On This Day ... in 1812 & Others
The Battle of Krasnoi was a series of skirmishes fought over 4 days during in the final stage of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. These enguagements are noteworthy because of the heavy losses inflicted on the remnants of the Grande Armée by the Russians under the command of General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov.
Lacking sufficient artillery, cavalry and supplies to wage battle, Napoleon’s objective was to collect his scattered troops and to resume his retreat. Despite the vast superiority of his forces, Kutusov refrained from launching a full-scale offensive during the of fighting.
The climax of the engagement occurred on November 17th, when an aggressive feint by the French Imperial Guard induced Kutusov to delay a potentially decisive final Russian attack. Napoleon was thus able to withdraw part of his army before the Russians seized Krasnoi.
Despite Napoleon's success in saving part of his army from destruction at Krasnoi, overall the encounter was ruinous to the French.
During the four days of combat Napoleon’s subordinate commanders suffered heavy defeats in individual actions, and large numbers of French stragglers were captured by the Russians. The Grande Armee was also compelled to abandon much of its remaining artillery and baggage train.
1849: As part of the Royal Navy's campaign to suppress the slave trade, Castor and Dee sent a landing party in boats up the river at Porto de Angoche in Mozambique to destroy a slave ship and slaving centre.
1855: David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls
1857:During the continuing heavy fighting at Lucknow, Private Graham of the 90th Foot won the Victoria Cross for rescuing a wounded comrade under heavy fire. Sergeant Major Pye of the 53rd Foot was similarly decorated for his fearlessness whilst fetching and delivering ammunition.
1859: The Canadian Grenadier Guards were reformed as the First Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada
1863: In Tennessee during the American Civil War, Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet started the the Siege of Knoxville
1869: The Suez Canal opened, linking the Mediterranean and the Red Seas
1871: In the United States, the National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.
1914: In Cameroon, Lieutenant Butler of the King's Royal Rifle Corps led a patrol of 13 men in an attack on positions in the bush held by over 100 German colonial troops. He not only took the position, but captured a machine-gun and large quantities of ammunition. In recognition of this, and a further exploit on 27 December when he swam a river in full view of the enemy, under heavy fire, to complete a reconnaissance, he received the Victoria Cross.
1917: Royal Navy and German light forces clashed off Heligoland. Ordinary Seaman Carless of HMS Caledon was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for continuing to man his gun and tend to the wounded despite being himself mortally wounded.
1919: King George V proclaimed that henceforth the 11 November would be commemorated as Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day).
1940: Operation White, the second delivery of 12 Hurricanes from HMS Argus commenced. Only four aircraft arrived on Malta; eight aircraft run out of fuel over the sea
1941: British Commandos led by Lieutenant Colonel Keyes attacked a house at Beda Littoria in Libya, believed to be the headquarters of General Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps. The Commandos had been landed by submarine three days before, and had approached the location through difficult terrain. Keyes went forward with two men, and successfully overcame a sentry. Bursting into the building, they killed the occupants of the first room they entered, but Keyes was then shot dead as he attacked the next room. It later emerged that Rommel was in Rome at the time. Although the raid was failure, Keyes was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
1942: 1,000 fresh Japanese troops are landed by sea at Buna, New Guinea. The strong fortifications built since September now had a full complement of defenders
The amphibious operation against Akyab in Burma was cancelled by General Wavell
In the Med, a supply convoy passed through the Gibraltar Strait bound for Malta as part of Operation Stonehenge. The convoy will reach Malta on the 20th by which time four of the transports had been sunk.
1967: Acting on optimistic reports he was given on November 13, US President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the United States that in Vietnam, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."
1989: Velvet Revolution began in Czechoslovakia A student demonstration in Prague was quelled by riot police but it sparked a wider unrising that overthew the communist government on the 29th December
Comments
Defeated at Krasnoi or not the young guard of Napoleons Imperial guard certainly showed their metal.
Posted by: thud | November 17, 2009 1:04 AM