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Battle of Maloyaroslavets – one of the major battles of the Patriotic War of 1812 – took place
12 (24) October 1812 during the Patriotic War took place a bitter battle with French troops, who tried to break through to Kaluga. As a result, Napoleon, having failed of success, gave the order to retreat along the ravaged Smolensk road.
After the defeat of the French avant-garde led by Marshal Murat in the Battle of Tarutino, the main forces of the French army began to retreat to Smolensk via Kaluga, where Napoleon hoped to capture large stores of food and fodder. The movement of Napoleon's troops was detected by a detachment of Gen. I. S. Dorokhov, who informed about it the Russian army chief M. I. Kutuzov.
10 (22) October Kutuzov sent to Maloyaroslavets the 6th Infantry Corps under General D. S. Dokhturov to block the path of Napoleon's troops to Kaluga, where at that time were concentrated strategic stocks of the Russian army. The evening of 11 (23) October the main forces of the Russian army set out from Tarutino camp. The next morning, the advance units of the 6th Corps went into battle with 2 French battalions, which had occupied Maloyaroslavets the night before, and drove the enemy from the town. But when the 4th Corps led by Gen. E. de Beauharnais arrived, the French recaptured Maloyaroslavets. Gradually, both sides began to be supported by new forces, and the battle began to take violent. During the eighteen-hour battle Maloyaroslavets often passed from hand to hand. "The subject of the battle was the town - Kutuzov wrote in his first dispatch to the tsar, made in the morning of October 13 (25) - which has been captured by our forces eight times and as much ceded to the enemy’s strong attacks." Testimonies of French and Italian participants of the battle coincided with the report of Field Marshal.
With the approach of the main forces of the Russian Army, the troops led by Kutuzov, occupied the advantageous position south of Maloyaroslavets at the hills along the road to Kaluga. When at the end of the day Napoleon realized that the way to the south was blocked, he gave orders to the troops to retreat toward Mozhaysk.
Battle of Maloyaroslavets was a strategic victory of the Russian army, which seized the initiative and did not let the enemy reach southern provinces. Thus Napoleon’s plan was thwarted: the French had not reached Kaluga to capture the rich food supply concentrated there. Instead, they were forced to retreat to the west along the Smolensk road, the neighborhood of which had been destroyed and devastated in summer.
That is what M. I. Kutuzov wrote to Emperor Alexander I about the Battle of Maloyaroslavets: "This day is one of the most remarkable in this bloody war, for the lost battle of Maloyaroslavets would have had disastrous consequences and would have paved for the enemy the way through our richest provinces".
Lit.: Богданович М. И. История Отечественной войны 1812 года по достоверным источникам. Т. 3. СПб., 1860. С. 44; Васильев А. А. Сражение за Малоярославец 12 октября 1812 года. // От Тарутино до Малоярославца / Сб. статей. Калуга, 2002; То же [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://www.museum.ru/1812/Library/Mmnk/2002_9.html; Журнал военных действий с 8 (20) по 15 (27) октября 1812 г. [Электронный ресурс] // Интернет-проект «1812 год». 1996-2016. URL: http://www.museum.ru/museum/1812/War/News_rus/izv087.html; Калужская губерния в Отечественной войне 1812 года / Материалы научной конференции. Малоярославец, 1994; От Москвы до Парижа (1812-1814 г.). 185 лет Малоярославецкому сражению / Сб. статей Ч .1, 2. Малоярославец, 1998; Шведов С. В. О численности и потерях русской армии в сражении при Малоярославце 12 октября 1812 г. // М. И. Кутузов и русская армия на II этапе Отечественной войны 1812 года. Малоярославец, 1995; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.museum.ru/1812/Library/Mmnk/1995_9.html.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: