The war of 1812 left a deep mark in the history of Polotsk in three large battles. After the second Polotsk battle, the bridge across the Polotawas named "Red".
On 26 of August, 1850 in the central square of the city was opened a monument in memory of the battles of 1812. The monument with a height of 23.7 m and a weighing about 237 tons was cast iron and bronze in Lugansk. In the 1930s it was dismantled and transported for melting to the needs of industrialization. In 2010 the monument was restored.