Smolensk, an ancient town of Russia, and capital of a government (1,412) of the same name, on the Dnieper, 244 m. SW. of Moscow; is surrounded by walls; has a fine cathedral, and is strongly fortified; carries on a good grain trade; here in 1812 Napoleon defeated the Russians under Barclay de Tolly and Bagration on his march to Moscow in August 1812.
Population (circa 1900) given as 34,000.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Smoky City * Smollett, Tobias George