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This map from Beskrovni's atlas
depicts several phases of the operations after Kutuzov abandoned Moscow to
Napoleon's occupation. The main section shows how Kutuzov initially marched
southeastward and then crossed the Moskva river out of reach of the French army
in order to shift his base of operations to Tarutino on the Kaluga road. This
protected the grain and other supplies southwest of Moscow and also prevented
Napoleon from an easy march into Ukraine. At the same time Russian Cossacks
invested Moscow to prevent as much French foraging as possible. On 10 October
the Russians delivered a surprise attack against an overconfident Murat just
north of Tarutino as shown in the inset at upper left. When Napoleon decided to
depart he first attempted to march southwest. Fortunately for the Russians
Kutuzov reacted barely in time to block Napoleon at the river through the
village Maloyaroslavits. After a rather bloody battle there Napoleon was forced
back onto the already depleted highway to Smolensk. The inset at lower right
shows details of this battle and how Kutuzov barely got around in front of the
French.
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