As with the number of soldiers on both sides at the battle, casualty estimates for Borodino vary greatly. Russian loss estimates range from a low of 20,000 (Baron Dominique Jean Larrey, Surgeon General of the Grande Armee) to a high of 60,000 (Russian sources). French loss estimates range from a low of 10,000 (Napoleon in a letter written to his father-in-law,
Emperor Francis I of Austria, two days after the battle) to a high of 50,000 (Russian sources).
Official French sources cite a figure of 28,420 French casualties, including 6,967 killed and 21,453 wounded, The wounded were left at the Kolotskoy Monastery, which served as the French army hospital after the battle. According to Surgeon General Larrey, only 2,000 of these were still alive when the army retreated through Borodino on 30 October. This raises the French death toll from the battle to 25,000.
Contemporary Russian sources admit to 44,000 Russian casualties, including 30,126 wounded (23,000 of these returned to duty within seven months of the battle while 3,439 were found unfit for service, and 3,267 died of their wounds). These figures make the final death toll for the battle 25,000 French and 17,000 Russians.
Those writers considered as primary sources give higher losses for the Russians. At the high end, General-Lieutenant Mikhailovskii-Danilevskii places Russian losses at Borodino at 60,000. Both Buturlin and Bantysh-Kamenskii cite a figure of almost 50,000 Russian casualties, including 15,000 killed, 30,000 wounded and about 2,000 taken prisoner (perhaps more as some of the wounded were left behind). French estimates of Russian losses are noteworthy for their lack of exaggeration compared to the Russian sources.
Estimates of French casualties are much more varied. Napoleon, obviously trying to down play the heavy French losses, wrote a figure of 10,000. The Russian Buturlin cites a figure of 50,000 (the number most often used by contemporary Russian sources, which add that 16,000 of these were French cavalrymen). Both Segur's and Larrey's estimates are significant in that they give higher losses for their French army than the casualties they believe were inflicted on the Russians.
In the absence of official records (most of which were destroyed during the French retreat) and in light of conflicting estimates by a multitude of individuals, each with their own agendas, how is a reliable casualty estimate for the French to be derived?
Two methods can be used. The first is to examine the trend of French and Russian casualties in the battles leading up to Borodino. The second is to compare the number of French troops
available for battle at Borodino versus those that entered Moscow a week later. An examination of the casualty figures for the French main body advancing on Moscow indicates that in the battles leading up to Borodino, the French suffered some 30,000 total casualties while the Russians lost 23,000. Only Shevardino was a clear cut French victory. In nearly every other battle, the attacking French losses were higher than the defending Russian losses. It is fair to
conclude that a sort of rough parity existed between the two sides in terms of casualties between 23 July and 5 September 1812, a conclusion reached much earlier by Clausewitz in his own
work on the campaign.
This, in turn, suggests that French and Russian losses at Borodino may be much closer than current writers' figures of 28,000-33,000 French and 44,000 Russians.
A comparison of French strength at Borodino and upon entering Moscow supports this contention. Most of the French sources, including Segur, Larrey, and Marbot, are in agreement that Napoleon entered Moscow with 90,000 to 95,000 effectives and 20,000 sick and
wounded. If we accept that the Grande Armee at Borodino numbered 133,000
effectives, these figures indicate a loss of 38,000 to 43,000 at Borodino.
Clausewitz's own estimate is even higher. He notes that, between the eve
of the battle and Napoleon's entry into Moscow, the strength of the French
Army dropped by 54,000 men.
A casualty figure of some 40,000 French at Borodino thus appears to be reasonable. Therefore, the final casualty count at Borodino is best estimated at 40,000 French and 47,000 Russians, which would surpass Wagram in making Borodino the second bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars.
Among the casualties at Borodino were 29 Russian and 49 French generals. Never had so many general officers been hit in a single battle. The intensity of the battle can also be gauged by the number of rounds fired by the two sides. In Napoleon's Battles (1967), Henry Lachouque notes that some 120,000 artillery rounds and three million infantry cartridges were
expended during the course of the battle. According to Russian sources, the Russian artillery alone fired 60,000 rounds (about 100 rounds per gun). For the French, Borodino was a
bloodletting of unprecedented scale. French casualties there were equaled or exceeded only by those at Berezina during the retreat from Moscow in November of 1812, (25,000 plus another
30,000 stragglers captured), Wagram in 1809 (39,500), Leipzig in 1813 (38,000 plus at least another 30,000 captured) and Waterloo in 1815 (41,000). Of these, only Waterloo - like Borodino - lasted a single day Since 17,000 of the French losses at Waterloo were missing and/or captured, Borodino may be regarded as the bloodiest single day in the history of the
French army of the Napoleonic Wars.
More Battle of Borodino
Casualty Estimates for the Battle of Borodino Source Year Russian French Total Napoleon 1812 30-50,000 10,000 60,000 Labaurne 1814 40,000 - - Larrey 1817 20,000+ 21-22,000 41-42,000 Buturlin 1824 50,000 50,000 100,000 Segur 1824 30,000 40,000 70,000 Gourgaud 1825 50,000 20,000 70,000 Chambray 1838 50,000 20,000 70,000 Clausewitz 1832-37 30-50,000 20,000 50-70,000 Marbot 1860 30,000 20,000 50,000
Casualty Figures for Battles Leading Up to Borodino Location Date (1812) French Forces/Losses Russians Forces/Losses
Mohilev 23 Jul 28,000/4134 20,000/2548 Ostrovno 25-27 Jul 22,000/3300 14,000/2500 Krasnoy 14 Aug 1 5,000/500 7,200/640 Smolensk 17-18 Aug 50,000/8564 30,000/6,000 Valutina Gora 19 Aug 41,000/9000 22,000/5000 Shevardino 5 Sep 30,000/4,000 20,000/6000 TOTAL LOSSES 29,498 22,688 Borodino 7 Sep 103,000/28,000 120,800/44,000 Source: Digby Smith's The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data
Book
(London, 1998), pp. 382-390
Borodino: Introduction
Borodino: Situation in 1812
Borodino: Invasion
Borodino: Battlefield Park
Borodino: Opposing Plans
Borodino: 1: Shevardino Redoubt
Borodino: 2: Borodino Village
Borodino: 3: Bagration Fleches
Borodino: 4: Utitza Village
Borodino: 5: Semenovskaya
Borodino: 6: Great Redoubt (Raevsky Redoubt)
Borodino: Epilogue for a Draw
Borodino: Travel Tips
Borodino: The First Historians
Borodino: Strengths at Borodino
Borodino: Estimating Battle Losses
Borodino: Museum
Borodino: Order of Battle (Text: fast)
Borodino: Russian Order of Battle (Graphics: extremely slow: 587K)
Borodino: French Order of Battle (Graphics: extremely slow: 639K)
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