Napoleon Invades Russia
A 615,000-man Grande Armee crosses the Niemen in the largest invasion force Europe had ever seen
Quick facts
- Location
- Niemen River to Moscow, Russian Empire
- Date
- 24 June - 14 September 1812
- Army size
- About 615,000 troops, roughly half of them French
- Key battle
- Borodino, 7 September 1812, at least 70,000 casualties
What happened
Russia's break from the Continental System pushed Napoleon to assemble a multinational force of 615,000 men, barely half of them French, drawn from Poland, the German states, and every corner of his empire, and cross the Niemen River on 24 June 1812. The Battle of Borodino on 7 September, the largest single battle of the invasion, involved more than 250,000 troops and produced at least 70,000 casualties without a decisive result, and Napoleon entered an evacuated Moscow a week later. Russia's strategy of trading territory for time, refusing a second major battle and letting distance and supply lines wear the invaders down, left Napoleon holding an empty capital with no one left to negotiate surrender terms.
Why it matters
The invasion committed the largest army Europe had ever assembled to a campaign with no clear way to force Russian capitulation once Moscow itself proved worthless as a bargaining chip. The decision to advance into Russia's interior, rather than accept it as a lost cause after Borodino, set up the catastrophic retreat that followed within weeks.
How we know
World History Encyclopedia's account of the invasion gives the army's size and national composition, the Borodino casualty figures, and the sequence from the Niemen crossing to the occupation of Moscow.
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)
- Fondation Napoleon. Napoleon's Russian Campaign: From the Niemen to Moscow · General sourcenapoleon.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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