First Battle of Polotsk

First Battle of Polotsk
Part of the French invasion of Russia
Belarusian Polatsak (Połacak)
Date 17–18 August 1812 Location Polotsk, Russian Empire 55°29′N 28°48′E / 55.483°N 28.800°E / 55.483; 28.800 Result Inconclusive[1]
Belligerents
French Empire Kingdom of Bavaria	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr Nicolas Oudinot (WIA)	Peter Wittgenstein
Strength
18,000–44,000 men[1][2][3] 150 guns[4][1]	17,000–20,000 men[1][2][3] 98 guns[4][1]
Casualties and losses
2,500–6,000[4][1][3]	1,800–5,500 killed and wounded[1][4][3] 1,200–1,500 captured[4][3] 14 guns[4][3]

French invasion of Russia

500km
300miles

Polotsk

Pultusk

15

Gorodeczno

14

Drohiczyn

13

Tauroggen

12

Riga

11

Tilsit

10

Warsaw

9

Berezina

8

Maloyaro-
slavets

7

Moscow

6

Borodino

5

Smolensk

4

Vitebsk

3

Vilna

2

Kowno

1

  

  current battle

  Prussian corps

  Napoleon

  Austrian corps

In the First Battle of Polotsk, which took place on 17–18 August 1812, Russian troops under the command of Peter Wittgenstein fought French and Bavarian troops led by Nicolas Oudinot near the city of Polotsk, halting Oudinot's advance toward Saint Petersburg.^[5] The First Battle of Polotsk should be distinguished from the Second Battle of Polotsk which took place during the same campaign two months later.^[6]