Napoleonic Wars: Retreat from Moscow 1812

In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with the largest army Europe had ever seen. But after winning a costly victory at Borodino and occupying Moscow, Napoleon's invitation to Russian Emperor Alexander to make peace met with no response. Napoleon now found himself 500 miles from friendly territory, outnumbered, poorly supplied, and with winter approaching. What followed was one of the most harrowing and disastrous events in military history - the Retreat from Moscow - in which Russian attacks, freezing weather and starvation virtually wiped out the once-proud Grande Armée.

Special thanks to Alexander Averyanov for kind permission to use his paintings 'Maloyaroslavets', 'At Gorodnya 25 October 1812' and 'Council of War at Gorodnya'.

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[EpichistoryTv]

I hope you enjoy the new episode in our Napoleonic Wars series. This one is a little longer as I wanted time to try and convey the sheer drama and suffering involved in this infamous and tragic episode of military history. Help us to make more videos by joining us on Patreon for early access and other perks, or shopping for EHTV branded merchandise! Leipzig and the 1813 German campaign next up, in the meantime I hope you all have excellent holiday seasons.

[benjackson]

Can we take a minute to realise that the narrators voice makes this 10 times more epic

[notmenotme]

“This is beginning to be very serious”

The biggest understatement in history.

[Lorgar]

"I've made a grave mistake, but I'll have the means to repair it."

You just lost a half a million soldiers for nothing. You can't repair that. No one can repair that.

[leonpaelinck]

"The corridor was closing"
Chills went through my spine

[ReplayButtonsReaper]

Napoleon: "Peace lies in Moscow".
Moscow: Yes, eternal peace.

[williamthomas]

Those 90k that actually made it home must’ve been the hardest men on the planet

[YouKingofTube]

I am Russian myself, but every time someone, in the context of a war with Russia, starts talking about winter, I want to tell the author - “Russians are the same europian people, Russians no have immunity from hypothermia, Russians also die from hypothermia.”

[alexnickolaev]

Napoleon entering Moscow: So, it is finally over
Russians: It has just begun

[sarahpiaggio]

The army that fought at Waterloo was only a shadow of its former self. It's quite likely that it's the retreat from Moscow that destroyed napoleon. My grandfather died only a few years ago aged 99. He remembered seeing at home, when he was a child, his own great-grandfather's napoleonic rifle propped up against the wall of the family home. His great-grandfather was one of the 5% who survived the retreat and got home. But he got frostbite and lost his toes apparently. He was one of the engineers that built the bridges, and one who destroyed the bridges to prevent the Russians crossing on them, dooming many of his own people who hadn't got over in time. What a horrifying situation they found themselves in

[billknoderer]

My ancestor, Christian Knoderer was a Captain under Napolean. He left Paris with nearly 400 men under his command and during the struggle of retreat return from Moscow with 3 of his men including himself.

[VentiVonOsterreich]

Napoleon: "We captured Moscow, surrender now!"
Alexander: "Or what?"
Napoleon: "I don't know I never thought I'd get this far"

[panagiotiskant]

I have watched all your videos... But I nevver left a comment.. In this video I couldn't resist.... You truly deserve that name for your channel... This video was breathtaking!!!

[HyperSonicX]

I can't get over how intense your portrayal of the Battle of the Berezina is. The music and the narration make it clear like no other documentary I've seen how desperate the situation was. It's epic and I come back to it constantly.

[richardgregory]

Napoleon found it very convenient to lay the blame on "General Winter" - it was one of the things that allowed him to return to France having lost practically his entire army in a humiliating defeat and retreat but rather than being deposed in a coup, he created a whole new army in short order. Such was his charisma (and skill at propaganda) that the French population were still willing to follow him, and to have their sons conscripted despite the fact that it was the Emperor who had, in effect, just killed several hundred thousand of them. Moreover, it is likely that Napoleon's ego would not allow him to accept it was his own poor decisions that lead to disaster - he was very naive in his trust of the Tzar, and delayed evacuating Moscow for many unecessary weeks. It is a common fate of dictators - they start to believe their own myths of invincibility. Hitler was the same. The initial string of victories by the Wehrmacht convinced him that he was unbeatable.

[yesfed]

Its Cold Outside...but after watching this video I’m not going to complain again.

[mattsilberbauer]

Napoleon's retreat needs to be made into a horror film. The narration alone gives one chills; a measure of thanks that we live not in such a brutal time and place.

[guybroughton]

I'm a history geek, so I really enjoyed this documentary. Thanks for making this long enough to tell the entire story as it deserves to be told.

[ChessArmyCommander]

The amount of human suffering and the severity of it, pertaining to this conflict, is horrifying to think about.

[cbviperess]

Halo 1812.
New objective:
*Survive*