"The Bridges that Eblé Built" Topic
5 Posts
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Tango01 | 09 Aug 2016 10:16 p.m. PST |
"When the retreating French Army and its allies reached the banks of the ice-filled Berezina River on the 23rd of November, 1812, they discovered their sole means of escape blocked by the smoldering ruins of the Borisov bridge. On the opposite bank lay a Russian force under Admiral Pavel Vasil'evich Chichagov, who had been ordered there specifically to cut off the French Army's retreat from Russia. But with ingenuity born of desperation, French General of Engineers Jean-Baptiste Éblé and four hundred pontonniers managed to quietly build two new bridges using materials taken from nearby villages. Only days before the French Commander-in-Chief, Napoleon Bonaparte, had ordered all sixty boats of the army bridging train to be burned along with all other gear he had deemed nonessential. General Éblé protested the decision at the time and discretely ordered two wagons of charcoal and six wagons of tools to be spared. He also assigned each of his men to carry a tool and some cramp irons.1 The Berezina bridges would be built using only these hand-tools, during the winter, for an army on the verge of disintegration. Even before reaching the Berezina River, there had been much debate among the French command as to their next course of action. So when French Marshal Nicolas Oudinot's men fought their way into Borisov on the 23rd and were unable to prevent the Russians from burning its 600 yard long bridge, the situation for the French turned darker than before. Repairing the bridge was out of the question because Admiral Chichagov's Russian troops overlooked the west river bank. There were some fords to the south where the army might cross, but it was the ford at Studianka several miles to the north which seemed to offer the best chance. Most of the engineers were sent to the Studianka ford (Probably General Chasseloup and his sappers) 2, while others were sent to the southern ford at Oukoholda. The later had orders to make as much noise as possible gathering and assembling what would appear to be materials for a bridge. It was important that the Russians not know exactly where the real crossing would occur. Another layer of deception was added when the French chief of staff General Lorencé gathered some local "guides" who were allowed to advise that the French cross at Oukoholda. Half of these men were then released with orders to return with as much information as possible regarding the approaching Russian columns. Lorencé certainly hoped that some of these men would inform the Russians of these false latest developments…" More here wtj.com/articles/berezina Amicalement Armand |
Ligniere | 10 Aug 2016 10:44 a.m. PST |
The successful crossing of the Berezina has to be one of the more incredible episodes of the entire Napoleonic period. Eble and his teams of pontonniers and engineers were true heroes. |
Tango01 | 10 Aug 2016 10:44 a.m. PST |
Totally Agree!. Amicalement Armand |
Brechtel198 | 10 Aug 2016 11:37 a.m. PST |
Agree. Eble, who was an artillery officer, was the commander of the pontonnier units of the Grande Armee in 1812. The pontonniers, thanks to Eble's foresight and 'overlooking' burning all of the excess equipment and vehicles at Orsha, had enough tools, charcoal, etc. left to forge the ironwork needed at Studenka to build the two trestle bridges. In addition to the engineers (who had no tools or equipment left) there were also sailors attached to Eble's command to help in the bridge construction and the frequent repairs. Losses due to cold and exposure were very heavy as the troops had to work in the water to build the bridges. |
Tactical Bacon | 10 Aug 2016 5:48 p.m. PST |
Couldn't agree more, Ligniere. As for "French chief of staff General Lorencé" – the officer in question was Guillaume Latrille de Lorencez, as noted by Six, Pigeard ("Les Etoiles de Napoleon"), and Hourtoulle in his work on the Berezina crossing. And obviously he was chief of staff of Oudinot's second corps, "Berbav" holding that position at IHQ. |
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