The French invasion of Russia, known in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 and in France as the Russian Campaign (French: Campagne de Russie), began on 24 June 1812 when Napoleon's Grande Armée crossed the Neman River in an attempt to engage and defeat the Russian army. Napoleon hoped to compel Tsar Alexander I of Russia to cease trading with British merchants through proxies in an effort to pressure the United Kingdom to sue for peace. The official political aim of the campaign was to liberate Poland from the threat of Russia. Napoleon named the campaign the Second Polish War to gain favor with the Poles and provide a political pretext for his actions. The Grande Armée was a very large force, numbering 680,000 soldiers (including 300,000 of French departments). Through a series of long marches Napoleon pushed the army rapidly through Western Russia in an attempt to bring the Russian army to battle, winning a number of minor engagements and a major battle at Smolensk in August. Napoleon hoped the battle would mean an end of the march into Russia, but the Russian army slipped away from the engagement and continued to retreat into Russia, while leaving Smolensk to burn. Plans Napoleon had made to quarter at Smolensk were abandoned, and he pressed his army on after the Russians. As the Russian army fell back, Cossacks were given the task of burning villages, towns and crops. This was intended to deny the invaders the option of living off the land. These scorched-earth tactics greatly surprised and disturbed the French, as the willingness of the Russians to destroy their own territory and harm their own people was difficult for the French to comprehend. The actions forced the French to rely on a supply system that was incapable of feeding the large army in the field. Starvation and privation compelled French soldiers to leave their camps at night in search of food. These men were frequently confronted by parties of Cossacks, who captured or killed them.

1812 Napoleon 1 in Russia

Napoleon and Russia tells, for the first time, the full story of Napoleon and his crucial relationship with Russia, from the 1790s and Bonaparte's rise to power, through the period of Austerlitz, Tilsit and the Russian invasion, to the Emperor's fall and its aftermath. In doing so, it not only puts the critical events of 1812 in their proper context as part of an even greater tale - of peace as well as war, friendship as well as enmity - but also provides fresh insight into the Napoleonic period as a whole, questioning many of the assumptions about the era prevalent in the English-speaking world. The tale boasts a cast of fascinating characters to rival any novel: the rulers, Napoleon himself, Catherine the Great, 'Mad' Tsar Paul and the enigmatic Alexander I; generals such as Ney, Murat, Davout, Suvorov, Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly; statesmen like Talleyrand, Caulaincourt, Czartoryski and Rumiantsev; and, of course, the ordinary soldiers who fought some of the most intriguing, bloody and important campaigns in history. This is an enthralling story of fundamental importance in the history of Europe and, indeed, the world.

Napoleon and Russia

Napoleon's Russian Campaign of 1812 is a historical account of the French invasion of Russia which was undertaken by Napoleon to force Russia back into the Continental blockade of the United Kingdom. On 24 June 1812 and the following days, the first wave of the multinational Grande Armée crossed the border into Russia with somewhere around 600,000 soldiers, the opposing Russian field forces amounted to around 180,000–200,000 at this time. Through a series of long forced marches, Napoleon pushed his army rapidly through Western Russia in a futile attempt to destroy the retreating Russian Army of Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, winning just the Battle of Smolensk in August. Under its new Commander in Chief Mikhail Kutuzov, the Russian Army continued to retreat employing attrition warfare against Napoleon forcing the invaders to rely on a supply system that was incapable of feeding their large army in the field. The fierce Battle of Borodino, seventy miles west of Moscow, was a narrow French victory that resulted in a Russian general withdrawal to the south of Moscow near Kaluga. On 14 September, Napoleon and his army of about 100,000 men occupied Moscow, only to find it abandoned, and the city was soon ablaze. Napoleon stayed in Moscow for 5 weeks, waiting for a peace offer that never came. Lack of food for the men and fodder for the horses, hypothermia from the bitter cold and guerilla warfare from Russian peasants and Cossacks led to great losses. Three days after the Battle of Berezina, only around 10,000 soldiers of the main army remained. On 5 December, Napoleon left the army and returned to Paris.

The History of Napoleon's Russian Campaign of 1812

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the campaign written by French soldiers *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "The thunderstorms of the 24th turned into other downpours, turning the tracks--some diarists claim there were no roads in Lithuania--into bottomless mires. Wagon sank up to their hubs; horses dropped from exhaustion; men lost their boots. Stalled wagons became obstacles that forced men around them and stopped supply wagons and artillery columns. Then came the sun which would bake the deep ruts into canyons of concrete, where horses would break their legs and wagons their wheels." - Richard K. Riehn French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was not a man made for peacetime. By 1812, he had succeeded in subduing most of his enemies - though in Spain, the British continued to be a perpetual thorn in his flank that drained the Empire of money and troops - but his relationship with Russia, never more than one of mutual suspicion at best, had now grown downright hostile. At the heart of it, aside from the obvious mistrust that two huge superpowers intent on dividing up Europe felt for one another, was Napoleon's Continental blockade. Russia had initially agreed to uphold the blockade in the Treaty of Tilsit, but they had since taken to ignoring it altogether. Napoleon wanted an excuse to teach Russia a lesson, and in early 1812 his spies gave him just that: a preliminary plan for the invasion and annexation of Poland, then under French control. Napoleon wasted no time attempting to defuse the situation. He increased his Grande Armee to 450,000 fighting men and prepared it for invasion. On July 23rd, 1812, he launched his army across the border, despite the protestations of many of his Marshals. The Russian Campaign had begun, and it would turn out to be Napoleon's biggest blunder. Russia's great strategic depth already had a habit of swallowing armies, a fact many would-be conquerors learned the hard way. Napoleon, exceptional though he was in so many regards, proved that even military genius can do little in the face of the Russian winter and the resilience of its people. From a purely military standpoint, much of the campaign seemed to be going in Napoleon's favor since he met with little opposition as he pushed forwards into the interior with his customary lightning speed, but gradually this lack of engagements became a hindrance more than a help; Napoleon needed to bring the Russians to battle if he was to defeat them. Moreover, the deeper Napoleon got his army sucked into Russia, the more vulnerable their lines of supply, now stretched almost to breaking point, became. The Grande Armee required a prodigious amount of material in order to keep from breaking down, but the army's pace risked outstripping its baggage train, which was constantly being raided by Cossack marauders. Moreover, Napoleon's customary practice of subsisting partially off the land was proving to be ineffective: the Russians were putting everything along his line of advance, including whole cities, to the torch rather than offer him even a stick of kindling or sack of flour for his army. Napoleon was sure that taking Moscow would prompt the Russians to surrender. Instead, with winter on the way, the Russians appeared more bellicose than ever. Napoleon and his army lingered for several weeks in the burnt shell of Moscow but then, bereft of supplies and facing the very real threat of utter annihilation, Napoleon gave the order to retreat. By the time the Grande Armee had reached the Berezina, it had been decimated: of the over 450,000 fighting men that had invaded Russia that autumn, less than 40,000 remained. Napoleon's Invasion of Russia details the background leading up to the campaign, the fighting, and the aftermath of France's catastrophic defeat. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the French invasion of Russia like never before.

Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

Napoleon's Russian Campaign of 1812 was one of the greatest disasters in military history. Count Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich-Yerevansky, Serene Prince of Warsaw was an Imperial Russian military leader. For his victories, he was made Count of Yerevan in 1828 and Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland in 1831. He attained the rank of field marshal in the Russian army, and later in the Prussian and Austrian armies. What's inside Paskevich's memoirs of Napoleon's Russian campaign begin with the preparations for war with France and his appointment as commander of the 26th Infantry Division in General Nikolay Raevsky's 7th Corps. Although Paskevich's memoirs do not cover Napoleon's retreat in the Russian winter, they provide a key insight into the frontline of several major battles during Napoleon's advance into Russia in the summer of 1812. It is one of the most important Russian sources for Napoleon's invasion of Russia and brings to life the events fictionalized by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace, the great romantic novel on Russia's experience of the Napoleonic Wars.

French Invasion Of Russia

A great historian examines Napoleon's failed invasion of Russia in 1812. This classic includes the following chapters: I. The Invasion of Russia (1811 to June, 1812) II. Smolensk and Valutino (August, 1812) III. Borodino (September 1-7, 1812) IV. Moscow (Sep 8 to Oct 19, 1812) V. Maloyaroslavez (Oct 19 to Nov 14, 1812) VI. The Beresina (Nov 15, 1812, to Jan 31, 1813)

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Narrative of Events During the Invasion of Russia by Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Retreat of the French Army. 1812

In 1812 Napoleon's magnificent army invaded Russia. Among the half a million men who crossed the border was Albrecht Adam, a former baker, a soldier and, most importantly for us, a military artist of considerable talent. As the army plunged ever deeper into a devastated Russia Adam sketched and painted. In all he produced 77 colour plates of the campaign and they are as fresh and dramatic as the day they were produced. They show troops passing along dusty roads, bewildered civilians, battles and their bloody aftermath, burning towns and unchecked destruction. The memoirs which accompany the plates form a candid text describing the war Adam witnessed. Attached to IV Corps, composed largely of Italians, he was present at all the major actions and saw the conquerors march triumphantly into Moscow. But, from then on, the invading army's fate was sealed and the disastrous outcome of the war meant that the year 1812 would become legendary as one of the darkest chapters in history.

Napoleon's Army in Russia

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia remains the benchmark for military disaster, even some two hundred year after he and his 600,000 men crossed the Niemen into the interior of Russia. The story of these men and their stolid, valiant opponents, the Russians, is recounted in admirable detail by the Author: from the killing fields of Smolensk and Borodino to the great fire of Moscow and the retreat through the snows of the Russian winter. Illustrated with 8 plans, the action of the great struggle is brought into full life, even through the passage of so much time. Author — George, Hereford B. 1838-1910. Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, T.F. Unwin, 1899. Original Page Count – xv, 451 p. Illustrations — 8 maps and plans.

Napoleon's invasion of Russia [Illustrated Edition]

Adam Zamoyski’s bestselling account of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia and his catastrophic retreat from Moscow, events that had a profound effect on European history.

1812: Napoleon’s Fatal March on Moscow

“An impressive source book on the conflict, high on information and data.”—Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research September 7, 1812, is by itself one of the most cataclysmic days in the history of war: 74,000 casualties at the Battle of Borodino. And this was well before the invention of weaspons of mass destruction like machine guns or breech-loading rifles. In this detailed study of one of the most fascinating military campaigns in history, George Nazfiger includes a clear exposition on the power structure in Europe at the time leading up to Napoleon’s fateful decision to attempt what turned out to be impossible: the conquest of Russia. Also featured are complete orders of battle and detailed descriptions of the opposing forces.

"Napoleon's Campaign in Russia, Anno 1812; Medico-Historical" by Achilles Rose takes a different look at the horror of Napoleon's failed attempt to take Russia which led to thousands of men, many of whom were idealist students, losing their lives. The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon to force the Russian Empire but which ultimately failed.

Napoleon's Campaign in Russia, Anno 1812; Medico-Historical

Notes of the 1812 Campaign General Ivan Paskevich (1782-1856) is one of the most decorated officers in the history of the Imperial Russian Army. At the age of 30, he commanded the 26th Infantry Division during Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 and played a key role at the Battles of Smolensk and Borodino. In Notes of the 1812 Campaign, Paskevich's vivid account of the French invasion of Russia is available for the first time in English translation. This book serves a key source for historians seeking Russian perspectives on the Napoleonic Wars. Paskevich's memoirs are also a captivating read for readers interested in Russian military history and Russian history in general. What's inside Paskevich's memoirs of Napoleon's Russian campaign begins with the preparations for war with France and his appointment as commander of the 26th Infantry Division in General Nikolay Raevsky's VII Corps. Paskevich charts the long retreat of the Second Army under the command of Prince Pyotr Bagration, one of the most impressive achievements in Russian military history. He describes the heroic deeds of General Platov and Neverovsky fighting brave rearguard actions to slow down the advance of the Grande Armée. In his vivid description of the Battle of Saltanovka, Paskevich offers insights into the military strategy and tactics which shaped Napoleonic warfare. The narrative goes on to describe the Battle of Smolensk in great detail, where Paskevich's men were at the front line defending the walls of Smolensk. For two days the Russian army held Napoleon at bay before resuming their retreat to Moscow. Paskevich's Notes of the 1812 Campaign ends with the climactic Battle of Borodino, one of the greatest in the annals of Russian military history. The two armies commanded by Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov and the Emperor Napoleon clashed on 7 September 1812 in one of history's bloodiest engagements. In the battle Paskevich's Division suffered terrible casualties while defending the Raevsky Redoubt, the main defensive position of the Russian army. Although Paskevich's memoirs do not cover Napoleon's retreat in the Russian winter, they provide a key insight into the frontline of several major battles during Napoleon's advance into Russia in the summer of 1812. It is one of the most important Russian sources for Napoleon's invasion of Russia and brings to life the events fictionalised by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace, the great romantic novel on Russia's experience of the Napoleonic Wars.

Notes of the 1812 Campaign

Philippe Henri de Segur was a French officer-an aide de camp-on Napoleon's staff-who served with the Grand Army throughout the Russian Campaign of 1812. This made him the ideal author for its history. He witnessed the early successes of the French and allied armies and the pyrrhic victory of Borodino. He accompanied Napoleon to the Kremlin and saw Moscow burning. By no means least, he was able to report the nightmare retreat through the snows of winter which brought about the destruction of an army and the beginning of the end of Napoleon and the golden epoch of the First Empire. Segur has created a memorable work-part history-part first hand account-which takes the reader vividly to the heart of these terrible events whilst clearly explaining their sequence. Originally published in two substantial volumes, Segur's entire work appears here its entirety-in a single comprehensive edition from Leonaur.

Napoleon's Russian Campaign

As soon as Napoleon and his Grand Army entered Moscow, on 14 September 1812, the capital erupted in flames that eventually engulfed and destroyed two thirds of the city. The fiery devastation had a profound effect on the Grand Army, but for thirty-five days Napoleon stayed, making increasingly desperate efforts to achieve peace with Russia. Then, in October, almost surrounded by the Russians and with winter fast approaching, he abandoned the capital and embarked on the long, bitter retreat that destroyed his army. The month-long stay in Moscow was a pivotal moment in the war of 1812 the moment when the initiative swung towards the Tsar's armies and spelled doom for the invading Grand Army yet it has rarely been studied in the same depth as the other key events of the campaign.Alexander Mikaberidze, in this third volume of his in-depth reassessment of the war between the French and Russian empires, emphasizes the importance of the Moscow fire and shows how Russian intransigence sealed the fate of the French army. He uses a vast array of French, German, Polish and Russian memoirs, letters and diaries as well as archival material in order to tell the dramatic story of the Moscow fire. Not only does he provide a comprehensive account of events, looking at them from both the French and Russian points of view, but he explores the Russians' motives for leaving, then burning their capital. Using extensive eyewitness accounts, he paints a vivid picture of the harsh reality of life in the remains of the occupied city and describes military operations around Moscow at this turning point in the campaign.

The Burning of Moscow

On 7 September 1812 at Borodino, 75 miles west of Moscow, the armies of teh Russian and French empires clashed in one of the climactic battles of the Napoleonic Wars. This horrific - and controversial - contest has fascinated historians ever since. The survival of the Russian army after Borodino was a key factor in Napoleon's eventual defeat and the utter destruction of the French army of 1812. In this thought-provoking new study, Napoleonic historian Alexander Mikaberidze reconsiders the 1812 campaign and retells the terrible story of the Borodino battle as it was seen from the Russian point of view. His original and painstakingly researched investigationof this critical episode in Napoleon's invasion of Russia provides the reader with a fresh perspective on the battle and a broader understanding of the underlying reasons for the eventual Russian truimph. AUTHOR: Dr. Alexander Mikaberidze had tasught European history at Mississippi State and Florida State universities and lectured on Napoleonic Wars for the US Naval War College. He has published many articles on the subject. SELLING POINTS: Compelling new account of Borodino from the Russian point of view. “ Incorporates Russian and French eyewitness accounts never before published in England. “ Story told in clear, concise detail, day by day, hour by hour. 40 illustrations

The Battle of Borodino

Napoleon dominated nearly all of Europe by 1810, largely succeeding in his aim to reign over the civilized world. But Britain eluded him. To conquer the island nation, he needed Russia's Tsar Alexander's help. The Tsar refused, and Napoleon vowed to teach him a lesson by intimidation and force. The ensuing invasion of Russia, during the frigid winter of 1812, would mark the beginning of the end of Napoleon's empire. Although his army captured Moscow after a brutal march deep into hostile territory, it was a hollow victory for the demoralized troops. Napoleon's men were eventually turned back, and their defeat was a momentous turning point in world affairs. Dramatic, insightful, and enormously absorbing, Moscow 1812 is a masterful work of history.

Moscow 1812

This volume brings together Austin's atmospheric trilogy on Napoleon's Russian campaign, allowing the reader to trace the course of Napoleon's doomed soldiers from the crossing of the Niemen in 1812 to the finale in the depths of a Russian winter.

1812--Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

The drama of Napoleon’s ill-fated invasion of Russia is captured through the letters and diaries of Polish soldiers who fought with the French. Napoleon’s invasion of Russia cost hundreds of thousands lives and changed the course of history. Europe had never seen an army like the one gathering in Poland in 1812—half a million men in brilliant uniforms and shimmering helmets. Six months later, it was the ghost of an army, frozen and horrified, retreating home. This illuminating volume tells the story of this epic military disaster from the viewpoint of the tens of thousands of Polish soldiers who took part. Some of them were patriots eager to regain independence for their country. Others were charmed by the glory of Napoleonic warfare or were professional soldiers who were simply doing their jobs. They all tell an unrivaled tale of ruthless battles, burning villages, numbing hunger, and biting cold. By the end the great army had been reduced to a pitiless mob and the Polish soldiers, who had set out with such hope, recalled it with horror.

Polish Eyewitnesses to Napoleon's 1812 Campaign

This novel tells us about one of the essential Napoleonic campaigns through the lives of several Russian families, which changed drastically because of the war. From the very first pages, the novel captivates by a highly realistic description of the epoch. It opens with a marriage ceremony in the family of nobility. The marriage is set between a boy of ten and a girl of seven, and the marriage party is accompanied by heavy drinking of fathers and the priest, filthy jokes, and the descriptions of the dirty plates on the tables. As the events evolve, the story gives the same realistic account of the French invasion in Moscow: "During these first few days of the French occupation Moscow became a very pandemonium of pillage and violence, of smoke and fire, of orgies and of cruelties too horrible to relate." Being cast into such circumstances, the protagonists show incomparable courage and strength, inspiring more profound interest in the period's history.

Moscow – A Story of the French Invasion of 1812

Born into a noble family with a strong military tradition, Armand de Caulaincourt had been Napoleon’s Ambassador to Russia; Minister for Foreign Affairs; political advisor; and during the disastrous Russian campaign, his personal aide. In this unique document—the first English translation of the original French manuscript—the French statesman presents a comprehensive picture of the supreme crisis of Napoleon’s career, with graphic accounts of the French army’s advance into Russia, the occupation of Moscow, and the horrors of retreat. “By far the most important addition to Napoleonic documentation published in modern times.”—The London Times “When General de Caulaincourt laid down his pen he had completed, whether he knew it or not, a masterpiece.”—The New York Times A superb biography, history, and memoir in one unforgettable volume, the work will fascinate students, teachers, scholars, and history buffs alike.

With Napoleon in Russia

The battle of Borodino was one of the greatest encounters in European history, and one of the largest and most sanguinary in the Napoleonic Wars. Following the breakdown of relations between Russia and France, Napoleon assembled a vast Grande Armée drawn from the many states within the French sphere of influence. They crossed the river Neimen and entered Russian territory in June 1812 with the aim of inflicting a sharp defeat on the Tsar's forces and bringing the Russians back into line. In a bloody battle of head-on attacks and desperate counter-attacks in the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812, both sides lost about a third of their men, with the Russians forced to withdraw and abandon Moscow to the French. However, the Grande Armée was harassed by Russian troops all the way back and was destroyed by the retreat. The greatest army Napoleon had ever commanded was reduced to a shadow of frozen, starving fugitives. This title will cover the events of Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812 in its entirety, with the set-piece battle of Borodino proving the focal point of the book.

Borodino 1812

In the summer of 1812, having defeated almost every army in Europe, Napoleon finally began is attack on the Russian empire. For ten terrible weeks the Grande Armee swept all before them, and by September they had reached Borodino on the western approaches to Moscow. It was here that the full force of the French and Russian armies finally clashed. What ensued was a battle the Russian commander Kutuzov called the most bloody battle of modern times.

Borodino and the War of 1812

More than a third of a million men set out on that midsummer day of 1812: none can have imagined the terrors and hardships to come. They would be lured all the way to Moscow without having achieved the decisive battle Napoleon sought; and by the time they reached the city their numbers would already have dwindled by more than a third. One of the greatest disasters in military history was in the making. The fruit of more than twenty years of research, this superbly crafted work skilfully blends the memoirs and diaries of more than a hundred eyewitnesses, all of whom took part in the Grand Armys doomed march to Moscow, to reveal the inside story of this landmark military campaign. The result is a uniquely authentic account in which the reader sees and experiences the campaign through the eyes of participants at each stage of the advance in enthralling day-by-day, sometimes hour-by-hour detail.

1812

Narrative of Events During the Invasion of Russia by Napoleon Bonaparte and the Retreat of the French Army, 1812

The Campaign of 1812 in Russia

Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, 1812

The French Invasion of Russia, also known as the Napoleonic Invasion of Russia in 1812, marked a pivotal moment in European history. Led by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the Grande Armée embarked on a campaign to conquer Russia but ultimately faced catastrophic defeat. This ill-fated military campaign, characterized by the brutal Russian winter, logistical challenges, and scorched-earth tactics, resulted in the near-destruction of Napoleon's forces and played a significant role in his eventual downfall. The French Invasion of Russia serves as a cautionary tale of overreach and the formidable power of nature and strategy in shaping the outcome of historical conflicts.

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French Invasion of Russia

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