Retreat from Moscow

The Retreat from Moscow began in October 1812 after Napoleon concluded that occupation of the city would not force Russia to make peace. The Grande Armée attempted to withdraw through increasingly devastated territory while Russian forces, Cossacks and local resistance harassed its columns and restricted access to supplies.

Hunger, disease, exhaustion, combat and worsening winter weather destroyed much of the army. The difficult crossing of the Berezina in November became one of the campaign’s defining episodes, and the remnants that recrossed the Niemen in December represented only a fraction of the force that had entered Russia.