23 July (11 July OS) 1812 marks the Battle of Saltanovka in Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s Russian Invasion when Marshal Louis-Nicholas Davout’s 22,000 French infantry, 6,000 French
23 July (11 July OS) 1812 marks the Battle of Saltanovka in Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s Russian Invasion when Marshal Louis-Nicholas Davout’s 22,000 French infantry, 6,000 French, Bavarian & Saxon cavalry & 55 guns defeated Lieutenant General Nikolay Raevsky’s 17-20,000 Russians & Cossacks & 90 guns. Despite the defeat, Raevsky bought Infantry General Prince Pyotr Bagration’s larger army crucial time to escape encirclement by Napoleon’s other armies. Davout & Jerome Bonaparte threatened to encircle Bagration’s 45,000 men. Bagration had to cross the Dnieper River at Mogilev to join Barclay de Tolly’s army. Davout moved faster. He seized the Dnieper crossing at Saltanovka on 20 July. He prepared to defend it. A series of bogs anchored his left. A stream ran through a ravine, which held his front. The area contained numerous dams, which he fortified. Saltanovka defended his left. It was surrounded by forest. He dug earthworks & fortified its buildings. Fatova...