Battle of Golymin The Battle of Golymin took place on 26 December 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars at Gołymin , Poland , between around 17 , 000 Russian soldiers with 28 guns under Prince Golitsyn and 38 , 000 French soldiers under Marshal Murat . The Russian forces disengaged successfully from the superior French forces . The battle took place on the same day as the Battle of Pułtusk . Strategic situation . After conquering Prussia in the autumn of 1806 , Napoleon entered Poland to confront the Russian army , which had been preparing to support the Prussians until their sudden defeat . Crossing the river Vistula , the French advance corps took Warsaw on 28 November 1806 . The Russian army was under the overall command of Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky , but he was old and becoming infirm . The Russian First Army of some 55 , 000 to 68 , 000 men , commanded by Count Bennigsen , had fallen back from the Vistula to the line of the River Wkra , in order to unite with the Second Army , about 37 , 000 strong , under Buxhowden , which was approaching from Russia and was still some 15 days march from the First Army . However , realising his mistake in allowing the French to cross the Vistula , Kamensky advanced at the beginning of December to try to regain the line of the river . French forces crossed the Narew River at Modlin on 10 December , and the Prussian Corps commanded by Lestocq failed to retake Thorn . This led Bennigsen on 11 December to issue orders to fall back and hold the line of the River Wkra . When this was reported to Napoleon , he assumed the Russians were in full retreat . He ordered the forces under Murat ( the 3rd corps of Davout , 7th of Augereau and 5th under Lannes and the 1st Cavalry Reserve Corps ) to pursue towards Pułtusk while Ney , Bernadotte and Bessières ( 6th , 1st and 2nd Cavalry Reserve Corps respectively ) turned the Russian right and Soult ' s ( 4th Corps ) linked the two wings of the army . Kamensky had reversed the Russian retreat , and ordered an advance to support the troops on the River Ukra . Because of this , the French experienced difficulty crossing the river and it was not until Davout forced a crossing near the junction of the Wkra and the Narew on 22 December that the French were able to advance . On 23 December , after an engagement at Soldau with Bernadotte ' s 1st Corps , the Prussian corps under Lestocq was driven north towards Königsberg . Realising the danger , Kamensky ordered a retreat on Ostrolenka . Bennigsen decided to disobey and stand and fight on 26 December at Pułtusk . To the north - west , most of the 4th Division commanded by General Golitsyn and the 5th Division under General Dokhturov were falling back towards Ostrolenka via the town of Golymin . The 3rd Division under General Sacken , who had been the link with the Prussians , was also trying to retire via Golymin , but had been driven further north by the French to Ciechanów . Some of the 4th Division ' s units were at Pułtusk . The weather . The weather caused severe difficulties for both sides . Mild autumn weather had lasted longer than usual . Normally , frosts made the inadequate roads passable after the muddy conditions of autumn but on 17 December there was a thaw , followed by a two - day thaw beginning on 26 December . The result was that both sides found it very difficult to manoeuvre . In particular the French ( as they were advancing ) had great difficulty bringing up their artillery , and so had none available at Golymin . There were also difficulties with supply . Captain Marbot , who was serving with Augereau , wrote : The site of the battle . The village of Golymin lay in a flat area , with slight rises to the north and north - east . Woods and marshes almost surrounded the village . From the village , the road to Pułtusk ran south - east , that to Ciechanów north - west , and that to Makow ( the destination for the Russian retirement ) to the north - east . A track linked Golymin to the small village of Garnow to the south . The village of Ruskowo lay to the south - west , and that of Kaleczin a short distance to the west . Wadkowo lay further out along the Ciechanów road . The battle . On the morning of 26 December , elements of Golitsyn ' s 4th Division reached Golymin . They were too exhausted to continue to Makow and Golitsyn also needed to wait for units of Sacken ' s 3rd Division . In the village he found Dokhturov , who had sent most of his 5th Division towards Makow , but remained at Golymin with a dragoon and an infantry regiment . Golitsyn hoped to rest his men before continuing their retreat . Murat ' s Reserve Cavalry Corps and Augereau ' s 7th Corps set out towards the town at first light ( around 7 am ) . Lasalle ' s Cavalry Division were the first to arrive from the south - west at about 10am . Golitsyn reinforced his rearguard of two squadrons of cavalry with three squadrons of cuirassier s , and Lasalle ' s men were driven back to the woods . But at around 2 p . m . Augereau ' s Corps appeared from the east . Golitsyn gave up his attempt to retreat , as his men were too exhausted to retire without fighting . He sent one regiment of infantry under the command of Prince Shcherbatov into the woods around Kaleczin and posted the rest of his troops in front of Golymin . He put his cavalry and Dokhturov ' s troops as his reserves , and positioned the rest of his division in front of Golymin . Augereau ' s two divisions advanced , that of Haudelet on the left from Ruskow and Desjardins on the right from Wadkow . Desjardin ' s division at first drove back Shcherbatov , but being reinforced by an infantry battalion and with the support of their guns the Russians drove the French back . Heudelet ' s division made very little progress . For the rest of the day the forces skirmished asHeudelet ' s men slowly pushed round the Russian right . About the same time as Augereau ' s attack started Murat arrived around Garnow with the cavalry divisions of Klein and Milhaud , and Davout ' s light cavalry . They drove the Russian cavalry into the woods to the south of Golymin , but were then unable to pursue further because the terrain was unsuitable for cavalry . Golitsyn ' s force was now reinforced by two cavalry regiments from the 7th and 8th divisions , who had pushed past Augereau ' s cavalry on the Ciechanów road . However , Davout ' s 1st Division under Morand was beginning to arrive from the south - east . Golitsyn sent three infantry battalions into the woods and marshes to the south of Golymin , and two cavalry regiments to cover the Pułtusk road . At about 3 : 30pm Morand ' s first brigade attacked . After a struggle they drove the Russians out . Davout saw that the Russians were trying to retire towards Makow , and sent Morand ' s second brigade to advance via the Pułtusk road . A unit of dragoon s led by General Rapp charged the Russian cavalry on the road , but found that the marshes on either side contained Russian infantry up to their waists in water and safe from the cavalry . The dragoons were driven back and Rapp was wounded . After taking the woods Morand ' s division did not advance further , concerned that there would be further useless losses . Night had now fallen and the Russians started to withdraw . Dokhturov ' s men led the way to Makow , then at about 9 p . m . Golitsyn sent off his guns , cavalry and then his infantry . Augereau occupied Golymin early on 27 December . Losses on both sides seem to have been around 800 . Analysis of the battle . Golitsyn had the advantages of the terrain and support from his guns , when the French had no artillery . The French attacks were also uncoordinated , late in the day and , as dusk fell , illuminated as targets by the burning villages . On the other hand Golitsyn ' s men were exhausted and outnumbered two to one . Their fierce resistance led Murat to say to Napoleon : On balance the result can be considered a Russian victory . Golitsyn achieved his objective of withdrawing and Murat failed to stop him . The aftermath . General Golitsyn ' s successful delaying action , combined with the failure of Soult ' s corps to pass round the Russian right flank destroyed Napoleon ' s chance of getting behind the Russian line of retreat and trapping them against the River Narew . The dogged resistance and obedience to orders of the Russian infantry greatly impressed the French . Marbot noted : The Russian 5th and 7th Divisions retired towards the main body of the army at Rozan . Bennigsen ' s forces fell back to Nowogrod on the River Narew , uniting on 1 January 1807 with the forces under Buxhowden . On 28 December Napoleon stopped his advance and , having lost contact with the Russian army , decided to go into winter quarters . His troops were exhausted and discontented , and the supply situation was in great disorder . The break in hostilities did not last long . On 8 February 1807 the two armies faced each other at the dreadful Battle of Eylau . Forces involved . This list is derived from the units referred to in Petre ' s " Napoleon ' s Campaign in Poland 1806 - 1807 " , and by checking the details for the same formations for the order of battles for Jena and Elyau . Milhaud ' s cavalry unit does not appear in either reference . The French list is more detailed as there are more sources to work from . Petre was using the French Army archives for his research , and most unit details appear to be taken from there . The sources referred to give unit compositions down to individual battalions and squadrons . Petre ' s source for the Russian units present was the memoirs of Sir Robert Wilson , British liaison officer with the Russian army . This was published in 1810 ( " Remarks on the Russian Army " ) . It does not appear to contain any further information to help identify individual units . Stolarski ' s article appears to make too many assumptions about the Russian order of battle at Eylau to be reliable . Note : No guns are mentioned as the French were not able to bring them up due to the muddy conditions .