Editing Pyotr Bagration (section)

===Battle of Borodino===
[[File:Battle of Borodino 1812 map.jpg|thumb|The Bagration flèches were at the center of the [[Battle of Borodino]]. There, the most brutal fighting took place.]]
[[File:Roubaud fleshes.jpg|thumb|The Bagration flèches seen on the far right. Painting by Franz Roubaud.]]
[[File:Peter von Hess 002.jpg|thumb|Bagration giving orders during the Battle of Borodino while being wounded. Painting by Peter von Hess.]]

{{main|Battle of Borodino}}

Fearing that Napoleon might take the Smolensk Road to Moscow, Kutuzov ordered Bagration and his 2nd Army to the left while Barclay de Tolly was guarding the right with the 1st Army. Other than the 1st Army, which was deployed on positions which were strong and virtually unassailable by the French, Bagration's army had no terrain advantage at all and his request to change to a more advantageous position was denied by Kutuzov. So he decided to create one himself by ordering his sappers to construct four big [[Redan]]s, also known as the [[Bagration flèches]], four arrow-head shaped, open-backed earthworks which arced out to the left en echelon in front of the Kolocha stream. When the battle started on 7 September 1812 with a massive cannonade against the Russian center, Davout sent two divisions against the flèches at about 6 am. His force of 25,000 men supported by 102 guns faced 8,000 Russian defenders with 50 guns.

While advancing, Davout's divisions were hit hard by massed Russian artillery, which was deployed on the other side of the Kolcha to support Bagration's lines and also by Russian jaeger units that were deployed in front of the fortifications. The French troops suffered heavy casualties before they could reach their objective and the undertaking was about to fall apart when Davout saw his troops retreating and rushed forward to personally lead the charge. With the second attempt he managed to take the southernmost flèche at 7 am. But in response Bagration ordered Raevsky and his 7th Corps once more to confront Davout, only this time the French were struck on their flank and thrown back for the second time. Napoleon already held Bagration in high esteem, calling him the best the Russians could possibly throw against him, but was surprised by the stiff resistance he offered. While Napoleon reinforced Davout with Marshal [[Michel Ney|Ney]] and officer [[Jean-Andoche Junot|Junot]] for a third attack, Bagration repositioned his troops and deployed his reserves, the 2nd Grenadier and 2nd Cuirassier divisions.

The 3rd Infantry Division was still held in reserve at Semyenovskoe for the possibility that the French might try to outflank him. Kutuzov, who observed the heavy fighting at the flèches, was sending the 2nd and parts of the 5th Infantry Corps with 100 guns from his artillery reserve, but their arrival would take one to two hours, which meant that Bagration was on his own. Napoleon demanded that the flèches be taken at all costs, and opened the third offensive with a massive artillery bombardment, followed by a simultaneous infantry and cavalry assault. At first the French managed to occupy the right and far left flèche but were again driven out by Bagration's troops. Marshal [[Józef Poniatowski|Poniatowski]], who had the task of enveloping the Russians and striking Bagration's rear with his cavalry corps, was also defeated by Tuchkov's 3rd Infantry Corps. The defenders restored their positions at 9 am. Failing for a third time, Napoleon became furious and now also added Marshal Murat to the operation, launching a fourth assault at 9 am. This time Napoleon's forces were not only able to drive Bagration's forces out of the flèches but also captured Semyenovskoe.

By this time however, the 2nd and 5th corps sent earlier by Kutuzov for Bagration's aid finally arrived and Bagration threw all available forces against the French, repulsing them completely from all occupied positions and inflicting heavy losses. After that, three more French attacks were repelled in a row, General Tuchkov being killed in the fifth assault. Despite the mounting casualties, Napoleon continued to assault Bagration's position. His troops were hit not only by musket fire but also canister shot from artillery at close range. Heaps of corpses and wounded prevented the cavalry and infantry from manoeuvring properly on the battlefield. Napoleon considered sending his elite [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]] to bolster the morale of his troops but hesitated, not willing to risk it being torn apart as well. At noon, the French launched their eighth assault, with around 45,000 men supported by 400 guns against the defending 18,000 Russians and their 300 guns. Bagration decided to meet the attackers boldly in what led to a long and brutal melee, probably the bloodiest scene during the entire battle, described by the historian Buturlin as follows:

{{blockquote|An awful combat took place in which, on both sides, miracles of almost supernatural bravery were displayed. The infantry, cavalrymen, and gunners of both sides, having got mixed up together, presented an awful spectacle of the great bulk of soldiers struggling in private, furious despair.<ref name=mika12/>}}

Bagration ordered his entire force to counterattack, but was seriously outnumbered and slowly driven back. The French [[57th Line Infantry Regiment]] kept attacking the flèches, even though it was almost completely torn to pieces by musket fire from all directions. Their courageous behaviour earned two "Bravo" shouts from Bagration, and it was then that the 2nd commander-in chief was struck by shell splinters in his leg.<ref name=mika12>{{harvp|Mikaberidze|2009|loc=[http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/biographies/bagration/c_bagration12.html Ch. XII: Borodino – The Final Glory]}}.</ref>{{sfnp|Danilewsky & al.|1840|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GBxCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA201 201]}} His subordinates quickly carried him to a safe place away from the fight while trying to conceal what had happened, but Bagration's absence was soon noticed. Rumours of him being killed spread and the morale of his troops began to increasingly waver. Bagration, now unable to control the situation, insisted on not being moved from the field until the battle was decided, hoping for the success of the 2nd Cuirassier Division of General Duka. The Cuirassiers managed to defeat the forces of Marshal Ney but the news of Bagration being hit quickly spread and brought confusion and morale collapse within the 2nd Army. Its management broke down so that the Russian forces were starting to abandon their positions in the chaos and to retreat from the overwhelming French assault. The Bagration flèches were abandoned and left to the French, but it had cost them a huge price. From the 60,000 French soldiers who participated in the operation, about 30,000 were killed or wounded. Russian casualties were also high, but fewer. The battle, however, ended inconclusively, with both sides returning to their initial deployment zones. The battle drained from Napoleon his last fighting capabilities and resources and finally forced him to abandon his plan of forcing Russia into a second [[Treaties of Tilsit|Tilsit]] when he entered an empty Moscow.<ref>{{harvp|Mikaberidze|2009|loc=[http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/biographies/bagration/c_bagration1.html Ch. I: The Early Years]}}.</ref>

Bagration was evacuated to Simy, a village in the Vladimir province and died there of his wound on 24 September 1812 at the age of 47.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Peter Bagration|url=https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/biographies/bagration/c_bagration12.html|access-date=2021-08-16|website=www.napoleon-series.org}}</ref>