Battle of Smolensk

E136294

Napoleonic Wars battle battle

The Battle of Smolensk was a major 1812 engagement during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, in which French and Russian forces clashed fiercely over the strategic city of Smolensk, setting the stage for the later Battle of Borodino.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Battle of Smolensk (1812)	7
Battle of Smolensk canonical	4
First Battle of Smolensk (1812)	1
Сражение под Смоленском	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Napoleonic Wars battle ⓘ battle ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Battle of Smolensk ⓘ surface form: First Battle of Smolensk (1812)
attackedBy	Grande Armée ⓘ
belligerent	First French Empire ⓘ Russian Empire ⓘ
campaign	French invasion of Russia ⓘ surface form: Russian campaign of 1812
cause	Napoleon’s advance toward Moscow ⓘ
cityDefendedBy	Russian Empire ⓘ
commander	Jean-Andoche Junot ⓘ Louis-Nicolas Davout ⓘ Michel Ney ⓘ Mikhail Barclay de Tolly ⓘ surface form: Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly Napoleon Bonaparte ⓘ surface form: Napoleon I of France Pyotr Bagration ⓘ
conflict	Napoleonic Wars ⓘ
country	Russia ⓘ
date	16–18 August 1812 ⓘ
followedBy	Battle of Borodino ⓘ
FrenchCasualtiesAndLosses	tens of thousands killed wounded or missing ⓘ
FrenchStrength	approximately 175000 soldiers ⓘ
historicalEra	Napoleonic era ⓘ surface form: Age of Napoleon
historicalPeriod	19th century ⓘ
involvedUnit	Grande Armée ⓘ 1st Western Army of the Russian Empire ⓘ surface form: Russian First Army of the West Russian Second Army ⓘ surface form: Russian Second Army of the West
location	Russian Empire ⓘ Smolensk ⓘ Smolensk Governorate ⓘ
notableConsequence	Russian army preserved by withdrawal ⓘ destruction of much of Smolensk ⓘ set stage for Battle of Borodino ⓘ
notableFeature	extensive artillery bombardment ⓘ heavy urban fighting ⓘ
partOf	French invasion of Russia ⓘ surface form: French invasion of Russia (1812)
precededBy	Battle of Vitebsk ⓘ
result	French tactical victory ⓘ Russian strategic withdrawal ⓘ
RussianCasualtiesAndLosses	tens of thousands killed wounded or missing ⓘ
RussianStrength	approximately 130000 soldiers ⓘ
significance	demonstrated Russian strategy of trading space for time ⓘ major early engagement of the 1812 Russian campaign ⓘ
strategicObjective	capture of Smolensk ⓘ open road to Moscow ⓘ
tacticalCharacteristic	Russian fighting withdrawal ⓘ frontal assaults on fortified positions ⓘ
theatre	Eastern Front of the Napoleonic Wars ⓘ
year	1812 ⓘ

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Battle of Borodino → precededBy → Battle of Smolensk ⓘ

French invasion of Russia → notableEvent → Battle of Smolensk ⓘ

French invasion of Russia → keyBattle → Battle of Smolensk ⓘ

Mikhail Kutuzov → notableEvent → Battle of Smolensk ⓘ