Battle of Borodino. 3:00 PM. The distances are so close that hundreds of French guns fire grapeshot directly at the Russian ranks. The Russians are forced to retreat from Semenovskoe a few hundred meters to the east. But they maintain discipline by digging in squares, which the French cavalry attacks without breaking through. It is clear that Napoleon must deploy fresh troops if he is to break through. He still has the fearsome Guard, but he refuses to commit it. Commanders Ney and Davout ask to send the reserves left at Gzack, approximately 10,000 men. Napoleon refuses, and thus, according to Russian military historian Bogdanovic, he gambles away the decisive victory he needs to rout the Russians.
