Second Battle of Polotsk
- When
- 18–20 October 1812
- Where
- Polotsk, Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Belarus)
- Part of
- Second Battle of Polotsk
Wittgenstein's Russians attacked and defeated Saint-Cyr's Franco-Bavarian force at Polotsk on 18–20 October 1812.
During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the Russians under General Peter Wittgenstein attacked and defeated a Franco-Bavarian force under Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr at Polotsk on 18–20 October 1812. Wittgenstein maintained a heavy artillery bombardment of Polotsk while planning to renew his attack once Steingal's forces arrived, and much of the town was consumed by fire. Saint-Cyr's forces were reduced to no more than 15,000 weary troops in full retreat before Wittgenstein's 38,000 Russians.
Sources
- Second Battle of Polotsk Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.