The Battle of Borodino was fought on September 5-7, 1812 between the French army, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Russian army commanded by Mikhail Kutuzov. It is assumed that about 120,000 people took part in the battle on the Russian side. people, and on the French side - approx. 135 thousand. soldiers. The battle was fought at a relatively short distance from Moscow, and the area to be fought was carefully selected by the Russian commander, who intended to adopt a defensive position in the course of the battle and repel French attacks. Of course, the topography of the area was favorable to Kutuzov's intentions. The first actions (on September 5) were initiated by the 5th Corps of the Grand Army, composed of the troops of Fr. Warszawski, which were to lead to the outflanking of the so-called Shevardino redoubt. These actions, however, did not bring the desired effect. The decisive clash took place on September 7, when, in the course of very bloody fights for the next Russian field fortifications, the French side prevailed. The losses on both sides were extremely high - according to various, sometimes divergent estimates, the Russians were to lose 40,000 to 50,000. soldiers, and the French army approx. 30-35 thousand. people. The immediate aftermath of the Battle of Borodino was the seizure of Moscow by Napoleon.
The Russian army at the end of the 18th century was probably the largest and arguably one of the strongest armies in Europe. During the reign of Catherine II the Great (1762-1796), she won several important victories in the course of the wars with Turkey, won the war with Poland in 1792 and was instrumental in suppressing the Ko¶ciuszko Uprising in 1794. Also in the course of the wars with revolutionary France (1792-1799), she did not show her wrong side. However, the defeats at Austerlitz (1805) and at I³awa Pruska and especially at Fridland (1807) forced changes in the Russian army, which also affected its infantry, including grenadier units. Shortly before the Battle of Austerlitz, there were 84 musketeer (line infantry) regiments in the Russian army. In the period 1805–1809 their numbers increased to 96, and in 1810 it fell to 82 regiments, many of them transformed into jegr regiments. However, as early as 1811, the number of line infantry regiments increased again - up to 97 regiments. This number continued until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1807, the Russian line infantry regiment had about 1,750 full-time personnel, including 60 officers and 120 non-commissioned officers. However, due to the difficult conditions of the service and the poor medical service, the facts very often differed significantly from the regular ones. After 1810, the line infantry regiment consisted of three battalions, each of which consisted of four companies, and these in turn had two platoons. It is worth adding, however, that only two battalions were in the line - one was a "backup" or a rear battalion. It is worth adding that the armament of the Russian line infantry was not uniform at that time and was often made of the 1805 flintlock musket or the domestic production model 1808, but also (especially in the period 1812-1813) it could also be an imported musket from Great Britain.