Shevardino

a village in what is now Mozhaisk Raion, Moscow Oblast; the scene of a battle between Russian and Napoleonic troops on Aug. 24 (Sept. 5), 1812, on the eve of the battle of Borodino, during the Patriotic War.

Located at Shevardino was a pentagonal redoubt, which initially formed the extreme left-flank fortification of the Russian position; however, after M. I. Kutuzov ordered the left flank to withdraw to the village of Semenovskaia on August 23 (September 4), Shevardino became the forward strongpoint. The redoubt was armed with a 12-gun battery, and its approaches were guarded by eight infantry battalions, three chasseur regiments, and several cavalry regiments, numbering up to 18,000 men, under the command of General A. I. Gorchakov. During the afternoon of August 24 (September 5), the French forces of about 35,000 men, comprising the infantry of Marshal L. Davout, supported by cavalry from General J. Poniatowski’s Polish corps, attacked the Russian positions at Shevardino. The Russian forces stubbornly defended the redoubt, and only late in the evening, when ordered by Kutuzov, did they leave the devastated redoubt. The defense of the Shevardino redoubt allowed the Russian command to gain time to complete defensive preparations at the main position.