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Napoleon's invasion of Russia began on the 24th of June in 1812, and he had made considerable progress by autumn. With French victory in the Battle of Borodino on 7 September, the way to Moscow was open. The opposing Russian army under Mikhail Kutuzov had suffered heavy losses and chose to retreat.
Napoleon invaded with the intention of ending the war in a short campaign centred on a decisive battle in western Russia. As the Russians withdrew, Napoleon's supply lines grew and his strength was in decline from week to week.
The victory – in terms of territory won and losses inflicted – was Napoleon's. It was not to be however the decisive one he so craved: the remnants of the Russian armies retreated back towards Moscow, leading Napoleon to declare “La paix est à Moscou”.
9 lut 2010 · On June 24, Napoleon ordered his Grande Armée, the largest European military force ever assembled to that date, into Russia.
On the 15th September, a week after the bloody battle of Borodino, Napoleon entered Moscow. He had expected to enter with glory, met by a delegation of the city's highest officials assembled in recognition of his victory and ready to negotiate peace.
Napoleon entered Moscow on 14 September, after the Russian Army had retreated yet again. [132] By then, the Russians had largely evacuated the city and released criminals from the prisons to inconvenience the French; the governor, Count Fyodor Rostopchin, ordered the city to be burnt. [133]
French invasion of Russia, (June 24–December 5, 1812), invasion of the Russian Empire by Napoleon I’s Grande Armée. The Russians adopted a Fabian strategy, executing a prolonged withdrawal that largely denied Napoleon a conclusive battle. Although the French ultimately captured Moscow, they could.
