three o'clock
The French infantry took advantage of the attention of the defenders being diverted by this attack , and with a rush stormed the work ; the four Russian regiments who held it fought to the last , refusing all offers of quarter , and maintaining a hand-to-hand conflict until annihilated . The Russian artillery , in the works round Gorki , swept the redoubt with their fire , and under its cover the infantry made repeated but vain attacks to recapture it , for their desperate bravery was unavailing against the tremendous artillery fire concentrated upon them , while the French on their part were unable to take advantage of the position they had gained . Napoleon , indeed , would have launched his troops against the works round Gorki , but his generals represented to him that the losses had already been so enormous , that it was doubtful whether he could possibly succeed , and if he did so , it could only be with such further loss as would cripple the army altogether . At three o'clock Napoleon , whose whole army , with the exception of the Imperial Guard , had been engaged , felt that nothing further could be done that day , and ordered the battle to cease . He had gained the three redoubts on the Russians ' left and the great redoubt captured by the Viceroy , but these were really only advanced works , and the main position of the Russians still remained entirely intact . At night the French retired from the positions they had won , to those they had occupied before the battle begun , retaining possession only of the village of Borodino . The loss of the combatants during the two days ' fighting had been nearly equal , no less than 40,000 men having been killed on each side , a number exceeding that of any other battle in modern times .