Napoleon Leaves Moscow: The Retreat Begins

Departure From Moscow

Napoleon left Moscow on October 19, 1812, beginning the retreat from a city whose occupation had failed to produce the settlement he wanted.

An Occupation Without the Expected Peace

The French advance had not delivered a decisive political conclusion. A largely abandoned and fire-damaged city could not provide the straightforward triumph imagined before the invasion.

The Problem of Movement

Leaving Moscow shifted the campaign toward the survival and movement of the army. Supplies, distance, roads and continuing opposition became inseparable from military decisions.

Not One Day of Winter

The catastrophe that followed developed over a prolonged retreat. It should not be reduced to the claim that a single sudden snowfall destroyed an otherwise secure army on departure day.

A Change in the Campaign

The anniversary marks the abandonment of an objective. It offers a clear contrast between occupying a capital and actually compelling an opponent to accept peace.