The Battle of the Russians

The russians had struggled to coordinate the three branches of their army, infantry, cavalry and artillery. They performed best when they operated together as a complete system. This attack was an exception. As the french infantry bunched together in squares to repel the charging cavalry, they found their tightly packed formations raked by close range cannon fire. Once their square was broken, an infantry unit was nearly helpless against cavalry. Several members of the chevalier guard swarmed towards the regimental eagle, eager to take a prize. By now, napoleon had moved his headquarters to the heights to get closer to the action. He was abot to get a lot closer than he would have guessed