Book Review: Borodino by Christopher Duffy......The Domino Effect!.............

Christopher Duffy: Borodino

So I will need to start in the middle of my story to explain why I even bought this book in the first place. As a New Year's resolution I decided I wanted to watch less TV, and read more, play games and finish some unfinished hobby projects that have lingered in limbo for far too long! I have plenty of books to read, and I had been managing to make some progress with a couple of hobby projects as well. All that was left was to start playing some games. I had several "Euro Style" (these are really just easy to learn family games) games I found cheap at Savers and Tuesday Mornings, and something the wife would be willing to play. 

That is all well and good, but I really, really like board games based on historical battles. These my wife doesn't like so much. That means if want to play those sorts of games I will have to do it solo, or on the rare occasion I may be able to con one of my boys to play with me. In my internet wanderings I happened to find a local "print and play" game company based here in Orange County a few years ago, and earlier this year they had a great sale on their "Napoleonic 20 Series" games. Here is a link to Victory Point's page for the Napoleonic 20 Series games if you are interested in a fun, and fairly quick game.

Borodino Game From Victory Point Games

Victory Point Games" Napoleonic 20 Series

I grabbed a handful of games including one on the battle of Borodino, and several other battles based around Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. Upon opening the game up I realized I didn't know much about the battle of Borodino. I did know a lot about the Napoleonic Wars in general, and in detail depending upon the battle. This is the book that got me hooked on all things Napoleonic when I was in 6th grade;The Battle of Waterloo by J. Christopher Herold. It happened to be in our tiny school library, and I'm guessing the cover art from Lady Elizabeth Butler sucked me in. The mixture of an exciting story and lots of pictures was hypnotic.Very quickly I was recreating battle scenes from the book  with tiny 1/72 scale plastic soldiers from Airfix of Britain that I found at Sargent's Sporting Goods in Whittier CA.

Waterloo by Christopher Herold

Airfix 1/72 Scale Highlanders

Well I really couldn't play a game when I didn't really have a good understanding of the ground, the combatants, the leaders or the strategic situation. So, I did a little research, and it looked like a smallish book on the battle by Christopher Duffy would do the trick.The 208 page book, which was published in 1973, proved to be what I thought was a little pricey on the second hand market. Well, patience is a virtue, and I eventually found a copy for 98 cents; thank you Half.com!

The book is rather small, with all illustrations being in blank and white. The story of the campaign, battle and aftermath are contained in only 165 pages.There are also a few maps, and they too are relatively small. Aside from Duffy's musing on the Borodino campaign we also get his footnotes, a bibliography and a detailed order of battle for both of the opposing armies. The fact I mention the size of the book isn't a knock as much as simply being factual. As a matter of fact the book is very typical of what you would have seen for a book of this nature in the 60s and 70s. The cover art is a section of the famous painting of the battle by the Frenchman Louis-Francois LeJeune. 

The book begins with a brief introduction, followed by several chapters setting the table for the reader so as to lets us understand the politics, the tactics and the leaders of the opposing armies. Duffy does a great job at this as he describes what the political atmosphere from the French Revolution to what lead to the his march into Russia in 1812. We are given quick snapshots of the makeup, characteristics and weaponry of the two armies. He also describes the leaders, and their style of leadership. 

A disinterested Napoleon at Borodino

I found his description of the leaders of the two armies as key to understanding the battle of Borodino itself. On one hand we have Napoleon, who while once the master of all Europe, has begun to see things unravel.He was not at the top of his game in 1812 either, as physical, and mental issues began to plague him. He trusted only family members, and in the words of Duffy "like some aging capo of a Mafia clan, he lived in mistrust of all but the members of his immediate family". His personal issues were beginning to cloud his judgment, dull his grasp of tactical situations, and in the end bring about the complete destruction of his army.

The Russian army at the battle of Borodino was lead by Marshal M. I. Kutuzov. Kutuzov, from a noble Russian family, would assume command of the army just before to the battle itself. Kutuzov was given command of the army by Tsar Alexander (against his better judgment) at the expense of Marshal Barclay De Tolly. 
After being bombarded by complaints regarding Barclay's ethnicity (Barclay's family was of Scottish extraction, and not Russian) as well as his supposed cowardice due to his constant retreating in the face of Napoleon. 

Kutuzov at Borodino

Duffy shows to us a Kutusov, who although  Russian, was not the archetypal Russian. He was polished and intelligent, but well past his prime. He had the bad habit of making decisions based on what a current favorite thought. He could win the hearts of his men, but his leadership skills were found wanting. He did his leading from the rear at Borodino, and let others (mainly the recently demoted Barclay) do the actual "leading".

The battle itself was fought between September 5th  through the 7th 1812, but the seeds of Napoleon's defeat were sown almost as soon as he left the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and crossed the Niemen River and entered Russia in . Logistics, missed opportunities and tactical blunders by Napoleon's brother Jerome let the Russian army escape the traps Napoleon had planned for them. The Russians escaped to the east towards Moscow, and Napoleon followed. This was not what he had planned. He had envisioned an early defeat of the Russians on the frontier, which would force Tsar Alexander to the negotiate. Invading Russia itself was not part of the original plan.

After continuously falling back from position to position for over two months, the Kutuzov finally decided that the Russian army had to make a stand 70 miles west of Moscow near the town of Borodino.  

The two armies initial deployment at Borodino

Kutuzov made his stand behind the steep banked Kolocha River on his right flank, and had built field fortifications in the center of his line and his left flank. His extreme left flank was nearly impassable woods (the Russian armies is shown in red on the map, the French in blue). This position allowed him to block both roads from Smolensk to Moscow. Unfortunately for Kutuzov his strong right flank was never to be under attack. Napoleon intended to destroy the Russian army, not force it to retreat by turning it's flank. His plan called for a frontal assault that he thought would crush the Russian army. 

Duffy gives that battle itself one long, 42 page chapter that is broken down into seven sections. The battle itself was a bloody slugfest, with Napoleon capturing all of the Russian fortifications. The Russians retreated, and Napoleon chose not to give chase. More casualties inflicted than in any other battle of the Napoleonic era. The opposing armies size at the battle were roughly 130,000 Russians opposing Napoleon's army of about 160,000 men. Estimates put the casualties at somewhere close to 44,000 for the Russians, and 30,000 for the French and her allies. At a conference of officers Kutuzov decided to continue to retreat, and abandon Moscow. In the end this played to the Russians advantage, and in the end Napoleon Was left with 1,000 affective's out of an initial army of 450,000 that crossed the Nieman on June 24th. It was the beginning of the end for Napoleon's far flung empire. By May of 1814 Napoleon would find himself exiled to the Island of Elba.

Duffy also gives us a chapter on how the Battle of Borodino was viewed in Russia, particularly it's veneration during the soviet era. Duffy duly notes that Tolstoy's "War and Peace" helped to further propel the battle into stuff of legend.

I found Duffy's book served it's purpose; I now know enough about the battle well enough to have a working knowledge of how to play the game representing the battle. It doesn't have some of the glitz you would find in books published over the last couple of decades. No colorful maps or numerous glossy illustrations. It served it's purpose, and let me see a realistic picture of the combatants, their leaders, the tactics used to fight the battle as well as a blow by blow account of the battle and it's aftermath. It was well worth 98 cents!

If you enjoyed this book you may also like:

Austerlitz by Christopher Duffy

The Battle of Borodino by Alexander Mikaberidze

The Battle of Berezina by Alexander Mikaberidze