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Eastern Europe - The Russian Campaign - Situation 14 August and Movements since 24 July 1812

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Title
Eastern Europe - The Russian Campaign - Situation 14 August and Movements since 24 July 1812
Subject
Publisher
Date
1812-07-25/1812-08-14
Battle Narrative
TheFrench invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 and in France as the Russian campaign , was begun by Napoleon to force Russia back into the Continental blockade of the United Kingdom. On 24 June 1812 and the following days, the first wave of the multinational Grande Armée crossed the border into Russia with around 400,000–450,000 soldiers, the opposing Russian field forces amounted to around 180,000–200,000 at this time. Through a series of long forced marches, Napoleon pushed his army rapidly through Western Russia in a futile attempt to destroy the retreating Russian Army of Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, winning just the Battle of Smolensk in August. Under its new Commander in Chief Mikhail Kutuzov, the Russian Army continued to retreat employing attrition warfare against Napoleon forcing the invaders to rely on a supply system that was incapable of feeding their large army in the field.
Narrative Source
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