same time, tens of thousands of Russian infantry hurl themselves from the woods into the unguarded flank of the French and allied troops in that area. Supported by further cavalry attacks, the Russians are able to envelop and isolate a large portion of the French centre (upwards of 20,000 men). Bitter hand-to-hand fighting ensues as the Russian Guard Division, supported by fire from the rest of the infantry, assaults the surrounded enemy, whose morale is rapidly broken. Thousands lay down their arms. The Grande Armee has been effectively cut in two.
Phase 3: The survivors of the French centre fall back and regroup around Napoleon's command post in the Shevardino redoubt while the Imperial Guard advance to support them. The Russians consolidate their position opposite while the reserve artillery is brought up for fire support. The French redeployment is hampered by communication failures, thousands of routing troops causing disorder and confusion, and Napoleon's refusal to believe that upwards of 1/6 of his army has been lost. In the valuable time wasted by this, the Russian artillery pounds the French positions mercilessly. An assault is launched on Shevardino which drives the French back still further. Napoleon finally realizes the battle is lost and attempts to escape with a small entourage, but is chased down and captured by Russian cavalry before he can reach Murat's disordered cavalry. The Imperial Guard are savaged by artillery as they attempt to counterattack. As rumours of Napoleon's capture spread, his marshals decide one by one to retreat and hope that terms for the army's safe passage back to Poland can be agreed upon. French-Allied casualties total nearly 50,000 (including 10,000 prisoners); the Russians lose around 20,000.

(In the computer battle, Prince Eugene's forces were surrounded in the valley of the Voina and suffered the same fate as the centre forces, the Poles were driven so far back that the forces chasing them joined in the slaughter of the Imperial Guard, and the fighting continued until there was literally almost nothing left of the Grande Armee by teatime but a few scattered survivors, but I thought it was ASB enough already. In particular, I doubt the Russian Guards - their best troops - would have been used so recklessly, even in a more optimistic scenario where the reserves were used intelligently.)


I guess the next question is, how would a Russian victory change the postwar political landscape? They would certainly come out of the war with greater prestige - Kutuzov would be as famous as Wellington IOTL (assuming he actually won the battle or managed to make it look like he did - the POD might actually be him falling ill, in which case Barclay and/or Bagration would probably end up with all the glory).
 
Last edited:
Top