Battle of Czarnowo

Battle of Czarnowo
Part of the War of the Fourth Coalition
The Russian army defended the line of the Wkra River.
Date 23 December 1806 Location Czarnowo, Poland Result French victory
Belligerents
First French Empire	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon Bonaparte Louis Davout Jean Bessières Pierre Augereau Jean Marchand	Mikhail Kamensky A. Ostermann-Tolstoy Karl La Roche-Aymon M. Barclay de Tolly
Strength
8,000–23,200, 20 guns	5,000, 48 guns
Casualties and losses
Czarnowo: 846–1,400 Bieżuń: light Kołoząb: 518 Soldau: 221	Czarnowo: 319 killed, 534 wounded Bieżuń: 500, 5 guns Kołoząb: unknown, 6 guns Soldau: 800, 2 guns

The Battle of Czarnowo on the night of 23–24 December 1806 saw troops of the First French Empire under the eye of Emperor Napoleon I launch an evening assault crossing of the Wkra River against Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's defending Russian Empire forces. The attackers, part of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout's III Corps, succeeded in crossing the Wkra at its mouth and pressed eastward to the village of Czarnowo. After an all-night struggle, the Russian commander withdrew his troops to the east, ending this War of the Fourth Coalition action. Czarnowo is located on the north bank of the Narew River 33 kilometres (21 mi) north-northwest of Warsaw, Poland.

Several other actions occurred during the same week. On the 23rd, Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières defeated a probe by Prussian troops at Bieżuń. On 24 December, an action occurred at Kołoząb and Sochocin where Marshal Pierre Augereau's VII Corps attempted to cross the Wkra. The French managed to secure a foothold on the east bank, forcing Major General Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly's Russian defenders to retreat. On Christmas Day, part of Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps drove the Prussians from Soldau (Działdowo), forcing them to retreat north toward Königsberg. The Russians, however, were full of fight and two sharp battles occurred on 26 December.

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