Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The Russian army, under the command of General Mikhail Kutusov, finally gave battle to the French invaders on the road to Moscow in 1812. The Russians had evaded engagement, but at the village of Borodino, they had good natural defenses and strengthened them with redoubts to shelter artillery and infantry. . . . The bloodiest battle of Napoleon's career brought no decisive result, and the French continued their way to Moscow before beginning the retreat back to Germany along the road down which they had advanced four months previously." [Furtado: 1001 Days]