Napoleonic+Wars+-+The+Russian+Campaign

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Mitchell Parrish: msjmitch94@gmail.com
Andrew Updike: ajayu93@gmail.com =Research by Andrew, Danny, and Mitch= At about the time of the French invasion of Russia, Napoleon and his French army were at their peak. No other country even thought to rise up and attempt to stop the French from taking over all of continental Europe. The only main countries that were not directly or indirectly under the control of the French was Great Britain. But they had problems of their own to deal with, as they were on the verge of collapse. Russia had a big problem with this French command of almost the entirety of Europe. For one, they had looked unfavorably upon the annexation of West Galicia to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (from Austria). Secondly, Russia had previously thrived off trade from most of Europe, but now they had no trade with the rest of Europe except maybe Great Britain, and their European trade was made up a huge part of their entire trade network. This allowed Russia to be fairly isolated, and with no resources than their own and goods from the rest of the world (not under French control). In Napoleons head this registered as a great time to invade Russia and bring Russia under French control. This would strongly favor the French, as having control of Russia would be extremely resourceful and significant military. At the time of the start of the invasion, Napoleon's forces were about 600,000 men strong. Russia then planned an offensive war, assuming they themselves would take over Warsaw.

Even though Napoleon prepared quickly for this invasion, he nor the entire Great Armèe knew much about Russian land or how to survive there. They learned the hard way, as they ran out of food (they gave what they had to the front lines (death by starvation)), they spread waterborne disease, and they died from the harsh and bitter Russian cold. It is **IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT THE FRENCH INCURRED MORE CASUALTIES (or losses) FROM DISEASE, SUICIDE, and DESERTION THAN THEY ACTUALLY LOST IN ALL THE INVASION WARS COMBINED.**"Napoleon doesn't give a damn how many of his soldiers are collapsing on the road," Westphalian batallion commander Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg wrote to his wife. Napoleon started the French march to Russia on June 24, 1812, after he had been sent a reply to his final peace offering with Russia. Napoleon started by marching through Russian Poland, met with little resistance from the Russians or the Cossacks (Ukrainians and Southern Russians). They then started to march towards Vilnius, site of a Russian headquarters, but terrible communication between the troops and different marching speeds between the troops caused big problems, as the fast marchers didnt get much food, and because of the bad communication, the full Grand Armèe never really united into a giant French force. That only proved a flaw in Napoleon's plan. The Russian General Barclay deemed the Vilnius situation hopeless, and they burned the magazines, and most of the forces left. A few stayed behind and engaged in small skirmishes with the French, but in the end it was another good sign for the French. Life in the barren Lithuania proved to be very difficult, causing many suicides and desertions, and likewise their were many deaths related to starvation or disease or the living conditions in the barren wasteland of Russia. Barclay's forces attacked while "hiding", as they proved too elusive for the French. The French then suffered losses because of this setback. Also the Russians of course were used to Russian weather, but the Grand Armèe clearly was not. Because of the weather and the attacking forces of the Russians, the French suffered casualties in big numbers throughout the march to Moscow.

Many small fights between the sides were fought during the march. Barclay was trying to use the fights to stall for extra time and to try to keep France from reaching Moscow without suffering heavy losses. At the most bloodiest battle in all of the Napoleonic Wars, The Battle of Borodino, Barclay finally established a defensive position but could still not hold back the French forces, therefore the Russians were forced to retreat and evacuate the city. At this time, Napoleon expected the Russians to surrender before they reached the **SPIRITUAL, NOT Political** capital of Russia (Moscow). He was surprised upon entering that he did not receive a reply. The Russians had unconditionally left Moscow for Napoleon, as city officials presented Napoleon with the keys to the city. Now the disease and starvation only increased as the Russians had sabotaged the city and all its resources. Then by some way a gigantic fire raged throughout Moscow, which ended up burning about two thirds of the entire city. While the French were panicking, the Russians fired upon them, causing the French chaos and unrepairable damage. This started the the French's long retreat from Moscow. It was impossible for the French to supply for the troops, as they had lost all of their wagons, and their was no more cavalry, as most of the horses had died or been used for food. Also, Napoleon had to go back to France and the next in line Joachim de Murat had to back to Naples, which left left Napoleon's stepson Eugene de Beauharnais in command.

On December 14, 1812, the rest of the Grand Armèe officially retreated from Russia. French casualties were about 380,000, but popular legend said that only 22,000 men remained after their retreat. Russian casualties are thought to total about 210,000, but more deaths were from the Russian citizens.


 * Russian victory in 1812 crushed the hopes of Napoleon's plan for European domination.
 * This was ultimately the beginning of the downfall of Napoleon.
 * On all warring fronts, Napoleon's armies were crushed and had low morale.
 * Out of 600,000 men that began the war only 40,000 survived.
 * It showed that Napoleon wasn't invincible, and that some of his military genius had flaws.
 * Showed that disease (many suggest it was body lice), starvation, and terrible weather were sometimes even more lethal than war.
 * It gave other countries such as Germany, hope in overcoming Napoleon.

Mitch Parrish:
==="Moscow Campaign (1812)." The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern History 1789-1945. London: Penguin, 2001. History Study Center. ProQuest LLC. 11 Nov. 2009 .===



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Andrew Updike: [] []**

** Mitch Parrish: Book Sources- Durant, W., & Durant, A. (1975). //The Age of napoleon//. New York: Simon and Schuster. Herold, J. C. //The Age of napoleon//. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co. **