Vilna

28 June, 1812

With the French still trying to bring a hard-to-locate Russian army to a decisive battle, captured documents pointed Napoleon Bonaparte towards Vilna.

To take advantage of the fortuitous intelligence, the Emperor ordered Marshal Murat to take two cavalry corps, backed by 60 horse-artillery pieces, and pin any Russian force in the vicinity of the town.

Despite pushing his troops to the limit, Murat arrived too late to hold the already withdrawing Russians.

Vilna was now in French hands, but its warehouses and bridges had been destroyed.