Battle of Ostrovno The Battle of Ostrovno ( French : " Combat d ' Ostrowno " ) was a military engagement that took place on 25 July 1812 , between French forces under the command of King of Naples Joachim and Russian forces under General Ostermann - Tolstoy and ended with the Russian forces retreating from the battlefield . Context . With the beginning of the Russian campaign in late June 1812 , Emperor Napoleon I launched with his Grande Armée , in a series of envelopment maneuvers of the Russian Imperial armies before him , with the first such maneuver failing before the city of Vilna , virtually without any engagement taking place . Napoleon then launched a second such attempt towards Vitebsk , in a bid to turn the main Russian army under Barclay de Tolly . With French forces moving through different routes in the direction of Vitebsk , a first major engagement took place on 25 July near Ostrowno , 30 kilometers west of Vitebsk , when General Etienne de Nansouty ' s 1st Cavalry Reserve Corps encountered the forces of Russian General Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann - Tolstoy . Battle . Early on , in the morning of 25 July , General Nansouty set two of his divisions in motion , from the village of Boudilova and towards Ostrovno , in accordance with the orders he had received from the Emperor . Meanwhile , Joachim Murat , commanding the French forces in this sector , departed from the village of Bechenkowitschy with two battalions of the 8th Light infantry regiment , and headed towards Nansouty ' s position . Following Murat was the entire IV Army Corps of Viceroy Eugène , spearheaded by the division of General Delzons , which was followed at some distance by that of General Broussier . With Murat not yet on the field of battle , Nansouty ' s men encountered the vanguard of the Russian IV Corps , namely the 11th division under General Choglokov , the 23rd division of General Bakhmetiev , some cavalry and an artillery support of 66 pieces . Nansouty had under his command the light cavalry division of Bruyères ( brigades Jacquinot , Piré and Nienwiewski ) and the heavy cavalry division of Saint - Germain . In a bid to pin down the enemy and despite the disproportion in forces , Nansouty sent forward Piré ' s brigade ( 16th " Chasseurs à cheval " and 9th " Chevau - légers lanciers " ) in a successful charge that dislodged the Russian vanguard and took 150 prisoners of war and 8 artillery pieces . Murat then arrived on the battlefield with reinforcements , deploying his two battalions of light infantry , and assuming personal command of Saint - Germain ' s cuirassier division . With the cuirassiers successfully countercharging and repulsing a Russian Dragoon regiment that had come up to attack the right wing of the French forces , Murat realised that he was in a dangerous position and sent word to General Delzons to hasten his march towards the field of battle . Several attacks ensued , with the French committing Jacquinot ' s cavalry brigade and the infantry , but with the Russians holding ground . Realising his numeric superiority , the Russian commander , General Ostermann - Tolstoy , launched an attack against both French wings , in an attempt to catch them in double envelopment . However , with the arrival of a fresh French division , Delzon ' s 13th division , the Russian commander decided to call off his attack and pull back . Murat opted against a pursuit , given his inferior forces and knowing that Broussier ' s division was too far off behind Delzons to be counted on . Result . The Russians opted to withdraw from the field of battle . Despite Murat ' s bombastic report , claiming that the enemy lost 4 , 000 - 5 , 000 men dead or wounded and 700 to 800 prisoners , the Russian IV Corps probably lost 2 , 500 men , dead and wounded , plus 150 prisoners and eight cannon . French total losses are unknown , but the 2nd cuirassiers regiment registered high losses ( 187 horses lost ) , after enduring six hours of artillery fire . Additionally , during this engagement , which Napoleon labeled as " a vanguard action " , French General Roussel was killed by a French sentry , who took him for a Russian soldier .