14. Napoleon achieved his strategic goals in Russia
Napoleon is often excoriated for making the mistake of invading Russia in winter, which brought about the destruction of his army and eventually the demise of the French Empire. This is both overly simplistic and untrue. Napoleon’s military goals for the Russian campaign were the defeat of the Russian army in battle followed by the capture of Moscow, which though not the political capital of the Tsar (which was St. Petersburg), was nonetheless the spiritual capital of the Russian people. Napoleon began his invasion in June, 1812, defeated the Russian army in several minor and one major engagement, and entered Moscow in September, 1812, setting up his quarters in the Kremlin. In ordinary nineteenth-century warfare, Napoleon could reasonably expect the Tsar to sue for peace. Alexander was inclined to do so, but his generals dissuaded him.
Instead, the Russians burned Moscow, destroying more than 75% of the city. Without food or shelter, Napoleon had no choice but to withdraw. He intended to return by a route to the south of his invasion march, where supplies had not been exhausted by the ravages of the two armies in the summer. When the Russians blocked him with strong defensive positions, he was forced by the time pressures concerning the onset of winter to follow the same route he had previously used. All armies of the day lived primarily on what they could forage and there was little to be had by either of the contending armies. Winter and starvation ravaged the French, but they did the pursuing Russians as well, who suffered more than 400,000 dead and wounded. It was the destruction of Moscow which defeated Napoleon, forcing him to face the Russian winter.