Hurr durr my arse!
On 14 September, Napoleon and his army of about 100,000 men
occupied Moscow, only to find it abandoned, and
the city was soon ablaze. Napoleon stayed in Moscow for 5 weeks, waiting for a peace offer that never came.
[27]
On 19 October, Napoleon left Moscow and marched southwest toward
Kaluga trying to use unspoilt roads to retreat to Smolensk.
[28] After the inconclusive
Battle of Maloyaroslavets, Napoleon decided to use the old Smolensk road instead, but this road had already been devastated by his own army on the march to Moscow.
[29] Lack of food for the men and fodder for the horses, hypothermia from the bitter cold and
guerilla warfare from Russian peasants and
Cossacks led to great losses. Three days after the
battle of Berezina only around 10,000 soldiers of the main army remained.
[30]
On 5 December, Napoleon left the army and returned to Paris.
[31]
