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The Battle of Vyazma (November 3, 1812), occurred at the beginning of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. In this encounter, the rear guard of the Grande Armée was defeated by the Russians commanded by General Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich. Although the French repelled Miloradovich's attempt to encircle and destroy the corps of Louis Nicolas Davout, they withdrew in a partial state of disorder after suffering heavy casualties from continued Russian attacks. The French reversal at Vyazma was not decisive, but it was noteworthy because of its disruptive impact on the Grande Armée's retreat.〔Caulaincourt, page 197; Segur, page 168〕 ==Background== Two weeks before the Battle of Vyazma, Napoleon began his retreat from Moscow because this city was isolated deep in enemy territory,〔(1812-10-04 situation map )〕 and was thus unsuitable as the Grande Armée's winter quarters.〔See Riehn, pages 300–302, for a discussion of the severe logistical problems facing the French army in Moscow. The lengthy road connecting Moscow to the closest French supply depot, Smolensk, was long and impossible to defend. The road was choked by partisan activity and Cossack raiding parties. French supply trains were routinely wiped out and 15,000 French troops were captured along this road in September and October alone.〕 Napoleon's objective at this stage of the retreat was to lead the Grande Armée to his closest major supply depot, Smolensk, which was west of Moscow. The campaign was then to be recommenced in the following spring. The French departed Moscow on October 18, and after having a southern route to Smolensk denied them as a result of the Battle of Maloyaroslavets (October 24), they were compelled to backtrack and retreat along the same road used in their earlier advance on Moscow. Because the territory alongside this road had been economically ravaged by earlier campaigning, the retreat imposed on the Grande Armée extreme conditions of privation and attrition.〔The deterioration of the French army's combat ability and discipline in the first two weeks of its retreat is well documented. For a discussion of this situation, see Chandler, page 823, Riehn, pages 335–337, Cate, pages 343–347, Zamoyski, page 377-385. In the 17 days between the evacuation of Moscow and the Battle of Vyazma, half of the troops of Ney, Davout, Eugene and Poniatowski had deteriorated to the status of stragglers.〕 Lack of foodstuffs soon led to demoralization and disorder in the French ranks.〔Zamoyski, page 385; Riehn, page 322, describes the beginning of the breakdown in troop discipline in Moscow; on page 341, how starvation during the retreat accelerated the deterioration in discipline.〕 By November 3, the day of the action at Vyazma, the retreating Grande Armée was stretched out in a column long.〔Esposito and Elting, map 120〕 The helm of the column, Junot's VIII Corps, was at Dorogobuzh, with Davout's I Corps, serving as the army's rearguard, located at the tail of the army just east of Vyazma. Between these two endpoints were, running west to east, the Imperial Guard, Joachim Murat's troops, Michel Ney's III Corps, Poniatowski's V Corps, and Eugène's IV Corps.〔See Riehn, pages 338–339 for more details regarding the arrangement of this retreating train of troops〕 At this point, the French retreat was harassed by Cossack attacks at every juncture, Davout's corps in particular being beleaguered by Russian attacks.〔Riehn, pages 338–339〕 By November 2, Napoleon had grown dissatisfied with Davout's management of rearguard activities, and ordered Ney to remain in Vyazma, to allow Eugene, Poniatowski and Davout to bypass him, and to assume rearguard duties himself.〔Cate, page 348〕 The Russians, meanwhile, organized themselves into three groups while pursuing the French.〔 First, following Davout closely were 5,000 Cossacks commanded by Ataman Platov. This group was supported by General Ivan Paskevich's 26th Division, with 4,000 troops. Marching slightly to the south was General Miloradovich with the II and IV Infantry Corps, some 14,000 troops in all, and the II and III Cavalry Corps, which amounted to 3,500 soldiers. Miloradovich coordinated the activity of all of these troops, including those of Platov and Paskevich.〔This data is derived from Cate, page 348, and Riehn, pages 337 and 345–346. Miloradovich's seniority is presumed.〕 The main Russian army led by Mikhail Kutuzov, some 70,000 troops in all, marched further to the south.〔See Riehn's table and notes, pages 345–348. Kutuzov's full strength is presumed〕 On the evening of November 2, while conducting reconnaissance south of the Smolensk-Moscow road, Miloradovich, together with his cavalry commanders General Korff and General Sievers, noticed a gap between Davout's troops, situated to the east at Fedorovskoye, and the troops of Eugene and Poniatowski, located to the west just outside of Vyazma. Recognizing an opportunity to isolate and destroy Davout's corps, the aggressive Miloradovich decided to attack early the next morning.〔Cate, page 348-349. Wilson, page 242, writes that Miloradovich sent a message to Kutusov, away at Dubrova, requesting the main army's support in the upcoming action.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Vyazma」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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