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3212 Borodino 1812 $79.98
Borodino was fought between the Army of Imperial Russia and Napoléon's Grand Armée on September 7, 1812. The battle ended with a French victory, but strategic defeat. Losses were terrible on both sides, but the Russians could replace theirs. One week after the battle Napoléon occupied an undefended Moscow, hoping to impose a peace, but after four weeks was forced to retreat home with calamitous results. The historical battle involved wave after wave of frontal attacks by both sides, focusing on the Russian redoubts. However, the wargame shows all the options available to Napoléon and Kutuzov, including some not attempted historically. The French player has several possible lines of attack and the Russian player must try to anticipate and counter them all. The tactical interaction of Napoléonic infantry, cavalry and artillery is also emphasized, including cavalry charges and squares. This makes for exciting and tense gaming. Movement and combat are resolved within areas. The game plays using the fast-paced Move-Move-Battle sequence seen in Shiloh. Players activate leaders to command divisions of the same corps. Game time is 3-4 hours. COVER ART
La Moskowa by Mark Churms
The scene depicts the French 1st Carabiniers charging at Borodino.
Borodino Battle History
On September 5, 1812, the French Grande Armée under the command of Emperor Napoléon I, advancing along the main highway from Smolensk, approached the village of Borodino where the Russians under Gen. Mikhail Kutuzov had resolved to make a stand to save their ancient capital of Moscow from the invader. Three months before in late June, the French and their allies gathered from all across Europe had crossed the Niemen River with about 450,000 men, and over 225,000 more in reserve and covering the flanks. Though the Russians under Tsar Alexander I could also call on about 500,000 active troops throughout their vast empire, only about 200,000 were at the front facing the invader, and so the Russians began to fall back as Napoléon pursued closely, hoping to defeat them in detail. The two main Russian armies, the 1st under Gen. Barclay de Tolly and the 2nd under Prince Bagration, finally joined at Smolensk in August, where they fought for the city but were forced to abandon it to Napoléon's superior forces, after each side suffered heavy losses. Following this defeat, the Tsar appointed the elderly veteran Kutuzov to lead the two combined armies. By this time, heavy attrition, battle losses and detachments of corps to cover long flanks and supply lines had reduced Napoléon's Grande Armée to only about 135,000 men and 587 guns. At last the Russians, who had about 120,000 regulars and Cossacks and at least 624 guns, along with some 30,000 militia from Moscow and Smolensk, could fight an evenly matched battle. The Russians chose a position with their right flank covered by the Kolocha River, and improved their left flank to the south of the Kolocha with several redoubts, while further south their position was covered by marshy woods around the village of Utitsa. The stage was set for what Napoléon afterward called the "most terrible" of all his battles, immortalized by Leo Tolstoy in "War and Peace." After a preliminary engagement for control of the Shevardino redoubt on the Russians' far left on September 5, and a delay on September 6 while the rest of the French army arrived and moved into position, the main battle was fought on September 7, the bloodiest day of fighting in the Napoléonic Wars. Borodino cost the French about 28,000-30,000 and the Russians between 44,000-50,000 casualties, and while the battle opened the gates of Moscow to the French, the Russians managed to retire in good order and rebuilt their army, while Napoléon could receive few reinforcements so far from France. The Tsar would not negotiate, despite the loss of Moscow, with his army still in the field. In the end, the French limited victory at Borodino only paved the way for the destruction of the remains of the Grande Armée during the Russian winter of 1812.
 Click here to expand the map. The Map and Russian Place Names - The game map provides considerably more information about the battlefield than in most other previously published games on the battle of Borodino. The names used here are based on the original Russian spelling and pronunciation, with modern transcription of Cyrillic letters, to avoid many inconsistencies in historical sources. Many of the smaller villages on the map that existed in 1812 have since disappeared, including Aleksinki, Ashchenkovo, Maloye Selo, Maslovo, Mikhailovskoye, Miyshina, Myasoyedovo, Palubino, Putyatino, Ratovo, and Zakharino, and Uspenskoye (just off the east map edge, where Napoléon had his HQ on the day after the battle of Borodino once the Russians had withdrawn) has changed its name to Kriushino. The game map uses a compass orientation to the northwest, as on many 19th century maps, to allow more of the relevant area of the battlefield to be shown.
Borodino - The largest of the villages scattered across the several miles of fields and woodland where the armies met, Borodino was a cluster of wooden houses around the 1701 two-level brick Church of the Nativity (the only surviving structure that witnessed the battle), lying at the center of the Russian army's front on the western side of the bridge where the New Smolensk Post Highway crossed the Kolocha River. The first action on September 7 was a quick assault by the French IV Corps to drive out the garrison of Russian Guard Jagers and the Russian artillery observers in the two onion-domed steeples of the church. The French held the village for the rest of the battle though they were unable to force a crossing of the Kolocha River at the bridge, which the Russians then burned.
Semyonovskoye - The small village of Semyonovskoye (the correct Russian pronunciation, though often also spelled Semenovskoye) lay at the center of the Russian left wing positions, and was the scene of very heavy fighting in the late morning and afternoon as the French sought to maneuver around the Great Redoubt after capturing the Fleches. The village had been partly demolished by the Russians before the battle on September 7 to allow for unobstructed artillery fire, but the foundations of the houses provided cover for troops, as did a small redoubt the Russians had built nearby (considered part of the village on the map).
The Main Roads - The main roads running from west to east through the battlefield were critical to lines of supply and retreat. The central New Smolensk Post Highway crossed the Kolocha River by a bridge at Borodino, continuing through Gorki where Kutuzov had his battle command post on the hill providing a good view of the Russian positions (the main Russian administrative headquarters lay further down the road at Tatarinovo). The southern Old Smolensk Road ran through the village of Utitsa and the woods and swamps surrounding it. Separated by the Kolocha River on the west side of the field, the two roads run closely together where they exit the field in the east, joining together off the map edge just before the large town of Mozhaisk. The third main road, entering the map to the north at Gryaz, continues southeast across the Kolocha River and then turns east just above the New Smolensk Post Highway, becoming the Old Ruzskaya Road. The French army approached the Borodino battlefield in three columns, with Napoléon and the bulk of the French army entering the field along the New Smolensk Post Highway. The Polish V Corps used the Old Smolensk Road, entering at the village of Yelnya and flanking the Russian position at the Shevardino Redoubt, and Eugene's IV Corps entered to the north along the road from Gryaz, covering Napoléon's left flank against any possible advance by the Russian 1st Army.
The Redoubts - The Russians constructed several significant redoubts across the battlefield, especially on their left wing which was more vulnerable as the right wing was protected by the ravine of the Kolocha River. These were improvised fieldworks built of earth and logs, reinforced with entrenchments, palisades and wolf pits to snare cavalry, capable of providing effective shelter for a few batteries of guns and some regiments of supporting infantry. The Great Redoubt (or Grand or Rayevski Redoubt), the Fleches (or Bagration Fleches), and Shevardino, named for the nearby village, all saw heavy fighting. The large Great Redoubt to the south of Borodino, at the top of a hill with two angled sides but partly open toward the back with some palisades, was the scene of a very spirited defense by Rayevski's Russian VII Corps in the late morning of Sept. 7, but finally fell in mid-afternoon to Eugene's IV Corps and French cavalry. The three arrow-shaped Fleches on level ground between Semyonovskoye and the woods surrounding Utitsa, also open to the back, were the first target of the main French morning attack on Sept. 7, and Borozdin's VIII Corps, aided by part of Tuchkov's III Corps, suffered severe losses trying to defend them against Davout's French I Corps and French cavalry, finally being driven out by late morning. The smaller Shevardino redoubt, a pentagon almost fully enclosed, was the focus of the preliminary fighting on September 5 between the French I and V Corps and cavalry, and the Russian VIII Corps, and Napoléon had his command post there on September 7. Another group of three Russian redoubts protecting the Russian far right along the west side of the Moskva River, the Maslovo Redoubts or Fleches, at right angles to each other and open only on the inside, were not fought over. There were a number of smaller Russian redoubts or artillery positions scattered across the battlefield, most of which are not depicted on the map as they would not have had a significant effect on the fighting at the scale of this game. One of these smaller redoubts is depicted, however, on the main road before Gorki, along the east bank of the Kolocha and near Semyonovskoye, as it was substantial enough to hold nearly a full artillery battery and guarded Kutuzov's HQ position, had the French crossed the Kolocha River from Borodino.
The Kolocha River - The Kolocha, a tributary of the larger and impassable Moskva, enters the battlefield from the west as a relatively minor waterway with low banks and can readily be crossed in summer and early fall, much as the other streams on the battlefield. However, as it passes Borodino and turns northeast, it enters a ravine with steep banks and becomes more of an obstacle; at Borodino, the Kolocha is about 3-6 feet deep and 6-10 feet wide, but the ravine about 12 feet deep. Two bridges crossed the Kolocha River near Borodino, including one on the main New Smolensk Post Highway leading to Gorki (treated together for game purposes), and a mill dam near Borodino could also be used to cross. Kutuzov and his staff anticipated a major French assault across the Kolocha and positioned the Russian II, IV, and VI Corps as well as the Cossacks along or near the river in the north to prevent it, but Napoléon never tried to force the river north of Borodino after the failure of the French IV Corps to cross at Borodino on the early morning of Sept. 7, and eventually most of these Russian forces were shifted southward to reinforce the tottering Russian 2nd Army. The Russians burned the main Borodino bridge, while the French used other bridges that they built to the west of Borodino to aid their attack over the river toward the Great Redoubt (represented by the French Bridge in the game). Platov's Cossacks and Uvarov's I Cavalry Corps, with little artillery and no infantry support, launched the one major Russian counterattack against the French flank at midday across the Kolocha fords at Novoye Selo and Maloye Selo, which was finally repulsed by French infantry of the Guard formed into squares.
THE FRENCH AND RUSSIAN COMMANDERS AT BORODINO
Note on Ranks: The highest rank in the French army, below the Emperor, was Marshal of the Empire. Marshals could command corps, or even armies where the Emperor was not present (as in Spain), or portions of the Imperial Guard, or serve in other high positions at Imperial Headquarters. 11 of Napoléon's 23 Marshals in 1812 accompanied him to Russia, and seven were at Borodino, including Davout, Ney, Mortier, and Murat as corps commanders, Lefebvre (grouped with Mortier in command of the Guard corps), Bessiers (commanding the Guard Cavalry Division), and Berthier (who was Napoléon's chief of staff in charge of Imperial Headquarters), while four others (Augerau, MacDonald, Oudinot and Victor) served elsewhere in Russia. Three French generals serving in Russia became Marshals (St. Cyr was promoted in Russia but was not at Borodino, while Poniatowski and Grouchy, who were both at Borodino, were promoted in later campaigns). Below the Marshals were Generals of Division, such as Poniatowski or Junot in 1812, who could also command corps. One corps (IV) was led by a unique leader, Eugene, who was not only a General of Division but also the Viceroy of Italy and Napoléon's stepson.
The Russian army of 1812 followed Peter the Great's Table of Ranks, under which the highest rank of Field Marshal was a rarely accorded honor which no active officer held at the time of Borodino, though Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly were later to earn this rank. At the time of Borodino, the highest-ranking commanders below the Tsar were Generals of Infantry, or of Cavalry, who could command armies or corps. Lieutenant Generals, who also commanded corps, were next in rank. It is difficult to compare the ranks of French and Russian general officers exactly. French Marshals regularly held commands comparable to Russian Lieutenant Generals, or Generals of Infantry or Cavalry.
The French Commanders
Napoléon I - In 1812 Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French and King of Italy, was master of Europe from Spain to Poland, and the greatest captain of his era. He had risen from minor Corsican aristocracy to lead France to victory in campaigns throughout Europe, and had defeated the Russians several times before in Austria and Poland. But his legendary abilities were not at their best in his 1812 campaign in Russia; he underestimated the immense logistical difficulties and the Russian determination to resist; and was in ill health at Borodino. The disastrous winter retreat from Moscow shattered the widespread belief in Napoléon's invincibility, leading to final defeat and exile to St. Helena where he died in 1821.
Joachim Murat - Napoléon's brother-in-law, Marshal Murat was France's greatest cavalry leader and the most flamboyant of the Emperor's commanders. An innkeeper's son, Murat rose to King of Naples by 1808, and led Napoléon's Cavalry Reserve during the invasion of Russia. Murat was well known to the Russians, and some Cossacks even asked him to switch sides and become their Hetman! But his end was humiliating; after double-crossing both Napoléon and then the Allies, he was captured in Italy and executed by firing squad on Oct. 13, 1815.
Adolphe-Edouard-Casimir-Joseph Mortier - One of the two commanders of Napoléon's Imperial Guard infantry in Russia , Marshal Mortier, Duke of Treviso, was known as a capable soldier and man of honor. Napoléon called him "the big mortar with a short range." Mortier's Guard infantry was given no chance to fight at Borodino, but as Governor of Moscow he tried to blow up the Kremlin. After Napoléon's fall Mortier regained favor with the Bourbons and became ambassador to Russia, but was killed by a terrorist's "infernal machine" in 1835.
Louis-Nicolas Davout - The most capable of all Napoléon's Marshals, from a noble Burgundian family that fought in the Crusades, the Duke of Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl played a critical role in Napoléon's greatest victories. Napoléon praised Davout as "one of the purest glories of France," and the discipline and attention to detail of the "Iron Marshal" ensured that his I Corps was the best in the Grande Armée in 1812. At Borodino, Davout urged a wide flanking march to the south of the Russians, but Napoléon rejected the maneuver as too dangerous, and Davout was wounded in the assault on the Fleches redoubts but stayed in command. After Napoléon's fall, Davout was reinstated by the Bourbons and survived his master by two years.
Michel Ney - Marshal Ney rose from son of a barrel-cooper to Duke of Elchingen. Always a lion in battle, Napoléon called him "the bravest of the brave." Ney commanded III Corps in the Russian invasion, storming the Russian center at the battle of Borodino at the head of his troops and taking Semyonovskoye and the Fleches. He then led the rearguard during the winter retreat, earning the title of Prince of the Moscowa. Ney joined the Bourbons in 1814, but switched sides and fought with Napoléon at Waterloo, for which he was shot on Dec. 7, 1815, brave to the last.
Eugene de Beauharnais - Napoléon's stepson by his divorced Empress Josephine, Prince Eugene proved to be one of the most capable of the many relatives that Napoléon elevated to high positions. He became a General of Division and then Viceroy of Napoléon's Kingdom of Italy in 1805. Eugene commanded a large part of the Italian army in his IV Corps in 1812, and led the final successful third assault on the Great Redoubt at Borodino after a critical two-hour delay. Eugene did not rejoin Napoléon in 1815 and retired to Munich until his early but natural death.
Josef Anton Poniatowski - The Poles loyally and enthusiastically committed their entire army to the Russian campaign. Prince Poniatowski, nephew of the last King of Poland, a Polish liberal and nationalist, and one of the reputed lovers of Napoléon's sister Pauline, led the all-Polish V Corps as General of Division, and commander in chief of the Polish army. At Borodino, he commanded his corps well on the French right, despite heavy losses, taking the Russian position at Utitsa from the Russian III Corps, and later brought the few survivors of his army out of Russia with most of their guns. Poniatowski was finally made a Marshal in 1813, just before he was killed at the Battle of Leipzig.
Jean-Andoche Junot - Last and least of the French corps commanders at Borodino, General of Division Junot, Duke of Abrantes, was put in command of the Westphalian VIII Corps in 1812 after Napoléon's untalented brother King Jerome quit. Junot had never been promoted to Marshal, as his invasion of Portugal in 1807 had been defeated by Wellington, and the Westphalians were held in low regard by Napoléon, who left them to dispose of the corpses and wounded after Borodino while the rest of the army pushed on to Moscow. Napoléon faulted Junot for "gross blunders" in allowing the Russians to retreat at Smolensk, and though at Borodino he provided useful aid to Poniatowski's Poles on the French right, he was never given another important combat command after Russia and went mad, dying in 1813 by jumping out of a window.
The Russian Commanders
Mikhail Ilarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov - Fat and wily, old General of Infantry Prince Kutuzov, from an illustrious noble family, had over fifty years of military service to his credit by the time of the battle of Borodino. He successfully ended a war with Turkey in 1812, just in time for his Army of the Danube to join in the fight against Napoléon. Tsar Alexander I appointed Kutuzov to supreme command in August 1812 after the loss of Smolensk, as a result of the popular outcry for a "real Russian" general who would fight, despite Kutuzov's earlier defeat by Napoléon at Austerlitz. Some officers saw Kutuzov as lethargic, self-indulgent and fatalistic, delegating much responsibility, but he was beloved and trusted by the Russian troops, and after Borodino the one-eyed general could also see the need to abandon Moscow to save the army. Promoted to Field Marshal and made Prince of Smolensk as a reward for his triumph in the 1812 campaign, Kutuzov died on April 28, 1813, and is honored as the savior of Russia in the Napoléonic Wars.
Mikhail Andreas (or Bogdanovich) Barclay de Tolly - General of Infantry Barclay de Tolly was the Russian Minister of War in 1812, and commanded the 1st Army, Russia's largest. The son of a pastor, from a recently ennobled Livonian Scottish family, Barclay rose in the Russian army from enlisted man to the highest ranks by his own merits. A cool and deliberate strategist and skilled administrator, Barclay had reorganized the Russian army after its earlier defeats at Napoléon's hands, and was held in high regard by the Tsar, but was resented by many Russians as part of the "foreign" element in the army. Though Barclay's decision to retreat from Napoléon's superior forces was heavily criticized in 1812, it saved the Russian army from an early defeat, and at Borodino, commanding the Russian right, Barclay took a very active part in the battle, having several horses shot out from under him. Barclay regained supreme command after Kutuzov's death, and led the Russian army into Germany and France in 1813-15, winning promotion to Field Marshal and Prince, though after his death in 1818 his reputation was overshadowed by Kutuzov's.
Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration - Fiery, brave and impetuous, Prince Bagration (pronounced "bah-grah-tee-ON") was descended from the Georgian royal family, and rose to General of Infantry in the Tsar's service, achieving a remarkable record of combat. During the 1812 campaign, he commanded the Russian 2nd Army, but only narrowly escaped being isolated and destroyed by Napoléon due to his reluctance to retreat, and urged fighting the French at Smolensk. Bagration's intrigues against Barclay, his temperamental opposite, helped to bring about Kutuzov's appointment. At Borodino, Bagration led his army courageously on the Russian left defending Semyonovskoye and the Fleches, bearing the brunt of Napoléon's assaults and losing nearly half his men, but obstinately defending his positions until Barclay could send him critical reinforcements. Bagration's army was disheartened when he was mortally wounded in late morning leading a counterattack; he had never been wounded in battle before and was believed invulnerable. He died on Sept. 24, 1812, only after being satisfied that the Russians would not negotiate with Napoléon despite the loss of Moscow.
Matvei Ivanovich Platov - After suffering disgrace, imprisonment and exile under the half-mad Tsar Paul, Platov was restored to favor by Alexander I, who made him General of Cavalry and Ataman of the Don Cossacks. In 1812, with an extraordinary 46 years of service in the Don Cossack Host, he commanded the Cossack corps, and guarded the Russian right flank at Borodino. Platov suggested and led a massive cavalry flanking attack with his Cossacks, accompanied by Uvarov's I Cavalry Corps. This forced the French assault on the Great Redoubt to be delayed, but failed to achieve decisive results, so that Kutuzov denied Platov the honors given to other Russian generals. Platov was said to be drunk at Borodino, but was among the last to retreat from the field. Platov successfully harassed the French army retreating from Moscow and in the campaigns of 1813-14, was made a Count, and retired to his Cossack homeland where he died in 1818.
Karl Fedorovich Baggovut (or Karl Gustav von Baggehufwudt) - A soldier from the Baltic provinces who served under the Russified version of his Norwegian noble family name, Lt. Gen. Baggovut commanded the II Corps initially on the Russian far right at Borodino. He marched to reinforce Tuchkov on the far left flank, and helped to contain the French assaults along the Old Smolensk Road, earning high honor. When killed by a cannonball at the battle of Tarutino on Oct. 18, 1812, he is said to have been too fat to see his mortal wound.
Nikolai Alexseyevich Tuchkov - One of two brothers from a prominent Russian noble family who fought at Borodino as generals and lost their lives there, Lt. Gen. Nikolai A. Tuchkov commanded the III Corps, which by Sept. 7 was shifted from the 1st Army to defend the far left flank of the Russian army at Utitsa. Tuchkov effectively delayed the advance of the Poles until he was wounded by midday while leading a bayonet counterattack on the Utitskii Kurgan, dying of his wounds in November 1812 at Yaroslavl.
Alexander Ivanovich Osterman-Tolstoy - A member of the great aristocratic Russian family that also included Leo Tolstoy, Lt. Gen. Count Osterman-Tolstoy was one of the most respected Russian generals. At Borodino, Osterman-Tolstoy commanded his IV Corps with skill, personally leading his troops forward repeatedly, until, wounded and shell-shocked after a counterattack around Semyonovskoye, he had to be taken off the field. Osterman-Tolstoy supported Kutuzov's decision to abandon Moscow after Borodino, and continued to fight capably through 1813-14, being promoted to General of Infantry after the war. But he resigned and left Russia after quarreling with the new Tsar Nicholas I, dying in Switzerland in 1857, the last of the Borodino army and corps commanders.
Nikolai Ivanovich Lavrov - The noble Lt. Gen. Lavrov normally commanded the Guards infantry division, but also assumed leadership of the V Guards Corps at Borodino, as his superior, Grand Duke Constantine, was absent at St. Petersburg after one of his quarrels with Barclay. Lavrov turned out to be one of the less effective corps commanders at Borodino, once nearly paralyzed under heavy French artillery fire and unable to mount his horse, though his Guard never wavered. He became seriously ill after the end of the campaign, dying in September 1813.
Dmitri Sergeyevich Dokhturov - General of Infantry Dokhturov, of noble birth and one of the most experienced of the Russian corps commanders, led the VI Corps in the Russian center at Borodino. Dokhturov had won honor for his defense of Smolensk, and took over command of the 2nd Army at Borodino after Bagration was mortally wounded, for which he earned high recognition. He favored defending Moscow against Napoléon, and served in all the major battles of the 1812 campaign as well as in the liberation of Germany and the invasion of France, but then retired due to ill health and died in 1816.
Nikolai Nikolayevich Rayevski - From a well-connected noble family, Rayevski suffered dismissal by Tsar Paul but was restored to favor and made Lieutenant General by Alexander I. Rayevski had distinguished himself in 1812 at Smolensk, and against Davout's I Corps, before becoming a hero at Borodino, where he bravely defended the Great Redoubt with his VII Corps, repulsing two French assaults though losing half of his men. His conduct won the admiration of Kutuzov, and the Russians only lost the position to a third overwhelming attack in the afternoon after Rayevski's troops had been relieved by VI Corps. Rayevski supported Kutuzov's decision to abandon Moscow after Borodino, and in 1813-15 he continued to fight against Napoléon, winning promotion to General of Cavalry and participating in the capture of Paris. Rayevski's family later suffered disgrace when two sons and other relatives were implicated in the Decembrist uprising against the new Tsar Nicholas I, though Rayevski was not involved and survived until 1829.
Mikhail Mikhailovich Borozdin - Lt. Gen. Borozdin, a member of an ancient noble family, was put in command of the Russian VIII Corps in the 1812 campaign, even though unlike all the other Russian army and corps commanders he lacked any experience fighting Napoléon. At Borodino the most severe of Napoléon's blows fell on this least prepared of the Russian leaders; VIII Corps was heavily attacked on the Russian far left on Sept. 5 at Shevardino by Davout's formidable I Corps, and again on Sept. 7 defending the Fleches, where most of Borozdin's troops fell. By the end of the battle VIII Corps was nearly destroyed, but Borozdin earned little recognition, in sharp contrast to his heroic brother Maj. Gen. Nikolai Borozdin, who led the elite 1st Curiassiers Guards cavalry division at Borodino. After 1812, Borozdin was not assigned any major command, only participating in the capture of Danzig in 1813. He retired after the end of the Napoléonic Wars on grounds of poor health, but a quiet life evidently suited him as lived on until 1837 in the pleasant climate of his family's Crimean estates.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn - Born to the Moscow branch of the great Golitsyn noble house, Lt. Gen. Golitsyn had studied at the Ecole Militaire in Paris just before the Revolution. He quickly rose to Lieutenant General by 1800, and won distinction leading cavalry charges against the French at the battle of Eylau. Though Golitsyn retired from the army in 1809 after being replaced in his corps command by Barclay during the Finnish war, he returned to fight in 1812, at first leading the 2nd Cuirassier Division and then being promoted to command all the cavalry of 2nd Army at Borodino on the left flank of the army. Golitsyn continued to lead cavalry effectively in the campaigns in Germany and France in 1813-14, fighting at Kulm and Leipzig, and winning promotion to full General of Cavalry in 1814. After the war, he served as military governor of Moscow from 1820, leading the rebuilding of the city, until he became ill and gave up his position in 1841. Ironically, Golitsyn died in 1844 in Paris, where he had gone to recuperate, and was buried with great honors in Moscow.
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