5 things that hit Napoleon when he invaded Russia

The French emperor Napoleon, before reaching Russia, conquered half of Europe. It would seem that only in life did not see. But as soon as he invaded Russia, at once strange surprises began. We were too unpredictable for the emperor.

So, than we were able to surprise.

Our army is elusive

The first thing that struck him was the unusual behavior of the Russian troops. Napoleon hoped that as soon as his "great and invincible" army entered Russia, the Russians would concentrate in a certain place, he would give a general battle, he would defeat everyone as always and all in the ladies! There it was ... He practically did not meet any resistance.

Later, realizing his mistakes, being on the island of St. Helena, the emperor recalled: "I had the best army in the world, the largest of all that ever existed on the European continent.". It included troops of Prussia, Austria, Polish units, Italian, Dutch, Baden units. The army could well be called not French, but European, since half of its strength was not French. According to some historians, more than 600 thousand soldiers crossed the Russian border!

Napoleon needed a quick battle, as it was economically difficult to maintain such a mass of people and equipment. He hoped that the battle would take place somewhere in the territory of modern Lithuania. Then everything went according to plan. The number of the Russian army was 240 thousand people. Our troops, fiercely resisting, continued to retreat and avoid a big battle.

Napoleon in his recollections described the reigning inspiration in the troops, especially when in August after a bloody battle they conquered Smolensk. "Everyone thought the victory was near. Soon the end of the military campaign. On the other hand, my troops were surprised that after so many bloody battles and a two-month campaign the results moved further and further.". The soldier was worried about the ever-increasing distance that separated them from France.

Scythian fire

As a result, Napoleon got what he wanted - a general battle. But again, everything did not happen the way the French planned.

The two armies met near Moscow in the village of Borodino. The battle lasted 12 hours. The Russian army retreated, but was alive. The French army suffered heavy damage. They lost 2,500 soldiers killed, 7,500 were wounded, 6 generals were killed, 8 wounded. It’s impossible to recover exact data, as army documentation was lost during the retreat.

Napoleon hoped that he would be able to regain his strength and rest in Moscow, where he entered a week later. But these dreams were not destined to come true.

Moscow met with fire. Raging fires devastated the capital. The emperor later wrote: "I was ready for everything, but not for this. I could not think that the Russians could burn their city". There was nowhere to deploy an army. The city was devastated. Only 6,000 people remained in it. This is 2% of the pre-war population of Moscow.

Napoleon traveled around the city every day. Once he drove into the Orphanage, where he met with his inhabitant, General I.A. Tutolmin. He expressed a request to write a message to Empress Maria about the condition of his wards orphans. Napoleon not only allowed to do this, but also asked to add a few words from himself: "Tell Emperor Alexander that I still respect him and ask for peace.". There was no response.

Unbearable frost

The weather also surprised the emperor. He complained that he had never experienced such severe frosts as in Russia.

These are the memories he left of our climate: "Before starting the offensive, I studied the weather in Russia over the past 50 years. Frosts started much later than in 1812.". The temperature before the battle near Krasnoye (November 15-18) kept from -3 degrees to -8 degrees, then there was warming, and only after the battle near Berezin (November 26-29) frosts below twenty degrees began.

"All our horses froze and died, the soldiers did not understand what to do. Many of them deserted and became easy prey for the partisans. Many simply lay down, fell asleep and did not wake up."- so the emperor in exile recalled. He believed that harsh environmental conditions caused failure.

However, the Russian poet and hussar Denis Davydov did not agree with this interpretation of events and wrote that the problems of the French began even in warm weather.

Beautiful cities

Despite the troubles brought to him, Napoleon still managed to appreciate the beauty of Russian cities. Smolensk made a special impression. "Before us was an amazing view of the city located on the banks of the Dnieper, as if an ancient amphitheater. It was a beautiful picture.". He described with admiration the towers of the Smolensk Kremlin, whose walls he could not break through. "I used the entire artillery reserve to break through the breach, but everything was in vain - the cores stuck in the incredibly thick walls".

Moscow made a special impression on him. Especially the view of the city from Poklonnaya Gora.

"Like Rome, Moscow is spread over seven hills. You need to see what this semi-European, semi-eastern city is with two hundred churches and a thousand colorful chapters. Only by seeing this, we can understand the feelings that we experienced".

Popular resistance

The courage of our people made a great impression on him. Napoleon could compare the behavior of the inhabitants of the conquered Europe and the Russians. The Europeans remained indifferent observers, while the Russians immediately proceeded to action. "The Russians abandoned their homes and went into the woods. As the army advanced, we came across empty and burned villages". Partisans inflicted great damage on the invincible French army. Peasants, landowners, merchants, urban people fought in the detachments. Everything from small to large, rich and poor, went into partisans.

“You can defeat an army, but you cannot win that war when the whole people are fighting against the enemy,” the emperor came to that conclusion.

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