Action at Borkowo
24 December 1806
The Action
by Robert Goetz, USA
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By 8 AM on 24 December, the troops from Czarnowo had begun arriving at Nasielsk. After only a few hours of waiting, Russian pickets occupying the high ground on the right (west) bank of the river reported the approach of a large body of French cavalry. Dorokhov recalled his advance posts on the far side of the river to the left (east) bank around 11 AM and made preparations to destroy the bridge to slow the French advance. Klein and Lasalle began their march around 8 AM, reaching the high ground overlooking Borkowo around 11 AM where they encountered Dorokhov’s skirmishers. During the advance, pickets of 50 men each were sent to occupy observation posts on the right bank of the Wkra at Zatoka and Kosewko to the south of Borkowo while other pickets were sent ahead as far as Gadowo and Wrona where they made contact with detachments of 7th corps. Klein positioned a brigade of dragoons and three guns on the heights of Wola while the remainder of the force (less the various detachments) appears to have been positioned in and behind the town of Borkowo. By noon the French forces were fully assembled and in command of the ground overlooking the river crossing, just as cannon fire to the north announced the commencement of 7th Corps’ attack. Klein’s horse artillery began its bombardment of the Russian positions across the river, the Russian artillery returning fire. On the Russian side, the situation soon changed from one of holding the position to one of extricating themselves from it. Field Marshal Mikhail Fedorovich graf Kamensky, commander in chief of the Russian forces, had arrived at Nasielsk in person around noon. Surveying the Russian forces and being informed of the French assaults on the Wkra line, Kamensky concluded that the position at Nasielsk was too exposed and ordered a general concentration further to the northeast at the small village of Strzegocin. By 12:30 Kamensky had ridden off in the direction of Kolozab to see first-hand the situation of Barclay. With the majority of 2nd Division now on the march from Nasielsk to Strzegocin with only a small rearguard left at Nasielsk and Barclay’s forces at Kolozab under heavy attack, Dorokhov’s position was substantially less secure than it had earlier seemed. Although the French cavalry that had arrived at Nasielsk on the heels of the Russians was powerless to dislodge them in the face of the infantry, cavalry and artillery already in position, French infantry and artillery was sure to arrive soon. While Dorokhov’s forces held the
French cavalry at bay, Klein disposed his
forces to turn the Russians out of their
position, sending Lasalle’s two regiments
and the 20th Dragoons probing to the south
in search of a ford. Lasalle’s men located a
ford just south of the village of Lelewo.
Finding no enemy force worth mentioning
to oppose him, Lasalle began crossing the
ford in force. It appears that Cossack patrols
reported Lasalle’s activities to Dorokhov. [2]
Hearing the heightened artillery fire that
announced the arrival of strong French
forces at Nasielsk around 1:30, and
perceiving the threat to his left posed by
Lasalle’s crossing at Lelewo, Dorokhov
determined that it was time to withdraw.
Firing the bridge around 2 PM, the Russians
pulled back towards Cieksyn, leaving
skirmishers to harass the French in any
attempts to put out the fire and save the
bridge.
With the bridge now in flames, Klein
ordered a body of dragoons to dismount.
While some maintained a withering counter
fire against the Russians on the opposite
bank, others worked to extinguish the blaze
on the bridge. The Russian skirmishers,
outnumbered, gradually fell back and within
an hour the fire was under control and
parties were working to repair the damage
even as the last of the flames were being
extinguished.
By 3 PM the bridge had been
made passable and Klein’s dragoons and
artillery started across. Once across, Klein’s
forces scattered to fulfil their mission of
sweeping the area between 3rd and 7th
Corps and forming a link between them.
14th dragoons secured Ruszkowo and
Morgi, while another regiment shadowed
the Russians as far as Zeledowo. Behind
this perimeter, the 4th Dragoons secured the
bridge at Borkowo while the two remaining
regiments advanced to Cieksyn where Klein
made his headquarters.
Lasalle had meanwhile advanced from
Lelewo on Klein’s right towards the
Russian position at Ciexin. Dorokhov,
seeing no purpose in remaining at Ciexin,
divided his forces. Part retired towards
Nowemiasto (probably the infantry and
artillery) while the remainder, under
Dorokhov’s own command, fell back
towards Nasielsk. Lasalle left the 20th
Dragoons to secure his right at Czajki and
Mokrzyce-Dworskie and with his chasseurs
set off in pursuit of Dorokhov’s cavalry.
Dorokhov arrived at Nasielsk at the head of
his hussars shortly before dark. As
darkness fell, the Russian rearguard at
Nasielsk withdrew towards Strzegoczin,
leaving the exhausted French to bivouac on
the field of battle. Lasalle’s chasseurs had
followed Dorokhov as far as Piescirogi, 3
kilometers from Nasielsk. Lasalle’s patrols
reported the presence of the carabiniers of
12th Ligne at Siennica and 12th Chasseurs
at Nasielsk (elements of 3rd Corps),
indicating that matters at Nasielsk were well
in hand.
Conclusions
Casualties for the action at Borkowo
are not specified in sources, but would
appear to be very light on both sides. Both
Russian columns retiring from Borkowo –
the cavalry by way of Nasielsk, the infantry
and probably also the artillery by way of
Nowemiasto -- arrived at the designated
point of concentration at Strzegocin late in
the night of 24-5 December. Although the
action had been minor, Dorokhov had held
his position at Borkowo long enough to
preserve the rearguard position at Nasielsk
until nightfall, allowing the Russian forces
to concentrate as planned. The only serious
criticism that can be leveled against
Dorokhov is the ineffectiveness of his
attempt to destroy or even seriously damage
the bridge at Borkowo. For the French,
Klein and Lasalle had succeeded in securing
the right of the advancing 3rd Corps and
maintaining communications with the 7th
Corps as ordered, pushing all opposition out
of their way in the process. Overall, both
sides could claim to have performed well and
professionally in this all-but-forgotten Primary Sources:
"Le Général Nansouty au Major Général, Ianowo, 23 décembre 1806 [1]" in
Foucart (see below), p. 402.
Supplementary Sources:
Bennigsen, Leonty Leontyevich, count von. Mémoires du Général Bennigsen Vol 1; 1908.
[1] Strength estimates are not reported for
these forces, but the rough estimates
can be based on typical strengths for
similar units at this point in the
campaign. There are a number of
ambiguities regarding the exact
composition of Dorokhov’s force on
24 December. Dorokhov had three
battalions on 18 December, two from
1st Jäger and one from 3rd Jäger. It is
possible that Dorokhov had a second
battalion under his command on the
24th, although French reports note
only a single battalion. Also, it is not
clear if all 5 squadrons of Isoum
Hussars were in the immediate vicinity
of Borkowo or not. Two squadrons
of Isoum Hussars originally assigned
to Dorokhov’s detachment may have
been involved in the battle of
Czarnowo and retired with
Ostermann’s force on Nasielsk on the 24th
based on the account given by
Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii.
[2] Descriptions of the general
dispositions of the Russian forces on
23-4 December note Cossack patrols
scattered up and down the Narew and
Wkra rivers. It seems likely that some
Cossack patrols were in the vicinity of
the Lelewo ford, but were not strong
enough to oppose the crossing of
Lasalle’s force of nearly 1,400. The
fact that Lasalle’s turning movement
did not surprise Dorokhov supports the
conjecture that the Cossack patrol(s)
reported the news of Lasalle’s crossing
to Dorokhov in a timely fashion.
Action at Borkowo 24 December 1806
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With Ostermann’s forces retiring on
Nasielsk from their positions at Czarnowo
and Debe, Dorokhov was responsible for
holding his position against any French
attack to buy time for the remainder of 2nd
Division to retire.