Napoleon invades Russia and loses the Grande Armee
615,000 men cross the Niemen; fewer than 100,000 stagger back
Quick facts
- Invasion began
- 24 June 1812
- Grande Armee size
- Approx. 615,000 troops
- Survivors
- Fewer than 100,000 returned
- Russian commander
- Mikhail Kutuzov
What happened
Tensions between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I over the Continental System embargo and the status of a revived Poland led Napoleon to invade Russia on 24 June 1812 with a Grande Armee of roughly 615,000 French and allied troops. Russian forces under Barclay de Tolly and later Kutuzov retreated and used scorched-earth tactics rather than risk a decisive early battle, fighting a costly engagement at Borodino on 7 September before Napoleon occupied Moscow from 14 to 18 October, only to find the city burning and empty of the population he needed to negotiate peace with. Napoleon ordered a retreat that turned catastrophic in the winter cold; the Grande Armee's crossing of the Berezina River in late November barely avoided total destruction. Of the men who had crossed the Niemen in June, fewer than 100,000 made it back.
Why it matters
The campaign is remembered in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 and became a foundational national memory, later reinforced when the Soviet Union revived the same term for its own war against Nazi Germany. Napoleon's failure to conquer Russia broke the myth of his invincibility and set up the coalition wars that ended his rule within three years.
How we know
French military records tracked the Grande Armee's strength before and after the campaign, showing the scale of losses; Russian accounts of Borodino, the burning of Moscow, and the Berezina crossing corroborate the campaign's course from the other side.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Napoleon's Invasion of Russia · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Napoleon's Invasion of Russia · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- The Napoleonic Wars → · See the wider Napoleonic Wars timeline for the full campaign against Napoleon across Europe, before and after 1812.