On the march with the French

1812

1812 Invasion of Russia
Preparations
French Command Structure
Russian Command Structure
On the Road with the Grande Armee
Map of the first stages of the Great Retreat
Map of the last stages of the Great Retreat
Jean-Roch Coignet's Description of the Retreat
Coignet's Brush With Cossacks

The French troops that set out on the campaign were seasoned, confident men, while the Allies varied in both quality and morale.

They were men from Poland, Saxony, Italy, Bavaria, Hesse, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Westphalia, Wurtemberg, Baden, Switzerland, Croatia, Berg, Naples and Mecklenberg. There were even Austrians and Prussians among them.

Each had to carry:

The march began on 19 October in heat and dust and very quickly the pace - an average of 40 kilometres a day (25 miles) - together with the load they were forced to carry, along with a lack of good water, had men falling out sick and exhausted. Within two days, some 50,000 troops had melted from the Grande Armee.

The French timetable for rests:

By the time the Grande Armee reached Moscow, desertion, sickness, leaving garrisons and battles had whittled its numbers to 100,000 men.

The return march saw it disintegrate from one of the most magnificent modern armies put together to a rabble that virtually fell across the River Niemen on 14 December, 1812.