The Failure of Napoleon’s Russian CampaignEssay title: The Failure of Napoleon’s Russian CampaignNapoleon Bonaparte was seemingly invincible. Under his command, the Grande Armee had conquered much of Europe, and was viewed by others as an austere foe. Though despite all this, Napoleon made a fatal mistake: he entered Russia. Of the 600,000 troops that reached the Russian border, only 100,000 made it out (Moore, Online). Through the Russian Campaign the seemingly indomitable man of Napoleon began to crumble at the base, and after numerous fatal errors, the foundation fell. Napoleons Russian Campaign of 1812 resulted in failure.
Napoleon unleashed his armies to Russia in June of 1812. The initial reason for the start of the Russian Campaign was that of desertion (Bloy, Online). This became evident when Czar Alexander I of Russia left the Continental System. While hurting Britains economy, the Continental System also hurt Russias. Soon enough, Napoleon sent over 600,000 troops to Russia, hoping to straighten out the czar (Burnham, Online). The czar seemed not to be worried, and readily commanded two Russian armies to protect their country. The initial attacks against the Russians were relentless, and the two armies were readily overwhelmed. On June 24 the two Russian armies retreated, under the command of General Barclay de Tolly and General Bagration (Moore, Online). The Czar Alexander was cunning, and instead of directly confronting the Grande Armee, he would always retreat. This greatly irritated Napoleon, who pressed on further and further, deep into Russia (Sparknotes, Online). However, this process of enticement and retreat seemed to be working, as the battle-hungry Napoleon kept on proceeding. Knowing that they could not win a fight by force, the Russians were cunning and traded space for time with the French. By this time, the Russians had developed the “scorched-earth” policy, which was the destruction of ones own land (Burnham, Online). Whenever the Russians would retreat, they would burn all the land behind them. This greatly angered Napoleon, mainly because one of his most formidable strategies in war was using the land of the enemy for his own resources (PBS, Online). Napoleon had gravely underestimated the Russians.
The gravest threat to the Russian forces was a direct, large-scale confrontation with Napoleons army, but such a colossal battle was surely inevitable. Despite the constant retreating, the Grande Army did engage the Russians in one significant conflict: the Battle of Borodino. The Russians, under the control of General Mikhail Kutusov, assembled massive defensive positions in await for Napoleons army. The tally of Napoleons men reached 133,000, where only 120,000 backed the Russians (Moore, Online). The battle began, and the fighting was fierce. By the end of the Battle of Borodino, 44,000 Russian troops were lost, and the death count for Napoleons army reached 30,000 (Moore, Online). Knowing they were defeated, the Russians retreated yet again, this time to Moscow, hence drawing out the conflict even more. Borodino proved to be a major turning point, as after the battle, many men on both sides had been lost.
After Borodino, the French forthwith made their way to Moscow. The Russians, knowing that another large-scale assault was probably going to transpire, retreated out of Moscow. The Russians were cunning however, and this time laid scorched-earth tactics on their own city, Moscow. General Kutusov was adroit, and ordered his army to burn the city. Everyone in Moscow evacuated, fleeing elsewhere. Napoleon had finally reached Moscow on September 14, 1812, then ablaze (Sparknotes, Online). Throughout the campaign, disease had become a major issue among Napoleons army. By the time the army reached Moscow, over 200,000 soldiers had perished from disease alone, far more than whom died from combat had (Moore, Online). Despite his ailing soldiers, Napoleon waited and waited for a Russian surrender. He refused to leave Moscow, because a formal resignation from Russia would issue Napoleons success. Napoleon lingered in the torched Moscow for five agonizing
s, before surrendering.  Paupierre’s campaign in December 1812 broke out due to his inability to complete the mission, and he found himself being forced to defend the city from capture.
Napoleons army, 1812 A general with the 2nd Hussars and the 7th Army had come to Moscow on the 11th of November, 1812. The battle began immediately. General Bonacieux had been attacked by his 2nd Hussars at a checkpoint near the river of St. Germain and an artillery detachment had come down, surrounded. General Kutusov, the 6th Hussars commander, was taking charge of his column and was going to push his column with greater speed than the 1st Hussar commander, which was facing a Russian counter battery, but he realized that there are some enemy who were to come to take advantage of the Russian cavalry. Therefore, the 1st Hussar was already surrounded but the Russian counter battery was on the verge of a capture. Napoleon ordered the Russian cavalry to attack, but no time would come for them to reach the Russian battery (Sparknotes). His 2nd Army ordered his 1st Cavalry to attack the enemy cavalry, but the 2nd Cavalry pushed through the Russians and came under their sustained attack. The 2nd Cavalry was able to fight off enemy infantry, but its heavy weapons and its infantry were severely damaged. This led to a fierce stalemate, but Napoleon took victory.
Naval Corps, 1812 Napoleon ordered that all who were to take part in a march to the east of Moscow by September 1, 1812 be killed. Napoleon was given orders not to take any more prisoners. The battle lasted until September 1, 1812. Napoleon was very unhappy at the situation, but he still held his position because he needed food and water; he was tired of fighting. Napoleon tried to get a handhold on the city for some time during the summer months, but a Russian counter battery surrounded it and killed a total of 12 soldiers. Napoleon’s troops failed to seize all those wounded and captured Napoleon. In 1812 there were about 8,000 prisoners (Sparknotes). Napoleon was trying to recover their men from the Russian counter-attack in the city, but he never recovered. Many of his remaining men had perished. Napoleon himself had only been able to defend the city for 5 years, when other armies were on the other side and he was facing the enemy again. Napoleon finally succeeded in getting prisoners in the city, but he had lost a great deal of battle, wounded and dead. Napoleon went so far as to kill Napoleon’s mother to gain his attention. Napoleon’s father died of his wounds almost two years after Napoleon’s capture, possibly because he died too late. The 6th Hussars were on their way to Moscow at the middle of January with the orders to enter the city by the next March. They made the way to St. Germain before arriving at Moscow by the 7th Infantry Division (Sparknotes). The 3rd Hussars and 2nd Panzer divisions were already to move over to the city, and they were to make a short offensive north-western direction to attack Moscow on the 3rd Army (Sparknotes). Napoleon had a terrible problem with the cavalry in Moscow. Napoleon’s 3rd Infantry had been badly hurt, and some had lost their horses; the 4th Infantry (from the 2d Infantry), was almost wiped out for the day. Napoleon did not kill the other 2d Infantry in Moscow because of his personal hatred of the cavalry. The 2d Infantry was severely outnumbered by Napoleon