The French Invasion of Russia day by day

The Russian campaign of 1812, locally known as the "Patriotic War" [Отечественная война], began on June 24, 1812, when the Grande Armée led by Napoleon I crossed the Niemen River and entered Russian Poland near Kowno [present-day Kaunas]. It ended on December 14 of the same year, when the rest of the soldiers finished crossing the Niemen in the other direction, five months and twenty days later.

The Red Square [Красная площадь] in Moscow. Photo © Nicolas Guy

In the abundant and very well-documented bibliography relating to this epic, we followed in the footsteps of the French Emperor, and searched not only for the battlefields, but also for the places where he stayed during this tragic journey. The related iconography will be enriched during our future stays there, as long as the international situation normalizes and administrative conditions allow it.

June 1812

• June 24 - In the early hours of the morning, at a bend  of the Niemen River [Nemunas]  south of Kovno [present-day Kaunas, Lithuania], the Grande Armée began to cross the river on three wooden bridges built during the night. Napoleon I watched this crossing from his tent on a natural eminence, Jiesia Hill [present-day known as "Napoleon Hill"]  [54.86167, 23.92694]. He himself crossed the river at five o'clock in the morning and went to the right bank. In the afternoon he would establish his headquarters at the Holy Cross Abbey [Šventasis Kryžius] [54.88978, 23.92021] in Kovno , then after various inspections around the city returned to the monastery at 8 p.m. to spend the night there.
• June 25 and 26 - He stayed in Kovno, wrote extensively (16 official letters, numerous military notes, but also three letters to the Empress Marie Louise), explored the surroundings, visited the Pažaislis Monastery   [54.87627, 24.02226], 8 kilometers to the east, and inspected various units.
• June 27 - Having left Kovno early in the morning, the Emperor successively passed through Jijmorouï [Ziezmariai], Strasounouf [Strošiunai], Soboliski [Elektrenai] and Yevé [Vievis], before returning to sleep in a castle 4 kilometers to the west of this village.
• June 28 - After passing through Ronikontouï [Rykantai], Napoleon reached Vilna [Vilnius, currently the capital of Lithuania], a city of 56,000 inhabitants, which was taken without fighting. Around noon the municipal authorities handed him the keys to the city, which he entered through the Gate of Dawn [Aušros vartai]. He stayed there until July 16, lodging at the governor's palace [current presidential palace, Simonas Daukantas Square]  [54.68334, 25.28602].
• June 29 and 30 - He went to the bridges over the Niemen to see how the troops were continuing to cross.

July 1812

• July 1st - During the entire first half of the month, Napoleon lingered (probably too much) in Vilna, going to carry out reconnaissance, reviewing his troops in the suburbs of the city, supervising the gigantic logistics necessary for the campaign. From July 1st, and then on several occasions, he received General Alexander Dmitrievich Balashov (Александр Дмитриевич Балашов), emissary of Tsar Alexander I (Александр I Павлович Романов), but no agreement was reached.
• July 14 - Napoleon appeared at the ball given by General Louis Michel Pac (Liudvikas Mykolas Pacas) in his palace, where he hosted Joachim Murat.
• July 16 - Napoleon left - finally - Vilna around 11 p.m.
• July 17 - He was in Sventsiany [Svencionys], 80 kilometers to the northeast, which he left the same evening.
• July 18 - He was in Glubokoye [Hlybokaïe - Глыбокае, currently in Belarus], 110 kilometers to the east, where he remained until the evening of the 21st, staying at the Carmelite convent [55.13873 N, 27.69716 E].
• July 22 - Napoleon arrived in the middle of the day at Ushtach [Ushachy - Ушачы], 68 kilometers to the east.
• July 23 - He left Ushtach at around 6 p.m. and arrived three hours later at Kamen [Kamen' - Камень] [55.01569, 28.88442], where he slept.
• July 24 - He left for Biechenkovitchi [Biešankovicy - Бешанковічы], on the Western Dvina [Западная Двина], where he stayed at the castle of Count Khreptovich [Усадьба Хрептовичей] [55.04489, 29.46314]. He stayed in that town the next day. It was there that he realized that all the inhabitants had fled, abandoning their homes, which could only be due to the deliberate will of the Russian authorities.
• July 26 - Napoleon went near Ostrovno [Астроўна] where fighting had been going on since the day before between the French corps of Marshal Ney, that of Prince Eugene and the cavalry of Marshal Murat against the Russian corps of Count Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy (Александр Иванович Остерман-Толсто́й) then Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn (Пётр Петрович Коновницын). He then pushed up to 6 kilometers from Vitebsk [Витебск]. He bivouacked at the village of Komarchi [Kamary - Камары] or at Kukovyachino [Кукавячына], two kilometers to the west. The fighting south of Vitebsk continued that day and the next one.
• July 27 - Russian General Alexander Petrovich Tormasov (Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Торма́сов) crushed a Saxon detachment of the Grande Armée, commanded by General Heinrich Christian von Klengel, at Kobrin [Кобрин, in modern Belarus]. Napoleon, for his part, bivouacked on a large farm near the Lutchesia River [Lučosa - Лучоса].
• July 28 - He reached Vitebsk [Віцебск, present-day Belarus]. In the evening he camped at Agaponowsczyna [Agaponovchina - Гапоновщина, a vanished village], to the east-northeast, on the road to Suraž [Сураж].
• July 29 - He stayed in Vitebsk until August 12, settling in the Governor-General's palace [55.19882, 30.20266]. This city of 10,000 inhabitants, located at the center of the strategic corridor between the rivers Dnieper and Dvina that the Grande Armée would use, would become an essential warehouse in the logistics of the Grande Armée and would in fact be an essential military stake.
• July 30 - On the left flank (to the north), began on that day the battle of Kliastitsy [Клястицы] (also called the battle of Jakubovo or the battle of the Drissa)  which pitted the corps of Nicolas-Charles Oudinot against that of Peter Wittgenstein (Пётр Христианович Витгенштейн). It ended after three days of fighting with a Russian tactical victory, albeit inconclusive.

August 1812

• August 1st to 9 - The Emperor reconnoitered the various roads east of Vitebsk, reviewed troops and regularly visited the handling.
• August 10 - It was on this day that Napoleon, no longer hoping that the enemy would come to attack him, decided to move further east to confront him.
• August 11 and 12 - He continued his visits and inspections.
• August 13 - He left Vitebsk at night heading southeast, passing Babinovitchi [Babinavichy - Бабінавічы] around 8 o'clock, then reached Rossasna [Rosasno - Расасна], on the banks of the Dnieper River . He bivouacked two kilometers from this village.
• August 14 - An attack by Joachim Murat's vanguard (maybe commanded by Emmanuel de Grouchy?) against the Russian rearguard of Dmitri Petrovich Neverovsky (Дми́трий Петро́вич Неверо́вский), near the town of Krasny [Кра́сный], was met with unexpected resistance from the Russians. Napoleon bivouacked at Boyarintsova [Бояринцова, a vanished village just beyond the current border with Belarus] [54.56776, 31.37686]
• August 15 - Napoleon reconnoitered further east, to Koryhtnia [Korytnya - Корытня] [54.67509, 31.75875], halfway between Krasny and Smolensk, and then returned to the bivouac.
• August 16 to 18 - During these days the Battle of Smolensk [Смоленск]   took place. Napoleon bivouacked on the banks of a ravine south of the city, almost within cannon range, behind Mr. Arsanik's castle.
• August 17 - While Smolensk   was engulfed in flames, the Emperor toured the battlefield, and in the evening went to camp at the Lubna castle [Лубня].
• August 18 to 24 - Napoleon was in Smolensk, a city of 20,000 inhabitants, where he lodged at the Governors' House [current address: No. 8, October Revolution Street] [54.78092, 32.04414]. He went again to Lubna and twice to Valutina, east of Smolensk, between the Dnieper River and the Moscow road, where a fight took place on the 19th , known as the Battle of Valutina Gora [Валутиной горы] or Battle of Lubino [Лубино].
• August 25 and 26 - He was in Dorogobuzh [Дорогобуж], occupying the mayor's house, on the city rampart.
• August 27 - Having left the previous day shortly before midnight, Napoleon arrived at Slavkovo [Славково] [54.96250, 33.66648] around 3 a.m., stayed at the manor of Prince Drutskoy-Sokolinsky, and left again at midnight.
• August 28 - He was at the castle of Rouibkoï [or Rybki - Рыбки, no longer exists] [55.02704, 33.89733], near the Os'ma River [Осьма] where the previous day Murat's cavalry had attacked the Russian rearguard. Then he went to Kneghinkino [Gredyakino - Гредякино], 30 kilometers to the northeast, which he reached around 9 p.m.
• August 29 - While in the village of Tsarevo-Zaymishche [Царево-Займище] Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (Михаил Илларионович Голенищев-Кутузов) took command of the Russian army in place of Mikhaïl Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (Михаи́л Богда́нович Баркла́й-де-То́лли), Napoleon went to Vyazma [Вя́зьма], where he lodged with the merchant Gorozhansky [now No. 33 Dokuchayev Street]; he stayed there for two days.
• August 31 - Napoleon was in Weliczewo [Величево, a village whose castle has disappeared].

September 1812

• September 1st to 3rd - Napoleon was in Gzhatsk [now renamed Gagarin - Гагарин in memory of the illustrious cosmonaut who was born near this town]. He stayed in the house of the merchants Tserevitinov [current address: 3 Sovetskaya Street] [55.55259, 35.00359], which had served as Kutuzov's headquarters from August 17 to 29.
• September 4 - He was in Ghridnevo [Гриднево], about forty kilometers further east, where he bivouacked near the post office. From there he observed the redoubt located 15 kilometers beyond, south of the village of Shevardino [Шевардино], where the Russians had entrenched themselves.
• September 5 - Leaving Ghridnevo, the Emperor headed east to Kolotskoye [Колоцкое], where he climbed the monastery bell tower to study the topography of the area. He then continued on Akin'shino [Акиньшино] then Valuyevo [Валуево], before leading the attack on the redoubt of Shevardino [Шевардинского редута], which was taken during the day. He bivouacked in the evening west of Borodino, a village held by the Russians.
• September 6 - Napoleon observed the future battlefield  and positioned his troops. He also received that day a portrait of his son , painted by François Gérard, which he presented to his staff and exhibited in front of his tent .
• September 7 - He led, at Borodino [Бородино] and its surroundings, the battle of the same name (called "Battle of the Moskva" in France, this river flowing a few kilometers northeast of the battlefield) .
  Detailed article: Battle of Borodino 
• September 8 - Around 4 p.m. the Emperor headed east and stopped at Kukarino [Кукарино], staying in the main house of the village.
• September 9 - Napoleon entered midday in Mozhaysk [Можайск], where he was to stay until the 11th. He stayed in the house of the merchant Suchkov, on Borodinskaya Street, at the foot of the steep hill on which stood the St. Nicholas Cathedral.
• September 10 - 34 kilometers further east, the battle of Krymskoye [Крымское] took place, which opposed the vanguard of Joachim Murat to the Russian troops of General Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich (Михаил Андреевич Милорадович) .
• September 12 - Napoleon went to Petelina [Петелино], where he spent the night (place attested by a letter he sent to the Duke of Bassano).
• September 13 - He left Petelina around noon, for Malo-Viasma [Bolshie Vyazyomy - Большие Вязёмы], ten kilometers to the east, where he stayed at the manor where Kutozov had spent the day before yesterday. On the same September 13, in a wooden hut in the village of Fili [Фили], not far from Moscow, the Russian commander-in-chief held a military council , at which the decision was taken to evacuate Moscow. Were present there, in addition to Kutuzov: Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, Leontiy Leontievich Bennigsen (Леонтий Леонтьевич Беннигсен), Dmitry Sergeevich Dokhturov, Alexei Petrovich Yermolov, Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn, Alexander Ivanovich Osterman-Tolstoy, Nikolai Nikolaevich Raiewsky, Karl Fedorovich Toll, Fedor Petrovich Uvarov and Paisiy Sergeevich Kaisarov.
• September 14 - Napoleon arrived in Moscow [Moskva - Москва] . At the gates of the city, he was unpleasantly surprised not to see a deputation from the Moscow authorities bringing him the keys to the city. He spent the first night in a wooden house in the Dorogumlov suburb [current No. 47 Malaya Dorogomilovskaya Street, house destroyed in 2004] [55.74634, 37.56148].
• September 15 - At six o'clock in the morning he entered through the Troitskaya tower [Троицкая башня]  [55.75231, 37.61418] in Moscow deserted by its inhabitants (only about 6,000 people remained there out of the 275,000 that the city had at that time); he went to the Kremlin  where he settled in, in the residence of the Emperor Alexander, around noon. Around five o'clock in the evening fires broke out in various places in the city, such as the Brandy Store near the Stone Bridge, the area around the Foundling Home and the Bank in Belogorod, and the Bazaar in Kitaigorod. From the interrogation of the arsonists who were caught, it emerged that Count Fyodor Vasilyevich Rostopchin (Фёдор Васильевич Ростопчин), governor of Moscow, had released before leaving hundreds of common law prisoners to start fires.
• September 16 and 17 - While Moscow was in flames , Napoleon went to stay at the Petrovsky Palace [Петровский путевой Дворец] , northwest of the city [nowadays in the Moscow metropolitan area], area controlled by the IV Army Corps of Prince Eugene.
• September 18 - He returned to Moscow  and settled again in the Kremlin, which had been spared by the fire. He would stay there for a month, directing the administration of the city of Moscow and organizing the Grande Armée, but also working assiduously on the politics of the French Empire, thanks to the mail coaches and couriers that took sixteen days to reach Paris.
• September 19 - The Emperor received General Ivan Akinfievich Tutolmin (Иван Акинфиевич Тутолмин), who had remained in Moscow as director of the Foundling Hospital. He asked him to attach to his report to the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna on the latest events in Moscow a few words for the attention of her son, Alexander I, on his desire for peace; which Toutolmin accepted. No response from the Tsar would be made.
• September 20 - The fires ceased; only two thousand houses remained standing, the city being three-quarters destroyed. Napoleon dictated the 21st bulletin of the Grand Army, in which he designated the governor Rostopchin as the instigator of the fires.
• September 22 - Napoleon charged Ivan Alekseevich Yakovlev (Иван Алексеевич Яковлев), a notable wishing to leave the city, with a new message of peace for Alexander. It would be delivered to him a few days later in Saint Petersburg [Санкт-Петербу́рг] through Count Alexei Andreevich Arakcheev (Алексей Андреевич Аракчеев), but would also remain unanswered.

October 1812

• October 1st - Napoleon asked Marshal Berthier to increase the armament and fortifications of the Kremlin.
• October 5th - General Jacques Alexandre Law de Lauriston met with Marshal Kutuzov at his headquarters in Tarutino [Тарутино], 80 kilometers south-southwest of Moscow, to discuss peace; Kutuzov, to gain time, replied that he could do nothing on his own initiative .
• October 13 - A light snow fell on Moscow...
• October 14 - Napoleon gave the order to Marshal Berthier to organize the evacuation to Smolensk of 1,500 wounded soldiers, accompanied by 200 to 300 men. This convoy would leave two days later.
• October 15 - The Emperor signed the Moscow decree reorganizing the Comédie-Française.
• October 18 - On the left bank of the Nara River [Нара], a few kilometers north of Kutuzov's HQ, Joachim Murat's corps was defeated at the Battle of Winkowo [Винково] also known as Tarutino [Тарутино] .
• October 19 - This was the beginning of the retreat. Leaving behind Marshal Mortier with 10,000 men and the order to blow up the Kremlin, Napoleon chose to turn back towards Smolensk via Kaluga [Калуга], because this more southern route passed through unruly places. He went to Troitsk [Троицк], 40 kilometers southwest of Moscow, where he stayed for two days in the manor of the landowner Levshina-Evreinova [manor rebuilt in 1927, at No. 2 of the present Nagornaya Street] [55.49366, 37.30021]. From this HQ, Napoleon sent to Marshal Mortier the order to arrive from Moscow to Borovsk.
• October 21 - He was at the castle of Igniatiewo [Игнатово], 20 kilometers to the west-southwest [disappeared during the October Revolution of 1917, only a few ruins of an outbuilding remain today].
• October 22 - He was at Fominskoye [Фоминское].
• October 23 - He was in Borowsk [Боровск], where he stayed in the house of the Bolshakov-Pisarevs [at number 12 of today's Lenin Street].
• October 24 - He went to Gorodnya [Городня], 13 kilometers further south, where he stayed for two days, setting up his headquarters in the house of the weaver Kirsanov [collapsed from rot at the end of the 19th century], on the outskirts of the town. That same day, a battle took place in Maloyaroslavets [Малоярославец], a town of 1,500 inhabitants 10 kilometers south of Gorodnya, between the vanguard of the Grande Armée, commanded by Eugene de Beauharnais, and the Russian forces . The result was a French tactical victory but a strategic defeat, as Napoleon gave up on breaking through to Kaluga and resigned himself to evacuating Russia by the route he had already taken on the way out, through devastated areas lacking in provisions.
• October 26 - The Emperor therefore found himself again in Borowsk [Боровск]. In the evening it began to freeze and snowfalls became more frequent.
• October 27 - Heading northeast, he stopped at Vereya [Верея], a small town on the right bank of Protva River, where he met Marshal Mortier's detachment.
• October 28 - He passed through Mozhaysk [Можайск], to the northwest, thus finding himself on the route taken on the way there. Then he stopped for the night at Uspenskoye [Успенское, Кріушино], east of Borodino, either in the ruined manor or in the church [the latter was razed during the communist era; as for the manor, it was submerged by the creation of a dam and the Mozhaysk reservoir in 1959-1960].
• October 29 - Leaving early in the morning, he crossed the battlefield of Borodino, still strewn with rotting corpses. He arrived in Gzhatsk [Gagarin - Гагарин], where he slept.
• October 30 - He went to Weliczewo, 22 kilometers to the southwest, where he spent a night as on the way there.
• October 31 - Napoleon arrived at Vyazma [ Вя́зьма], where he remained until November 2, staying as in August in the house of the merchant Gorozhansky.

November 1812

• November 2nd - He was at Semlevo [Семлево].
• November 3 and 4 - Napoleon was at Jaskowo Castle. On the 3rd, at Vyazma, an attack by General Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich cut off the French rearguard, under Marshal Davout, from the rest of the retreating army .
• November 5 - Back in Dorogobuzh.
• November 6 and 7 - Napoleon, who was in Mikhaylovka [Михайловка], learned that General Claude-François de Malet had escaped from prison in Paris and had almost organized a coup d'état. He decided to return as soon as possible.
• November 8 - He settled for the night at the Beredikino (or Ghoredikino) post house, the bad weather preventing him from going any further.
• November 9 - Prince Eugene was defeated on the Vop River [Вопь], a tributary of the Dnieper. Napoleon arrived at Smolensk, where he stayed until the 13th.
• November 14 - Napoleon was at Korytnya.
• November 15 to 17 - He was again at Krasny, where he thought to stay a few days, in order to allow the corps of Prince Eugene, Marshal Davout and Marshal Ney to join him to continue the retreat. But General Kutuzov went on the attack: this was the beginning of the Battle of Krasnoi , which would last four days. Napoleon then decided to continue the retreat to Lyady [Ляды, present-day Belarus], a village 18 kilometers to the west.
• November 18 - He left Lyady in the morning for Dubrowna [Дуброўна], a town 30 kilometers further on the Dnieper. Very worried about not having news of Marshal Ney, he spent the night at the castle of Princess Maria Lvovna Lubomirska. Now, on the night of November 18-19, Marshal Ney managed to cross the frozen Dnieper between Syrokoren’e and Gusino.
• November 19 - Napoleon traveled 20 kilometers and arrived in Orsha [Орша], where he settled in the Jesuit college [which has survived to this day]. He personally took charge of burning what he wanted to prevent from falling into Russian hands.
• November 20 - He left Orsha in the afternoon to settle eight kilometers further at the castle of Baran [Барань] [54.48260, 30.33048].
• November 21 - He was at Kamienska [Kochanova - Коханава].
• November 22 - He was at Talachyn [Талачын], at the Orthodox monastery [54.40671, 29.70098].
• November 23 - Napoleon left Talachyn in the early morning and established himself 30 kilometers further west, at Bobr [Бобр] on the river of the same name.
• November 24 - He left Bobr for Loshnitsa [Лошніца], 40 kilometers to the west.
• November 25 - He arrived in Borisov [Barysaw - Барысаў] in the afternoon and went to inspect the bridge over the Berezina River [Бярэзіна], which had been three-quarters destroyed by the Russians. He then went to Staroi-Borisov [Starabarysaŭ - Стара-Барысаў], to the farm of Prince Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł, more precisely to the house of the general director, Baron Korsak.
• November 26 - Napoleon went at 6 o'clock in the morning to see Marshal Oudinot at Studianka [Studenka - Студзёнка], where two bridges over the Berezina, 100 meters long, were to be built by the pontoon builders of General Jean-Baptiste Éblé: one on the right for the cavalry and infantry, the other on the left, more solid, for the artillery and the cars.
• November 27 - After crossing the Berezina, Napoleon set up his headquarters in the hamlet of Zanivski [54.29399, 28.36159], south of the village of Brillowo [Bryli - Брылі].
• November 28 - Napoleon was on the field, at the head of the troops, during the Battle of Berezina  .
  Detailed article: Battle of Berezina
  In the evening he returned to Zanivski to sleep.
• November 29 - He marched northwest to Zembin [Зембін], then went to Kamyena [Камена].
• November 30 - Napoleon left Kamyena for Plyeshchanitsy [Плешчаніцы] where he spent the night.

December 1812

• December 1st - Napoleon continued towards Stayki [Стайкі], a hamlet along the road where he was housed miserably.
• December 2nd - A very sad anniversary of the Coronation and the battle of Austerlitz... The Emperor set out west-southwest to Illia [Ilya - Ілья] then to Selishche [Селішча], all this under intense cold.
• December 3rd - He arrived at Maladzyechna [Маладзечна], on the river Usha [ Уша]. It was there that he informed Armand de Caulaincourt of his intention to return to Paris as soon as possible, and that he dictated the 29th issue of the Bulletin de la Grande Armée by which he made public the extent of the catastrophe of the Russian campaign.
• December 4 - He was in Benitsa [Беніца], 20 kilometers further west.
• December 5 - In Smarhon [Смаргонь], after having spoken during the day with the count Dirk van Hogendorp, Governor General of Lithuania, the Emperor handed over his command to Marshal Murat and left the army around 10:00 in the evening. He was accompanied by Armand de Caulaincourt, Géraud-Christophe Duroc, the Count of Lobau, Agathon Jean François Fain and Constant (Louis-Constant Wairy, known as-). The group arrived in Ashmyany [Ашмяны] at midnight.
• December 6 - At Early in the morning, Napoleon met Hugues Bernard Maret, Duke of Bassano, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Vilna [Vilnius] where the latter had been stationed since June.
• December 7 - The Emperor arrived in Kovno [Kaunas] around 5 a.m., followed by Cossacks. From there he turned southwest towards Marijampolė in Sudovia, the northernmost region of the Duchy of Warsaw.
• December 8 - He was in Grajewo.
• December 9 - He spent the night in Pułtusk .
• December 10 - He headed south for Warsaw [Warszawa] , where he entered through the Trambacka Gate [Trębacka]. He left the city at 7 p.m. after various interviews.
• December 11 - He was in Kutno , 120 kilometers west of the capital of the Duchy, where the imperial sleigh was repaired. During the construction period, Napoleon was a guest of the local sub-prefect Ambroży Zaborowski at the Saxon Palace (Pałac Saski) on Poznańska Street [nowadays at the corner of Marshal Józefa Piłsudskiego Square and Narutowicza Street] [52.23270, 19.35657].
• December 12 - Napoleon arrived in the early morning in Posen [Poznań], then descended on Glogau [Głogów]. On the front, the remains of the French army arrived in Kovno  where they suffered a new attack by the Cossacks; panic broke out.
• December 13 - Napoleon arrived in Bunzlau [Bolesławiec] in the morning. He then entered the Kingdom of Saxony, crossing Görlitz   then Bautzen , and finally reached Dresden  around midnight.
• December 14 - Napoleon marched towards Leipzig, then Lützen and Auerstaedt [Auerstedt] . The soldiers who survived the massacre finished crossing the Niemen and thus returned to the Empire: this was the end of the disastrous French invasion of Russia...

 All of Napoleon's movements from 1769 to 1821