Battle of Borodino 7/8 September, 1812

On 8th of September, 1812 the Grande Armee of Napoleon faced the Russian Army in the meadows and hills around Borodino. Napoleon had invaded Russia in the preceding weeks and the Russians had been fighting a rearguard. Borodino was the showdown and was to be the site of the biggest battle in Europe, including Waterloo as well as the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars, until World War 1. The ramifications of the eventual French defeat came down to the 20th Century.