4. “From the Sublime to the Ridiculous Is Only One Step“
Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow during winter was made worse by his final bad decision, this one in his choice of route. L’Empereur had the choice of two routes, and ended up taking the one that was struck by severe winter storms. The route he did not take saw little snow that year. Most of Napoleon’s army starved or froze to death during the retreat, or were killed by Cossacks who harried the rear and flanks of the retreating columns.
Napoleon had marched into Russia with a Grande Armee numbering 685,000 soldiers. He came out with only 35,000 Frenchmen still under his command, with the remainder either dead (over 400,000), deserting, or switching sides. Reflecting upon the disaster, Napoleon commented: “From the sublime to the ridiculous, is only one step“.