Estimates as to the number of effectives deployed at the battle of Borodino vary widely. Russian historian Dmitri Bantysh-Karnenskii in his 1840 study cited a figure of more than 170,000 French versus 132,000 Russians (the latter including 115,000 regular troops, 7,000 cossacks and 10,000 opolchenie or militia). Another Russian writer, Buturlin, claimed 152,200 Frenchmen (including 23,400 cavalry) versus 131,200 Russians. Clausewitz, who was attached to the staff of General Kutuzov during the campaign, states that 130,000 French faced 120,000 Russians. Digby Smith's new Data Book gives even lower totals for both sides, 103,000 French versus 120,800 Russians. Except for Smith, these strength figures for the French seem inflated, There maybe a number of reasons for this. While it does appear Russian writers account for thousands of French lost to disease and desertion, they may not have deducted French casualties in the battles leading up to Borodino (30,000 to 36,000, depending on the source). Or, the Russian historians may not have fully accounted for French units detached from the main body advancing on Moscow (10,000 at Vitebsk and another 6,000 at Smolensk just to name two). Conversely, on the Russian side some estimates may only include infantry and cavalry (the Russians had some 14,000 artillerymen present at Borodino manning more than 600 artillery pieces, caissons and ammunition wagons on the day of the battle). Finally, both Russian and French sources tend to overestimate the size of the enemy's forces while understating their own (not unusual for any period of history). Artillery Estimates Most sources agree that the French fielded 587 cannon during the battle while the Russians had 640 guns. However, only some 540 Russian artillery pieces were deployed during the battle, giving both sides a rough quantitative parity in artillery. One of the other mysteries about the battle concerns the Russians alleged failure to deploy more than one hundred guns from their Artillery Reserve because of the death of the Artillery Reserve commander, Geeral-Major Alexander Kutaisov. Interestingly, Russian artillery regulations of the time called for an interval of 18 paces between each cannon with caissons lined up behind each battery. This, combined with the large numbers of infantry and cavalry also vying for deployment in the constricted open areas, suggests that a lack of space rather than the death. If Kutaisov may have precluded the deployment of all 640 Russian artillery pieces on the battlefield, chronic ammunition shortages may also have curtailed the use of some of the reserve guns. Troop Estimates for the Battle of Borodino Author Year French Russian Total Laubaume 1814 - 120-130,000 - Buturlin 1824 152,200 131,200 283,400 Segur 1824 130,000 120,000 250,000 Gourgaud 1825 - 120,000 - Chambray 1825 133,800 109,000 242,800 Clausewitz 1832-37 130,000 120,000 250,000 Kamenskii 1840 170,000 132,000 302,000 Marbot 1860 140,000 160,000 300,000 Smith 1998 103,000 120,800 223,800 More Battle of Borodino 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) Back to Table of Contents -- Napoleon #14 Back to Napoleon List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Napoleon LLC. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. The full text and graphics from other military history magazines and gaming magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com Order Napoleon magazine direct