The Burning of Moscow
Fires destroy two-thirds of the city within days of Napoleon's arrival, and the fall he waited for never comes
Quick facts
- Location
- Moscow
- Date
- 14-18 September 1812 (fire); Napoleon departs mid-October 1812
- Extent
- Roughly two-thirds of the city destroyed
- Disputed cause
- Possibly ordered by Governor Fyodor Rostopchin; historians disagree
What happened
As soon as Napoleon and the Grande Armee entered Moscow on 14 September 1812, fires broke out across the city and burned for four days, destroying roughly two-thirds of its buildings while hundreds of thousands of civilians had already fled alongside the retreating Russian army. Historians have long debated the cause, and Count Fyodor Rostopchin, Moscow's military governor, is often blamed for deliberately setting the destruction in motion, though the point remains disputed. Napoleon stayed in the ruined, nearly empty city for thirty-five days, repeatedly trying to open peace negotiations with Tsar Alexander I, before finally abandoning Moscow in mid-October as Russian forces closed in and winter approached.
Why it matters
Napoleon had counted on capturing the enemy capital to force a negotiated peace, the same logic that had worked at Vienna and Berlin, but Alexander I refused to negotiate over an empty, burned city with nothing left to protect. The month Napoleon wasted waiting for an offer that never came ate into the narrow window before Russia's winter closed on his retreating army.
How we know
Alexander Mikaberidze's history of the burning, published by Fondation Napoleon, dates the fire to 14-18 September, describes the extent of the destruction, and documents the disputed question of who set it, along with Napoleon's thirty-five-day stay before retreating.
Sources
- Fondation Napoleon. The Burning of Moscow, Napoleon's Trial by Fire 1812 · 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)
- Fondation Napoleon. The History of the Destruction of Moscow, 1812 · 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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