Editing Vyazma (section)

===Napoleonic wars===
{{Main|Battle of Vyazma}}
[[File:Vazma-DSC 0675.JPG|thumb|left|Vyazma monument commemorating the Russian victory over Napoleon.]]
[[File:Наполеон пастернак.jpeg|thumb|An illustration by [[Leonid Pasternak]] for [[War and Peace]], showing Napoleon near Vyazma]]

During the [[French invasion of Russia]] in 1812, there was a battle between the retreating French army (up to 37,000 troops) and the Russian army (25,000 men) near Vyazma on October&nbsp;22, 1812. The vanguard of the Russian army under the command of Lieutenant General [[Mikhail Miloradovich]] and a [[Cossacks|Cossack]] unit of General [[Matvey Platov]] (coordinated by Miloradovich) attacked the rearguard corps of Marshal [[Louis-Nicolas Davout]] east of Vyazma and cut off his retreat. Owing to the intervention of [[Eugène de Beauharnais]] and [[Józef Poniatowski]], Davout managed to break through the Russian army's encirclement.

However, the French army's attempts to hold the heights near Vyazma and the town itself were unsuccessful. By the evening of October&nbsp;22, Russians seized Vyazma, which had been set on fire by the French. The French lost 6,000&nbsp;men during the battle; 2,500&nbsp;soldiers were taken [[prisoner of war|prisoners]]. The Russians lost around 2,000&nbsp;men.
[[File:Открытка начала века, дом 17 первый за Никитской церковью на улице Ленина (Московской).jpg|thumb|Vyazma in 1910]]