The Campaign of 1812 in Russia

"On June 23, 1812, Napoleon's Grande Armee, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equally massive Russian army faced them. The ensuing campaign was a catastrophe for Napoleon. Alt" On June 23, 1812, Napoleon's Grande Armée, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equally massive Russian army faced them. The ensuing campaign was a catastrophe for Napoleon. Although the battle of Borodino, which resulted in heavy losses on both sides, allowed Napoleon to enter Moscow, his stay in that empty and decimated city was disastrous. By the time Napoleon had retreated to the Berezina river in late November, his Grande Armée was only a fifth of its original strength. His retreat had become a rout, and his allies began to desert him. In this book, Clausewitz analyzes all the significant players with sharp and enlightening characterizations, and provides perhaps the best eyewitness accounts of the battle of Borodino and the Convention of Tauroggen. The Campaign of 1812 in Russia is a brilliantly observed study of one of the major turning points of history.

Napoleon's campaign of 1812 against Russia was a turning point in the Napoleonic history. At the beginning of 1812 Napoleon was at the peak of his glory. On the eve of the Russian campaign the great majority of the European diplomats thought that Napoleon would emerge victorious. The campaign, however, proved to be disastrous for the French Grand Armee. Battle of Borodino, with heavy casualties on both sides, was probably the hardest fought battle of the Napoleonic era. Victory at Borodino gained Napoleon entry to Moscow only to end in a catastrophe and retreat of the French army in fall of the same year. The campaign of 1812 against Russia marked the beginning of the end of Napoleon's rule in Europe.